Travelogue

Lolo and Herb Swimming in the Columbia RiverAnother big driving day. It was another 800 or so miles to Seattle, so our goal was to put as many of those miles we comfortably could under our belt today, so that we could get to the Seattle at a reasonable time the next day.

We continued to monitor Andrew and Celeste’s progress across the Nevada desert. It wasn’t going particularly well. Despite drinking mass quantities of water and tying wet bandannas around their heads, they were still feeling the devastating effects of the oppressive heat. Andrew said his eyeballs even hurt. I am sure that as they drove through Donner Pass, shortly after crossing into California, they had a better understanding for continental crossings that don't always go as expected. They did make it however, and brought the car to a Midas in Santa Rosa – hopefully completing their tour of Midas’s of the U.S.

Meanwhile, we were having our own share of problems. This trip was our first time towing a vehicle and there were a few kinks to work out. Periodically, the Subaru would decide to brake on its own and set off an alarm. It got particularly bad when we were going slower. Herb was very concerned about it and wanted to block off some time to work on it when we got to our destination that evening.

Lolo and Tom at the ColumbiaThe Columbia River seemed about as far as we wanted to go that night, so I called ahead and made a reservation at the Umatilla Marina and RV Park along the Oregon side of the Columbia River. I thought that way we could at least have some nice scenery while doing auto maintenance.

About 20 miles shy of our destination, Tommy’s Subaru, which had been behaving very nicely during the trip so far, decided to join in on the fun. A warning light indicated that there was a problem with his brake system. Fortunately, we were able to find a Subaru dealer in nearby Hermiston, Oregon, who said he would take care of it in the morning.

The Umatilla RV Park was very nice, with several right along the river. Unfortunately, all those were already taken but after dinner we took a pleasant stroll along the river.

The next morning was very productive. Tommy got up early and drove over to Hermiston Subaru to get his car fixed and Herb adjusted the auxiliary braking system so that the Subaru would behave better behind the motorhome.

We felt so good that we even took time out for a swim in the Columbia River, before setting out on the road again.

Description

The Umatilla Marina and RV Park is a commercial campground on the Columbia River in Umatilla, Oregon.