Ft. Langley to N California

 

We braved the I5 highway through both Seattle and Portland today, no mean feat.  Seattle was busy but straightforward, but no big slowdowns.  The traffic continues steady till you get past Olympia.  It calms down a bit but then ramps up again for Portland, where traffic came to a standstill for no apparent reason.  We spotted a three-lane on-ramp where there were 3 traffic lights to alternate which individual vehicle got to proceed to the freeway.

We camped at Champoeg State Park, just south of Portland.  The campsite was busy, we got the second last available spot though there were plenty empty spots marked reserved, a North America wide problem it seems.  Went for a short walk down to the Willamette River before darkness fell.

Woke up to frost and drove through fog all morning.  Much of Oregon had a dusting of snow over night.  Another day of straight driving.  We stopped in Grant's Pass to buy a cellphone program, but so far have not successfully upload it.  We need to phone them to get help, but guess what, we don't have a phone!

We finally gave up, and drove up over the Siskiyou (sp?) Pass and into California.  Smuggled a lemon I just purchased in Grant's Pass into the state because noone was manning the agricultural inspection statement. Because of my agricultural training, I feel guilty, not smug, that I got away with it!

We stopped for the night at the first rest stop along the Klamath River. It was cold overnight, but we were snug with our furnace running.  The rest stop was quiet when we went to bed, but trucks came through all night and we woke up surrounded by big rumbling rigs.  A frosty morning. Minus 5 degrees C.