Getting Pretty Good At This

Chrysa and I were ready to leave California when the time came. I had wrapped up work at El Rancho, and Chrysa’s schedule had worn her down. We let out a collective sigh when we turned in the keys, turned on the CB radios, and rolled out of Lompoc.

I had planned the routes and the stops on our road trip, and I think I did a pretty good job on this one. Our first stop would be in Fairfield California. Chrysa was coming off a long stretch of hours at work and could only handle so many hours in the car. I was originally thinking of stopping in Sacramento, but it seemed a little ghetto. Fairfield is just outside of Napa…much better option!

The first day should have only been about 6 hours in the cars. It turned out to be closer to 9. There is only one person (or cat) we can blame for this. Nick decided that he wasn’t as ready for a car ride to Napa as we were. I’ll spare you the details, but all body fluids were represented along the way. We had to stop several times to clean up. I was really worried that this was going to set the tone for the other legs of the trip.

We got into Fairfield later than expected, but the hotel was nice, and located next to a pizza restaurant. The pets rested while Chrysa and I fueled up on carbs, cheese and local beer. Dinner and a shower really refreshed us. The next leg of the trip took us to Eugene, OR. The Eugene leg would be the longest time in the cars. We needed to be rested and ready.

The trip to Eugene was blissfully uneventful. The cat had resigned himself to being in the car (yay, no poop!), and the scenery through northern Cali and southern Oregon was beautiful. Don’t get me wrong, we were sick of driving, but overall it wasn’t bad. We did miss one turn in Eugene, but we got to the hotel with plenty of time to get a nice dinner and some drinks.

We ended up walking to a place called The Cooler. The Cooler is a really cool college bar right near the University of Oregon. It was great chatting with the bartender while eating cheap tacos and drinking local beers. We were having such a cool time, I was tempted to stay for trivia night, but we had an activity planned for the next day.

The next leg of the trip took us to Portland, which is just a couple hours away, so we had time in the morning to get in some physical fitness. Our hotel was adjacent to Pre’s Trail, which runs next to the U of O. Chrysa noticed this while doing some research on the area, and immediately decided that a run was in order. She was absolutely giddy with excitement as we ran in the footsteps of Steve Prefontaine. It turned out to be just what the doctor ordered, getting us revved up for the rest of our road trip.

We ended up getting to Portland at the perfect time. It was unseasonably warm, with full sun, and the trees were in bloom. I had planned and extra day layover in Portland so we would have time to explore a little bit.

We really got to see a lot in the short time we were in Portland. On day one we walked along the riverfront, strolled the streets of downtown, and ate at the Portland City Grill. Our dinning spot was on the 30^th floor of a high rise building downtown. We had a wonderful time eating great food with spectacular views of the city and the Cascade Mountains.

Day 2 was equally as nice. After buying some new boots, we headed to the Pittock Mansion. It was another perfect weather day, so the views were spectacular. We had a great time on the tour, and learned a lot about the history of the area. We finished up the day (St. Patrick’s Day in fact) at Meriwether’s Restaurant. The restaurant is in a historic building which fit the theme of the day pretty nicely. Chrysa and I had a lovely dinner and really enjoyed the quiet atmosphere. This place is a must the next time we visit Portland.

Our final destination was, of course, Spokane WA. The drive was pretty uneventful until…disaster struck! Chrysa rolled over some debris on the highway and punctured a tire.  Additionally, the spare was flat. Being the seasoned travelers we are, we didn’t panic. We have AAA for just such an emergency, and they arrived very promptly. In fact, I even finished the trip and checked into the hotel and waited for Chrysa. The whole flat tire thing happened about 30 miles outside of Spokane. Honestly, it could have been worse. In fact, with all the driving we do, I can’t believe something like this hasn’t happened before.

Our new apartment was ready the following day. We made arrangements to have the tire fixed, transferred and condensed down to one car, and moved into our new place. The new digs are in Spokane Valley and are very nice. We didn’t waste a second settling in and even did a quick exploration of the downtown park before Chrysa started work on Monday.

So far the transition to Spokane has gone really well. Chrysa is getting rave reviews at work, and we are both loving the area. Keep reading to hear about our further adventures in the Pacific North West.

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