Troutdale, Oregon To Jerome, Idaho
Wednesday, April 30
We were up bright and early (maybe more early than bright) this morning to begin the next portion of the trip through Oregon.
Shane told us last night that the ride through the Columbia Gorge on I-84 would be amazing, and he wasn't a bit wrong...in fact, he might have even understated it, but after seeing the views during the morning, that was understandable.
When we wheeled in yesterday afternoon, I decided to wait until this morning to gas up Taz, so our first stop was just a few blocks from the hotel.
A few minutes later we edged onto I-84 East to begin the adventure. The views were beautiful for the first few miles...just what we have come to expect from Oregon highways.
And then we had our first sighting of the Columbia River, the mighty body of flowing water that divides Oregon and Washington. The Columbia would provide many settings for the next 150 miles...far more than we could ever publish (but we did capture a lot of them).
In any of our photos that show the Columbia, the land on the opposite side is Washington state...so, we saw a lot of Washington, even if we never crossed over.
Of course, the views on our side of the river were also spectacular. In this one, Barbara managed to capture a bit of "sunbow."
The gorge has a pretty steep pitch going down the mountains, and that, combined with the wind tunnel effect, created some interesting situations as the winds moved Taz from one side of the lane to the other. It was the first time I've ever been worried about being blown completely off the highway while riding Taz.
A few more miles down the road we came to Multnomah Falls. This was a "must see" according to Shane, so we pulled of the road to take a look. And again, Shane was right. What a beautiful sight this is, and what a great job someone did of arranging an area so people could stop and view God's work.
After getting up close and personal with the falls, we had a bit of breakfast and then returned to the parking area via the passageway under the interstate to get aboard Taz and continue the adventure.
We left Multnomah Falls and continued following the river (because, what else could we do?), working our way through changing terrain as we dropped down through the high mountains.
The next photo had no particular significance other than that when we looked at it later, it appeared that the car had a large sign mounted on the back...timing is everything in photography.
Eventually, we approached the plains of eastern Oregon through the foothills, although the cut of the gorge made it appear we were still in the mountains.
This grain elevator at Arlington services barge traffic on the Columbia. And yes, that is still Washington state on the other side of the river.
All good things must come to an end, and that included our journey along the Columbia River, with this last photo showing a train in the foreground (Oregon side), the river, a train on the Washington side, and the Washington bluffs.
Shortly after this point, I-84 curved toward the southeast and southern Idaho. But, there were miles to go,
We don't know what the Beatles would make of this, but Taz was definitely not headed down a Long and Winding Road at this point.
The road led into Pendleton, nestled into a very pretty plains valley...very different from the first part of the day.
We've decided that there must be a geographical axiom that goes something like this, "What goes down, must come back up." At least that's what it seemed like when we left Pendleton and began another climb. About three-fourths of the way up the hill was a scenic view turnout that just begged for our attention. It offered a grand vista of the valley below, as well as showing the upward grade for the semi trucks that were our fellow travelers.
While I was shooting the above photos, Barbara stayed on Taz and made a phone call using her I-phone and the Bluetooth link to her communications headset.
And then we were back on the road and climbing more mountains as we inched our way toward the Idaho border.
We thought when we left Troutdale this morning that we might be able to push on to Baker City or maybe even Ontario (if we made a strong push), but I was worn out from battling the strong winds through the Columbia Gorge and we were both suffering from sensory overload, so we decided we'd pull in at the little town of La Grande and see if they had a place for weary travelers.
We unpacked what we needed for the night and headed inside. This was a wash day for us, so Barbara started the machines while I went outside to move Taz to the parking lot. While I was getting ready to move, the outer door to the housekeeping department opened and a lady came out and told me that she'd set out a hose and a bucket of rags if I wanted to wash Taz. Since Taz desperately needed washing, I jumped at the opportunity. I found out later that the owners are both riders and that they have groups of Harley riders come through on a regular basis. It seems they found that setting out a hose and rags was much easier on the budget than having cycle riders use the bath towels and linens from the rooms. Whatever their motivation, we were more than happy to have a place and all we needed to get our rig looking showroom shiny again.
We later went to a Chinese buffet that the desk clerk had recommended. The food was okay and filling, but the best part was that we got to talk to a couple from the area who haul horses to the Houston area. They heard us talking about the different ways of heading home after we went to Salt Lake City and highly recommended Utah Highway 6 out of Spanish Fork to Green River and Moab, one of the routes we had been considering.
When we returned to the hotel, we noticed some beautiful snow-capped mountains in the distance. Barbara asked the desk clerk which mountains they were and he said he really didn't know...he saw them when he went to work everyday, but just didn't pay that much attention.
I went out and got this shot, then looked through our trusty Rand McNally Atlas and deduced that they must be part of the Wallowa Mountains in the Eagle Cap Wilderness. Whatever they were, they sure were majestic and beautiful, especially to a couple of flatlanders.
And then it was time to sit down and relax a little, and then begin reviewing the more than 250 photos we had taken on this leg to see what we wanted to save for the journal/blog and personal reference.
+++++++
Thursday, May 1
La Grande, Oregon to Jerome, Idaho
After having a little breakfast at the hotel breakfast bar, we loaded Taz and the trailer, began the morning tire check routine, and immediately discovered that the air pump hose had a serious leak...our first mechanical malfunction of the trip. We drove over to a convenience store, gassed up Taz, used their air pump (it was even free), and then headed down I-84 for the day's adventure. We knew that we needed to find a Walmart somewhere along the way to buy a new foot pump, but we didn't know how difficult that would be.
We also didn't have a clue about the terrain in this part of the world. We thought it would be a relatively easy ride when we entered the interstate traffic in this beautiful valley, even if it was ringed by mountains.
Perhaps this sign should have been our first clue that this wasn't a valley than gently opened onto the plains.
The valley kept getting narrower and the mountains kept getting closer.
And then we were up a full-scale grade, climbing out of the valley.
Only to see this as we crested the top of the grade.
To say we were blown away by this sight would be a great understatement. And these grand sights continued for another hour or so as we motored down the highway.
The snow caps became more distant, but no less visible along our route, even as we trekked through the less imposing, but still beautiful mountains.
As we passed the little village of Powden, Barbara had her camera aimed perfectly for this shot.
A few miles later, after a climb out of this little valley, we stopped at a rest area for a short break and more pictures.
From the rest area, we rode a few more miles down the mountain pass.
And finally entered what we would call the foothills as we neared Baker City.
We came to the Burnt River at Baker City.
And by the way, you may find in your travels that not every place that has "city" in its name is a city...that's just in case you equate "city" with lots of lodging and restaurants. When we saw Baker City, we were more than happy that we stopped in La Grande last night, rather than pressing on.
From Baker City, we continued the southeastward course to Ontario, Oregon, very close to the Idaho border.
We stopped in Ontario for a short lunch and ended up turning it into a long visit with two gentlemen who were also at the Love's Truck Stop and were taking time to admire Taz. In the course of the conversation, we learned that they had once lived in Lubbock and had attended elementary and middle school there while Barbara was teaching in the same district.
With Taz full of gas and our stomachs full of Subway sandwiches, we pulled back on I-84 and continued our trip, crossing the state line into Idaho (the welcome sign was behind a tree on a curve, so we didn't get a picture of it) and, in a few miles, encountering the Snake River for the first of many times.
From Ontario to Jerome, where we had a hotel reservation for the night, we saw terrain and scenery that was very much like that of southern New Mexico, except that we didn't see any of the distinctive cacti formations of New Mexico and Arizona. And, of course, there was the Snake River.
When we finally got to our exit at Jerome, we saw a perfect triangle...Best Western, Walmart, and Sonic. Since we entered California so many days ago, we have been without a Sonic break and our standing order of the day was to stop at the first Sonic we saw. The layout of the triangle was such that it made the most sense to go into Walmart and look for an air pump, then go to Sonic for a drink, and finally cross the street so I could refuel Taz while Barbara walked next door to register at the Best Western.
Unfortunately, the Sonic was closed and posted for sale...what a disappointment. So, we went on to Walmart (our first visit to a Walmart in over two weeks...we probably have get well cards from them at the house), and Barbara took this shot to prove that we were there.
On the way out of the lot we stopped to take a sad picture of Sonic for Barbara to send to Jaycie (who didn't appear to be as sorrowful about the situation as we were).
Then we headed across the street to take care of refueling Taz and checking into the Best Western for some much needed rest and a good night's sleep.
"We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment." - Hilaire Belloc, Anglo/French writer and historian
From Jerome, Idaho,
Jim/Dad/Gramps and Barbara/Mom/Grams/Gramsy
