As I said in my previous blog entry,  I recently went on a significant road trip. A 6,891 mile road trip, to be precise. From my home in Nashville, TN , there were three intermediate stops:  Kansas City, MO ... Cheyenne, WY ... and Twin Falls, ID. The target was Troutdale (near Portland), OR, where I spent several nights.

While in the Portland area, I spent a day each visiting Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens; and spent two days in Portland itself visiting my late wife's cousin (she was the main reason I chose this to be my first significant road trip). She and her son took me to, among other places, Council Crest and Pioneer Courthouse Square -- the former scenic, the latter, well, thanks to recent events in Portland, not so scenic.

From Portland, I drove down Highway 101 along the Oregon coast, including a stop and short hike to get a close-up view of Thor's Well. The timing of my arrival, though not intentional, was perfect. It was at (or near) high tide and, with each big wave that rolled in from the Pacific, water and spray rose up and out of the giant sink hole. I stood and watched it until the cold, Pacific wind drove me away. (According to my car, the temperature on the coast was in the mid fifties -- which felt like the forties because of the wind -- and I was dressed for summer, not winter; after driving no more than five minutes ... at most, a mile inland ... the temp was back up in the mid seventies.)

I spent that night in Roseburg, OR, then spent a day driving out to, and visiting, Crater Lake. Wow. Ten times wow. Make that a hundred times. I've looked at photos of that place since I was a kid. In photos -- and I don't care who took the photo or how good it it is -- Crater Lake looks like a pond with a small island in it. Stop what you're doing right now and take a look at one of those photos (easy to find on the Internet). According to what I read, that little island covers a square mile, and the distant shore is 6 miles away. If you get in a boat and ride around the lake, you'll travel 20 miles. If you drive the road that goes around the edge of the lake, you'll cover 22 miles. And, get this: The lake is over 1,900 feet deep!

Another night in Roseburg, then to Pacific, WA, near Seattle and Tacoma. On my way, while passing through Portland, I stopped for a 3-hour meal/visit with a lady I knew when I lived in Alabama -- recently, following her husband's death, she had moved out there to live near her daughter.

From Pacific, WA, I spent a day with my nephew, who lives on Mercer Island, and a day visiting Mt. Rainier, where I blew out a knee. I don't know that Mt. Rainier deservers all the blame -- I may have injured it earlier -- but all the walking I did there made it worse.

From Pacific, I drove up to Port Angeles. The next day, I visited Olympic National Park's Hurricane Ridge (whose lodge had recently burned to the ground), and Sol Duc Hot Springs (where I ate a meal in their restaurant, which sat next to their swimming pool which, no doubt, was filled with the hot spring water). And, of course, I did a lot of walking -- which damaged my knee even more.

End of vacation. All that remained was the long drive home.

With a bum knee.

I dreaded every stop, whether it be for gas, a meal, a rest room, even a hotel -- because it meant I had to walk.

I drove a different route home than I did on my out there so I could spend a day with my son and his family, who live near Chicago. One night each near Spokane, WA ... Billings MT ... Sioux Falls, SD ... and two nights in Carol Stream, IL (right next to Wheaton, where my son lives). I had planned to spend a night in Fargo, ND, but there wasn't a room to be had. Something big, I don't know what, was going on there, so I routed through Sioux Falls, SD instead.