We are in Oregon!!!

I have been so tired the last few nights that I have not downloaded my pictures to include in my blog. Tonight I finally did it. I am including one picture from the KOA campground. You can see our site and also how crowded the campground was. I love the picture as we were leaving Mt. Rushmore of the profile of George Washington - different than you usually see. The last two pictures were from Yellowstone - one showing the yellow stone from the geyser. The other showing the devastation from the beetle that is killing the trees. So sad.

Last night after I finished blogging and was talking to my daughter on the phone, Bob was having trouble getting comfortable. He stretched and hit the picture of our grandson. It fell over and came apart and scattered. I got off the phone and started helping Bob look for the pieces. We couldn't find them all. We actually had to go into the storage compartment under the sofa because some pieces fell through the hole and were down there. The picture frame was demolished. Good thing that we were parked outside a Walmart. When Bob announced that he would not be able to fix it, I just grabbed my purse and marched into Walmart and bought another one. Yeah.

We had another long driving day today. We are now in Pendleton Oregon. We cheered as we crossed the border. We then filled our gas tank and Bob started to get out and I had to remind him that he just had to roll down his window and say "fill er up." We cheered again. We got some lunch and there was no sales tax. We cheered once again. Good to be home.

As we drove from Ontario to Pendleton I viewed the scenery through new eyes. Oregon is amazingly beautiful and I have not appreciated it in the past. At first it was barren land - no water but no trash. This must just be grazing land. But it was starkly beautiful and thought provoking in appreciating the difficulties of the pioneers. I don't have the right words to describe it well and pictures do not capture it.

Then it got greener. There was still very little trash and there was a lot of obvious pride of ownership. The properties were neat and well tended.

I had completely forgotten how beautiful the drive down the mountain and into Pendleton is. (I did have my eyes closed for part of it. I trust Bob's driving, but some of it is so scary and feels as if you are careening down the hill out of control and ready to plow into that semi doing about 20 miles an hour.)

We are camped at the Wildhorse Casino campground. There is a powwow going on here that we will stop and see tomorrow - too tired tonight. (I had a little scare. We went into the casino for a little gambling and then dinner. I went to pull out my wallet to pay and the wallet was not there. I get so scared when that happens. I hightailed it back to the trailer which was about half a mile and left Bob in my wake because I was so nervous. There it was sitting on the table in the trailer.) We plan to stay here tonight and one more night and then head for Portland. We will be home on Monday July 5. Yeah.