DAY 9 OF OUR ALASKAN ADVENTURES

We left the Wal Mart parking lot at Klamath Fall, Oregon at around 7:15AM to COLD cloudy weather. It was in the low 50's and I was freezing. Where is the sun and those warm days in Arizona. Was I complaining about the heat when we left - I'd give anything for it today. We headed out Rt. 140 from Klamath Falls after we managed to get ourselves all messed up and on the wrong road initially. This is a secondary road, very narrow in spots and windy, but I have come to love these "less traveled" roads. They are usually more scenic and have given us a better perspective of the areas we are traveling through. We were only on the road for about 30 minutes and the check engine light came on. This happen yesterday also, and Bob just used his handy/dandy gadget to reset it - something about the boost. We pulled over to the side of the road, so that he could check it today and I snapped a couple of pictures of the Upper Klamath Lake.
This must be a popular place to fish, because there were people pulled off the side of the road all along the lake. We headed back on the road and started climbing. We eventually came to the crest of a ridge and the most beautiful green valley with snow capped mountain ranges surrounding it. We climbed out of the valley and up to 5100 ft. - passing through the Cascade Mountain Range - and encounter snow on the sides of the road and on the secondary roads branching off Rt. 140. We also saw extension poles attached to the stakes on the edge of the road that were taller than the truck, so that the snow plows would b e able to tell the edge of the road when they plowed. That opened our eyes. I would have liked to have taken some pictures, however, there was no place to pull off and besides, with Bob driving we can only stop for lunch and potty breaks - otherwise, we are on the move. We reached I-5 and started heading north, in hopes of getting through Oregon today. Interstate 5 is much busier than the previous roads that we have been on - lots of traffic and construction. Bob did most of the driving, but I did relieve him for a short time and made it through Eugene and the construction while he took a nap. Just a little south of Salem it got really dark and looked like it was going to rain, so I pulled into a rest area so that Bob could take over. I'm still not totally comfortable with pulling the 5th wheel, especially if the weather is bad.

I took these pictures at the rest area just as it started to sprinkle. I'm not sure what the stakes are for, but we saw more along the way where they had planted something. The rest area had a nice grassy area and a river that ran right next to it. We opted to avoid I-5 going through Portland and Bob took I-205 which we thought might be a little easier, but the traffic was very heavy. He does a really great job getting us through those areas - I would have been in a panic. We eventually crossed the Columbia River into Washington and reconnected with I-5. We pulled into the Wal Mart Parking lot - where else - in Chalhais, Washington at 5pm. The sky was black and as soon as I got out of the truck, I headed for the 5th wheel to get something warm to wear. It was SO cold and the wind was blowing. Thank you Kevin for giving me that nice warm Webb sweatshirt, I grabbed that right away. We are parked here for the night along with lots of other motor homes, trucks, trailers, and 5th wheels. When we checked with Customer Service they said we were welcome to park toward the back of the lot. Ah, home sweet home. It is 830PM and 46 degrees outside, time to pull out the old down comforter, put the shorts away and bring out the long pants. How will I ever survive in Alaska!!