When we left Spokane we had our eye on Portland, Oregon. One option for a route was to take I-90 West over the Cascade Mountain Range, into the Seattle Metro Area, and down I-5 into Portland. I was in no way interested in driving over a mountain range and into crazy traffic if there was another way. Mike was not interested in listening to me fret during the mountains and the traffic, especially if there was another way. We had both been to Seattle separately and together. The area’s beauty is magnificent, and we will return for another visit again… but we chose to bypass the Emerald City on the Lower 48 in 48 Tour. After all, this adventure is about seeing parts of the country we DON’T know about, so it made total sense to take another route through a part of the Evergreen State that we had not experienced before.

We started out on I-90 West and turned south when we got to Hwy 395. The terrain started out with a sprinkling of trees beside the highway and then turned into rolling hills of amber and sand- hued fields after we turned south. The traffic was light on our two-hour drive and it was a good travel day. Our destination was the Columbia Sun RV Resort in Kennewick, and we were settled into our new spot by early afternoon. The park was fairly large and very nice. The landscaping was impeccable and the grounds were kept very clean and tidy. The swimming pool and hot tub were both heated, so we took advantage of the facilities during some days when the weather was gorgeous.

We ended up staying at this location for two weeks. We didn’t do too many touristy things on this stop because we were primarily focused on chores and errands in the Tri-Cities. Mike spent lots of time cleaning the coach because some RV Parks do not allow that, and he had to take advantage while he could. I tried to work on my blog as often as I could bring myself to focus on my computer screen. We had a nice little yard with some grass to enjoy, so we spent many hours sitting outside and watching baseball or football on the television. The winter weather was approaching, and we wanted to take advantage of the mild temperatures while they were still lingering in the air! For exercise we drove the dogs to many of the walking trails that border the Columbia River so we could increase our heart rate while looking at some pretty scenery. Mike thinks it is foolish to drive the dogs for a walk… so some days it was just me and Piper, or just me and Cessna (the dogs alternated keeping me company). Nothing too exciting happened during our Kennewick stop, but that was fine with us. Two weeks of low key “regular life” was relaxing and productive all at the same time.