1. It took us most of the morning to decide that we'd hit the road for Eugene today, but after some hemming and hawing, we did our final bit of packing and spiffing up of things around the house and hit the road. We stopped in Ritzville for a coffee and I enjoyed an almond croissant. Travel conditions were very good until we left the Tri-Cities.
2. Just south of the Tri-Cities, I lost all sense of time and space. We headed toward and then eased on to I-84 and entered a world of snow, some wind, sleet, rain, slush, occasional blinding sprays of water and snow from other vehicles on our windshield, darkness, and poor visibility. Fortunately, the Camry never slipped or slid on the roads. Most of the time, the tires were in contact with asphalt, but I had to contend with some slush and snow. The conditions were arduous, but by maintaining a speed of 40-50 mph and by staying calm and patient and focused, I drove us through these 160 miles or so of the most demanding conditions I've driven in for many many years.
Just before we reached Troutdale, the snow turned once and for all into rain. Visibility improved. By the time we reached I-5, the temperature warmed up, we had stretches of no precipitation, and the last leg of our drive was much easier, even enjoyable.
As it turned out, as hard as we tried to avoid stormy winter conditions along the might Columbia River, we failed to avoid them.
The beautiful thing is that the Camry performed well, we took our time, we laughed when The Who's song, "I Can See for Miles" came on the Sirius/XM satellite radio -- oh! the irony! -- , and we made it safely to Eugene.
3. We arrived in Eugene about ten hours after we left Kellogg. Upon entering the City of Eugene, we drove straight to McMenamin's High Street Pub and Cafe.
I knew we were going to do this and the promise of a pint of my favorite of all Pale Ales, the great Hammerhead, awaiting me at the pub strengthened my resolve to get to Eugene tonight.
The Hammerhead was perfect.
So was the Happy Hour Cheeseburger with fries.
Driving in the Columbia Gorge had been an ordeal, but the beer was so perfect and the burger so satisfying that the difficulties of the day vanished, and my body and mind totally relaxed and, once we arrived at Anne's house, I was ready to fall into a comatose state of sleep.
Oh! An added bonus. We are here to dogsit Anne's dog, Poppy, and she and I hit it off immediately and I'm going to love being with her for as long as we are here.
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