Lewis and Clark Ain't Got Nothing On Me!

 

by Pa Rock

Traveling Fool

When I left Twin Falls, Idaho, early this morning (yesterday, actually, Friday) I had no intention of going all the way to Salem, Oregon, but when I began feeling road-weary in the afternoon, I could not find a hotel with a vacancy - and necessity pulled me onward.  I reached Salem late in the day after almost six-hundred miles on the road, and quickly found the La Quinta where I usually stay.  (When I realized that I would be going all the way to my destination, I called my daughter and had her reserve a room.)

A major portion of today's drive was on two-lane state highways which made the trip even longer, time-wise.

For the benefit on anyone who might also be planning a trip from West Plains, Missouri, to Salem, Oregon, with a stopover in Roeland Park, Kansas, you should plan on at least five days on the road and a total of 2,228 miles -  more or less - one way.  Also be aware that hotel rooms are about fifty-percent higher than they were last year.  I blame Trump for that.

My two grandkids who are still in Oregon came by the hotel to see me this evening along with their parents.  Judah and Willow are each about six inches taller than when I saw then last year.  They are growing way too fast!

It was cloudy with occasionally sprinkles today in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon, and rainy as I crossed the Cascades, but even with the rain, the scenery on the ocean side of the Cascades was beautiful, lush and green, with pines and spruce that reached to the heavens.   The descent down a very twisty and winding road was breath-taking.  It reminded me of the El Yunque National Rain Forest in Puerto Rico, complete with occasional small waterfalls spilling down the stony cliffs.  The barren hills of eastern Oregon also host a beautiful, winding drive along many roaring creeks and rivers.  I crossed the Snake River in at least four separate locations, so it truly does wend its way through the hills like a fast-moving snake.

Lewis and Clark took quite a bit longer to make essentially the same trip, but they were encumbered with far more baggage.  Pa Rock travels light!

Upon arrival I heard that the US is involved in yet another Middle East war.  The more things change, the more they stay the same, and it truly breaks my heart.