From the drop zone, we took OR 126 East to OR 242 which runs right through Willamette National Forest.

Willamette National Forest

The route was easy to follow, but it was slow going with twists and turns as we climbed to over 5,000 ft. On the plus side, it was the perfect day for a drive! Not one cloud in sight! With the exception of the heat, the weather was wonderful.

Matt was snapping pictures along the way.  When I noticed how the light was hitting the trees, I asked him to take a picture. The results are the photo on the left.  What a cool shot!

While I was driving, the cell reception was spotty. I tried calling a few people, but the calls kept dropping.  This became a common theme for our trip.

There were a ton of trees along the drive and then all of a sudden there were none.  We were entering the lava fields. At a glance, it looks like dirt, but I assure you it is not.  I took this picture of Matt so we would remember just how much damage the lava had done.

Matt in the lava rocks

When we got to the Dee Wright Observatory, my phone started vibrating. I received a few text messages and also a voice mail. While we were walking around the observatory, I called Price to check in on him. He didn't really want to talk to me on the phone.

Dee Wright Observatory

I hung up and listened to my voice mail. It was Wayne from Meadow Peak Skydiving. He said he was trying to work out something for Friday morning and he'd let me know. If we could get both Idaho and Washington State on Thursday, we'd have a shot at Montana! When I mentioned Montana to Matt, he was skeptical.

Matt and Sarah

As we were leaving, we asked a woman to take our picture. Even though it wasn't even 7:00 PM, it felt so much later!  We programmed our GPS for Skydive Idaho - it was 333 miles away. Time to hit the road!