Satellite
Show on map
  • Day 27

    A quick stop in the PNW

    April 22, 2019 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    We came from Utah. As per usual. All of our loads come and go to and from hq in and around Logan. This time, though, I got to experience Montana.

    Big sky country is an apt moniker for this sprawling landscape, though I slept through a lot of it. The first few hours were uninterrupted brown scrub hills, occasionally dotted with a home or highway maintenance facility.

    Once we got far enough west, though, the landscape began to change. A triumphant return to forest, said I! Pine trees, and spruce and doug-fir, oh my! My allergies were also excited. 'Conifer pollen in spring!' They exclaimed. Violently. Through my nose and itchy eyes.

    We stopped at a spot called the 50,000 $ Silver Dollar. A quaint gift shop/diner/saloon/hotel/corral/truck stop. They really did have it all. A lot of kitschy 'gifts'; everything from Montana printed shot glasses and t-shirts to cheap mood rings and coon skin caps. We got a magnet with a multi-colored German Shepherd on it. We now have home decor in our truck house, friends and neighbors!

    Last night we parked in North Bend, WA up by Snoqualmie Pass. It was wonderful to wake up this morning to misty, forested hills, pink trees and fresh, green shoots in the roadsides near us. As allergic as I am to this ecosystem, I sure do love the PNW.

    One thing I was excited about experiencing on this adventure was watching Spring across our different environs in the west of our country. It has been fun to see. Purple dappled hills with the occasional white and yellow bursts in the deserts. Snows melting and thunderstorms across Idaho and Utah. The trees in wetter and warmer climes beginning to put out buds and shoots and flowers.
    The promise of fruits and bees and summer smells on the breeze.

    We're going to take our first round of time off in June for our anniversary. Our plan is to check out the tiny town of Cortez, CO. A blip on hwy 491 between New Mexico and Utah, about an hour from Durango. (See you in Durango!) We're going to go check out ancient Anasazi ruins on horseback, go offroading on some of our country's most famous off road tracks and check out this tiny town that seems to have everything we want in a new spot to hang out for awhile. Plus, my allergies are calm out there.

    Looking at real estate out there (for funsies) one could purchase a whole villa for 750k. That's the cost of a small two bedroom in Portland.

    Today we are headed to Gig Harbor to offload goldfish and milano cookies before grabbing a load in Puyallup bound for SLC. Too bad they track everything and cookies 'falling off the truck' will certainly be noticed.

    For the time, sneezing aside, it's nice to be back in WA for a few hours. It's nice to have time to miss it. Though, for many reasons, I do not miss Portland.
    Read more