Dave Knows: Elko

It had been 3 years since I last set foot in the Beaver state, so the wife and I planned a big trip to coincide with her cousin’s wedding.  We crammed in so much stuff in a week and a half our heads are still spinning!

I get yelled at if I don’t include a map of our trip so here it is!  We took 84 in from the east through Boise on the way there, then south through Bend and Winnemucca on the way back.

We took the boys out of school early on the 12th and left Elko around noon.  Because we brought the dogs this time and we weren’t too sure how they would do, we split up the drive into 2 days.  We drove up through Jackpot on 93 but instead of heading toward Twin Falls like we usually do, we drove west toward beautiful Buhl, ID.  A friend from work grew up there and told us it’s a great little town and a scenic drive so we decided to give it a shot.  The route took us into Buhl, which was cute, but the best part was the drive alongside the Snake River through some stunning scenery.  Of course we didn’t take any pictures, but trust me, there were waterfalls, cliffs, significant greenery, and animals aplenty.  We met up with I-84 around the town of Bliss and continued on our way.  We stopped for the night at the Holiday Inn in Ontario, Oregon.  The wife was feeling all congested from a cold she caught before we left and we remembered that Oregon requires a prescription to buy Pseudoephedrine (sudafed).  We could have headed back across the border but we ended up buying another product that didn’t work as well.  Curse you, Oregon and your meth-related laws! *shakes fist*

Alright, so we got up semi-early on the 13th and headed toward Portland.  We again passed the replica Stonehenge and didn’t stop to look at it.  One of these days kids, I promise.  The dogs got a quick stop in The Dalles to stretch their legs:

We arrived in Portland around 3:00pm.  Our first visit was with the wife’s grandmother, who is still hanging on at 93 years old.  We don’t know how much longer we’ll have her so it was great to see her again.

The first few days in Portland we stayed with some friends of ours, Jim and Joy and their family.  It was great seeing them after all these years!  Nothing too exciting happened, but my son did find a sweet frog in their backyard and we took some cool pictures with my wife’s new camera.  Check out the detail on that froggie!

Oooh, also while we were there, Jim fell on his bicycle and tore himself up good.  We only got pictures of his fingers but there were more body parts skinned up.  Shoulder, elbow, knee, etc. Hope you’re feeling better man!

mmmm…meaty!

So the main reason we were in Portland was for the wife’s cousin’s wedding.  I was tricked into going when I heard it was going to be held at the “Hostess” house in Vancouver, WA.  But I’d been bamboozled!  There was nary a Twinkie or Ding Dong to be found.  But there was cake.  No lie!  I especially enjoyed the topper:

The lucky couple’s vehicle was tastefully decorated as well.  Here are some highlights.  Click to enlarge!  er…maybe I shouldn’t have said that.

After the wedding we drove back out to Hillsboro where we had boarded the dogs at the PetSmart Doggie DayCare.  We found out that little Ollie had to be put in solitary because he was being mean to the other doggies and people.  He’s such a little stinker!  We bailed him out and headed toward the Pacific Ocean!

That’s all for now.  Part 2 will come soon, and include Rockaway Beach, kites, cheese, hot wings, donuts with bacon on them, poutine, fruity drinks, soccer, dogs on couches, pinball, and pie!  Stay tuned…