Thursday, September 327, 2018

We left the Pendleton, OR camp at 9:15am to 48degree temps.  We're heading today to Jerome, ID to camp.

We're now driving through hillsides and valleys of trees changing colors:  reds, yellows, orange and green.  Both Oregon and Idaho have excellent roads, sometimes through cities like Boise, ID that have five lane highways, each way, all new. 

Driving first through southeastern Oregon and then western Idaho, we wound up and down very steep hillsides, switching up and down, back through gentle curves and up again into gulches and valleys. The grasses are very DRY until we get to a farmer's field where irrigation has made the grass or wheat or potatoes or onions green. 

Up some of these steep hills we were only driving at 50mph, 3,000rpm. On Oregon I-84, many of the hills had winter "Chain Up" truck shoulders as well as 55 gallon drums of water available.  

Along both Oregon and Idaho Interstate 84, we were riding along the Historic Oregon Trail and saw many signs for "Historic Site" and a few Interpretive Centers.  We again crossed Snake River, but this eastern journey was way south of the Snake and Columbia River confluence where Lewis and Clark came off the Bitterroot Mountains, into the Clearwater River, then the Snake River into the Columbia River.  

We also gained an hour from Pacific Daylight Time to Mountain Time.  Tomorrow we plan to drive into Wyoming on I84 through Ogden, Utah (north of Salt Lake City, UT) where we will pick up I80 west. 

Finally, today, we completed our "Audible" Ambrose, Undaunted Courage book today.  Bill read the book twice and Wil and Bill together began the audio book when we left Philadelphia, PA in early August. If you want to read one of the better books about the entire Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery, read this one.

Another book to read is by James P. Ronda called Lewis and Clark Among the Indians.  Ambrose quotes Ronda many times throughout his book. Ronda is a Hope College, MI graduate.

I will tell you more about Meriwether Lewis since his grave site is our last stop.  And I will tell you more of William Clark's incredible life after his return in 1806.