Day 4 - WE MADE IT!!!!

Left Caldwell, Idaho at 8:00 AM this morning and crossed into Oregon around 8:30. We were so excited to finally see this sign:

Cut off the Interstate just a little ways into Oregon and drove a US highway through Eastern Oregon. We had never been through this part of Oregon before and I guess it would be what is called the High Desert - lots of sagebrush and rocks with some grass - mostly brown now - here and there. We did follow a river through a canyon for awhile that was pretty:

Came out of the hills/canyon into some flat land - more High Desert with lots of sage and the road seemed to go on forever:

We started smelling a little smoke in the air and could actually see some of it floating over so we checked online to see where the fires were. Looked like there were some south of where we were at and the wind was blowing from the south so that explained it and we pressed on westward.

The Boys have been tolerating the long days on the road pretty well. They both are really good about drinking water in the truck from a bowl we have and also let us know when it's time to "go".  They also gets snacks along the way too. Here's Dash having a look around:

Angus is pretty much over it by now and perturbed at being woken up for a picture:

As we got closer to Bend, Oregon, the landscape started changing. There were trees and greener grass to look at and finally, we saw the mountains:

Then, we came around another bend and saw THE Mountain - Mount Hood!!

After getting fuel in Bend, we headed further to the West over the Cascade Mountains. We decided to take a road we had taken on a previous visit - figured out pretty quick that it might not have been a good choice to take a 34 foot travel trailer down. The road was really narrow and one spot had 11 miles of 6% grade. We'll just say it was an interesting ride but we made it without any dents, dings or scratches - although Jen might have left marks on the "o-sh*t" handle on the door!

Needless to say, we don't have many pictures from the "fun" part but here's one from before the road narrowed:

 After what seemed like forever, we made it down the mountain and into the Willamette Valley. This valley is very lush and full of farm ground. Farmers were out plowing their fields and kicking up dirt here and there. Here's a typical field:

We crossed over the Coastal Range without incident and made it into Lincoln City right at 6:00 PM. We checked into the RV Park and headed for our site. Unfortunately, it was a back-in site but fortunately, the Park Manager was up there and guided Julz into the space - backed right into the spot!   Our site overlooks the ocean! It is beautiful!! Here's our view from the back window:

Woke up this morning to a chilly camper though- think it got down into the 50s last night and we ended up putting the furnace on this morning to warm up the camper so we could take our showers.

Not sure what we're up to today - may head up to Tillamook for some cheese and stop at some of the roadside stands for some fresh fruits and veggies!