Country Coach Rally

We really enjoyed the CC rally. The Albany Expo center was a good facility. The meals catered there were great. We were parked in a sea of 385 Country Coaches. We were dry camped and had our first experience with the "honey wagon" which is a big tank truck that empties your holding tanks.

We enjoyed the technical seminars and took a full day driver safety course plus a half day of hands on driver training. It was great hearing Bob Lee, CC founder, speak of how he grew up on a farm in a small Idaho town. He graduated in a H.S. class of six. He told of how he founded the company and began making pickup camper tops.

CC had a simi trailer full of parts and did free service for the attendees. We also got free service on our awning, roof vent fans, and tow bar provided by the vendors.

We found our fellow CC owners very friendly. We also ran into a couple we had made the Mexico Copper Canyon trip with. He spotted my Tilley hat. He wears one as well and a long sleeve shirt - he's a dermatologist.

The best part of the rally was the visit to the factory. The company put on a big pic nic. The CC owners had on blue t-shirts and the company employees wore green ones. We enjoyed seeing all the employees who had built our coach.

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On the Oregon Trail

We have completed the 2,400 mile trip to Albany, OR in nine days. We spent two nights in Baker City, OR to visit the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center and to visit Hells Canyon.

It has been an interesting trip so far and we have seen the varied geology and geography of the western states. As we entered Nebraska we basically followed the Oregon Trail all the way here. We were awe struck by what we learned about the waves of immigrants who followed the Oregon Trail in the mid nineteenth century. We can't imagine the hardships of the austere conditions the immigrants faced traveling 15 miles a day in ox drawn wagons.

A high point for George was our visit to the Golden Spike NHS. Here we saw the last tie laid connecting the Central Pacific route and the Union Pacific route at Promontory point, UT. Amazingly the two RR's built in opposite directions side-by-side for quite a distance because each thought they would win the competition for the business plus they were getting paid by the US government for each mile of tack laid. Finally Congress declared a meeting point at Promontory, UT. We drove our truck on actual roadbed and observed the side-by-side excavations of the two rail roads. Today the Union Pacific uses a shortcut that crosses the Geat Salt Lake.

Unfortunately, we were not able to see Hells Canyon in Oregon because the Forest Service had closed the observation platform due to fire in the area. That's after we drove about 80 miles to get there!

The trip through the Comumbia River Gorge was good. As always George enjoyed observing the trains at work on both sides of the river. We saw one wind surfer and a forest fire on the canyon wall. It was very windy in the Gorge and George had to fight to keep the coach under control.

Taffic in Portland was horrible, but we finally arrived in Albany finding cool, clear weather. We are at a campground across from the fair ground where we will move tomorrow to attend the Country Coach Rally. Day after tomorrow on Sunday we will attend the Country Coach rally.