morning at Odell Lake<\/div><\/div><\/p>\n

Wow, I hadn’t realized how much the sun was messing up my mornings. Slept till 10 in the cool, dark quiet of the east side of the lake.<\/p>\n

Tonight and tomorrow are going to be stressful, so it is hard to make myself leave this peaceful place for a couple of hours on I-5 and pushy suburban traffic jams.<\/p>\n

First town up is Oakridge<\/strong>, which I had described\u00a0before as the most trailer park hillbilly place I’ve seen this side of the Appalachians. Seems ot be pretty much still that way.. I had a nice lunch at the Mexican restaurant. I don’t think wifi has reached this place. My chicken mole was very good.<\/p>\n

<\/a>
purdy trees at the rest stop<\/div><\/div>Then\u00a0Eugene, then I-5 to the Salem Fred Meyer where I returned the shirts I’d bought at the Klamath Fred Meyer. Size\u00a0Large was\u00a0waaay too small. \u00a0Then to the next rest area, which was cool and shaded and pleasant, so I chilled on a picnic table for 1\/2 hour. No hurry when your evening’s destination is a parking lot.<\/p>\n
At the Tualatin exit I found the sports bar I was looking for. The sports part was a FAIL, I’m not in Giants turf any more, so they didn’t get the game. \u00a0But the wifi and beer were very good. I had to get cranky for a minute to get the owner to shut the fuck up\u00a0about things “somebody told him” about Hillary’s emails. I felt a little bad, but man I ain’t got time for that nonsense.<\/p>\n
Van Specialties<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
WHUFU page for: Van Specialties<\/a><\/b><\/p>
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the parking lot of the folks that did my van customization. Actually, the parking lot is chained off this time, tonight's spot is the street outside the parking lot.\r<\/p>\n
\r<\/p>\n
Sleeping here solves two problems : 1. where to overnight in an urban area? 2. how to get in line early for my repairs.\r<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p>
<\/p>tonight<\/b>:
\n
the parking lot of the folks that did my van customization. Actually, the parking lot is chained off this time, tonight's spot is the street outside the parking lot.\r<\/p>\n
\r<\/p>\n
Sleeping here solves two problems : 1. where to overnight in an urban area? 2. how to get in line early for my repairs.\r<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Eek! They’ve chained off the entrance to their parking lot. I’m feeling unwanted! Fortunately there is a perfect space under the shade\u00a0trees, right by the building, at the head of an imposing line of three\u00a0sleeping semis.<\/p>\n
Wednesday<\/a><\/h3>
\nAs it turns out, I slept very well\u00a0on the shady street next to Van Specialties<\/strong> – didn’t get awakened by loud trucks once all night – go figure! \u00a0The big rig\u00a0right behind me warmed up and pulled out around 7AM. I got myself awake and aware by about\u00a07:30. Activity picked up about Van Specialties about 8AM, so in I went.<\/p>\n
Things:<\/p>\n
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$28 – dual USB port in the back running off the aux batteries, not the engine battery<\/li>\n
$20 – re-glue a molding strip<\/li>\n
$86 – disconnect hot water<\/li>\n
$36 – grab handle at sliding door<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Have you noticed that I am over-fond of bulleted lists? Nothing says “organized” like bulleted lists!<\/p>\n
After paying that bill\u00a0I took the beltway (no traffic jams for the first time in my experience!) to the vicinity of\u00a0Stereo King<\/strong>\u00a0to look for breakfast on the theory that the same meal is probably $5 cheaper on this side of town,\u00a0working-class SE 82nd<\/strong>,\u00a0rather than back in pricey Tualatin. Perfect plan,\u00a0I enjoyed a really, really tasty\u00a0breakfast. I wish I could remember the name of the place.<\/p>\n
After that I spent\u00a0way more money than I planned to\u00a0at Stereo King<\/strong>. That Dave is a helluva salesman! I am no match for him. That said, my old\u00a0Kenwood<\/strong> receiver, state of the art 2009 technology, was seriously out of date.<\/p>\n
My new\u00a0Kenwood receiver, state of the art 2015, can be playing a\u00a0podcast on my old iPhone hooked up via USB, while I’m hands-free talking on my new iPhone via\u00a0bluetooth. The backup video is much crisper. All for a mere $572<\/strong>. EEEK! \u00a0Didn’t see that expenditure coming.<\/p>\n
That’s it for my Portland bidness, some Van lifestyle improvements and a couple of Visa card hits, so it’s on to fun time:<\/p>\n
Edgefield<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
WHUFU page for: Edgefield<\/a><\/b><\/p>
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Disneyland for adults! many bars, three restaurants, weekend concerts, historical buildings, free coffee, beautiful grounds, and warm soaking pools with groovy little shower thingies and complementary bathrobes. deee-LUX!\r<\/p>\n
There are men's and women's dorms at opposite ends of the third floor, so one can stay relatively cheaply.<\/p>\n<\/p>
<\/p>tonight<\/b>:
\n
upper bunk is a pain<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>On to Edgefield<\/strong> to suffer the indignities of the check-in process so I may\u00a0reap the rewards of everything after. \u00a0Despite having a reservation I am consigned to an upper bunk – unsatisfactory<\/em>! \u00a0:<< But after getting done with the check-in\u00a0nazis, the rest of my evening is jsut what I came here for. It \u00a0follows my Edgefield awesomeness script perfectly. A couple of happy hour beers on the picnic tables under the trees, a little soak in the hot pool, that shower and shave I’ve been looking forward to since last Friday, then dinner at late-night happy hour.<\/p>\n
Thursday<\/a><\/h3>
<\/a>
beautiful chair, Edgewood east veranda<\/div><\/div><\/p>\n
For breakfast, today’s special – sausage and kale omelette<\/em> and a ton of their very tasty coffee. Back upstairs, then back downstairs to\u00a0hassle with the check-in nazis about getting switched to a lower bunk. I think I have prevailed, but one and maybe two more looong trips up the stairs will be required, because of course if I am switching bunks then I must switch lockers\u00a0and so I must have both\u00a0locker keys to make the switch \u00a0– sigh. \u00a0I must\u00a0point out that the twerpy girl last night\u00a0surely\u00a0had this bunk information since the\u00a0five empty bunks had to show up on her computer, but she chose to lie to me about it so she didn’t have to mess\u00a0with it. Bad Karma to her.<\/p>\n
After all that, the sweetie who cleans the Men’s Dorm just let me swap keys, so we’re all good. Get the bureaucrats out of the way and the people will respond!<\/p>\n
<\/a>
boomer shit at Edgefield :)<\/div><\/div>Happy hour time! My plan to drink at the golf course was thwarted by a wedding, but this\u00a0caused me to discover\u00a0a “hidden in plain sight” drink ordering\u00a0alcove I’ve walked past many times without appreciating it’s possibilities – the Black Rabbit House<\/strong> (not to be confused with the Black Rabbit Grille<\/strong> across the alley). It’s the backside of the bar that services the large and always busy outdoor cafe. So it’s as well-stocked as any\u00a0bar here, and actually a LOT more snappy with it’s service, since it’s mainly serving\u00a0busy wait-staff rather than people with time on their hands.<\/p>\n
Good find! There’s always something new to discover at Edgefield\u00a0:)<\/p>\n
Friday<\/a><\/h3>\n
I’m gonna take it super easy today. Hang out on the veranda till early afternoon, then leave and hope to find a spot along the Columbia Gorge<\/strong> somewhere. There’s a big big big concert here tonight – Diana Ross (be still my baby boomer heart!) – and there is already a slow stream of older folks walking past the veranda from the parking lot carrying their lawn chairs to get in line, at 12:30!<\/p>\n
I finally mobilized to leave around 2pm. Once at the van it took me a good twenty minutes\u00a0to get everything configured for travel again after two days of just throwing stuff around.\u00a0When I finally did get going, three miles away at the Troutdale interchange\u00a0I flat-out ran\u00a0a red light while trying to understand the (really fucked up) traffic pattern. Nobody was in the vicinity and absolutely no harm done, but it shook me up a bit. It’s hard, maybe even dangerous, to rejoin the real world after two days of spacing out. \u00a0FOCUS!<\/p>\n
My plan is to find a campsite somewhere near, so as to\u00a0have an easy trip to Heppner<\/strong> tomorrow. Yelp tells me the Corbett General Store<\/strong> has nice tri-tip sandos. It looks close to the freeway at a glance, but turns out it’s at the end of a 800′ (1,200′?) zigzag climb from river level to the rim of the gorge. It was a really cool, old school general store, and I’m looking forward to my pulled pork and cole slaw. Dude said the tri-tip was the dregs of last night, so at that VERY moment he would have to recommend the pork instead. Glad I asked!<\/p>\n
<\/a>
Vista House<\/div><\/div>
<\/a>
upriver from the Vista Point, Washington on the left, Oregon on the right<\/div><\/div>As long as I was up there I followed the scenic rim drive (Old US 30<\/strong>) until it dove back down the hill to wind past the Vista House<\/strong> (spectacular!). I elected to stay on the scenic drive, which meant I got stuck on 3-4 minor traffic jams at each scenic waterfall, while the rubes tried to score a parking place.<\/p>\n
Back on i-84 for a while, where\u00a0unfortunately I took one scenic drive too many. The map shows another segment of\u00a0“Old US 30” starting at exit 69, and my campground appears to be between there and the next exit (76). Why not take the scenic route, figuring to run into my campground in the middle. Boy was I wrong! I zigzagged my way back\u00a0up to the rim again, followed it a few frustrating\u00a0miles PAST my campground, then zigzagged\u00a0all the way back down again to get back on I-84 and backtrack three miles.<\/p>\n
Now that I read the map more closely, there is no official interstate exit for Memaloose State Park<\/strong>. There is a normal interstate\u00a0rest area with a little road at the west corner of the parking lot heading down the hill to the campground\u00a0– weird. Sure enough, to complete the annoyance, tomorrow when I leave I will have to go west eight miles back to exit 69 to u-ey and continue east. \u00a0Aaargh.<\/p>\n
And come to think of it further, even if I\u00a0had not done my ill-fated Old US 30 misadventure, I would’ve had to do a u-ey to get here, it just would’ve been quicker and shorter. My stress was that I was imagining the last Fourth of July Friday site being snapped up while I was\u00a0making my way down the hairpin turns.\u00a0No worries on that front as it turns out, tons of open sites\u00a0at:<\/p>\n
Memaloose State Park<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
WHUFU page for: Memaloose State Park<\/a><\/b><\/p>
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On a gentle downslope between I-84 and the railroad tracks and then the mighty Columbia River, between Hood River and The Dalles. They have a ton of tent sites (80-ish?), so I easily got a nice spot at 4 PM on Fourth of July Friday - woo! Downhill I can see the river between the trees, and hear the train when it comes through, and uphill is the constant sound of the interstate - as regular and monotonous as the Pacific surf I tell myself :)<\/p>\n<\/p>
<\/p>tonight<\/b>:
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On a gentle downslope between I-84 and the railroad tracks and then the mighty Columbia River, between Hood River and The Dalles. They have a ton of tent sites (80-ish?), so I easily got a nice spot at 4 PM on Fourth of July Friday - woo! Downhill I can see the river between the trees, and hear the train when it comes through, and uphill is the constant sound of the interstate - as regular and monotonous as the Pacific surf I tell myself :)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
Delighted to have a place to be on a holiday evening, and for that place to be such a nice place!<\/p>\n
<\/a>
It was so empty when I got here, now the neighbor's laundry is 10' away<\/div><\/div>I chose my particular site because of the\u00a0long stretch of unoccupied\u00a0hillside below it looking towards the river. But DUH, this is Fourth Weekend, so infilling of that open space happens quickly. There are three vehicles and roughly 11 people in that formerly empty space. My open van door is sort of dominating the picnic table of the nice family below me. Oh well, by my camp rules I’m here first<\/p>\n
<\/a>
Memaloose - Island of the Dead - can't un-know that<\/div><\/div>I took a small hike (slightly longer than a “walk”) up to the Rest Area. They’ve landscaped it to have pretty nice views up the river. It was a nice place to be for sunset. The also had information signs. I found it oddly disconcerting to find that the somber\u00a0little island in the middle of the river was an Indian grave\u00a0site, and that the word “Memaloose” means something like “Island of the Dead”. I won’t think of my campsite the same. :-\\<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Wow, I hadn’t realized how much the sun was messing up my mornings. Slept till 10 in the cool, dark quiet of the east side of the lake. Tonight and tomorrow are going to be stressful, so it is hard … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-july-2016-nostalgia-tour"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.whufu.com\/wpwhu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}