After stopping at the Celilo park, I headed to Seufert Fells Overlook Bridge and The Dalles hydroelectric dam that I used to blow up the original city (The Dalles). The site was also featured in the climax of Dumpstermancer Book 1: Discarded. I spent some time in that area, getting a more recent feel for the lay of the land to ensure future Dumpstermancer books followed the natural topology where possible.

After driving around the hills and neighborhoods that I needed to see for research, I stopped at a Fred Meyer. Here I acquired desperately needed diet Pepsi, not to mention an ice griffon (for research ), a hell hound and a Pegasus toy.

My next destination firmly in mind, I set out down the highway toward Portland and a custom lightsaber showroom.  Along the way, I stopped to record some of the beauty I encountered.

While the morning started out great, my afternoon of metropolitan traffic and other disappointments put a real strain on things. The showroom ended up being closed, signified only by a strip of duct tape saying so. Of course, considering this was 2020, I'd checked and double-checked their website. Unfortunately, their Covid news page didn't say anything about the closure. It took almost an hour of digging through every single link on their site to find the notice about closing the showroom.  

ARRRRGH!

(So much for getting a lightsaber.)

Next stop on Day 6 was Tillamook, Oregon - the town where I spent many formative years. I headed straight to the Tillamook Cheese factory to pick up some special goodies and their banana split ice cream - a flavor which I haven't found for sale anywhere outside the factory. 

I headed up the coast a little bit to my hotel room in Garibaldi, Oregon and hit up a wharf-side, hole-in-the-wall restaurant for fresh seafood. You know the kind of place I mean, where they spend their money in the kitchen not on fancy decor. (who says nets and washed up glass balls are gauche?)