It was 9:55am on the Scion’s clock as we rolled out of Coquille. We had spent Saturday evening organizing and minimizing all the gear we had collected, eliminating a couple of food items and the six squares of grey exercise matting. The matting didn’t provide enough comfort vs the bulk of carrying them. Several items from the car were also removed: two of the three headrests from the back seat and the phone charger. Space isn’t at a minimum, we have learned to travel light and fast, but the more you bring the harder it is to find what you are looking for later in the trip.
We stopped at the Florence Fred Meyer for a car compass and condiments from the deli. Ended up with two window mountable cupholders and our water bottles filled with water and ice as well. It was too cold and windy in the parking lot to eat lunch, so we drove the mile north to Darlingtonia Wayside it is a cool little place, with interesting fauna. Two hours later we were in Newport taking our selfie in front of The Highway 20 Sign. The temperature increased as we headed up and over the Coast Range and NPR turned into Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. We struggled with Shar’s new car stereo, but managed to get my phone to connect via bluetooth. Cruised through Lebanon and Sweet Home, where we stopped for a snack and to soak feet near the Foster Dam. I took over driving at that point, and we began to climb.
Oregon’s Cascade country is as gorgeous a place as you will ever drive. We zoomed by Tombstone Pass, it’s 4219 foot elevation, and Santiam Pass with its 4817 elevation. Ate at The Agave in Sisters for dinner and I missed the turn in Bend for Highway 20. We lost valuable daylight as Shar navigated us back to the missed road.
It was well into dusk when we pulled into the Flatiron Trailhead parking area and found a levelish spot to park for the night. These weren’t the best conditions for our second run at getting the car into Sleeping Mode, but we persevered. I put the red ice chest in the driver’s seat vs the passenger seat and we could feel the difference in space when we stretched out to sleep. The back of the car was miserable because of the heat, but once that dissipated we both managed nod off. We had all four windows cracked an inch and this produced a breeze through the car all night. The six inch battery powered fan helped, but we were concerned about battery life. We had only one set of headlights hit us during the night, and it became cold enough that I pulled the afghan out from underneath us. We woke up at 7am well rested and ready to get Day 2 started.
Miles Travelled: 305
Cities/Town Passed: Coquille, Coos Bay, North Bend, Reedsport, Florence, Yahats, Waldport, Newport, Philomath, Corvallis, Albany, Lebenon, Sweet Home, Sisters, Bend.
Temperature at 10:00am: 69
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