The Long Road Home - Day Three

May 25, 2012

We awaken early in La Grande after a good night's sleep...we are within 6 hours of splashdown at our home base, and while this trip has been extraordinary, we are highly motivated to get this last driving segment done... so we move quickly and are on the road by 7:20am.

As we leave La Grande, the sky is cloudy and the cool breeze is blowing...it should be a nice cool drive home...

As we begin our drive, we remark on how striking it is that little more than a week ago, as we drove the very same roads, the temperatures were in the 90s...today it is in the 50s! But, it is kind of nice to get a little of the cool, refreshing Pacific Northwest early summer weather. As we drive through the Blue Mountains of Oregon, however, we encounter some really dense fog...The changes in weather have been interesting to watch throughout our journey...

The fog doesn't last long, and by the time we reach the bottom of our descent we emerge into beautiful sunshine. The scattered clouds make for constantly changing patterns of light and dark across the Oregon landscape...What you can't see here is the wind that has picked up considerably. What you also cannot feel is the RV being pushed from side to side, sometimes across the lane line or onto the shoulder! It makes for a challenging (and long) drive.

As we cross the Columbia River we get a great view of the McNary Dam, and they are releasing water a fair amont of water... what a sight!

Once we have crossed into Washington, we begin to see a familiar (and welcome) sight...vineyards and countless vines whose fruit will one day end up in our wine glasses!

We pass through Eastern Washington and get a few photos of the landscape...so different than Seattle, and at times very desolate. And the wind continues to make this a very interesting and challenging bit of driving...trying to anticipate the gusts based on the swerving of large trucks in front of us, or trying to pass semi-trailers without getting pulled or pushed too close...

Then farther north we drive the greener the landscape becomes. Here's a photo along the Yakima River as we pass by Prosser, Washington...another popular wine producing area...

Now, we've seen these things before and had to think hard to recollect which plant is cultivated this way. We initially thought Pole Beans, or perhaps peas...but no. For all of you beer drinkers out there, this is how hops are grown! Who'd a thunk...

Can you believe the nice pictures Patty has been able to take while we are traveling at 70 MPH...and swerving in the wind gusts?

Here is a nice view of the Yakima River in...Yakima! We stopped for gas in Selah, just outside of Yakima (we did not realize that all gas stations are on the west side of the interstate in Yakima...easy off-and-back-on if you're headed south, but not so convenient when heading north...curious choice by Yakima). It was a nice break for Michael who could release his white-knuckle death grip from the steering wheel for a few minutes.

Next comes Ellensburg, the home of Central Washington University (go Wildcats!)...we get a nice view of the town as we get close...

Once we merge onto Interstate 90 and begin our drive west, the wind has dissapated to a very light breeze...finally! From here, the RoadTrek knows it's way, so we move to the back of the van for drinks and snacks...just kidding. Great views as we head west...hello Cascades Mountains...with a lot of snow still on top!

Patty has started to experiment with her new iPhone, which she loves, and begins taking pictures through the windshield...it certainly beats rolling down the window and sticking the camera out into the wind! We actually get some nice pictures...like this one as we head up to Snoqualmie Pass...

There are remaining signs of the very snowy winter we had in the Cascades this year...it is the end of May and there is still snow next to the highway!!

As you might imagine, on Friday of Memorial Day weekend there is very little traffic headed West over the pass...at times we have the interstate to ourselves...kind of eerie. The lanes headed East, however, packed with cars, trucks with trailers and campers, many RVs, vehicles hauling boats, etc. There is some construction that slows the eastbound traffic, and to make matters worse we see a very recent accident -- a four car rear-end collision-- that has blocked at least one lane, and as we head up to the summit of the pass we see that traffic is stacking up for miles. That is not how anyone wants to start their long holiday weekend...so much for getting out of town early to get a jump on traffic.

We continue to enjoy a deserted interstate all the way to Lake Washington, and of course there is no one on the 520 bridge now that there is a toll...this has to be the best $2.50 we've spent today...! If we could pay a couple of bucks to have the bridge to ourselves whenever we crossed it, we would! It is a beautiful, cool, sunny day in Seattle...Hello Olympic Mountains!

At the moment there is an extraordinary amount of construction going on...let's see how it is going since we left...I-405 to the 520 bridge...a little confusing but nearly complete; beginning the new 520 bridge...barges in place, work underway;

We must be living right...it's a beautiful Friday before the Memorial Day weekend and the Montlake Bridge is not up (stopping traffic for sail boats) so we sail right across...here is a nice shot of the Montlake Cut..

At the end of the Montlake Bridge, the new light rail tunnel and station project is still underway...

Husky Stadium at the University of Washington is still half way done...we say keep it as it is, no room for visiting team fans...!

We splash down at about 1:00 to great weather. We shut down the RoadTrek...she has served us well on this trip...and now it is time to unload and cleanup. The front of the van gets a little spray down to loosen the remains of the countless courageous insects who tried to avoid us as we raced through their airspace...but the thorough cleaning will wait until tomorrow.

Miles traveled: 347.83. Travel time: 6 hours. Bugs killed: surprisingly few, we think they were grounded due to high winds...

Total travel distance on this road trip: 2,701. Total driving time: 43.5 hours. Total bugs killed: we'll never really know for sure, but too many.