Day 1 Visiting old friends

With Sue busy finishing her work in California, I (Mo) decided to travel to Eastern Oregon and Idaho to visit old time friends from my pre-college days living in Columbia City, Oregon.  Abby is a great travel companion, and at 6am we left home and headed east via HWY 140 to 395N at Lakeview.  Lake Abert is a saline lake on the west side of the highway and it was surprisingly full for this time of year.  I found a side road off 395 that took off toward Christmas Valley to the west near milepost 36, and thought that it might be an interesting way to go back home on my return trip.  Although the weather was pleasant when I left home, by the time I was east of Drinkwater Pass on highway 20 things started to heat up.  It was 102 degrees when I reached Fruitdale, ID in the afternoon.

As I mentioned previously, Abby is a great travel companion, but her ability to follow the maps and read directions while I drive isn't all that great.  Usually when Sue and I are together, one of us can navigate while the other one drives.  This time, going through Ontario, I got lost since I was having trouble reading the directions that I received from my friends while driving the motorhome.  When I left home, gas was 2.65 and I filled up in Fruitdale at 2.76 per gallon.  Certainly not anywhere as bad as things were a year ago for gas prices.

The late afternoon visit with my friends was delightful, catching up on old times and laughing.  I had a reservation for the evening at Farewell Bend State Park, about 25 miles north on I-84.  The campground wasn't full, however, possibly because of the 102 degree weather!  I set up camp and turned on the AC and all was fine.  Abby went for a swim in the Snake River so she was happy.  One more time, she was like a kid in the water, refusing to come out because she was having so much fun.  I had to actually pretend to leave and get completely out of sight before she would reluctantly follow.

After her swim, we walked around the campground and I spent some time reading, had a simple sandwich for supper, with fresh lettuce from my friend's garden, and built a campfire as the sun went down.  Of course, in the heat I really didn't need it to keep warm, but I love the ambience of the fire when I am out camping.  I set the AC for 77 degrees and it went on and off repeatedly as the rig would heat up even during the night. All in all a good day, especially with the convenience of air conditioning and available electricity.