We left St. Helens at 2:00 pm and walked into our room at the Rodeway Inn about 7:45 pm. Normally it’s a 5 hour drive with no stops and we stopped 3 times so we made really good time. Average speed was over 60 mph. It would have been much faster but Diane allowed me to drive 150 miles of the trip. She goes 69, I don’t. On the downside, for me, is that she got better gas mileage than I did because she only drove downhill. Almost all my driving was uphill, all the time. Really. All the time.

As we raced down I-5, which we’ve done many, many times over the years, we shared nostalgic memories as we passed, or stopped at the various rest areas along the way. We’ve been to all of them, from Portland to San Diego. We’re only in Medford so we’ve hit almost all of the rest areas on this interstate because there aren’t many of them in California. Their version of a rest area is a strip mall along side the freeway … not just a place to get out, stretch your legs, and take a leak … oops. Sorry. I didn’t mean to let that blurt out. But it did.

Our room at the Rodeway Inn cost a whopping $59 and we agree that it’s better than some $100 rooms in the past. The furniture is a little worn, but the rooms are clean and tidy. Perfect for an over night stop. And, we get a continental breakfast in the morning. Excellent!

For dinner we motored about 1/2 a mile away to the Burger King we passed and got Whoppers, with lemonade instead of soda. Good, huh? For dessert we each ate two rice krispy treats.

Oh yes! More good news on the medical front … brother Jack is doing excellent after his surgery. He didn’t say that, exactly, but I can tell by the tone of his texts that things are looking up for him. We’re both very happy about that. You all should be, too, but, since it’s a personal choice, it isn’t mandatory.

Now I’m tired so that’s it for now.