Kyle-Patch Crazy Train

Today's goal is  to get through Portland between morning and evening rush hours.  After getting past Portland we stopped at a rest stop for lunch and a nap. Next part is to get to the rest stop closest to Seattle.  It's been raining steady with no end in sight. So we prefer to tackle the trip past Seattle in the morning . This will be our last rest stop on this year's journey.    Sad 😔 the journeys over, happy 😊 to be getting home.                         🌲🌲🌲

Another day on the road. Going through the mountains. Only 9 hours on the road today! From leaving the Mojave desert to the mountains in Orego there we hundreds of thousands acres of orchards mostly in bloom. However... ....Signs of winter. Lots of steep grades up and down and up and down and up and down.  Made is through to the other side! Truck beside us at the rest stop sounds like it's sawing logs. I think it needs to be fixed.                      🙃🙃🙃

Starting the push for home today, leaving a day early. There is a winter storm warning coming on Wednesday 28th for the road we take home. Not in the dessert anymore. But there is snow in them there hills. Loving our campground after 10 hours on the road.                          🏔🏔🏔

Today is Dave's Birthday!!! And we are going to celebrate! We have a little Mecican Cantina on the strip we always go to. This time we decided against the 3 hours on the bus to get us there and back.  We went instead to Sam's Stop, the Hotel Casino within in walking distance for our tradition.  Tequila shots with Dos Equis chaser. We may have had more than one. Also ordered appes. Mozzarella sticks, whiskey glazed wings and potato skins. Sorry mostly all gone!  🎼Happy Birthday to you 🎵 Dear Dave🎶                        🥳🥳🥳

Today is Dave's Birthday Eve. We decided to do one of our Vegas traditions. Olive Garden for soup and salad. We even know which bus to take and where to get off cause we went past yesterday! Only had to catch one bus. Typical Olive Garden what made it stand out was the server. She shared that she had been at the Olive Garden for 20 years and in the restaurant game for 52 as her family has a resturant. She was like one of those great waitresses at cafes in one horse towns that you see on TV or in the movies. Molly from the Beachcombers comes to mind.  Her friendliness and banter felt  real. When we ordered beer with our early lunch she gave us  a way to go. I responded we are on holidays and besides it's almost Dave's birthday. How almost and I said it's tomorrow.  So.... Taramisu extraordinaire!!                       🎁🎁🎁

Today we started using our three day transit pass. As we missed the BHX express we took the regular bus from our campground. It took three different busses. Every one of the bus drivers were extremely helpful.  Not only telling us where to get off but telling us where to go (to catch the next bus).  Fremont was loud, colourful, vibrant with lots of street performers, movie screen above our heads, flashing lights, casinos and bars! We walked down Freemont away from the Fremont Street Experience toward the quieter parts of the Street. Just as we were about to turn back I saw a very large praying mantis. Some Info Behind this enormous bug was a container park. There were restaurants and store all made out of large metal shipping containers.  Back to the noisy side. Someone got stuck on the zip line, looked like a child and staff came out to get her to the end. We visited the Golden Nugget just to check it. Too noisy to stay for a drink or meal.  Ventured into the F