Is This Portland...or Death Valley?

At Portland Fairview RV Park, Fairview, Oregon...

Leaving Kennewick, I chose to follow the Columbia River all the way to Portland on I-84. The first half of the 210-mile leg was pretty unremarkable, scenery-wise. By the time we reached the scenic gorge area, however, my attention was diverted to Phannie's outside air temperature gauge on the instrument panel. It kept creeping upward from the high 80s, then into the 90s and, by the time we reached the halfway point on I-84, it was showing 101 degrees? Could this be right? Have we driven 2,000 miles from where it's hot to where it's hotter?  Yep, I guess we have. Was it only a few days ago in Yellowstone when we were using a heater in Phannie? I want the cool air back!

When we checked in at Portland Fairview RV Park, the clerk on duty was lamenting the heat wave, saying that all she had had were complaints about it today. However, I think I know what's going on: I'm getting payback for smugly writing blog posts and Facebook entries about our cool surroundings there in the mountains.

As has been the case for almost every overnight city, we had difficulty finding a space in an RV park here in Portland. We were glad to find this one, and a drive through this large park verified that almost every site was occupied. This must be good times for those companies serving the RV lifestyle.

Once we found our space and parked, bringing all three a/cs on line helped cool Phannie down quickly, but there would be no sitting outside, as we were fond of doing previously in the evenings.

Since we had had no breakfast and only a light lunch on the road, we were pretty hungry, so we headed toward town to find some grub. We passed by an unassuming restaurant named Authentic Thai, and Sandy looked it up in Yelp. There were more than a hundred reviews and an average of four stars. (Five is best.)

We thought that would meet our rather high standards, so we went in and ordered pot stickers, a chicken and crispy rice salad and a chicken and vegetable stir fry. For dessert, we shared a serving of mango sticky rice.

This was one of those times when Yelp got it right. Every dish had been prepared expertly and turned out to be some of the best Thai food we have eaten.

I snapped a couple of photos of the salad and the entree', but I forgot to photograph the appetizer and dessert. Did I mention that we were hungry?

Fully satisfied with the good meal, we drove around downtown Portland for a while, commenting on the many people present there, even on a Sunday evening. We were also struck by the number of crowded restaurants. It doesn't appear that Portland will need to do anything to revitalize its inner city.

Back at the coach, Sandy did some laundry, and we watched TV for a while. Now we intend to relax for a few days while we do some resting and exploring.

Thank you, Lord for this wonderful life; please forgive me if I do not appreciate it enough each day.