From Tionesta, CA to Portland, OR

Prior to the news we received on Thursday, our intention had been to stay in this area for a week before going to Crater Lake, the Oregon coast, Portland, Hells Canyon and the Oregon Trail and then moving into Idaho. However, plans changed in light of the fact that I would be flying to the UK for Mum’s funeral. Caitlin chose to join me on the trip and we booked flights for May 30th. This meant changing campground reservations and cutting a few of our intended stopping points either short or out altogether.

Knowing that we needed to be back in Reno for flights, we altered our route and decided to head directly north to Portland, OR for a few days. We knew it would be a long-drive day and got an early start. We paused briefly at the World War 2 National Memorial in Tulelake, north of the National Monument. This was the sight of one of ten Concentration Camps in the USA, which housed 100,000 US residents of Japanese origin, many of whom were US citizens. Jake had read about these camps last year so we were able to discuss racism and paranoia, which can really rear its ugly head during times of political unrest. It’s impossible not to learn new things as we drive along the roads in this country, informational stops like these abound along the way.

Much of our initial drive took us along the Volcanic Byway, Oregon’s Scenic Driveway. Oregon is state number 36 of our travel year, our time is flying by. We passed a Gun and Rifle Club en route that made us giggle, their sign stated: ‘Shoot 24 hours a day, only $50 annual family membership’ – quite the different area from what we’re used to! Jake was excited, “Does this mean I could go in and shoot?”

We stopped for lunch in Canyonville by the Seven Feathers Casino Resort, lunch was uninteresting but we had to stop to take a photo of the incredible eagle statue outside the casino. At the gas station, the girl pumping our gas took time to look all around our rig and especially at the front and rear hitches, as well as the sway bars. We were laughing, a real country gal, I live in it and have never shown that much interest!

We arrived at the Portland Fairview RV Resort in good time, quite a big park and pretty busy. The kids were excited to see the heated pool but while we stayed, there was a lot of rain so we never made it into the pool, Nate was especially disappointed. The previous schedule would have had us staying here for 5 days a couple of weeks later so it would have been slightly different.

Over the couple of days we were there, the owners gave the kids some duck food to feed the ducks living on the pond and Jake spent some time shooting hoops. We chose it for its proximity to the city as we had wanted to go to the Rose Festival; unfortunately we never even made it into the city of Portland at all. We did gaze over at it as we left, across the river, as the carnival rides and tents were being set up.