Current Location: Mountain View RV Park, Baker City, Oregon

Tonight’s post is a catch-up post. We both came down with colds last night or today and Malcolm is writing this post just before his Ny-Quil will probably kick in and put him to sleep, so this one will be text-light and picture-heavy.

On Thursday morning, Malcolm did some photography with the girls in old dresses. We had a blast and they came out pretty nice. Here are a few.

Scarlet

Violet

Both Girls

Just a little kiss

We also went out and chased down some Letterboxes. The rest of the day was spent taking it easy, eating dinner at home and playing until it was time for bed.

On Friday, we stopped by and picked up donuts for the crew and took them to the house. After that, we took care of getting the trailer ready to leave on Saturday, packing things up, flushing tanks, etc. Once back at the house, the girls were napping, so we visited with Elizabeth for a bit.

Val and Elizabeth headed out to meet with Aunt Stacy for dinner and an art class, for Elizabeth’s birthday. The boys (Malcolm and Cole) took the children to eat at Famous Dave’s BBQ, then headed back to the house so the girls could get ready for bed. Cole took Malcolm and dropped him off at the trailer and headed on to Fox Island for the traditional weekend family get-together. Malcolm took some NyQuil for the cold that was developing and headed on to bed.

Val, Elizabeth and Stacy had a great time. Here are some of the pictures from the painting session.

The classroom

Val, Elizabeth and Stacy

Birthday girl

Paintings in progress

The artists posing with their completed paintings

Val and Elizabeth said their goodbyes and Stacy took Elizabeth on out to Fox Island. Val came home, put away some laundry and climbed into bed after a long day.

This morning, Malcolm woke up feeling fairly decent, just runny nose and sneezing. We got the trailer all hooked up and pulled out around 8:00 AM. We headed across I-90 to Ellensburg, WA, then I-82 down to I-84 in Oregon. We made it 404 miles to Baker City, Oregon (where Malcolm planned to stop for tonight – we’re trying for four 400 mile days to get to Colorado Springs, CO Tuesday evening).

Here are some pictures from today’s trip.

Scenic overlook near Pendleton, OR

Panorama from scenic overlook building

Scenery along the way

The rig at the scenic overlook

Our site in Baker City

We were back on the license plate game. Results – 21 states.

Today’s plates

Current Location: Medford/Gold Hill KOA, Central Point, Oregon

This morning we got up early, finished packing and hitching the trailer and hit the road a little after 7:00 AM to try to beat the majority of the Tacoma area rush hour traffic. We were pretty successful on that count. Traffic was picking up, but no major delays and we rolled south on I-5.

We figured somewhere in southern Oregon would be our destination, but as usual, we drove until Malcolm felt it was time to find a place for the night. We ended up just short of Medford, Oregon (which we initially felt would be a good day’s drive).

Pulling the hills just before we got here was a little tiring, and hot. The truck’s thermometer read 101 degrees at a couple of places. No problems with the truck, though. Just took our time and fell in behind some of the (faster) trucks going up the long climbs. The trailer’s outdoor thermometer proclaimed 96 when we unhitched at the KOA.

It was a fairly uneventful drive. We stopped at a rest area in the Eugene area and fixed lunch. The weather was pleasant with a slight breeze and we found a nice shady table. Malcolm made our KOA reservation there while we ate. Using KOA’s reservation system is great for making sure they have a spot before we get there without having to call all around. Once we get in, we just sign the receipt (we pay on the phone at the time of reservation) and go park.

The trailer all set up.

Once unhooked, we cooked breakfast for dinner (eggs, bacon and hash browns).

Outdoor kitchen prepared to cook breakfast for dinner.

After dinner, Val and David relaxed in the trailer while Malcolm topped off the air in the trailer tires (they were all down just a few pounds, plus he wanted to try to get them all to the same pressure instead of several PSI different from each other). Malcolm also enjoyed the pool and took a quick bike ride around the park. It’s a nice KOA, very well kept. There is also a bucolic cow pasture just next door.

Mooo!

Tomorrow, we have a slightly easier drive and are going to try to stay somewhere close to San Francisco and do a little sight-seeing there.