Homeward bound!

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We knew it was going to take us a couple of days to make it back up to Hood River, but it was so cold the next day, and we were in “let's get home” mode, that we decided to make it as far as we could on 6th. We were glad to be back in Oregon State, and the scenery really is beautiful, with rugged coast line and evergreen forests. We had not been going long when we saw an Elk stag - and, a little way further on as we came through a foggy patch, a cougar ran across the road! Having also seen a Golden Eagle the day before, sitting on a fence post (I forgot to mention that!), we were quite impressed with our recent wildlife spotting.

We made a couple of stops on route to Eugene (where we stayed the night with one of Tom’s sisters and her partner) in Charleston, where Tom studied Marine Biology. It was the weekend so there were no students in residence, but we learnt that Tom’s tutors were still around and still teaching, some 20 years later. It's good to know that the future health of clams' kidneys is secured.

We arrived cold and tired in Eugene, but soon warmed up and spent a very pleasant evening and morning, before heading off on the final three hours of our journey to Hood River. We could not quite believe that we had finished our tour - and what a tour it was!

Foot note

A huge thanks to everyone who put us up, put up with us, helped us out, and supported the blog. We will publish one last entry when we have collected our thoughts and come back down to earth!

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