We leave Renton today and start heading south towards Portland Oregon and the Columbia River Gorge. I've seen our route map and we may make a few adjustments and spend another night here in Washington with Don Smith. More on that later.
The morning weather is once again clear and sunny with only a slight chance of rain (after all this is Seattle). The diesel incident is behind me and I'm looking forward to the trip to resume and new areas to explore.
We'll also bid farewell to Bob McManus and Dave Stoops. They're heading back home. It was great to have them join us for the Seattle loop of the trip. Nothing better than a bunch of boat sailors getting together for TINS and heart NOT healthy food. And when you have a Marine along to liven up the pinging it just makes it better.
Finally; some internet
After leaving Renton we headed south towards Portland and our ride up the Columbia River Gorge. We stopped off for a "grip and grin" at the Country Cousin Cafe at Exit 82 where we met up with Don "Mac" Smith and enjoyed coffee, TINS and the opportunity to meet a guy I've been communicating with for years and even served on a committee with but had never met. After that it was time to get on the road and put some miles behind us.
By the time we headed east the sun had come out and the temps had risen to comfortable levels. We arrived in Washougal but Sue Mclaughlin wasn't available so we ate lunch in her town and talked behind her back. All good stuff but don't let her know that.
Then we headed into the gorge and it was absolutely beautiful High bluffs, rugged peaks and always the Columbia River as our companion and guide towards Idaho. Before we could get to "The Dalles" where we would cross over into Oregon we came across a traffic jam caused by a forest fire. We waited for a while but decided to turn back and go across a bridge about 10 miles back. Turned out to be a good decicison and we were able to get back to The Dalles where we checked into a primitive campsite. During the night some wandering cattle stopped by for a "sneak and peek" but they decided we weren't worth bothering with. Our view from the tent was the snow covered Mt. Hood and it was gorgeous. Campsite offered the bare minimum in creature comforts but we were too tired to care. The high winds made putting the tent up a bit of a challenge but by securing it to Ralph's truck we were able to keep it upright all night and got a good nights sleep. Our dinner consisted of the best that McDonald's had to offer. We had to ride back into Oregon to get it so I guess we're guilty of smuggling greasy burgers into Washington.
Photos later
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Don't feel like you are the only one to make the gas/diesel f**k-up, Doc. I once put about 30 gal of diesel in a gas engine of a stake-side truck. I disposed of it by donating to state Div. of Forestry for thier drip torches. Strangly i never got any pinging on that flub... i reckon my co-workers figured it was just another day in my way of operating.
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