Ann and Zollie along John Day River Near Clyde Holliday State Park.

Sunday afternoon, despite gusty winds, we took off for a short adventure to Clyde Holliday State Park. Driving south on I-82, mother nature toyed with us, rocking and pushing the motor home as we drove towards Oregon. Fortunately, the winds only lasted until we crossed the Columbia into Oregon. After that, it was a pretty calm drive.

I *think* this is how our trip will go. But, with us you never know. So far, we’ve made it from Pasco south to Clyde Holliday.

Well, calm until I asked my navigator to tell me where to turn at one point; but, she was enjoying the drive and wasn’t watching the map closely. So, we added an extra 20 miles to the trip 🙂

Me smiling for my navigator while I turn around :-)

With gray clouds and darkening skies, there wasn’t a lot to see. However, on a lonely road we drove past an even lonelier farm where we spotted two jeeps, one a wagon and a second an MB with a plow setup. Sitting there, it appeared all ready for another winter of plowing. Now, I have to apologize for the poor photos, as I broke Ann’s zoom lens and we have yet to get it fixed.

As darkness settled Sunday night, we still hadn’t reached the state park. We were climbing over one more mountain pass when we nearly hit a deer that casually walked out on the road and kept on approaching as I desperately prayed for the motorhome to stop. Finally, we stopped and the deer stopped at the same time. It looked at us with an air of disgust, then turned around and left. Poor Zollie the dog, he’d been sleeping between us, but the hard stop sent him tumbling to my feet. Like our hearts, his heart was beating pretty quickly. He was done sleeping for the rest of the drive.

Not long after we nearly hit the dear.

As you can see in the pics, fall is definitely here. The leaves are dropping, as is the temperature. But, the state park is still beautiful and quiet. And, there’s plenty of wifi, so working in between walking, naps, and vicious card games is possible. We plan to stay through Monday night and then trying out the Shelton wayside near Fossil … or not.

The view across John Day River to the mountains if you get out of the motor home.

My view as I complete this post from inside the motorhome.