The Albatross
Friday 08 March 2024
A long transfer day as we headed to the coast to escape the snow and see more of this beautiful state, because Oregon is truly stunning. Today was no exception, heading out on the high flat plains, snowcapped mountains were shinning in the cloudless skies, then we bounced up and down for miles before we climbed the pass up near Mount Hood through heavy forest and snow lined roads. The roads were dry, however, there was lots of grit as soon as you strayed off the clean bitumen. I was okay going up, but driving down steep hills at the same speed as the rest of the traffic wore me out. The drivers here are mostly excellent though, no one tailgates and leaves a good distance.
After swapping drivers (we do an hour each), Tuna took us into Portland to an Asian grocer to pick up some supplies you can’t grab in mainstream supermarkets and lunch in a cool but sunlit park nearby. A decent break and we ready for the final stint, unfortunately this involved navigating Portland’s inner freeway network, which is just a collection of massive spaghetti intersections, each one coming as you exit the last. Amazingly we nailed flawlessly it in heavy traffic. We were both rather surprised and very pleased with ourselves.
Eventually breaking out of the city, we thought the rest would be a doddle, however many hills, windy snow lined roads awaited. All still amazing scenery. Eventually we rolled into the lovely town of Seaside, our base for the next few days. A quick pit stop at the supermarket and a refreshing ale at the nearby microbrewery (4pm check out still sucks, but the beer was a good wind down before doing the unpack and meal prep).
Apartment’s lovely, dinner had, feeling tired.