Portland - We did it!

Marriage Still Intact!
3,100 miles
8.3 miles per gallon average.

Cheapest gas $2.65 / gallon

Sleaze bag hotels all the way.
Amazing to see first hand the country coast to coast.
Check off another Bucket List Item.
We both have a new appreciation and viewpoint of the country and people.
Beautiful ride into Portland along 150 miles of the Columbia River with the trees in full autumn colors.
Friday get the apartment sorted and unload, we have hired help to unload the truck. Yes it will be raining.
Friday night dinner and beer at our new local neighborhood brewery the Sasquatch.
But tonight, I got in my first Portland beer - Full Sail Winter Brew. I have waited 3,100 miles for this.

Check back for the trip epilog next week when we figure just what the hell is going on.

Also, we are going to keep this blog going with our adventures, as a record for our selves, and to share with family and friends.

73,

Captain Dave

Keep on trucking!

Portland, Oregon

Rose here

To the sound of Feel it All Around by Washed Out we went under the sign for Portland. The rain easing off slightly.

Tomorrow we drive to the apartment in Hillsdale.

Yup - it's raining

Rose here

Of course it's raining. We're on the last stretch into Portland.

Columbia river

Rose here

We've been driving alongside the Columbia River for a while. It will take us all the way to Portland. There's quite a bit of mist but we haven't hit any rain yet.

It's so big - here's a barge chugging along coming from the Port of Arlington on the side of the river.

Greentree Farms

Rose here

Acres and acres of uniform skinny trees.

Day 7 - Oregon

Rose here

Cloudy start to the day. We both woke up early as our bodies haven't yet adjusted to the 3 hour time change. We're on Pacific time now.

Drove through pine covered hills and it must have rained earlier as the road was wet.

Stopped at a rest area and chatted to a truck driver who noticed our Smart car had a Florida plate. She came from Florida and her family were still there. Like us she preferred the cool weather of the North West.

This picture shows Deadman's Drop - we are going down a 6% downgrade into a valley. Still over cast.

Day - 6 - Brigham, UT to Baker City, OR

Oregon! We Made It! Only 9 million more miles to Portland...

Let's start with this morning.
Not a bad ride through north west Utah,  the same view we have now had for days.
Our timing was perfect (dumb luck) getting through the mountain passes between two snow storms.

Passing into south western Idaho,  we must have crossed the famous Snake River 6 times.

Now if you are a fly fishermen, just the mention of the Snake River can set your stripping hand quivering.
I am so excited to start seeing first hand these famous western rivers. We will cross many more on the way into Portland.
I plan on spending my days fly fishing in the classic style, sort of Hemingway of the NW. Well, I look like him anyway.

I noticed Idaho smelled like cow poo, all the time, for hundreds of miles, even when no cows were in site.
In fact, each state seems to have a different smell - Idaho is cow poo.

I guess people in Idaho like the smell, so when I was in the truck stop I checked out the selection of car fresheners (ya know, those little Christmas trees you hang from the rear view mirror). They had pine, evergreen, sanded wood, evening calm, but no 'Midnight Manure'. I'll bet they were sold out.

Our plan was to stop in Boise, Idaho for lunch. There is not enough disk space on Google's servers for me to write why you should avoid this plan, so just say it was one of my bad ideas, and to pass Boise should you find yourself on Highway 84.

Crossing into Oregon was very exciting for us. This was a big F^%%%%^g move and we have done it.
So far, the speed limit has dropped from 80 mph 65 mph, it is illegal to talk on you cellphone while driving, and it does not smell like cow poo. I like this state already! We are driving at the bottom of a deep gorge, steep sides, great colors, and a river running along side that looks clean and fresh.

Stopped in Baker City for the night. It says it is an Historic Town. From talking to the hotel lady, it sounds like a really cool place we will have to return to and check out.

Rose and I feel our old selves seeping back through the layers of scar tissue, and sun tan lotion. I'm just chatting away to everyone, having a great time. OK, went a bit to far in Laramie,  but I have to get used to old self again.

David

What Are You Wearing?

For the trip I am wearing three different types of lenses in my glasses.

One of the benefits of working at a company that makes sunglass lenses, is I have learned what types of lenses lend themselves to different conditions. Most of us just have one set we wear all the time and I can tell you need all three of these colors at minimum.

Dark Grey - whether polarized or just tinted these lenses are great for super bright conditions like driving into the sun, at the beach, or out in the boat. Their main benefit is they block out a lot of light. If you need to block out more light then you need to put a bag on your head - and I have seen some of you guys and would recommend that you do - Ha!

Brown / Amber Polarized - these should be your go to color for everyday driving and fishing. They provided much more contrast than grey lenses and let you see the road, through water, and the world in much greater detail. I really like them when driving anytime I'm not being blasted directly in the face by the sun. For fishing, they are vastly better at spotting fish and scanning bottom structure on the flats, or in rivers than grey lenses.

Yellow with Anti-Reflective Coating - Wow! I recently got these and they are fantastic. Go to our website and order some right now www.fuselenses.com. OK you're back, the Yellow Tint (non polarized) are to be worn in the dark. YEP, not your clear lenses - Yellow!

Fantastic for night driving and fishing. Actually, when you have them on they look rather clear to people looking at you, so they are only minor in the "60's wow dude" look. Ok, Dave we know you like them, cut to it and tell us why.

Here we go, you are on a dark and rainy New Jersey road, like out of a Steven King novel,  and having a hard time seeing what is on the road before you. You are frustrated and remember that cool dude Dave talked you into getting some Yellow Tint Lenses with AR. You pull over and put them on.

Suddenly, it is like someone through the light switch and you can see like 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Your stress subsides and you are now on a carefree drive along A1A to the Keys with dreams of margaritas and smoked fish spread!

Think I am exaggerating a bit, nope they are that good. I don't ever wear clear lenses at night any more.

Keep trucking,
David

Snake River, Oregon

Rose here

Breathtaking, coming down this valley to see the river in front of us.

Oregon - WE MADE IT

Rose here

This was so close. We nearly missed the sign because we were ogling a pretty river and it snuck up on us.

And we got a photo of the mileage sign. Notice the hawk sitting on the sign? PUT A BIRD ON IT, CALL IT ART. Portlandia fans will get the quote.

Snake River, Idaho

Rose here

Our first view of the Snake River, which we will go by several times.

Crushed cars

Rose here

A truck carrying squares of crushed cars. One of the many interesting cargos we saw transported on the road.

Rupert, Idaho

Rose here

Had to take this picture of the sign to Rupert for my brother.

The Middle of Nowhere

Rose here

Stopped for a gas top up at this no name gas station. The gas was the most expensive so far - over $4 a gallon. There was a little petting zoo with a goat and sheep. And a sign on the window saying Welcome to the Middle of Nowhere.

Apps we find useful

Rose here

Just as a piece of info - we found several android apps to be of great use on the road.

YNAB - or You Need a Budget has been the saving grace of our lives in terms of getting back on financial track. I updated the software so I could use the app which syncs with Dropbox. While on the road I've been able to keep track of what we spend and balance it with the moving budget. We know which credit cards to use, how to pay for gas, hotels and meals.

David found a fantastic road map app called Navigator which uses the open source street maps. Irene, the Brit voice has done a very good job of getting us on and off major highways and to the hotels at night.

The Blogger app means we can post while in the truck. For some reason I have not been afflicted with my usual car sickness when reading on the move so I been able to type up posts as soon as I take a picture.

And that brings me to Snapseed, the photo editing app which allows me to crop out the bits of truck which get in the way of a picture.

BTW  - I have deliberately left in all the dead insects and bird poop smudges which show up on the pictures. Just for authenticity!

And lastly the Overdrive app. I can download talking books from the library and play them on my tablet. There is a microphone jack in the truck so we can play music and the audio books through the truck speakers.We know a lot about the scientific make up of a marriage, and how to eat on the wild side!

Day 6 - Utah, Idaho, Oregon

Rose here

Another clear day. We stayed a bit longer in the hotel this morning and took care of finances and stuff. We set out around 9am.

Much the same scenery. Lots of grass and rolling hills. The truck labours up hills and then whizzes down into valleys.

Got the Idaho state sign about an hour into today's trip.

And Now A Word From Our Sponsor

We used a nifty little cooler and 4 water bottles from FuseLenses.com
Filled them up with ice and we had nice cold water all day long on the drive.

Thanks to all the guys and gals at the shop!

Day 5 - 28th - Cheyenne, WY to Brigham, UT

Cheyenne, WY was our first real western city in look and feel.
Seems like a huge train yard - long trains coming in and out with noise all night long.
Woke up to freezing temps, but calm winds.

Heading west we got our first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains with snow covered peaks!
The winds were calm and the roads flat, although that would not last.

We are in the mountains now!
Passing through the Medicine Bow National Forest with its snow covered fir trees and rock formations was fantastic.

We stopped at the Walmart in Laramie,  WY to stock up on food.
I was walking through the parking lot yelling, "I can't believe we are shopping at Walmart in Laramie, Wyoming" and Rose told me to shut up before I got us both shot.

Chatted back and forth to Jeff at work a bit then my phone when Out Of Service, and stayed that way until we got to Utah.  I guess Wyoming and AT&T are not friends.

The winds and hills are back, very steep hills at that. We saw lots of deer, sheep, cows, and horses along the way.
Trains, trains, trains... Wow, trains in all directions hundreds of cars long each following eachother.
Some of the cars carry UPS, US Mail, etc... trailers. Gives you a much better idea of what it takes to get a package across the States.

The day was 450 miles and straight forward. Nice seeing the small towns and the mountions.

We are having fun with a talking book about marriage based on a lot of scientific testing.  I guess moving and 7 days cooped up together in a truck is one good test.

At days end we meet a fellow U Haul traveller, see picture. Nice family moving from South Texas to Washington State. They just had a baby and he said he was not going to raise it in Texas.  He grew up in Oregon and said the North West was a better place to be, so he managed to get a job there and go.

We have been lucky with great weather, except high winds, all the way. Today we will start hitting rain then rain all the way in. Looks like we just missed the heavy rain / snow which will be in the mountains behind us now.

Keep on truck'n
David

Salt Lake

Rose here

Driving along Salt Lake itself. Coming up to Brigham City where we will stop for the night.

Bigger hills

Rose here

These here hills are growing.

We've been paralleling the railway lines. Incredibly long cargo trains.

As we crept along Main Street, Hefner, Utah looking for a gas station (which we found - it was also the local store and cafe and too small to be able to park the truck and trailer), we saw a horse and rider plodding along the side of the road. We couldn't make out whether the rider was male or female BUT whoever it was they were texting while driving!

Utah state sign

Rose here

Reached Utah. Still getting great weather. It's cold but clear and sunny. 5 good days is pretty impressive.

Saw 3 bicyclists peddling along with their bikes covered in saddle bags and packs. Can't even imagine biking this kind of terrain.

Green River tunnel

Rose here

Our first tunnel through the rocks.

Green River, Wyoming

Rose here

We are into the hills and valleys. Gorgeous strips of coloured rocks. Outcrops of harder rocks rise above the worn hills.

Laramie

Rose here

Driving down into valley into Laramie. Snow covered mountains in the distance.

Medicine Bow National forest visitor center

Rose here

Look at this huge memorial to Lincoln.

Now we are starting to go though hills - part of the Rocky Mountains. There's snow on the ground.

Day 5 - Wyoming, Utah

Rose here

Another good night at the Hitching Post Inn. In Cheyenne, my first Western city. There was an enormous cowboy boot at the entrance, which of course, I forgot to photograph until it was too late.

Freezing temperatures in the night. 33 degrees this morning while we packed the truck. No wind as you can see in the photo of this wind farm. Yes, I know, it's a moment in time when I snapped the picture so the windmills would look still anyway - but I promise you they were stiff and silent.

However, half an hour later, the wind came back over the fields and started buffeting the truck again.

We got our first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains in the distance. Snow covered already.

And we just saw a small herd of deer sitting in the grass. I am living in a movie for reals!

Day 4 - Monday October 27th - Lincoln - NE to Cheyenne, Wyoming

This is the leg of the trip I figured would be the worst, as it is an old truck route, open to high winds, weather, and long distances between fuel stops.
Yep, I was right!

Highway 80 is a straight shot across. It was a mixture of nice pavement and old concrete road that you bounce along - clack,  clack,  clack... we also had many miles of construction where we were reduced to one lane - more fun being blown around with trucks passing you in the opposite direction in the next lane head on.

The day before in Missouri,  the winds started blowing and we almost got side sipped twice by 18 wheelers, to were I had to take evasive action. We didn't know how high the winds were until we got out of the truck at a gas stop and we nearly blown over. Today was much worse!

Nebraska and south eastern Wyoming are flat. South east Wyoming does not even have trees to block the winds. The warning sign said "Caution High Wind Alert Winds Gusting 35+". A fact, as it turns out. We also passed signs and gates crossing the highway "When Flashing Highway Closed Exit Here". OK it gets that windy on the route to close the highway - why are we not on the southern route?

The speed limit on the route is either 75, or 80. No truck ran over 65, because with the wind it just was not possible. We were all being blown around and it took a lot of concentration to stay at speed an on the road. Luckily, there was not much traffic.

The 450 miles was mostly up hill and combined with the 25 to 35 knot headwinds / side winds the rpm was up at 3,500 all the time and you could watch the gas gauge run down - and this is the stretch with few gas stations. I was stopping at 1/2 tank to fill up to make sure we didn't get stuck out there.

When able, I really got into the county. I can see why people would live out there. I don't know where they shop because there are not any grocery stores anywhere. I think they must know and really depend on each other creating strong community and family bonds.

This is "Big Sky County" and the air was crystal clear. You could see the tops of storms hundreds of miles to the south and snow showers 50 miles to the north.

We pulled into Cheyenne,  which is a huge rail yard, basically. We asked about grocery stores - no there aren't any.

Snow showers in the area and the low tonight is 27 deg.

Driving across country has been an amazing experience for the both of us. It has raised a lot of questions for us to research. It has raised more questions about how we all live than provided answers.

As Rose said, "We are the kind of people that can buy a one way ticket".
As for me, some days I think I have lost my mind, and other days I thank God I have.
This is a great adventure!

Wyoming state sign

Got it.

More tumbleweeds and acres of not much.

Day 4 - Nebraska, Wyoming

Rose here

We have reached the cool weather and I am wearing my NY jacket. So far very little to blog about. It's just been endless miles of corn fields. The corn is down to the stubble and the fall leaves are off the trees. Very bare. Big grain elevators.

As we go further into Nebraska it has gotten cold and very windy. David has been working hard to keep our rig on the road.

There is little to see but sky and grass. And the occasional tumbleweed rolling along.

Day - 3 - Sunday 26th - Zombie Land to Lincoln, Nebraska

1,500 miles down and 1,600 miles to go.
Too tired to post will have a short trip to Cheyenne,  Wyoming Monday and some time to catch up on my posts.

OK , I'm back...
We managed to slip out of Illinois without alerting the zombie hords or police.
Crossing the Mississippi at St Louis was cool, seeing the St Louis Arch - Gateway to the West and the river.
Man, St Louis is a big city. We were surprised at the number of old abandoned brick buildings along the road.
Traffic zipped along and we were feeling good about crossing Missouri.
On this leg we were going through Illinois,  Missouri,  Idaho, and Nebraska.

Thinking the zombies were behind us now, we noticed a shinny silver / grey large triangle hovering above us to the north.
Oh no... aliens, zombie drones, thought we were past all this.
It followed along for a while when I finally figured out it was a Stealth B2 bomber. I remembered there was a base for them out there.

We had an easy drive finally leaving the city and cruising though farmland.  We started thinking and talking about just how does all this food get to market? We passed large grain elevators, but just how many thousands of trucks would it take to get the grain there. Later once out in Nebraska with million acre farms, grain elevators on the horizon in all directions, and trains hundreds of cars long, it really sank in just what an operation farming is.

At the same time as passing all the farms and cattle ranches we were listening to the talking book, "Eating On the Wild Side" partly discussing just how fast food turns to useless cap only days from harvest. We had a great discussion about our food supply. Actually, food is one of the big reasons we are moving to Oregon. Well, and beer.

We planned lots of music and talking books for the trip, but we have spent more time just chatting away to each other - now is that any way for married people to behave?

Lunch time found us in Odessa, Missouri for gas, lunch, and a break. After Illinois,  how would Missouri be? GREAT it turns out.
I pulled the Big Rig into the only tiny gas station and a nice farmer helped me get lined up leaving room for the others. I really appreciated his help. Turned out to be a nice old guy and we chatted about the local Bass Fishing in the area. He decided after chatting about fishing,  to skip work the rest of the day and go fishing.

We had a GREAT lunch at Thompsons' Country Kitchen.  You would have thought we went to High School with these people they treated us like family and the food was home cooking at its best. The owner got to the last piece of Pecan Pie before I did and we all gave him shit about it and he played right along. Good guy.

Meet Jaimie (pic below) she took good care of us and is my new BFF.

We took the shortcut through Iowa (we're domed) and bounced into Nebraska along 100 miles of old concrete road.

Lincoln, NE turns about to be a rather large modern city.  Rose saw a Rafter of Turkeys on the way in.

Good smooth day.

David

Nebraska state sign

Rose here

How about that. I'm really rolling today. This is the last state for the day. We reach the hotel in a hour. It's in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Iowa state

Rose here

More farms.....

Kansas City

Rose here

I thought it was Kansas City where Dorothy and Toto came from but apparently she comes from the middle prairies of Kansas state. Never mind - here's a picture of the skyline of Kansas City, Missouri as we barreled on through.

The next stop we made was for gas in Mound City and boy, was the wind blowing.   Mmmmm........

Miles and miles of the same scenery

Rose here

We are now driving through field after field - farms all the way. The bread basket of America.

Missouri River

Rose here

Not to be confused with the Mississippi River. Ack - too many rivers beginning with an M. We've lost count of how many times we crossed this river. It winds around all over the place.

Mississippi River

Rose here

Crossing the river - a big step, now we are west of the Mississippi.

St Louis

Rose here

A hayuge city. Old, old city filled with old old, crumbling brick buildings. Sprawling on for miles.

Day 3 - Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska

Rose here

Just caught  the Missouri state sign. So much going on as we drive through St Louis.

St Louis Arch - the Gateway to the West

Rose here

The title says it. We are now heading West. Had another good night in a Day's Inn. The weather is still clear and fresh. David saw the North West is getting hit with strong winds and storms. There's rain in our future!

Couldn't get a close up of the Arch but you can see it here.

Am having a hard time understanding we are actually doing this. On the road for real - even though I am sitting in the passenger seat of a truck watching the scenery go by. Glad we are doing this blog so I can go back and  look at the pix to remind me.

Day - 2 Made it to Mt Vernon, IL

Had a nice drive through GA to TN, then the road looped back south into GA,  then back to TN, so I am going to count that as an extra State crossing on the list for the trip.

The leaves are really turning up here and we saw a flock of Geese heading south. We are now driving in the hills and crossing some big rivers. We had to join the truckers in the extra truck lane in low gear inching our way up the steep hills, and being careful with our speed on the way down. I am tailing the truckers watching their moves and learning. Seems our performance is about the same as theirs. They seem to consider us as a "Trucker" allowing room for us to pull in and overall being considerate us of us - Thanks Guys!

Lots of farms; it looks like they are harvesting soy beans.

Nashville was a nightmare!
Heavy traffic, construction, GPS lady got confused, I got confused, a solar flare rendered the other drivers mindless, and we missed a turn. Made a U turn then, because of the construction, the turn to the road we wanted was blocked, so we had to drive back to town cross the river, U turn, back across the river north on 65 straight into a traffic jam. We did get on the correct road in the end without ending up in the river or the morgue.

Just north of Nashville we stopped for lunch at this Mexican place. Didn't look like much but the food was really good and the tables, chairs, and booths were all hand made!

Again, trying to maneuver and park the truck is a big problem. I'm having to back this rig in and out of gas stations,  grocery stores, but the hotels are setup for RVs so they are OK.

Stopped in Marion, Illinois to get fuel and do some shopping.
OMG! The Land Of The Zombies!!!!!! Police Harrasment!!!

At the only gas station - I had to back the rig in with utter morons getting in the way and staring at the Smart Car like it was a space ship that just landed.
Finally got in and they had just installed the new TVs in the pumps, that all gas stations now have, just to piss me off, and the pump payment system would not work, (but I could watch CNN at the pump which I have always considered a mark of a truly advanced society), so I had to go inside and pay, answer all their questions about the Smart Car, and explain where the States of Florida and Oregon are. I need to remeber to bring a globe with me. Child please.

It's gets better, or worse. ..
We finally find a grocery store, which was great, but found out they didn't sell beer, or wine, or rum, which was bad.
I stopped a guy and he told me there was a liqueur store down the road, so off we went.
We hand not planned, nor put into the budget just how much alcohol it required to cross the State of Illinois.
OK, now we have to add police harassment to the day. Yes I know that I'm sticking out a bit I to the intersection, no I'm not running a red light, but I'm trying to get this trailer out of everyones way. After some words between us and the cop in the intersection, I think he either be belived my story, or Rose gave him "The Look" and he got scared and drove off. You married guys know "The Look" scares me, too.

Finally got to the the liquor store, and our jaws dropped at the prices - double that of Florida.
We decided it may be possible to share a bottle, but it has never been attempted before in a marriage and could lead to a speedy divorce.
We made a small comment about the prices at the register and the guy made a small grunting animal sound.

I thought we were in the clear after leaving the property and checking for tailing or hiding zombies, when the guy decided that there was no reason to stop a car for a pedestrian, as this is America I guess. He seemed puzzled why I should be a tad upset about his driving.

We got up to the hotel, still in Illinois,  still looking over my shoulder for those zombies, and the guy by the desk was great.
So maybe Illinois is not a scene from "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" after all.
I'll let you know when we get to Missouri.

State signs - oops

Rose here

Harumph. I did the worst ever job taking pictures of state signs. I claim joint blame with David. He wasn't telling me soon enough when the state line was coming up. And I never had the camera ready. But we did see the Georgia sign twice, the Tennessee sign twice, the Kentucky sign, and the Illinois sign. Honest, we did.

Food. We found a really cool Mexican restaurant north of Nashville, Tennessee. See David's post for the picture of the hand painted chairs.the whole place was covered with murals, carved and burned wording. Really special discovery - and the food was actually pretty darn good. For later, we found a Kroger and bought hotel snack food. We have a microwave so we can heat up soups etc. I am very concerned about eating sensibly while on this long road trip so I've got plenty of raw carrots, nuts, dried fruit etc. You know what I mean...?

The liquor store in Marion, Illinois was a shock. Incredibly expensive. A bottle of vodka was nearly twice as expensive as a Florida bottle of vodka. Wowzers.

We drove passed Paducah, Kentucky. Home of the National Quilt Museum. Some years ago I won a scholarship to take a workshop at the Museum. It was a nice thing to think about as we whizzed by. I vaguely remember the Museum was called something like the American Society of Quilts....? Or something. But there is no doubt there has been a name change.

Okay, what else... The fall trees are lovely. It's been 6 years since we've seen such colours. No palm trees. Lots of hills then suddenly no more hills. Now it's flat. We've been getting great gas prices, combined with straight flat roads we should be doing well on total cost of gas.

Okay, time for a gin and tonic, and maybe a cup of soup.

Tennessee River

Crossed the river about 10.30am. Pretty steel bridge.

Lovely fall covered hills all around. The leaves are just turning.

Saw a flock of geese flying south.

When they talk about falling rocks on the side of the road, they mean it! We went by a huge crashed pile of rocks going up one hill.

The truck is going great and Mrs Bean is following along behind us on the trailer. I wonder what she's thinking.....?

We decided we like the garlic Plantain chips for snacks, but the lime flavored ones don't work so well.

Day 2 - Georgia, Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, Illinois

Rose here.

Pulled out this morning at 8.30am. Had a good night at the hotel. Lovely crisp morning. I can feel the life coming back into my overheated veins.

Of course I missed the first Tennessee state marker. Got one end and then the other. But..... we dipped back into Georgia and I got the Tennessee sign the second time around. That counts, doesn't it?

Day 2 - Saturday 25th - Marietta to Mt Vernon, IL

We are going to stop short of St Louis, MO to balance our our leg lenghts - should be 8 hrs driving.
Nashville for lunch - BBQ?, and grocery shopping for our "hotel picnic" this evening.

Day 1 - Marietta, GA

We made it!
Took 10 hours and $200 in fuel - ouch!
Well, I did figure it would cost $1,300 for trip fuel and the truck burns more than expected, but we were getting fuel for $2.80 per gal , so it may even out.

The truck has the turning radius of a ballistic missile, and with the trailer, our main problem with gas stations and lunch stops was manuvering.

From Ocala to Valdosta, GA (our lunch stop) there were hundreds of religious billboards along the HWY. 

In GA we passed a lot of cotton fileds, some pecan groves, peanut fields, and lots of chicken sheds.

We noticed that no one was speeding at all. I commented about the trucks and Rose thought they were GPS monitored and the drivers would get fired for speeding - I bet that is true. There were also a lot of cops along they way.

David

Crossing the Georgia state line

Rose here.

Well......as you can see, I screwed up and missed the official state sign. Hopeless.

So to make up for it (how can you make up for messing up so bad?) - I took this really fantastic (not) picture of the visitors Centre road sign. Sigh....

Anyhow - we did the longest run today - 500 miles - to Marietta, Georgia.

Had a lovely evening with our friends Rita and Chris and set off late-ish this morning. Had to fix something on the trailer so wasted more time. But we started our great road trip at 8.55am.

Mrs Bean has done very well. David drove like the expert he is. We had one slight detour (ahem) before we found our hotel.

Oh, and by the way Debbye, we ate at Crackerbarrel for lunch. Pretty darn good value. It is you Debbye, who likes Crackerbarrel isn't it?

Traveling Orchid

Rose here.

This posting is for Pam, my beading buddy back in Clearwater.  And my orchid guru. She taught me how to properly feed and water my little orchids. Shortly after I started her suggested regime one of them started to put out a new flower spike. Naturally, just before we set off for Portland.

So, I found a perfect spot for them in the truck. They are right up front where I can see them.

Cross all your fingers and toes they all make it safely.

And thank you Pam for your advice and orchid food. Well, actually my orchids thank you as I was busily starving the poor plants!