Friday March 2 Day 43

Up to light rain. We are trying to make an early start so we can go to the local breakfast place that has a coupon in the Hi-Way Haven Camp ground info/map sheet.  We pulled out of the campground at 9:05 @ 50136 mi.  If we have a good breakfast we can maybe drive straight through and get to a stop a bit closer to home than Kelso.  Kelso is about 40 miles from the Oregon border so about 230 miles from the BC border.  Anyway we were at breakfast at the Apple Pedaler, (a 24 hr. restaurant in the town of Sutherin and about a ½ mile from the campground), 9:15 to 10:20 and pulled out to the I 5 in the RV at 50137 mi. Then into a Flying J for gas at 12:45 @ 50279 mi and out @ 1:10.  As it worked out we lost a lot of time in a traffic backup going into Portland. No idea why but it was 3 lanes wide, solid but moving very, very slowly and this is at 1:30 or so in the afternoon. Anyway by the time we got to Kelso, 2:40 @ 50349 mi, I figured we didn’t have time to make our second choice, the Elks Lodge in south Seattle suburbs, (Puyallup), as any delay would put me trying to navigate suburban streets to a place I had never been to before in the twilight or even dark. The drive from Kelso to Puyallup is 2 hours just on a straight run with out any delays.  Even with the GPS I opted to not try it.  We stayed in the lodge lounge and had supper here.  It was halibut & chips with very tasty coleslaw & a very good tarter sauce.  Then we stayed to play the Elks races. They have 6 names on a board & a dice shaker. Each race they flip the dice & call out 3 names and the corresponding pieces move a space (or more) across the board.  There are 14 spots with number 15 being the winner. There are odds that are called out before the start, after the betting.  I tried 2 or 3 races & came out $2.00 up, Sheila played one more race & came out $6.00 down.  So tomorrow when we head home, we may take the RV to Dewdney Trunk road to facilitate unloading, we will see.

Distance travelled – 213 miles, on road time – 3 hrs 55 min’s