We decided to listen to American radio for the first time on our trip. The first words we heard being broadcasted were: “Young women should not be allowed to have abortions…”. Quick change to the next FM station – this time it was a guy on folk guitar singing about “Sunday the Sabbath”. Next up was a Ricky Martin-esque Spanish-language cheese-pop song – we made it through one verse. A turn of the radio knob took us to the middle of a country tune: “…grabbed my woman and grabbed my gun…”. That’s when we turned off the radio.
A Gorge-ous Drive
We slept for free in another rest area last night – this time in Rufus, northern Oregon. We hit the road at about 8 am and drove west through the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic area, where the Columbia River has cut a deep canyon through volcanic lava and mudflows dating back 40 million years. All along the gorge are volcanic rock outcrops, cascading waterfalls, and industrial locks and dams. The famously windy region is also a windsurfing mecca.
Since it was Memorial Day long weekend, the most popular attractions on the scenic drive were crawling with people. We enjoyed the gorgeous scenery along the winding road that followed the contours of the valley walls. This road was originally built in the 40’s for recreational automobile travel, so it was really narrow and dangerously close to the edge of some ridiculously steep slopes. Thankfully, Gregor is a good driver. (more…)
Day 1
We’re in the USA! We left Calgary last night at about 7 pm and picked up a Swiss Chalet dinner to eat on the road (if you look at the photo below, you’ll see that the quarter-chicken I ordered looks kind of like a buttocks). We drove toward the border via the historic and very scenic Crowsnest Hwy (#3). The plan was to get as close to the border as we could that evening. After four hours of driving in the rain, we stopped at a well-treed rest area about 15 minutes east of Fernie, BC, where we opened a bottle of champagne and celebrated the first day of our trip. The champagne wasn’t very good, actually. We had to cut it with some juice. But we were happy as clams. (more…)
The Biggest Decision
We’re leaving this weekend for our big road trip! After months of careful planning and several days of strategic packing, one decision remained…What shoes do we bring? (more…)
Travelling Plant
On Saturday, we purchased a small plant that will travel with us on our road trip. We first went to the local greenhouse to get some expert advice on a hearty plant that could survive the trip. The nice lady at the greenhouse politely listened to our hair-brained idea and examined the tiny white flower pot that we just bought from the “AS-IS” section at IKEA. She pointed out some sad-looking succulents (they were 50% off), but after considering the harsh conditions that we would likely put it through (debilitating summer heat, bumpy roads, changing environmental conditions), she eventually concluded: “Maybe a silk plant would be your best option.” I didn’t like that answer. (more…)