39,000 Little Dead Bugs

Since we returned from the Washington state trip a little over a week ago I have been meaning to wash the thousands of dead bugs off the front of the Mini. But because we have been pretty busy I’ve never gotten around to it. Add to that it has been, like most of the country, pretty dang hot and the only reasonable time to wash it is pretty early in the morning.

I am promising to get to it this weekend though. Either on Saturday if we get back from the downtown farmers market early enough, which is unlikely. Or Sunday after breakfast and the morning show, but then again Sunday is bike riding day and the best time to ride is also early in the morning…

Sometime yesterday, or maybe the day before, while running errands or shopping the Mini rolled through the thirty-nine thousand mile mark.

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

I Need A Mechanic Edition of SORT
As of Monday, July 10, 2023 at 1:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Spider 1600 1975 Ford Bronco 1967 Mercedes-Benz 250SE Coupe
I would love to buy this, but there probably no 60’s Alfa mechanics anywhere near me. For this one there is probably going to be someone around here that could wrench on this. Just like the Giulia Spider I’d be wondering where to find a reliable M-B mechanic locally.

Here is what last week’s ago cars sold for, or bid to (if the reserve was not met):
Sports: 1964 Chevrolet Corvette Bid to $45,250 on 7/5/23
Off-Road: 2003 Chevrolet Silverado Sold for $24,702 on 7/9/23
Touring: 2001 Chevrolet Suburban Sold for $45,000 on 7/6/23

Home Again For A While

We took that 4 week road trip and stayed home for just a couple of weeks before spending another week away, so we will probably be chillin’ at home for awhile. Last year for this trip up to Washington and back for a family 4th of July picnic, we stopped at the same place in downtown Bend for lunch, but this time we chose two different locations for the midday meal.

On the way up we drove right through a busy Bend and stopped at the next town north, Redmond, where we ended up at an eclectic little place called One Street Down Café. The temperature was in the middle seventies and we sat outside to eat under the trees in the side yard. I had a Cuban that was made using a savory french toast and Donna had a half and half ham & cheese sandwich and chicken tortilla soup.

On the way back we drove right through a busy Bend and stopped at the next town south, La Pine, at a place called Cinco de Mayo Mexican Restaurant. We had a hard time finding a parking spot because there was a Porsche Club event that was having lunch here too. Fortunately we were seated and order taken before everyone that was there in a P Car hadn’t arrived yet. We split some chicken fajitas that were served with delicious, made fresh on site, tortillas.

Heading Home

Day one of our 2-day return trip back to Klamath Falls. On the way up to Granite Falls we took the shorter quicker route through Washington by taking I-90 West and WA203 north, but on the way home today we abandoned that short quick version because the surface of I-90 was awful. I swear the concrete contractor took a few shortcuts because it is deteriorating badly. Of course the amount of traffic it receives is probably a whole heck of a lot more than the further north US2 too. From Monroe we used US2 this morning heading east and it was a great little drive until it got a little later in the morning and we got to the fake Bavarian town of Leavenworth, WA. Even after getting past Leavenworth, the traffic was fairly steady.

After the drive up, and now halfway back, we both think that this will be the last time we come up to visit over the 4th of July. We are going back to visiting in May when there are a lot fewer folks on the roads and practically zero RVs.

On the way up 3 days ago we crossed the Columbia river via a different bridge. We usually cross on US197 right out of The Dalles where the Holiday Inn Express is, but this time we used US97, about 20 miles further east. On the way up the hill in Washington we noticed a sign for a Stonehenge memorial and thought that maybe we should stop in on the way back. So we did.

Here is the interesting origin story of the monument.

Sport, Off-Road, Touring

Independence Day Eve Edition of SORT
As of Monday, July 3, 2023 at 1:00 PM pacific time:

Sport Off-Road Touring
1964 Chevrolet Corvette 2003 Chevrolet Silverado 2001 Chevrolet Suburban
Nothing says Happy Birthday America like a trio of red, white and blue vehicles made by a company whose slogan is, “Baseball, Apple pie and Chevrolet.”

Here is what last week’s ago cars sold for, or bid to (if the reserve was not met):
Sports: 2008 Porsche Boxster Sold for $32,750 on 6/29/23
Off-Road: 2005 Jeep Wrangler Sold for $25,000 on 6/29/23
Touring: 2014 BMW Z4 Sold for $36,890 on 7/3/23

38,000 Little YellowCones

Made it to Monroe early this afternoon, but it was too early to check-in to the AirBNB in Monroe, so we drove right through and headed one town further north, Granite Falls, to meet with the Family. We chilled with them at the town’s Sunday Farmers Market until we could check-in. Back down to Monroe for an hour or so before we headed back north about halfway to Lake Stevens to watch the two nieces and their dad in their Sunday evening tradition, play some Ultimate.

They play on a middle school’s Astroturf football field, but instead of lengthwise they set up three separate fields crosswise marked off by 38,000 little yellow cones. Depending on the amount of participants they will use all three, but today only about 20 showed up so they used just two fields and played several games with 5 on a side.

The Mini ticked past the 38,000 mile mark just before we crossed the Columbia River into Washington.

Hunting Post Offices

Taking Post Office pictures on our way to Washington state for the 4th of July.

1) Chemult – 97731 2) La Pine – 97739 3) Antelope – 97001
4) Shaniko – 97057 5) Kent – 97033 6) Grass Valley – 97029
7) Moro – 97039 8) Wasco – 97065 9) Rufus – 97050