Keeping busy is important. The American Red Cross is helping with that. ARC gives us a chance to get out of the house while doing something that is good for the community. We could go crazy and be on the road nearly every day, but we have set a limit of no more than two days per week. This week we picked up at two blood drives. Wednesday in Albany and yesterday in Salem.
There are two options, use your own vehicle or use one of Arc's rigs. You have probably seen the white vans with the bright red cross on the them driving around your area. The older ones are Dodge Caravans and the newer ones seem to be the Ram mine vans. Not fancy, but functional. Both of us are official Red Cross volunteers so either one of us can drive the ARC vehicles.
We use our Prius for the short runs and the ARC vehicles for long trips or trips that include two pickup locations. Our last "double" turned out to be 11 boxes. Too many for the Toyota.
Next week we drive into Washington. Ilani Casino in Ridgefield, WA about 30 miles up I-5 from Portland. Wednesday is a long trip. We have a 7:15 pm pickup at the VFW hall in Aberdeen, WA.
150 miles.
Trying to arrive at the locations "on time" ( not too early, not too late) takes some planning. If we take an ARC vehicle there is an hour drive into the ARC headquarters. Then add the travel time to the location. Route and time of day all figure in the time calculation. Portland traffic and especially I-5 traffic can be frustrating. I was 25 minutes late once because an traffic snarl on I-5 going through Wilsonville. The blood drive crew were not happy waiting for me but they understood.
So both deliveries next week involve driving north on I-5 in the afternoon. Not Good! Traveling to Washington requires crossing the Columbia River. Lots of traffic. Only two bridges. Always a slow drive, but worse at commute times. So we will have to figure that into the planning. If there was only was a magic logarithm, like the tv shows always have. I let you know how it goes.
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