We were up early this morning and driving from Boise, ID toward the Evergreen State of Washington. Before I get into the details of THIS trip, I’d like to share an email we just received from Melanie Stevenson in Logan who attended the show at the Ellen Ecles Theatre. I love it when people take the time to write to us (you can read her entire comments on her blog at http://melarky.com/?p=44).
Stage smoke rolling and lights flashing, the Theatre of Illusion show started. Magicians Kevin and Cindy Spencer lit up the stage with their personalities and their obvious love for what they do. We enjoyed Kevin’s jokes, and Cindy’s smile and charm…The show was upbeat, with plenty of illusions to keep you guessing.
Overall we had a great time and we were totally entertained. We had visited their website before we went to the show, and they lived up to everything in it. We were really glad that a show of this caliber came to our little town of Logan, Utah, and we hope that more shows like this are to come. We recommend that if The Spencers Theatre of Illusion comes to your town, go!
Thanks Melanie for coming to the show AND sharing your thoughts with us and others!
NOW, let’s talk about today’s journey. I stopped at the Weigh Station at the Oregon border to buy my “trip permit” through Oregon. I was talking to the person assisting me and asked about “Cabbage Hill,” the descent from the High Desert to the Valley. She directed to me a small brochure for “truckers” called RESPECT THE HILL – TRUCKER WARNING!
As I opened the brochure, these are the words that first caught my attention:
“EXTREME CAUTION URGED – Cabbage Hill is on of the most hazardous stretches of road along westbound Interstate 84. This seven-mile downgrade has some of the most changeable and severe weather conditions in the Northwest. You’ll lose about 2,000 feet of elevation in six miles and twist through a double hairpin turn at a 6% downgrade.”
Now, doesn’t that sound like fun! After our Death Valley experience, I was not looking forward to Cabbage Hill.
The brochure continues, “This stretch of highway accounts for almost 20 percent of truck-related fatalities on I-84 in Oregon. And more than 80 percent of the drivers involved in Cabbage Hill accidents are out-of-state carriers! Escape ramps are located at Milepost 221 and Milepost 220.”
Before making the descent, I stopped at a Truck Repair shop just to have them do a brake inspection on my rig. I wanted to make sure I had total control of this 40,000 pounds BEFORE we started down Cabbage Hill. And then we prayed!
It wasn’t nearly as bad as I had imagined it might be. It was a very steep grade and, in bad weather, I can see where this would be absolutely treacherous. Today, it was nice and slow down the mountain – not exceeding 35 mph. Once we hit the bottom of the grade, we could smell the brakes but never lost control or friction.
We are spending the night in Kennewick, Washington. It’s a very beautiful area and the weather is excellent! In the morning, we head on to Seattle….through the Snoqualmie Pass. I can’t wait!!