Day 1773

 We got up at 7:30.  We had breakfast, but no pet stuff - it's a travel day.  There was a lot to do and we were in no hurry.  I checked and inflated all of the truck and trailer tires.  I drained the shower tank and put away the king pin support.  Hooking up the hitch went really smoothly.  The final tasks were putting away the water hoses and the power cord.  We were on the road about 9:30.

Leaving was a little less problem free.  There was a thick fog - thicker than yesterday.  Ellen had forgotten to turn off the refrigerator and water heater.  I had to stop in Woodburn to do it.  I also stopped at Wally World to take a very necessary shit.

The trip on I5 and 205 was pretty normal.  Traffic was a little slow on 205, but we weren't in a hurry.  Once we got off 205 things got worse.  There were miles of 4 lane arterial, 45 mph, and lots of stop lights.  Of course most of them were red.  Things didn't get much better until we were past Sandy.  Small sections of rural 55 interspersed with podunk towns with 25 mph speed limits.  Sandy still sucks.  A narrow highway with a 25 mph speed limit.

Once we got past Sandy it was a little better.  Traffic was moving at the speed limit most of the time.  The road is a typical mountain pass, up to 4,000 feet.  This is the first time I could see the EGT's.  They run higher.  1200 degrees happened several times.  I was OK with that, since 1500 is the limit on the new trucks.  It takes some getting used to though.

Madras is a much bigger town than it was 25 years ago when we last were on this road.  It's another 25 mph bottle neck.  Unfortunately it's a long one.  Out side of town everyone was going 65 to 70.  That allowed us to make up some time.  Over all MPG was 9.6.  Not bad for the pass plus up and down the river gorge.

The campground is outside of Redmond.  It's OK, but a little weird.  They told Ellen not to dump a full tank and to leave the black water valve open.  BULLSHIT.  Our tank was almost full.  I dumped it and gave it 2 15 gallon flushes.  The sewer didn't back up, so it's OK by me.  The guage now read empty like it ought to.

By the time I was finished I was VERY tired.  I sat in the recliner and slept for at least two hours.  When I woke up I still felt like shit.

Dinner was leftovers.  After dinner it was a little surfing - no TV here but the internet isn't bad.  I took the dog for a short walk just before 8.  I felt better after that.

Bedtime was early.