Sitting in the fog of Charleston and listening to the blustery forecast for Cape Blanco, we decided to rent a car and head inland. We are used to averaging around 6 mph, so something that is 60 miles away by car would seem to us not further than 6. For instance, the tasting room at Abacela Winery was a mere 80 miles away. We rushed out to make it before the tasting room closed. When we stepped out of the car we were in for a shock. The air - its hot and dry!  How does air get this hot and dry?

We left Portland in an unusually cold and wet June. By the time the heat arrived, we were off Vancouver Island somewhere where it never gets hot or dry. Here it was mid-September and we never saw a summer. But summer was in full force in southern Oregon. That day it got to 99 degrees in the hottest part of the vineyard. We moved on to Crater Lake, and though the rim is 6000 feet up, it was still scorching up there.

We finished the trip by heading south to Eureka and then up through the Redwoods. Finally in the shade of those ancient trees I got a little relief from the heat. After all, when I left the boat, my wool sweater, pants, and socks made a lot more sense. I was a little overdressed.