THE COOLER NORTHWEST

Can't begin to tell you how happy we were to head north and try and leave the valley heat behind us. We made it into Roseburg, OR yesterday and found that the heat was almost as bad there. As we walked across the parking lot to the store to get us something cold to drink, the heat radiating off the asphalt hit you square in the face. We had no worries though, because we knew as soon as we got into the truck to get some sleep, the APU would be turned on and we would have nothing but cool air to keep us in comfort.

One of the landmarks we passed yesterday was the sign in the photo. On one of the many passes and summits we crossed, we came upon this one, declaring it the highest elevation on Interstate 5. As we made our slow descent down the other side, I caught sight of Emigrant Lake, which is an 806 acre reservoir located just southeast of Ashland, OR.

Surprisingly, the hills here were just as brown as the hills we left behind in California. It wasn't until we traveled further north that the green lush scenery, I have come to love from the northwest, came into view.

After getting a good day's sleep, we awoke at midnight to begin the last leg of this trip and make our way into Puyallup, WA. Along the way we found an extremely truck/trailer friendly Wal Mart in Chehalis, WA and quickly stocked the truck with some food. Over the past week we had almost used up everything in our pantry, due to not being able to find either a Wal Mart, or the time to take away from driving to get it accomplished. Oh, and I was delighted to notice, as we made our exit, that there was a Starbucks right across the street. I struck gold I tell you!

An hour later we were pulling into the Fred Meyer Distribution Center and being directed to dock 222. This is a massive center with well over 300 docks. We watched as the yard drivers rushed around moving trailers to and from the docks. We only waited a short time before we felt the telltale sign that they were unloading our trailer. It is as if we are in the middle of an earthquake, because the truck starts rocking and jerking from side to side and forward and backward.

As soon as we went empty we were told to stay right where we were, as we got dispatched to have our trailer reloaded with both dry goods and produce, and then deliver it to a Fred Meyer store in Spokane. Since they will not be loading our trailer until 11:30pm tonight, we will take the opportunity to get some sleep. Thank goodness we have food!