My mom was born in Baker City, Oregon, and lived there until moving to Iowa shortly after getting married to my dad.  Mom's three brothers and one sister still live there, however, and vacation in our family has always meant going to Oregon.

My Uncle Dallas had arranged for a family reunion on the weekend of June 16-18 and all of the brothers and sisters had planned to be there.  My parents bought a camper for the back of the pickup and planned to make the trip without us kids for the first time in a very long time.  My sister, Dulcey, along with my nephew, Huston, also planned on going and early in the spring I decided to go along.  It would be our first time traveling to Oregon without our parents, and we liked the idea that we would be able to see and do what we wanted.

We left for Oregon on Friday, June 9th and were gone for about two weeks.  The personal highlight of my trip was a climb of Mt. Hood, Oregon's highest mountain.  Sixteen days and over 5,000 miles later my Oregon vacation would be complete.

Lastly, if anybody reading this is planning on taking a vacation or just likes the idea of traveling across the country, I strongly recommend reading The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson.  His writing, particularly The Lost Continent, greatly influenced my perception on this trip.