Thanks for re-posting "The Trip." 'Twas a great time for me then as well as now as I re-read of our most excellent adventure.
Fast-forward to this past long weekend. We drove up to Central Oregon to attend my b-i-l's wedding. The wedding was held in LaPine State Park under the canopy of pine trees, along the banks of the Little Deschutes River.
The wedding ceremony took place shortly after 2 pm. While relaxing and enjoying the company of friends, relatives and new relatives, a Park Ranger approached and told us we had to leave. No, we weren't that rowdy and unruly. Moments before the ranger's arrival, I detected the aroma of smoke. There were no campfires burning in our area.
The Ranger's words had a sense of urgency - "You all have to leave NOW!!!" A forest fire was in it's infancy a couple miles away from our location.
Everyone got involved in packing up and moving out. Folding chairs, wedding gifts, left-over wedding cake and food from the picnic. We all climbed the short hill to the parking lot area and from that location, we could see the smoke rising and beginning to block out the sun.
As we drove out of the State Park, Forest Service Emergency vehicles, Sheriff and local fire trucks were coming in. We made our way back to the motel 10 - 15 miles away. We watched the skyline as the cloud of smoke increased in size.
As evening fell, seven of us in two cars drove up to Bend, OR (30 miles) for dinner at Red Robin. On our return trip to the motel in LaPine at around 9 pm, we passed by the park entrance access road. Bull-dozers were being brought in on flatbed trucks under escort of Oregon State Police. Off in the distance, we could see a red glow of the fire.
Back at the motel, local residents who were evacuated from their homes around the fire's location were trying to find shelter. The motel was full, so those 200+ residents were sheltered at the local school. We talked to some of those folks and the fire at that time was 50% contained.
On Sunday morning, there were no signs of the previous rising column of smoke as we packed up and headed home down US 97 to I-5. Beautiful blue skies afforded us a look at Mt. Shasta. First the north exposure followed by the west and south views as we progressed southward.
Given my age, and my consumption of coffee, we visited most of the rest stops along the way. Gasoline prices along the way averaged around $2.79 gal but peaked at $3.25 in a very small town near the California/Oregon border.
The 1000 mile trip will go down in the memory banks along with "The Trip."
Our next trip in two weeks to Spokane will be via Southwest Airlines. We've had enough driving to last the rest of the year.