Post 5: To Washington

We had a less than wonderful dining experience in old town McMinnville last night. There are almost as many wine bars, tasting rooms and good restaurants as Healdsburg. We just didn't eat at one. The new Comfort Inn was a good call though.

Out at 6am massaging the front end on the roadster, and just put the tools away before the sprinklers came on. It proved to have helped but not completely, so more work will follow.

We left town on Hwy 47 and it was a good choice with small towns and large farms thriving in the Willamette Valley. With top down weather we could see everything and enjoyed doing 40 with no traffic. A late breakfast at MK's in Banks was excellent and made up for the night before. We continued on 47 along the Banks-Venonia Trail, a forested ride up and down eventually taking us to Clatskanie. It was cool along the Columbia River and we crossed into Washington at Longview. Our map lacked detail and we spun around before finding our way. Good thing no Model A's without CB's were following. A Show N Shine car show blocked the streets in Castle Rock and we continued on to the Mount St. Helens Visitors Center at Silver Lake. We watched the video and listened to a ranger's recollection of the events in the Spring of 1980 and the eruption in May. We took the Old Pacific Hwy north to Toledo but lost it as Washington has a signage problem, something to remember for 2010. We attempted to stay on the road less traveled, but opted to I-5 it the last 10 miles to Centralia. We're at the King Oscar for $71 including tax, something Oregon seems to do quite well without. We may connect with Samantha and Mary (Mom) in the next few days who are also going north to Vancouver.

Steve & Judy, parked for now