Ch. 107 – Cascade Locks & Counting Down

Oh, hello again! Sorry for the brief hiatus. As one could imagine, service gets spotty when you’re in the middle of nowhere. I didn’t have enough of a buffer on my posts (at least not now that we’re in Washington), and all the WiFi has been slow, too! No worries, we are still alive and mostly well. Back to the daily posts, we go!

Taking a zero day, yet again! Although, this one was planned at least. Boostie, Frodo, and I left camp set up while we completed the daily chores. I showered first thing in the morning – even before having breakfast! So unlike me, at least while hiking.

Boostie stayed put in his tent while Frodo and I got breakfast. His priority for the day was sleep… but Frodo and I only had food on the brain. We went to Thirsty Coffee Bar for breakfast. I picked the table with a huge donut puzzle on it, so we spent the morning slowly sipping our hot beverages (coffee for me, as always, but he got tea) and working on the puzzle. Frodo enjoyed the slow morning, since every day out here has kind of felt rushed. Most hikers feel antsy to start moving and get things done. Boostie and I are a bit different. The tortoise wins the race, amirite?

Frodo coloring in a Pokémon coloring book.

In the afternoon, we found ourselves on the bus to Hood River. I thought the bus to be of pretty good quality, but Frodo still said it didn’t quite compare to England’s public transportation. That makes sense, I feel like the USA as a whole is a bit behind in the public transportation sphere. But hey – at least public transportation is an option here! I couldn’t complain.

In Hood River, we had more food, then shopped around a bit. Boostie had new shoes to pick up at one of the gear stores, so that was the main reason for going into town! Luckily, he already seems to be liking these new shoes a lot better than the last pair.

As the town bus neared the stop we’d need to get on the main route back to Cascade Locks, I heard the driver gasp. A toddler had run out in front of the bus, and she slammed the brakes to avoid hitting her. Thankfully, the parent grabbed the toddler’s arm and pulled her out of the way just in time, because there was no way the driver could have stopped the bus in time. That left the driver shaken up, but we were all so glad it ended with everyone safe!

Free Thunder Island beer!

Back in Cascade Locks, Boostie and I raced to pack all of our belongings before the campground’s checkout time. We had about ten minutes to pack everything, but we were able to do it! Boostie booked us a night at the hotel in town, so we moved everything over and settled in before heading to dinner with Frodo.

Unfortunately, our planned dinner destination closed earlier than we thought, which left us with only the brewery as an option. It worked out, though, because the food there was delicious! Boostie and I even got one free beer each since we are hikers. I’m not a huge fan of beer, but I am a fan of free!

I thought about how little time we have left while eating dinner. Only a couple hundred miles left… and we’re counting down the days. For a moment, I thought about stopping here, in Cascade Locks. A lot of people have been doing that this year, and maybe they’ve got the right idea. There’s even a monument of sorts! I’ve looked forward to Goat Rocks this whole trip though, so we’ll at least push on to get there I hope.