The road to Bend is beautiful

Next day it was time to hop in the car again. We left Sandpoint around 8 am and headed for Bend, Oregon. We retraced our steps back to Spokane, then went south though some dry, dusty areas. Once we got to Oregon it changed to beautiful green rolling hills with great views of Mt. Hood. It's part of the Oregon Trail and is called the "Journey through Time" highway. It was like stepping back in time with all these cute little towns and farms. When we reached Madras the traffic reached a standstill. Turns out we'd reached Madras when the funeral service for Pfc Thomas Tucker was letting out. It was a high-profile death and there were quite a lot of people in town, including the Govenor, PFLAG and the Patriot Guard Riders (motorcycle riders that ride at memorial services to sheild the family from protesters). It was so touching to see all the support that this family received. All the businesses and trees and everything were decorated for miles. We saw sign after sign at the local establishments expressing prayers for the family and it was so sweet.

Eventually, we made it to Bend. Just as Francesca decided she'd had it, our hotel appeared over the hill! We all hopped out of the car and into the lobby as fast as possible. As it turned out, there was a dog show in Bend and many of the contestants were staying at our hotel. The girls had fun trying to spot dogs from our window. We ordered pizza, went swimming and tried to rest up for another day on ther road.