Saturday 9 May, 8am, 50mi East of Portland, OR -- Awakes to finches chirping and lady bugs crawling on his tent fly. Stretches. Believes this is going to be the day he makes it to Pullman. Tells his car this is going to be the day he makes it to Pullman. Tells the camp hosts he's leaving his possessions on the picnic table and in his tent for a few hours while he goes to get a tire replaced. Hopes they won't get tampered with. The camp hosts say they'll keep an eye on things. The camp hosts cumulatively weigh close to 500lbs. Brett feels like his possessions are safe.
8:30am, Hood River, OR -- Because Volvo is all-wheel-drive, Brett has to replace all four tires. It costs him a pretty penny. "A final pretty penny," he says, cheerfully, doubtfully.
9:30am, 50mi East of Portland, OR -- Back at the campsite Brett begins to load everything back into his car. To shift the weight forward he straps two of the bulkiest items onto his roof. Gets everything loaded. The frame sags like before, but is no longer bottomed out on the rear axle. Leaves for Pullman. No music. No slouching. Just drives.
noon, OR/WA border -- Crosses the Jordan (Columbia).
4:30pm, Pullman, WA -- Enters the Promised Land.
Hood river is one of my favorite towns in all the world.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you made it! I breathed a huge sigh of relief for you when I finally got to this post.
ReplyDeleteI'm exhausted just reading about your tour so far. Best of luck on the rest of it. We're all pulling for you.
ReplyDeleteIf I didn't know the ending of this saga, I'd would have been too heartbroken to ready past Part III! Way to go for hanging in there, B! You can do this trip, and it will be epic!
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