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  - Sunday, May 12, 2002


It was so nice to be back with Chuy, Jon & Jen at their house in Camas. They graciously hosted us for over a week while we sold Dave's car to some VERY nice folks (the Luna's) in Portland. In the spirit of our naming the van Heimo, the Luna's dubbed Dave's Suby--the "Newbaru".

Chuy and Guinness are best pals and supply us with neverending photo opps and laughs as they lounge around all day all over each other! Chuy even protects Guinness from his own brother Toby--now that's LOVE.

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On the home stretch...We arose with the sun (freezing) and made our way to Pendleton, OR for some chow. Pendleton is the Cowboy Capital of the Northwest (one of them). They host the infamous Pendleton Rodeo annually.

The coffee and outstanding breakfast at the Rainbow cafe was the highlight of our day. That's probably because we hung out at the Rainbow Cafe for several hours and downed obscene amounts of coffee while reading the paper at this bar by night/eatery by day. It was like a time warp-cowboy photos from the late 1800's lined the walls, old codgers were smoking and drinking at the bar (breakfast in a can of Rainier Beer), and a bottomless cup of coffee was $.70.

We took our over caffinated selves to Hood River, OR - a neat little town on the banks of the MIGHTY Columbia River - and wandered around at the Farmer's Market and various shops. The ultimate tourists.. When our buzz crashed, we went back to our book tape and headed to Camas--HOME. Well, Jon & Jen's home.

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We heard that Boise, ID was a cool place and were looking forward to checking it out as a potential place to settle. Turns out, it felt very small and isolated. Perhaps that is because the closest big city is 6-8 hours away (Portland or SLC). Don't get me wrong, it was a cute town, very mountainous....just didn't click. So, we didn't spend the night and motored towards Portland/Camas. We ended up pitching our tent well after sundown outside La Grande, OR. Ah, FINALLY camping... too bad we didn't check the weather before going to bed. It got below freezing. Unfortunately we didn't bring warm enough sleeping bags but found some extra clothes in the car to pile on in the middle of the night for extra warmth and SURVIVED...Such is life! That's what camping is all about.


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Remember Salida, CO from the news in early May. About 2 days before arriving in this quaint town, mid-western mailbox bomber had just left on his cruise westward where the fuzz ended up arresting him outside Reno, NV! Salida seems like a great place to come mid-summer for rafting and hiking...GORGEOUS!

We packed up and had lunch in Gunnison, CO on our way to Salt Lake City, UT, hoping to find a good camping spot for the night. Turns out that for the 2nd night in a row, the forecast for inclement weather, sent us to yet another budget motel. What would we do without the Cracker Barrel Restaurants all over the country? You can get yummy food like Chicken & Dumplings & Pot Roast as well as rent Books on Tape - a perfect combination. SLC seems like it would be a great place to live. With tons of skiing & outdoor recreation nearby, a nice downtown, a few cute neighborhoods, seems like a nice place to live. We'll add it to the list of possible places to move after our trip -along with Portland & some cities in Colorado.

  - Tuesday, May 07, 2002


The Subaru didn't sell, so we decided to pack it up and take off for Seattle in hopes of selling the car more easily. Subarus are a dime a dozen in the NW. So we took off for Dallas just in time to arrive before dark and chance to see the house EJ & Gid (m's sis & bro-i-l) put an offer on. The house is just around the corner from their old apartment but has MUCH more room (presumably for kiddos at some point). Gotta love that both our younger siblings have been married for far longer than we have. It certainly takes the pressure off of having kids right now!!

We took off bright and early for Colorado. Gee, didn't we just do this drive a few months ago? Same old boring ride through North Texas. I don't know what we would do without book tapes and ABBA. Actually there was a low point on our drive out of the Lone Star State....Luby's Cafeteria in Wichita Falls. This one was certainly not up to snuff....Greasy and GROSS!!!

We made it all the way to Salida, CO by sundown (booking it thru TX). What a scenic ride once you get 30 miles in Colorado....!


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