Goodbye Oregon & Washington

Driving day from Redmond, OR, to Lewiston, ID

Hot, Barren, Eastern Oregon

You wouldn't know this was Oregon just by looking at it, since it looks so dry and dusty.  But, it is.   Life is about making good decisions and wise choices, and getting out of the heat wave was the prudent thing to do.  I was reminded of that when I drove through Umatilla, OR, and the bank thermometer read 111 degrees.  It might as well have been Arizona or the Mojave desert.  Unbelievably, I saw one lone rider heading west earlier.  I hope he stopped and got off the road because he had lots of hills ahead of him and was headed for trouble.

I used the driving span to catch a few more Lewis and Clark sights on the Columbia, which looks more like a lake once past the fourth dam, John Day Dam.

Columbia River

Stonehenge (a replica in WA)

Stonehenge 

Mount Hood and the Columbia from Stonehenge

The road east of Walla Walla, WA would have been a great ride as it traversed gentle, golden hills of wheat and went through several picturesque, small towns.  But maybe another day.

Tomorrow I plan to resume riding,  going to Winchester, ID, and then meandering into the Bitteroot Mountains afterwards over the next few days.