On to Portland, Oregon to see friends

Friday September 5^th, the day after our fantastic day in Glacier NP we broke camp once again headed for Portland, Oregon via a night in Spokane, Washington.  To achieve that in two days it took two rather long days on the road again.  The trip to Spokane would take us south in Montana from the east side of Glacier down around the south side of the park and right through the town of West Glacier that we had gone to when we crossed the park on Going to the Sun Highway.  The scenery was beautiful and we then headed southwest to join up with I-90 west of Missoula, Montana.  The roadway started to look familiar remembering that way back in 1963 through 1966 I had driven I-90 both east and west while attending the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho each time I returned to my home outside Buffalo, New York.  The trip from Montana to Spokane goes over what is called Lookout Pass and continues all the way across the state of Idaho to Washington State.  It was a strange feeling to go all the way across Idaho without stopping or heading south to Moscow!

We spent the night in Spokane at the military FAMCAMP located at Fairchild Air Force Base just outside Spokane.  We found that we were able to buy our meals and eat in the base chow hall where the active duty and reserve personnel dined.  The food facilities sure have changed since I was on active duty and each meal item was priced separately like a cafeteria.

Off again on Saturday to Portland we experienced the shock of leaving the mountains and all their beauty behind us as we entered the relatively barren lands of Eastern Washington where dust devils were common to see crossing the vacant land and plowed fields.  Our route took us southwest from Fairchild AFB down I-90 and US-395 to Pasco, Washington where we crossed the Columbia River into the state of Oregon and headed almost directly west on I-84 toward Portland.

The purpose of going to Portland area was to visit Dick’s old college fraternity brother and roommate George Branson and his wife Becky.  In an unusual move, we took the RV to an RV Park located on Jensen Beach Island in the middle of the Columbia River between Portland and Vancouver, left it there, and went to stay a few days with George and Becky in their phenomenal 25^th floor condo on the south side of Portland.  The condo has an amazing view of Portland and also the freeway system leading into and south of the city.

 

 Portland is a dynamic city that has been transformed into a refreshing and thriving metropolis with clean tree lined streets and sparkling buildings.  We spent three delightful days with George & Becky catching up on their and our many travels and families.  On Monday the 8^th Becky & George took us out to a really special treat for lunch at a Brazilian Steakhouse named Fogo de Chao.  We had never been to one before and we really enjoyed their famous and fabulous salad bar and Dick and George additionally had the full variety of fine meats that are served and individually carved right at the table.  Many thanks to Beck & George for that special treat!

Also we wanted to visit Pat’s cousin Corky Tennent and his wife Sandy in Kelso, Washington and to see dear Navy friends Ken and Billie Voss in Vancouver, Washington, both only a short distance from Portland so, after bidding the Bransons a fond farewell on Tuesday morning, we returned to the RV and then headed north to see Corky and Sandy. 

Much to our surprise in addition to Corky and Sandy, Corky’s brother “JD” and sister “Bitsy” were there.  Pat had not seen them in many years and it was great to see them.  We had visited Corky & Sandy a couple of years ago on an earlier trip but with Corky’s health failing due his colon cancer the visit was especially important and we greatly enjoyed the afternoon with all of them. 

From the Tennent’s we headed back south to Vancouver, WA and went to Ken and Billie Voss’s home.  Ken and Billie are very dear friends from back in Dick’s Navy days where Dick and Ken served as Department Heads on the USS Firedrake (AE-14) an ammunition ship deployed to Vietnam in 1969 - 71.  We have seen them frequently since then as we attend the Firedrake reunions around the country. 

Ken and Dick co-hosted one of the reunions in Vancouver in 2007.  We went out to dinner with them to a local BBQ restaurant and the next day we again visited with them and ended the day with a salad bar dinner at a Green Tomatoes Restaurant.  It was good spending time with them.