Hiring a car

Perhaps I shouldn't even admit on this blog that we're going to hire a car. I should just gloss over it, pretend we miraculously got around Oregon (and then California) without one. But I can't do that to you dear reader (if indeed there are any of you aside from my mother!).

This blog is meant to be about going around the world without flying and thereby trying to reduce my carbon emissions as much as possible. Renting a car goes against that. It does make me feel bad or a bit like I've failed a mission. But sadly there really is a lot to see in North America that you just can't easily get to without one.

So we've reserved the smallest car we could find (which isn't all that small) and we'll refuse to upgrade to a bigger one, not just because I wouldn't be capable of driving anything larger. Tomorrow we'll visit Portland's Saturday Market and, provided they accept my debit card and lack of credit card, head to the Columbia River Gorge and in a few days time the Oregon coast.