And Now We’re Off…

Eric and I hit the road yesterday at last. Got started at about 1:00 and quickly realized neither of us had eaten lunch yet. Well, not to worry, I know of a place in Vancouver, Washington called “I ❤️ Gyro” that I love and I thought Eric would like.

I got the Lamb Gyro and Eric got the Chicken. One bite in and he said “Oh Jan would love this!” I was kind of askeert that he was unimpressed with it himself but luckily that was not the case - he enjoyed his as well and soon we were on the road again.

We passed Mount Hood (pictured at top) on our way to Mecca Flats Campground, a BLM site on the Deschutes River where we stayed for the night.

Here we are after getting our sleeping arrangements set up. Eric had the top floor penthouse suite on top of his truck, and I had the Marmot Hotel you see on the ground. (It even says “Marmot” on it. I’m pretty sure they named it that because of the clientele they usually serve). But hey, I had a cot to put my sleeping bag on so who’s complaining?

Anyway, strolling around by the river we saw a beautiful sunset, or at least some colorful clouds above the ridge. A beautiful end to a long day. Darkness came and with it the rain, which served as a very nice white noise generator on the tent’s rain fly, helping me fall blissfully asleep quite a few times.

And then it was 5:00 A.M. and the guy who came in after us decided it was time to pack up and leave. I think I heard him say his name was “Mr.-Oh-this-goes-in-the-car-too-and-this-and-this-and-this-as-well”, - slamming the car door closed between each item.

Finally he was done and gone so I tried to sleep one more time, but it just wasn’t happening, so I gave up and made some coffee.

And that’s how today started.