One Week In: What We've Learned Thus Far

Hi, All:

Yesterday we drove across Idaho and into Oregon following along closely to the Oregon Trail.  For those of you interested, we have not yet died of cholera.  However, we did lose two oxen while trying to ford the river.  Very sad.

Last night, we stayed in a campground at Hat Rock State Park.  Hat Rock is named after the following rock formation:

It was so aptly named when Lewis and Clark, on their expedition, came across it and said something intelligent like: "hark, see that rock over there?  why, it looks like a hat!"  This is an actual true fact, although the quotes may have been paraphrased.

Thankfully, the rock and the river behind it made for some awesome sunset shots!

And, river time!

Now that we are one week into this trip, we have learned a number of things along the way about camping and road tripping in general.  We thought that since we are doing very little else right now aside from driving through Oregon, we would give you a quick list of helpful hints and tips we have learned, so you will be prepared for your own trip in the future:

• Unless you ride a Harley, early-August is the wrong time to be a tourist in South Dakota.  Driving a Subaru through South Dakota during this time will result in great fits of laughter from those watching you from either side of the road

• Do not be fooled.  Those of you East Coasters and Midwesterners may believe it is 90 degrees at night everywhere in August.  This is not true.  If you continue to adhere to this belief, you will end up with frozen toes in the middle of the night while in the mountains.  New comforter = Bought.

• There are many threats to a driver's ability to see while on the road.  Rain.  Dust.  Oncoming traffic at night.  Motorcycles.  But, BY FAR, the biggest and most disgusting threat to a driver's ability to see are bugs.  They will mercilessly die on your windshield like little kamikazes, and make it impossible to clean.

• The Coleman camping stove is the greatest invention to ever be developed.  Second in line, Coleman's portable dish washing station.

• Tammy's Fun Fact of the Day:  leaving toiletries or water bottles in your tent can be a threat to bears.  If a bear smells these, and seeks them out, the rangers will have to kill the bear since it is now accustomed to human food and will seek human food out rather than hunting its own prey.  Every year, an average of 14 bears in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons have to be killed due to human indifference. Bears.  Be aware.

We're back on the road in a few hours with an end destination of Seattle.  Tammy's going to be heading to Atlanta for the weekend for a wedding, and Steve is going to be heading to Portland to visit a friend, so we probably won't have posts between now and then.  Have a great weekend and we'll catch you all again on Monday!