Monday 14th April.


I now am fully aware I am not in the blissful warm climes of Mexico anymore….this morning Ramona’s furnace was switched on, out came the long sweat pants, the hooded top and the thick socks!!!! It was a beautiful clear sunny morning but cold.

Today was to be a drive along the Columbia River Gorge towards Portland I am in no hurry as my appointment for Ramona is not until Thursday morning. Thanks to my friend Lee, who I met in Mazatlan, she told me to visit the underground city of Pendleton, her hometown.

I knew the drive to Pendleton was going to go over a mountain pass what I did not realize was that the pass is high elevation and with that at this time of year comes high wind, snow and freezing and that is exactly what I encounted. I promised myself three years ago that I was going to eliminate the word snow and the sight of snow from my mind well I was brought back down to earth this morning. The drive was a little bit hairy, especially for me not used to driving in snowy icy conditions and especially for Ramona who like her owner is a fair weather girl. What didn’t help were the hundreds of truckers just flying by kicking up their mess of snow, ice and road debris. Fortunately the pass was only about a 15 mile stretch then it all cleared up as I approached the valley leading into Pendleton.

I found the underground tour company and they only had one tour that day at 1pm so I booked my place on that. The history of the town is that is was back in the early 1800’s a settlement for prospectors and farmers coming from the east. Many Chinese were brought in for the hard labouring jobs and a thriving town grew along with bars and brothels. Because of the discrimination against the Chinese they were made to build underground tunnels and were to live in them and the Sundowners law brought into effect where they were not allowed above ground when the sun went down. The tunnels were extensive and covered miles underneath the down town core and surrounding areas. The tour was both very informative and interesting, thanks Lee!!

I then continued west along the river and found this great rest area by the river to spend the night.

When I left in November I brought with me many DVD’s of pre-recorded TV shows to watch in the evenings because I knew on my journey many nights after supper and the sun going down a movie or a game or a show would be great to watch, well my supply ran out a few days ago and that is when I discovered the Red Box Company. It is basically a vending machine that dispenses new movie rentals for one dollar. The best part for me is that these machines are located in most of the McDonalds stores and Albertson’s, the grocery outlet and you don’t have to return the DVD to the same place you rented it. So for a dollar I can pick up a movie in one town and return the next day to a different location along my trip, great deal!!

Tomorrow going to continue my journey towards Portland then turn north for the Seattle area, getting closer……..it is cold and the wind sends a chilling breeze through this sun baked body of mine, need time to adapt to my new surroundings…will post this when I come to a small town library, blessings..