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Traveling the Columbia Gorge
The Columbia River Gorge Scenic Area extends from Portland upriver to the dam at the Dalles. Well, we are back home in Newfield, New York, after 10,250 miles logged in 79 days of traveling. Thanks to our wonderful friend and neighbor Gundy, who stopped by weekly to look after our house and water the plants, our home seems as we left it and the plants have never looked better.
The final leg of our journey saw us leaving Portland, OR and Rob, Leila, and Leo early on the 21st of April. We travelled up the awe-inspiring Columbia Gorge on Interstate 84, then headed to Spokane, WA. Since we were to visit some friends in northern Wisconsin, the plan was to head east on Interstates 90 and 94 through Idaho, Montana, North Dekota, Minnesota, and on to the tiny town of Minong, Wisconsin. This north-most route across the US allowed us to avoid the nation's "tornado belt", but placed us in the path of high mountain passes and any late-arriving blizzards that might develop. Our rig handled the passes with aplomb, and although we did encounter freezing temperatures and some snow, the weather through this part of the trip was tolerable if not spring-like.
After leaving Minong on the 1st of May, we picked
Upriver from the Gorge
Interstate 84 follows the Columbia River until it crosses into Washington State. Four major dams "manage" the river, the first being the Bonneville Dam. up Interstate 94 in Eau Claire, WI, made it through the tangle of traffic and toll plazas that is metropolitan Chicago, and arrived home after two more long days of travel. The last day of the journey found us on western New York's Interstate 86, the same mogul-infested excuse of a road that led to the loss of our trailer door and window on the first day of the trip, back on 14 Feb. The return trip induced some tooth-grinding, but no mishaps occurred. More details on the trip east can be found in the captions to the 26 pictures we included.
So, are there any sweeping conclusions that we have formed based on this three-month, cross-country experience?
First, let's consider the value of keeping a travel blog. Speaking from the blogger's point of view, we both agree that a travel blog is certainly worth the effort. Writing a blog forces you to take some time while the memory is fresh to think about your experiences, pick out those that seem noteworthy, and make some comments to friends and family. Obviously, keeping a blog takes time away from doing other things while traveling,
Spokane, Washington
Spokane is fairly dry due to the rain shadow created by the Cascades. Mt. Spokane in the distance. but, overall, is worth the opportunity loss. We have found that easy access to the internet reduces the time required for managing a travel blog. In the past we relied on wireless connections that are now widely available at most RV parks and state campgrounds. This year we used an AT&T "AirCard"; a device that plugs into your computer's USB port and uses cellular telephony to access the internet. We found this technology to work well as long as there is reasonable cell phone reception in the area. It also allowed us to access the internet while underway, not just to work on blogs, but also check the weather, look for traffic alerts, conduct email business, etc. That said, the "AirCard" and contract is a bit pricey, but served our needs well.
From the travel blog user's point of view, obviously each of you will need to decide on the value of your participation. The statistics that TravelBlog.org provides on usage suggests that many of you visited our pages, if only to look at the pictures, but even that probably beats the postcards that we might or might not have sent back in a more traditional setting. It was
Entering Idaho
Even though Interstate 90 passes through only about 60 miles of Idaho, there is some very impressive mountain scenery to view. very nice to get comments and suggestions back from many of you during our trip. This helped make us feel less "out of the loop" with friends and family as we travelled. In fact, we probably communicated more with some of you then we might have if we had stayed at home!
In terms of the logistics of the trip, we both felt like making a mad dash from Ithaca to San Diego during the first leg of the trip, and a similar dash in getting home, was frustrating. There were so many places we wanted to visit along the way, not to mention interesting birds missed (although we did get pretty good at bird identification at 65 MPH!). On the other hand, we did want to focus on the West Coast and there still did not seem to be enough time--we missed most of Washington state. Guess we need to plan more time for these sojourns!
Overall, the trip has helped increment a little our understanding of America, its cultural history, natural history, strengths, and weaknesses. We met a lot of wonderful people, reestablished ties with some old friends, and had an opportunity to spend time with
Missoula, Montana
New houses were everywhere in Missoula. Montana is a big state; it took an entire day to traverse it. our children. We were both deeply struck by the natural beauty of this country, but also were saddened by the effects of many foolish, shortsighted, human acts that diminish this beauty. Let us all hope that political changes occur that help reverse some of these setbacks.
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