Adventurers @ Large: Going Home

There was no breakfast at the hotel. Not even coffee. Unlike any other place we had stayed in the last 10 nights, this place was packed and I'm assuming there were a lot of hungry people.

Remember that cooler we were toting around back in Dallas on the way to retrieve our rental car? That thing rocks! We actually had a nice amount of food with us the whole way and everything was nicely chilled. And we have this little food warmer for our car, so we were able to have hot meals on the road...you just had to plan ahead because it takes 2-3 hours to "cook" a frozen meal.

As for our trip home...the Governor had closed everything down the previous day, so things were pretty quiet. Even the wind wasn't blowing in the Columbia Gorge.

Notice the flat water of the Columbia River.

We had left our hotel and were determined that we would not stop or be around any people until we got home...so we found this facility in The Dalles.

Great riverside location.

The drive through Portland was uneventful aside from a heavy rainstorm and a LOT of semi-trucks. The closer we got to Eugene, the fewer cars were on the road.

Our intended vacation was a civil rights tour of the south but we ended up on an unintended road trip across America. Why did we go? At the time, things were worse in Oregon than they were in the south. How bad could it be?

The night before we left.

We watched the New York Time's Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count and routed ourselves home as safely as possible. If we had to drive through an infected region, we kept on driving — gas and food were obtained 100 miles out, just to be on the safe side.

The day after we returned.

We got to see how different people in many different places reacted to a pandemic. A couple of reflections on this...In Arkansas, we saw a total disregard for others, at least in Hot Springs. As we drove north, we were mainly in small, uncrowded towns. People were polite and it was easy to navigate if you needed groceries.

When we got to Ogden, and again our only stop was at the botanical garden, people were everywhere and paid absolutely no attention. Maybe that's what you get when too many people living together in a large urban area. Who knows. I just know that it wasn't comfortable.

Would we do it again? Probably not.

Did we enjoy our trip? Absolutely.

Did was see awesome things? For sure.

Were we glad to get home? YES!

Ordered to stay home by the governor...no problem!