Day 49 - Back to Portland?!!!

 This morning started pretty slowly as we really didn’t have a heavy plan for the day.  Our end destination is Columbus Park in Olympia which is a 3 hour drive, but there wasn’t a huge reason to rush there.  I saw on the map that there was an overlook that was reported to be the most photographed lake in Oregon.  After coming from Crater Lake, I had to see what this was.  Turns out there’s a very good reason this scene is so photographed -  what do you think?


After I got back, we had breakfast and were all just lounging around when Sebastian alerted us to Robinson crying.  He had been lounging on top of a log in the sun when a squirrel caught his eye.  He went to sit up, lost his balance, fell five or six feet down onto several small logs and spiky plants below (barely missing a sharp log).  Amy and I both went running over and he was working on slowly getting to his feet below the log. 



We got him back to camp and put some ice on his back where he landed and assessed him.  Thankfully, and extremely luckily, there was nothing urgently wrong, but we ultimately decided that, given our remote location and potential for internal issues, we should get going.  So we packed up rather quickly and started towards Olympia.


The plan for the day had diverted us from the fastest route to be able to see Mt. St. Helen’s.  However, with Robinson’s fall, we decided that getting to Olympia via Portland was the better option (ugh - more potential Portland traffic!).  So, we were back on the highway along the Columbia River heading west.  One great thing about this though was that we were able to see a number of wind surfers on the Columbia River cruising along at impressive speeds on the river.  It was neat to see!


We passed through Portland and indeed caught more traffic.  It seems that no matter what time you try to move through Portland, you can expect to slow down.  Eventually, we got off the highway and finally we made it to Columbus Park in Olympia.  This was a great park to stay at and had so many things to offer - chickens/goats to see, a playground area with tall swings and a FAST slide, and a lake for enjoying.  It also had electric AND water for us so as far as I’m concerned, it had EVERYTHING.


The truly bright spot of the day was that Robinson reported to be feeling better and better and when we pulled into camp, he went sprinting out toward the playground.  It was clear that he was going to be just fine.  The boys did a little playing in the creek behind camp while Amy and I set up.  Soon though Robinson was asking to go swimming in the lake.  While it looked cold, the lake actually was fairly warm, at least on the surface.  So, Robinson and I enjoyed the lake for an hour while Amy got gas and Sebastian did some reading and watching the fish.





After the lake fun, we visited a little with the chickens and goats of the park (they were in their fenced areas and couldn’t be touched, but were still cool to see).  Then we wound down with some dinner and watched the first game of the Women’s World Cup before calling it a day.  


Total miles traveled - 7,642

# States/Provinces Visited - 16!


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