The Homeward Stretch

Day 25 ~ Bend, OR to HOME!

We’ve been on the road for over three weeks and now it is time to head home!  Central OR falls behind us as we head NE through the small farming and rangeland towns of Madras, Shaniko, and Grass Valley, OR.  While driving we remembered the mid-1980’s scandal when the Indian guru Rajneesh and his followers settled in a commune not far from Antelope, OR.  This evolved into a high profile battle between the “Rajneeshies” and the locals.  Eventually the commune collapsed but the legal battles and the emotional upheaval lasted for a long time.  (www.oregonlive.com/rajneesh/index.ssf/2011/04/part_one_it_was_worse_than_we.html) The entire situation seems very unlikely when you pass through the tranquil wide-open spaces of this part of OR.

Eastern OR

The countryside was familiar to us and we kept our eyes open for the first glimpse of Mt. Hood to the west of us.  Soon we had also sighted Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier, both in WA, and we knew home was just down the Columbia River Gorge and slightly to the north in south central WA.

Mt. Adams & Mt. Rainier in the distance

We came up onto I-84 at Biggs, often considered the eastern end of the Gorge.  It's common to see barges on the river.

Columbia River at Biggs, OR

Looking across the Gorge are views of wind farms, vineyards and the landmark Maryhill Museum, an impressive art museum with works by Rodin, a large Native American collection, and a nice collection of glassworks. (www.maryhillmuseum.org)

Look carefully across the River and you will also see a war memorial, designed as a smaller replica of Stonehenge – very unique.  (wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryhill_Stonehenge)  Both of these are located in an unlikely location but worth visiting if you are in the area.  As an added bonus, Maryhill has an excellent winery just down the road which puts on great summer concerts in an open-air amphitheater overlooking the gorge. (www.maryhillwinery.com/)

Maryhill Museum across the river

Traveling east we decided to exit the freeway, take the old highway and go through the tiny agricultural community of Irrigon.  They have a nice marina park along the River and we enjoyed a nice walk and picnic lunch.

Marina Park at Irrigon, OR

 
Crossing the River we entered WA, just below McNary Dam.   Home was calling to us now!

Hills near the Tri-Cities, WA

We’d had a great trip, traveled safely, were blessed with good weather and beautiful scenery.  For years to come we would have memories of camping on the OR coast, the Redwoods, Napa Valley, San Francisco, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Mt. Shasta, Crater Lake, and Bend.   Remember the rooftop carrier ~ Bob was ready to ditch it within hours of leaving on this trip but it had turned out to be useful and we’d gotten much better at packing up the carrier and car.  We’d learned a lot about ourselves on this road trip and hopefully we would take the lessons to heart on future travels.  We would not try to combine a camping trip and a conventional road trip in the future – it takes way too much “stuff”!

Home . . . we love our home and it felt so good to walk in the door and feel comfortable.  We’d traveled for 2976 miles over three and a half weeks and though we were “seeing new things and meeting new people” (that’s one of Bob’s favorite mantras) home was never far from our minds.

Home

When we set out to write this blog we wanted to approach all the challenges and rewards of retirement, and during the trip we had encountered both and hopefully gained some insight into our retirement.

Financially we had planned and paid for most of the trip in advance, either through advance bookings or having the cash to pay AMEX when the bill comes.  But we hadn’t planned on spending $1000 to replace a dishwasher two days before leaving on the trip.  We had not planned on spending $500 replacing our koi pond pump while on the trip.  We came home to find a broken icemaker to the tune of $300.  Life happens whether you are home or traveling, and I guess there is some synchronicity to “three broken things.”

Emotionally, part of our trip was spent with family, and sometimes that doesn’t go as smoothly as one would hope.  But at the end of the day, family is family, and again, life goes on. 

Physically, the trip had been harder on us than we had anticipated.  We were tired and we certainly could have gotten more exercise and  made better food choices while traveling.  The long days of driving, sightseeing, and visiting had taken a toll on our bodies and it has taken several days to begin feeling some energy.  There are more trips ahead of us and we need to pay heed to our health . . . if we are going to have a long life ahead!

We’d been good about building some “catch-up” time into our travel schedules but nothing quite prepares you for getting three+ weeks of mail delivered in one afternoon.  It takes time to sort through the junk, correspondence and bills.  There were chores to do . . . unpacking, laundry, house and yard work, groceries and we needed to prepare for houseguests who were arriving in a few days.  There’s always a lot to do and getting caught up makes everything feel like a priority.

Our days at home were full; both of us had medical & dental appointments scheduled and we had made commitments to family and friends.  We were busy, busy, but also our wanderlust had been tapped again.  Three days after coming home we looked at one another and admitted to being a bit bored with the routine of daily life.  Five days after coming home I woke up and told Bob “let’s get out of here” so we took a day trip to Walla Walla, one of our favorite communities an hour down the road.

It has taken us some time every day to get caught up on the blog posts and our photos.  We’ve been discussing whether traveling while retired qualifies as being on vacation.  It seemed like a vacation because we were not home and yet we didn’t have a job and routine to return to.  This road trip was now a part of our daily life and there would be two more big trips over the next three months.  There is lots of adventure to look forward to!  Thanks for traveling with us.