Day 19

July 5 (Farewell Bend State Park, OR)

There isn't much to do at this campground, which was really nice because we all need to chill. This was great place for us to gather ourselves at the end of our voyage west (so we don't arrive in Myrtle Creek completely a mess and disoriented).

We had a hookup and the air-conditioner all afternoon because it was in the mid 90's and we were relatively exposed to the sun. Cassandra went out for internet to attend a work-meeting, and she returned with a copy of Muppets Take Manhattan from the store, so we loaded up in the camper and watched it. Ev has been struggling with mosquito bites (and cannot stop scratching them), so we finally gave her Benadryl, which helped (and then made her really sluggish). As it cooled in the evening, they rode their bike around the campground...

...and watched cows as they pastured in the adjacent hills and watered at the Snake River.

We checked out the Conestoga wagons at the entrance to the park as well as perhaps the most interestingly designed information station we've seen so far. It is a covered, outdoor display with well-separated panel sections in a very small space. I've never seen anything like and it was full of really interesting information.

Understanding what we learned about this place - and feeling the energy, the tension, the expectation of the westward-emigrants who came through this place - we settled in to rest for the time we were to be here, ready to be on the move tomorrow. We tried to imagine what it would have been like to be travelling these lands by horse and wagon, without most of the amenities and comforts we had taken for granted on this trip, and slept like kings and queens (until Cassandra and I were awoken by morning showers in our rainfly-less tent…).