The wait is over

Originally posted on MySpace on April 13, 2007.

My first day of my road trip is winding down. I did a lot of driving today...456 miles, but that's a bit misleading. That takes into consideration the couple of times I got lost in Portland. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. I left my parents' house in central Washington about 8:00 am. My cat Kimi is staying with them...right now, she's probably wondering where I went.

I stopped at Maryhill State Park on the Washington side of the Columbia River. There was supposed to be some sort of Stonehenge replica there, but I couldn't find it. I didn't see any park employees to help me out, so I left...after all, I had a long road ahead of me. I did get some nice photos of the river and Oregon's Mt Hood. You can see one of them on my pic page, and you'll be able to see other photos of places I mention in my blogs during my road trip. Next, I checked out the famous Multnomah Falls on the Oregon side of the river. Multnomah is actually one many waterfalls you can see along Hwy 30 east of Portland, known as the Historic Columbia River Highway. If I had the time, I would have looked at all of them...I like waterfalls!

Onward to Portland for lunch! While I was planning my road trip, I decided I would avoid fast food whenever possible. After all, part of vacationing is sampling the local cuisine, and I did some planning to do just that. I came across a popular lunch destination in Portland called Nick's Famous Coney Island. I heard that the chili dogs were similar to something you would get in New York. After going around the block several times, I finally found a parking space. Nick's was an old-fashioned type of place, with just one line of booths and a bar with stools, and baseball memorabilia on the walls. I took a seat at the end of the bar, and ordered a single Coney with onions. I'm not sure if it was an authentic Coney Island hotdog, but I know it tasted pretty darn good! The chili was obviously homemade, and I soon made short work of my lunch.

Next, I had the two radio stations to visit for my window stickers. Now, I had map directions that I got from the AAA website. Like other map sites, they give you step-by-step directions on how to get from Point A to Point B. That may sound pretty straightforward, but you try reading those directions while you're trying to drive...it's darn impossible, especially when there's a lot of turns involved! I took a wrong turn going to KINK FM, but quickly got my bearings and found the place. The gal I emailed, true to her word, left an envelope at the front desk with a couple of stickers for me. I promptly stuck one on the back window. I managed to find the other station by sheer luck I think, only driving by it once and going around a LONG block to get back to it. I talked to the nice lady at the K103 reception desk, telling her all about my road trip...she thought it was really neat! There were piles of stickers sitting on the front of her desk, and she urged me to take what I wanted. I placed not one but THREE K103 window clings on the back and two side windows...the more the merrier! Afterwards, I managed to get lost trying to find I-5 south out of Portland...very frustrating!

So, that was pretty much my day. What have I learned? Two things...one, it's hard to navigate when you're by yourself. And, two...driving on interstate highways is NOT fun. Tomorrow will definitely be better. There will be less navigating because I won't be traveling through any big cities. And, if things work out, there will be something Five For Fighting on the agenda. I can't wait...can you?

4 days to Bakersfield...