I keep reminding Ryan that this trip is about the journey not the destination. We have to go with the flow. It makes for good reasoning when it takes us three hours to pack up and get on the road. I set the alarm for 6:30 a.m. so I could sneak out and hit a few yard sales before taking off but all of a sudden it was 9 a.m. And then we had to have a little romp session seeing as how we’d have a 5 year old tied to our hip for the next 10 days so hanky-panky was out of the question.

At about 10 we were up. Ryan was stressing big time and trying to move me along. I had packed last night but I still needed to grab a bag from the attic to stuff. Dog stuff, kid stuff, my stuff, electronics, water, camping gear, money, maps, pillows; ok all set. It was noon. I had to mail out some packages and Ryan wanted food…but we can’t eat in his car. We were finally driving west by 1.

I laughed at his ire and told him that we really had no place to be at any particular time, so chill. He actually did. He’s so used to wanting to be somewhere before whenever. Like by dinnertime or something. This trip is all about the journey. Whatever we see we will stop and take in. We’re hungry, we’ll stop. The pup needs to poop, stop. A chance to decorate a desolate stretch of I-80 with rocks or take a scenic photo, stop.

Ryan pointed out an old pair of shoes and joked, “There’s your yard sale.”

Sage explored the Bonneville Salt Flats for the first time in her short life. We even tasted it.

The area was a bit dirtier than I recall. Perhaps the drought kept the rain from rinsing it a pearly white.

We should arrive in Klamath Falls, Ore., by 11 p.m. PST. We’re not sure when we’ll mosey to Coos Bay but that’s the plan – no plan; only a direction, west, then south.