FE. On the road again (yes, we play way too much Willie N). It is time to say goodbye to Mt Adams (elevation 12,281 ft) and Mt Hood (11,249 ft), the wonderful house we stayed in, each other, and the fun town of Hood River.

We bring Naomi to the Portland airport, and stop along the way at Multnomah Falls (at 620 ft high, the 154th tallest waterfall in the US, for you trivia fans)

and then it is a long drive down I-5, first along the west side of the cascades, where we see the snow-covered tops of Mt St Helens (8363 ft, used to be 9,677 ft prior to May 1980) and Mt Jefferson (10,502 ft), both volcanoes and part of the ring of fire (we should play more Johnny C. I guess). We stop for a re-charge in Grants Pass, and dine at an Applebees, where we meet a friendly and very colorful waiter (more on that in Rae’s blog).

The next part of the drive is over the Siskiyous, steep up and downs, trucks trying to pass each other sloooowly, etc. Finally, we reach the promised land of California, where we stay overnight in the village of Mt Shasta, named after the nearby volcano (14,163 ft high).

RN: The state of Oregon has suffered a poor reputation with respect to racial diversity due to the Black Exclusion laws it enacted as a territory prior to the Civil War.  The settlers in the territory were firmly against slavery, but, at the same time, feared that free Black people would band together with the native population to cause trouble.  Thus, until 1929, when these laws were repealed, Oregon actively discouraged Blacks from living in the state.  As a result, one source stated that the percentage of folks who identified as Black in 2022 was only about 2.5% (usafacts.org); however, the US Census gave the percentage in 2020 as 12.5% (hmmmm- I wonder if there was a typo?). At any rate, Oregon has been recovering from its racist past. When we arrived in Grants Pass OR for dinner, we met a wonderful server who provided a counter example (in more ways than one), particularly given that the rural areas of Oregon are often more conservative.  Note: he did his nails by himself- what an artist!!