Seattle to Quincy road trip

[arctictraveller]

A quick trip from Seattle to Quincy California for a buddy’s birthday party seemed like the thing to do.
The trip began, with a stop in Portland for some Mofongo, which if you didn’t know is the national dish of Puerto Rico.Our friend and former co worker at Un Cruise, Carlo,has opened a food cart at the Portland Mercado, and we wanted to visit.It was a stop well worth making. It seems that within a month of opening, he had won a “Best of Portland” award and was over whelmed with business. He even had to close long enough to restock his food. We had a great lunch and visit.
Soon we were well hidden, deep in the Mt Hood national forest, yet only a hundred yards from the road where we found our first campsite.As usual we used our trusted “You need a map” app to highlight all the BLM land and national forest boundary’s, where boondocking is always legal. Our first dirt road lead us to a campground full of motor homes, campers and a van or two, definitely not our preferred place to camp.The next dirt road ended quickly with a washed out bridge.Finally, on the third try, only about half a mile from the campground we landed at a spot labeled as an “Historic campsite”.With room for only 1 van, there was a small meadow filled with daisies and other flowers, lots of large trees and best of all, not even one other person.Time to open a beer and put out the chairs.
The following day found us in Oregon, driving through an active fire zone, with firefighters mopping up alongside the road.Those guys work under horrendous conditions, it’s hot, smoky, dusty, dangerous work, all while carrying 50 lbs of equipment on their backs.I don’t know what they get paid, but I do know it’s not enough.By the end of the day, we were in Northern California looking for a camp site. Along the way we saw a sign that must have been warning us to look out for dead cows on the road. We didn't see any, but since it was late, we ended grabbing the first spot we found that was down a dusty, dry dirt road.It probably rated about a 2 as camp sites go, but after a good nights sleep we were off again.
Early afternoon found us passing through Greenville Ca, where the smell of BBQ, the sound of live music and a car show caused us to make an immediate stop.I fell in love with a 57 Chevy resto-mod, but Mrs A/T said “no more vehicles for you, until I get a new car”.So, we were on the road again shortly and arrived in Quincy early afternoon.The party started around 6pm, and the band began at 9pm.Needless to say, lots of alcohol was consumed along with plenty of BBQ, followed by dancing and more alcohol.Fortunately, we had enough sense to walk to the party from where we were parked, so there was little danger of getting in any trouble. The next day we headed up into the mountains along with a buddy in his Jeep, where we found an isolated campsite next to a lake.It was an actual campground, but there was no one there except a trail maintenance crew. Oddly, it was clean and well improved, but there was no charge.More beer was consumed while sitting lakeside, but we had an early afternoon appointment at the Reno airport where Mrs A/T had a flight to Montana to attend a Bluegrass festival.While I was in Reno, I took the opportunity to buy a couple new tires at the Tire Rack warehouse.Their prices were about $100 a pair less than the highest quote I got from 4 Wheel Parts, and about $75 less than Summit Racing, and no shipping since I was there. The new tires made a big difference in the handling of the van too, along with a better ride.The two old ones will be my new spares as soon as I mount them.The next day I turned on my phone and found several urgent texts asking how quickly I could return to Seattle for a boat delivery.So, I left immediately and after driving 14 hours, sleeping for about 6 at a rest stop and starting again at 0600, at about 0800 I got another text saying “Never mind, were delayed till Tuesday due to weather on the outer coast”Oh well, now I have time to clean out the van for the next trip which will be the Abbotsford BC air show, then the flat track races, car show, and swap meet in Goldendale Wa.Being retired is growing on me…………………………..

[gcvt]

Why didn't you just buy the '57 Chevy and put it in her name? That counts as a new car for her.

Great report Jeff

[daveb]

Pure experience

[arctictraveller]

Originally Posted by gcvt

Why didn't you just buy the '57 Chevy and put it in her name? That counts as a new car for her.

Great report Jeff

She want's some silly compact thing that gets 40mpg, which wouldn't be a problem if we had more room. I'd have to sell the BMW to make room for the 57, but I don't want to do that to make room for an econobox. Never the less, if I want to keep funding van projects, I might just give in on that one.