And he's off

 I set off this morning on the 7.30 ferry after dropping my son off at his passenger ferry for college. I hit the rush hour at Seattle, but I had to stop and get gas and a coffee from Starbucks. The sun was shining and the snow up at Snoqualmie pass was stunning. 

The journey through to Pendleton was punctuated with short bathroom stops in Ellensburg and Prosser and as the journey continued, I left my home area further behind as if shedding the large security blanket that has been my home for 25 years. As I dropped down towards the Columbia river, I was now looking out over virgin territory. This part of Oregon is agricultural  with miles and miles of open land dotted with cattle, a few sheep and lots of horses.

I found the KOA camp site for my first overnight stop and set up the GO camper in about 30 minutes. The site is full of large camper vans the size of my house on

Vashon (almost), and the tent section was shoehorned into the back lot next to a housing estate. It is not the most attractive of sites, but hey, they have hot water for a shower tomorrow.

 It is freezing in the camper, so I may crawl into my sleeping bag and call it a night 

Good Morning Pendleton.

I have not unpacked the food and coffee yet, so I drove into town in search of breakfast. I had a little wait for things to open, but I managed to get some coffee and Biscuits and Gravy. Oh Yes !! The rest of the town won't be open for a few more hours so I will enjoy this experience.

Pendleton was a last stop along the Oregon Trail and still has a Wild West atmosphere, with Western Wear and saddle shops galore. It has seen better days but still worth a visit

I decided not to wait for the stores to open. I guess I will be seeing a lot more saddle shops in New Mexico., So off to Boise for the next stage