HRSaR

[McMurphy]

One more of the frog behind the wheel:



Chapter 7: "There's No Place Like Home !!"

Just like the rest of the fellows who showed up, Trish and I had a great time hanging out with Bomp and his wife, and we stayed as late as we could. Our travels for that day were not quite over with, we still had to make it to Eugene/Springfield that night.
The next day was a family reunion with a sister and cousins I had not seen since we were all teenagers, and we had a hotel room awaiting us.

The reunion went well, it was both akward and awesome to reconnect with that branch of the family tree. I only wish Trish and I were settling in closer, but like my best friend said last night "Dude you are only a couple hundred miles away now, not thousands of miles like usual." -- so again I guess it is all about perspective.

Making it to the reunion was the next to last major stop we were supposed to make. We had plans to stop and see another relative of mine, but by the time Monday, 11 August rolled around we had been on the road-traveling for 9 days straight and we were getting a bit weary of it.
Bomp volunteered to take off work early, since we were passing back through his town to get home, and we made plans for dinner that evening. We stayed one more night in Oregon, but it was so hot and stuffy that I doubt anyone got any sleep.
Nonetheless, by 03:00 am Tuesday morning we were up and on the road home.

The sun was coming up as we gassed up in the Dalles, 128 miles from our stating point. We blew thru Portland, past the visitor centers and turn outs for the sights, all with a promise to each other that we would come back and take our time.
Admittedly by that point we only had one thought, and that was to get it all home.
Today if possible.

The weather was hazy which was a relief because we were pretty sun baked by then. Driving up the Columbia River has always been a favorite of mine, and this time did not disappoint either as we spotted all kinds of wildlife from the highway. Trish saw a wild big horn sheep for the first time; just a hundred yards or so from us.
To go from sea level (Seattle-Portland) to Spokane you are going to climp up at least 1,500 to 2,000 feet in elevation. The route we were on was probably the easiest way to do that, which made it a tremendously stress free drive. After the Dalles, one more gas stop in Pasco, WA and our epic journey came to an official close at one of our favorite locations at 11:30 Tuesday, 12 August 2014:


******************************Trip Stats:*******************************

Total miles: 1,531
Total time: 9 days - 19 hours
Total spent on fuel: $835.00 (no other fluids were needed during the trip)
I have the fuel calculations done, but I cannot find them and without the amounts I cannot recreate, sorry. I will however tell you this....it was ugly. Very very ugly.
Parts: 1 fuse, 1 battery, 1 altenator
Total Weight on arrival: 14,900 lbs (remember we unloaded a lot of stuff in SeaTac, enough to fill a 5x5x10 closet)

The stepside aged 10 years on the trip with rock chips and being constantly out in the weather. The tow truck pulled into our place out in Chattaroy as if we had only gone around the block.
We made it home with no accidents or injuries, and as a foot note to all the stress, we made it with no seatbelts!
They were never installed in the Tow Truck.
I told you it was a bare bones model.

The cats were happy to be out of their camper incarceration.
Our male tabby on top of our 77 Cheyenne:

The wee lass female kitty:


It was nice to be home.