Day Four saw Big Thor touch pavement in three states: Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. More of the boring interstate in Idaho felt like we were back in dry west Texas. We cut across the northeastern corner of Oregon and we finally started seeing trees and mountains. Dull landscape gave way to picturesque vistas through the mountain passes. Viewing the scenery through our giant windshield gives it a panoramic quality. You just have to look past the splattered bugs.
Our journey took us in the area of the old Oregon Trail used by pioneers. Our son Ryan and Chris's mom used to love playing that computer game. We passed a sign in eastern Oregon saying we were crossing the 45th parallel which is halfway between the North Pole and the equator. There's actually a town near there called Halfway.
After crossing the Columbia River we had made it into our destination state of Washington!
Our resting spot for the night was Wine Country RV park in Prosser, in the south part of the state near the Columbia River. Apparently, it really is in wine country as there are several wineries and vineyards here. The RV park office even does wine tastings, but unfortunately not on the night we stayed. Not to worry, a bottle in our fridge tasted just fine to me.
We are nearing our cell phone data limits on this trip as WiFi isn't always available. That is a common complaint with RV parks: spotty WiFi. The campground in Idaho charged for the use of it and we decided we could live without it for a night. Now we may end up paying for extra cell data anyway. We'll have to go old-school and use our road atlas more and Apple maps less.
It's crazy that a special driver's license is not required to drive this huge behemoth. I swear it feels like we are wider than the lane. Chris prefers driving on divided highways. It's a bit scary when the oncoming traffic comes so near you. I find myself leaning in when we are passing a large vehicle as if I can help us avoid contact. When we pass big trucks, you can feel a wall of air from the truck hitting the wall of air coming from us.
Wind is much more noticeable than in a car. Chris has learned to steer gently and not make sudden movements to keep things smooth and under control. When the turn signal is on, a side camera shows a view of the blind spot on our console to help with changing lanes. Wide turns are a must. Thank goodness for rumble strips to help keep us in our lane and for cruise control so Chris's leg doesn't get so tired. The work he does steering has been getting counted as steps on his Fitbit. Who knew you could get a workout from driving an RV?
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