California here we are

Left Summerland bright and early around 8 in the morning. Crossing the border was uneventful, the language is the same the only thing that's a bit of a problem is getting used to miles and gallons after having dealt with the metric system all these years. The price of gas is per gallon,relatively cheap at around $3,00, the distances are now all in miles thus making it appear as though it takes much longer to get wherever you want to get to and the temperature is in balmy Fahrenheit. After one day on the road these little discrepancies don't represent much of a hassle at all.
The first night we stopped in Hood River, Oregon. Hood River is an absolutely charming little town, full of quaint shops and proud of its historical past. It sits right on the mighty Columbia river. It's a favorite hangout for aficionados of wind surfing. Apparently the wind really blows in the summer and you can cover huge distances. We checked out the Hood River Hotel, mostly empty, but no deals to be had at over $100.00 a night, courtyard view only.
We politely declined, so early into our trip I can't afford to blow that kind of money on a hotel. We settled for something far seedier up the hill a ways from there. Still not cheap at $59.00 a night and extremely basic. Fifty nine dollars doesn't buy that much in terms of accommodation in trendy Hood River.
Two beds with "not so lovingly worn" bedspreads, sheets were white, not incandescently so but passable. The T.V. was your average box, no flat screen for this puppy and the bathroom was utilitarian, even the faucets were the old star shaped faucets that one rarely sees anymore. In any case the water was hot and the toilet worked and the beds didn't sag in all the wrong places. We managed an okay night after a supper of Chinese, no smorg, just a chicken dish with plain white rice. We're really trying to eat well while on the road, it's always such a problem with all the fast food joints along the way which we religiously avoid nevertheless. I'm not a fan of Wendy's, had never been there before this trip, but they now offer four quite pleasant salads which are more than palatable. That's what we're sticking to.
In the morning we went for breakfast at the same restaurant we had been to on the way back from Mexico two years ago. Our motel was right opposite it. While there we also chanced upon a Polish friend which Stan had made while we were staying in La Ventana, in Baja California. His daughter owns the restaurant and he goes there for breakfast every morning. It really is a very small world, sometimes.
The road was great till we hit some rain in Oregon where it doesn't just rain it pours. Driving was very difficult, there are so many big trucks on the road, passing them is a lousy experience which we had to repeat, unfortunately over and over again. It's hard to imagine how many of those trucks are on the road at any one time all across this continent, it simply boggles the mind. We saw our first 3 trailer truck, a truck for which the word behemoth could very aptly be coined it's that frightening. As we got closer and closer to California and Mount Shasta the rain rapidly changed to snow, huge flakes which combined with the mountainous nature of the terrain made driving very hazardous. It was a tense two hours but we made it out, safe and sound. We are now ensconced in the Vagabond Inn, a step up over what we had yesterday which explains why I'm able to file this report.
We're going to relax, have supper and watch a little mindless t.v. We watch a lot of Spanish t.v. need to freshen our mastery of the language, even commercials sound okay in Spanish. Tomorrow we're aiming for Lake Havasu in California and ultimately Yuma, Arizona where we might spend a couple of days.
I won't update my blog every day, possibly once or twice a week depending on what we're doing and on whether any of it is worth sharing. Adios for now.