Oregon or bust . . . we made it!

We arrived yesterday afternoon, but not without incident. A couple days ago Ken noticed the truck was leaking what he thought was oil. Fortunately for us, we were only about 75 miles from the Cummins Northwest facility, can't get any better than that when you're in need of work on a Cummins engine! Ken checked the oil yesterday morning (just before leaving the Florence, on the Oregon coast) and it was still registered in the "safe" zone which puzzled him, but decided that we needn't top off the oil before we made the trip over the mountain. Upon arrival at Cummins, a mechanic came out to the truck to inspect it (which was nice since we didn't have to unhitch the trailer) and discovered that it was a combination of oil and fuel leaking! Since they could do nothing for us until next week, it was decided that we were safe enough to keep on going and get settled in Cascadia and Ken will take it back for repair next Wednesday.

We normally come up the coast before heading inland. I love Oregon's beautiful bridges along the coastal route. A bit of history of the bridges: Conde McCullough built eight of them, from Gold Beach to Tillamook, over his 30-year career starting in 1919, and each one is unique. When this one, in Coos Bay, was completed, its 5,305-foot bridge was the longest in the Oregon highway system and the largest structure in all of McCullough's impressive works of art. It's a green steel giant, with huge cantilevers hung high above the water for easy shipping clearance.

I love the fact that the "big guys" will be taking care of our truck. We've always taken good care our truck, changing the oil every 3000 miles, so we know these folks will care for it like only the pros can.

And here we are ready for a summer of fun, friends, and family!

Life is good!