Besties

The wife and I took a new route between Bend and Portland just so I could look for more descansos. The route was going to add maybe thirty minutes of driving to the trip home, at least on paper.

It ended up taking an extra three hours.

The three hours was because in the relatively short span between the point where deadly highway 97 splits off to highway 197 towards Maupin — our usual route — we found ten descansos, eight of which I was able to photograph.

Shortly after the split I came across the memorial for Sandra Miller. Sandra was sixty years old when she made the very unfortunate decision to try and pass a semi-truck on the shoulder of the road. Having stood on many a shoulder at this point I can absolutely say that was a horrible idea, as no doubt Sandra’s loved ones would agree.

Her descanso is pretty and reasonably well kept given the accident happened in 2022. “We love U 4 ever” says the cross, with flowers around, some necklaces that suggest paganism and/or witchcraft, and a little box at the bottom that has the definition of the word “bestie.”