Strangely enough outside of an argument with my daughter because I'm traveling for a second day without a break and I was having a little trouble breathing at 3500 feet in the smoke in Mt. Shasta up to Ashland, the day went pretty well. The smoke sort of faded out around Mt. Ashland Pass for some reason which made me think, "Where did the smoke come from over Mt. Shasta down to Redding?
Though there were fires the smoke was going straight up and it looked like whatever fires with smoke coming up weren't very big in Oregon heading north. But, at least the wind wasn't blowing it along the ground and making everyone choke along Interstate 5.
However, it was 90 to 95 degrees from Ashland to Portland so this was sort of unexpected this far north but it sure was beautiful as soon as we hit Ashland where there is a lot more rain than is hitting California.
So, it was really beautiful heading north up from Ashland and out of the most severe Droughted areas in the last 100 years or so in California.
The water levels looked okay in Oregon as far as rivers and lakes went even though I think they likely are getting less rain and snow than normal because Whistler and Mt. Hood both don't have snow right now for summer skiing.
We went to a great Thai Restaurant with my older daughter's boyfriend called Pok Pok Noi. There appear to be several locations. They serve food from Chiang Mai which is northern Thailand. It seemed to be very popular. We sat outside because it was very warm and even 77 to 80 degrees at 8 pm. Later we found a summer amusement park and drove go karts which was fun except because I'm 6 foot 5 inches when someone spun out in front of me I couldn't brake fast enough because of my height. So, it was great to discover two brand new things for my daughter and older daughter's boyfriend and me. The waitress at the restaurant had been to Thailand and had taught English in Japan for 10 years so she was interesting to talk to also. I mentioned that I really loved Katmandu, Nepal and trekking in the Himalayas in 1985 and 1986 when I was there then. However, I also mentioned that I'm not sure of the government now and also Katmandu is more hazy than it was in 1985 and 1986. However, more of the roads are paved now so you are less likely to get Giardia from breathing the dust. The feces in the dust of animals and people in 1985 and 1986 likely gave 4 out of 5 of my family and I giardia for 6 months or more. So, we were very skinny indeed (all of us who got it) for about 6 months. We looked like we came from a concentration camp during world War II and saw black spots before our eyes because we were starving sort of. So, if you can avoid giardia please find some way to do that.
Tomorrow, my younger daughter wants to visit one of her friends at one of the colleges starting near Portland.
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