Days Ninety Eight and Ninety Nine.....

Thee last night......

.....in a motel room on this ride is at hand.

I can't count Rockaway beach as the last night in a motel room on this trip, as I'm staying at The Sea Haven motel....and Jeff and Maureen (the owners) I consider friends.....and it sure doesn't feel like any and every room I've lived out of on this adventure. It feels like simply the place I stay at whenever I go to Rockaway Beach. It's NOT an impersonal-feeling sorta place at all is what I'm trying to say......thass all.....

So this is it......no more strange motel/hotel rooms on this adventure.....

Living outta a hotel or motel room pretty much sucks as it is (well....OK...I think it sucks, my sister and several other folks would probably beg to differ, depending on the hotel, but still....). But living outta multiple hotel and motel rooms that you have to change every night and then find a new one in a new town.....well, I found that that REALLY sucks.

Glad to see that back of that and finally sleep in my own bed (dunno if my cats will still sleep at my feel when I return.....think that they may be pissed off with me......).

Left Brigham City Wednesday Morning and hit Ontario, Oregon about six-and-a-half hours and 345 miles later. Southern Idaho is always pleasant in August (which, by total coincidence, is the only month I have ever been in Southern Idaho.....dunno why, exactly....) with 105 degree temperatures and the ever-so-lovely "hair-dryer-effect" wind (put a hair dryer on "high" about four inches from your face or arm and you'll understand what I'm talking about). Compounding this was a severe traffic jam caused by road construction on I-84 in a rapidly growing city during rush hour, several overheated cars (The Helix even got to five on the 1-to-8 engine temperature scale).....and it just sucked.

Had to take thee most beeline, direct path from Denver to Rockaway Beach due to time constraints. Sadly, in violation of the rules I had set for this adventure, this direct path happened to be Interstate 84.....not a particularly scenic ride at all......but it got me where I needed to be within the time parameters, sooo......


Grabbed a really nice motel room in Ontario (that Buannan told me to get) for, like, $44. For some reason, after the ride, I was craving ice cream. Asked the kind older gent at the front desk where in Ontario I could grab a decent ice cream cone. Sadly, he didn't know as he wasn't familiar with the area and had recently relocated to Ontario......

.....five minutes later, he comes by and gives me, on the cuff, a pint of Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream.....

.....I realised then, that I must be in Oregon.

Life began to return to normal.....

Swung by a pub where I could enjoy Newcastle Brown and Export A Greens INSIDE the bar together......it was nice to savor the first drink back in Oregon.

Left Ontario with the intention of reaching The Dalles. Made it no problem.....292 miles and about five hours later. Had average-tasting Chinese food in absurdly-sized portions at a local restaurant, and dreamed of the day that I'd return to Chinatown and Thai Roses....both just outside of Beaverton.....and both easily my favourite Asian restaurants ANYWHERE!

Found a coupon for a Super 8 at the absurd price of sixty buxx.....but given that any clean motel in The Dalles started at $89.00 a night.....and that from multiple reviews I've read about the motels in The Dalles for under $65.00.....well.....it's my last motel night.......why the hell not stay somewhere fairly clean??

Rockaway Beach tomorrow.......and a few days after that, I'll write an epitaph about this entire experience as well as give you the final Geography lessons regarding this adventure.

-E-