October 1, 2024 -- Puyallup ("pew-al-up") To Portland

Portland, Oregon

Courtyard By Marriott at PDX

Octber 2, 2024, 830 AM

I'm running low on steam. Blah. Add in a probable inflected tooth and I'm working hard.

Effectively the only way to get from Seattle to Portland by road is on Interstate 5. The other options would have taken 3x as long so I opted to break my rule. If nothing else it allowed me to understand that the Northeast Corridor has nothing on traffic in the PNW.

I did visit a Mount St. Helen's visitors center five miles off of I5 which was quite nice. I went there on the recommendation of the owner of a MSH gift shop in the town on Castle Rock. Come on, I had to get some MSH swag (postcards, stickers, coins).

Thought I had found my resting place for the night at a Love's Truck Stop until a security guard told me I couldn't sleep there. Well, that was disappointing to find out at 10 PM. I lazily pulled up my Marriott app and found this hotel four miles away. I'm still pissed off by that experience; it sure looked like there were others sleeping at Love's.

Some photos: