Summer 1978 — I’m not embarrassed to admit it: I was one of those teenagers who actually enjoyed traveling with my parents! This 1978 road trip through Oregon, Washington State, and British Columbia was a great time for all of us. I’m very glad to still have the slides that my Dad shot along the way, along with my own handwritten “Holiday Travelogue” (I was very much into British spellings back then). I originally posted these images back in February 2017.

We spent our first night out at a KOA Campground in the shadow of Mt Shasta in Northern California; the next day, crossing into Oregon — after passing through some “boring” countryside along US Highway 97 — we arrived at Deschutes National Forest. There was quite a lot to see here, including The Trail of the Molten Land and the cinder cone known as Lava Butte.

Lava Butte is in the background

From my notes:

Then we went a mile south — the way we’d come — and went and walked through a cave formed by flowing lava which is almost a mile long. We had to rent a lantern for 50 cents, and there was no guide; we went on our own.  It was 40 degrees (Fahrenheit) down inside and pitch black.  We walked almost the whole way — it was creepy — but near the end it got so small that we had to bend way over, and it smelled dusty and was hard to breathe so we turned around and came out. By the time we got out our noses and cheeks were red and my hands were numb with cold.  It was fun but felt good to get out. Then we went and drove up the cinder cone to the top of the volcano. But it was so windy that we soon came back down. But the view was great.”

Next week: We make an overnight stop in Leavenworth, Washington, and then cross Puget Sound on the Coho ferry.