Return to Portland
We woke up to the same smoky skies we've had here for the past week. We were definitely ready to leave.
Our drive to Portland was only about 265 miles, but we were very concerned about how long it would take us to get through Seattle. Today, we lucked out. We bypassed downtown Seattle on I-405 and probably lost less 30 minutes getting through Seattle. Once we were south of Seattle, it was an easy drive on I-5. As we approached Portland, we saw blue skies for the first time in over a week.
Tonight was an "add-on" night. We wanted an extra day with Matt & Jackie, so we added Friday night to our original reservation and left Mt. Vernon a day early. The campground in Portland had an open site next to the river, which is one of the prized sites. We'll have to switch campsites tomorrow morning to our original reservation, but we wanted another night in Portland.
Our campsite had a nice view of the swimming area where the locals go to swim in the Sandy River, but it was also close to the main train tracks that go east from Portland. The campground is up on a plateau, and the train tracks are directly below us along the Columbia River. The trains sounded like they were right outside our door as they rumbled by all evening and through the night. Every time they went by (and they went by far too frequently), they shook the whole motorhome. By the end of the night, we were glad we're moving to a different campsite for the rest of our stay.
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