Summer 2026 continued

Murphys, Ca. -- Sitting at my computer here in California's 96 degree heat at 11 a.m. makes it easy to forget how lucky we were traveling in late July and early August. We stayed cool most of the trip, and avoided smoke and fires that were choking the middle of Oregon and Washington states. We left the Pacific Coast July 25 and traveled straight east along the Columbia River. It is a lovely drive along the river, watching the sparse river traffic and getting a glimpse of Multanomah Falls along the way. Oregon has good rest stops and we tucked in between a semi and a giant RV for a break along the way.

We had expected to find an inexpensive motel for one night in Kennewick, Washington, to break up the trip to Spokane, but it turned our every baseball player in the region was in town for a big tournament and rooms were at a premium. Despite my whining, the best deal we could find was almost $300 for a standard room and free carboard breakfast. I swallowed hard and we took it, ready to get off the road. We left early the next day, called our son to warn him we would be there earlier than expected, and drove stright north through the farm country to Spokane.

We found the campground at a regional park east of town by early afternoon and had a happy reunion with son Zack, granddaughter Katie and her boyfriend and two beautiful and rambunctious great-grand children Jamie and Enlo.

They made our day by bringing us gifts of small stuffed wristband toys which now permanently decorate our little camper.

We went to the lake's swimming beach so the kids could play, and then had a big meal together. After a couple of days a good visits we decided to head back to the coast as the fires to the South in Oregon and central Washington seemed to be growing. Little did we know.

While we were relaxing at a beautiful Oregon park on the Columbia River, fires were breaking out all around Spokane, putting our family instantly on alert. Our son Zack was standing by to evacuate, while his efficient sister Ruth was keeping him posted by phone and monitoring the fires by computer from her home in Murphys. The story ebded well for our family, as the fires cames close but they did not have to evacuare, though they did help friends escape the threat.

The next day we were back on the Pacific, looking for seafood and cooler places. We decided to stay a bit longer on the coast, and planned to head for familiar ground on the Northern Calirofnia coast. We stopped for one night at Gold Beach, Oregon, where once again the motels were almost full, but we got lucky and found a clean and well-located spot at a Motel 6, not a bargain but not a ripoff, that came complete with a mother deer and two babies walking by us in the parking lot.

We revisted an eating place on the waterfront, and a coffee shop and book store we liked on an earlier visit. We spent a night at a coastal park with a last minute reservation (don't do that again!). Stayed another night at a private park that turned out to be crowded and noise (don't do that again). and Then thanks to our Murphy neighbors the Agenos, we ended up at a very nice private RV park near Fort Bragg for our last few nights on the road. That was just on the edge of town and we had dinner with them on the waterfront, toured the wonderful botanical gardens and spent some time just looking at the ocean becfore deciding it was time to head home.

We traveled almost 3,000 miles in three weeks, had a great time, and would do it again in a heartbeat. Lessons learned: never drive more than 5 hours in one day, plan stops of around three nights (one-nighters are not fun) and take time to smell the ocean, the meadows and the flowers.