Road-trip September 8 - October 8, 2017 (Day 12 - 14)

 After leaving Carolyn's we got back on the I-15 for a half hour before joining the 1-84 just south of the Utah-Idaho line. The interstate, still surprisingly void of traffic, ran through the Snake River Plain - endless horizons on either side of flat lands, brown vegetation and distant hills. It was enough to lull one to sleep at the wheel so just south of Boise in the town of Mountain Home we found the local campground and pulled in for the rest of the day. The next morning we crossed into Oregon, still on I-84 which would take us all the way to our next turnoff that evening. We stopped for diesel in the historic and western town of Baker City, Oregon, once the largest city between Salt Lake and Portland and an important trading centre for the region. Not far from here we stopped at a rest area situated on the Oregon Trail, the area home once to the Nez Perce, Cayuse, Walla Walla and Umatilla Indian tribes. From here we were close to to Washington State, our layover for the night. 

Mountain Home RV Resort, Mountain Home, Idaho

near the Oregon state line

driving through Baker City, Oregon

near the famous Oregon Trail between Baker City and La Grande

welcome to Washington, crossing the Columbia River

Yakima River Valley

  Crossing the Columbia River at Plymouth we left the sage brush and grasslands of Oregon and headed into the lush Yakima river valley of fruits and wineries. This was such a pleasant change from the drab landscapes of the past week and an obvious oasis in desert surroundings. Fields of grapes - Chardonnay, Riesling, Merlot and Caberet Sauvignon - stretched up towards on the sides of the hills and perfect rows of apples, cherries, peaches, pears and plums stood side by side with fields of hops, the valley here home to 80% of the total US hop production. I was looking forward to stopping at the closest campground (Trailer Inns RV Park) just off the Interstate in Yakima but we were both disappointed at the location - in the poorest part of town and surrounded by street people, men's missions, smoke shops, adult peep shows and burned out buildings that had been left unattended for what looked like years.  It was the low-light so far of our trip and it was the only campground we didn't bother to take our usual selfie.We made a hasty retreat very early the next morning for BC, our home for the next ten days.   gws

first signs for Vancouver! (near Seattle, Washington)