2021 December Road Trip

Day One: Cheney, WA to Tri Cities, WA to Portland, OR to Salem, OR

We left our house in Cheney right on time. Car fully packed and feeling like we left nothing behind. Essentials like wedge pillows and sleeping pillows and folding chairs and microwave all got neatly packed up into our little Subaru Crosstrek. (So far, dish soap is the only thing that has made the “forgot to pack it” list.)

We hit the Tri Cities around lunch time and decided Thai is the best way to go. David picked a delicious place: Thai Elephant (to check out photos and my review).

Our next stop was Powell’s Bookstore in Portland, Oregon, where we managed to keep the tab under $100 and scored ourselves 8 books. I stuck to my goal of only buying used books. David splurged on one new one to add to his 7 volumed book by Proust.

Dinner was a bit comical. I craved chicken tenders from KFC and our plan was to eat in our hotel room. Well, then apparently the KFC we stopped in at doesn’t do wedge cut potatoes AND they were out of fries AND the chicken tenders were not fresh-fresh. The guy at the counter was honest, but also weirdly adamant about us trying the chicken sandwich which is not at all what either of us wanted. So, we walked out deflated. But then David spotted Red Robin across the road and all was good again cause they have an Avo-Cobb-O-Salad with crispy chicken. So, not only did we get my chicken tender fix, but we also got a bowl full of salad plus some fries.

Day Two: Salem, OR to Mount Shasta, CA

Exhausted from the day before we lingered in our hotel room and didn’t take off until 10? 11? Had chores to do like get gas from Costco and meds from Walgreens and coffee from Starbucks. So, shortly after taking off it was already lunch time. We got frustrated with the bustling metropolis of Eugene and went to a smaller town south of it where we ate really yummy sandwiches at Blue Valley Bistro (to check out photos and my review).

Also, just as we navigated getting off the freeway I received a phone call (that I sadly had to ignore, cause, well, I’m driving) from the President of Independent Brokers of Spokane and within minutes a text popped up with a giant headshot of me on a big screen. I won the Joe McKinnon Christmas Spirit Award! So, incredibly, awesome. (I don’t have sufficient Wifi to upload the video to give insight as to why I am getting the award, so for now here is a pic.)

The drive from our lunch spot to Mount Shasta was filled with pretty sights. I enjoyed taking a different route versus our usual via Bend, OR to Crater Lake and then to Cali. It was just very green and lush with trees and also foggy and overcast but then pockets of sun and blue skies. I felt it was a bit more interesting of a drive.

Dinner was another hit location: Healthy Thai Cuisine (to check out photos and my review).

Day Three: Mount Shasta Hike!

Okay, the main highlight of this post is our hiking adventures in Mount Shasta area. We spent just 3 nights in town and only had a day and a half to hike it, but we totally made the best of it on the first day. Hope you like checking out my meltdown to victory story and all the pretty photos.

Mount Shasta via Avalanche Gulch via Horse Camp

Mount Shasta