From Crescent City, California we drove to Longview, Washington, leaping Oregon in a single bound. The traffic through Portland was awful. Map.
Another anecdote about the hybrid car experience: Since the car's brain has control over the gasoline engine, it is common for it to turn it off at low speeds. This makes sense from an engineering point-of-view, but we never got used to it and always felt a sense of alarm when we heard the engine go silent. On a lower key, the same is true when the engine starts. If one is in the midst of traffic noise and so not especially aware of own-car noises, the engine starting is felt rather than heard. One intuitively interprets this sensation as "engine trouble". Only a second or two is needed to calm down and I suppose a younger person would get used to it quicker.
We stayed in Longview at a particularly undistinguished motel but had a nice conversation with a friendly waitress at our restaurant in downtown Longview. She told us of the "old days" and of the slow decay of the town.
