July 16, 2012
"Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day, I've got a wonderful feeling, everything's going our way..." (We don't know why, but we're just in a singing mood this morning) It is a beautiful, cool, crisp morning in Jackson as we say our goodbyes to Kip, Lin and Molly...it has been a great (though too short) visit and we look forward to getting back to Jackson again soon.
We hit the road a little early since we have a long day of driving ahead of us today...about seven hours from here to Ontario, Oregon, where we will meet Michael's brother-in-law Brian. From there we will drive together to his family's farm in the town of Vale, Oregon.
WARNING: This post is short because we have driven this stretch previously in our wanderings...and also, we both slept for most of the drive...
We take in a few last views of Jackson's Hole and the Tetons as we head for Teton pass.
This is the base of the pass where the small town of Wilson is our last Wyoming town on this road trip...from here it is four miles of very steep grade to the top of the pass...
We just had to catch this sign for our friend Kip...it is in the bike lane that goes
up the pass, and the sign says...Caution Downhill Traffic, Pass With Care...this type of caution is necessary? Really?!
Ahhhhh, we pause at the top of the pass after four miles of chugging uphill in second gear at higher than desirable RPMs.
Down the other side of the pass we go, into Victor, Idaho. The weather on this side of the Tetons is much more gray and cool as we head through Swan Valley...
More rapeseed in a blanket of bright yellow as far as the eye can see...
We seem destined to spend our day driving alongside or crossing the Snake River...we had no idea that it was so long...!
OK...Pop Quiz! What are these crops? You have 20 seconds.....(Jeopardy theme music...)
...Hint...we're in IDAHO...
BZZZZZ...time's up...the answer we were looking for is "What is a potato". Thanks for playing...
As we cross Idaho we are plagued by rain storms and often heavy rain showers. Near Twin Falls we got the chance to play Stormchasers...we watched as this storm developed quite rapidly and started looking very ominous. We saw some lightning and were certain we would see a cow flying through the air..but as we raced away from the storm and watched in the rear view mirror we didn't see any flying cow...which we guess is actually a good thing (especially for the cow!).
A patch of sunshine, the Snake River, wide open vistas, gray skies return and...we're back into the wildfire burn areas near Mountain Home...remember that from our earlier post?
This time, the Mountain Home area really reeks of burned brush and grass because the rain has wet the area and the wind carries the smell of wet charcoal and ash...
As we have traveled in our RV over the past few months we have developed a routine. In the middle of the afternoon we fix ourselves Arnold Palmers ...the tea helps to keep us awake and the lemonade helps to quench the thirst. Today we stop in Mountain Home, Idaho, to gas up the RoadTrek and Patty runs in to the mini mart for two cups filled with ice. She returns with two medium cups with ice...honest, these are considered medium...we can't imagine how we would fit large cups through the doors of the RV!
Despite the Arnold Palmers, we slept the rest of the way to Ontario, but awoke just before we pulled into the Wal Mart parking lot (honest) where we meet Brian.
We do a little shopping for dinner and follow Brian out of town as we make the 15 mile drive to Vale, Oregon, and then another 17 miles to the family farm (which is actually in Jamieson). Brian really treats us like VIPs...he has arranged for us to park our RV in an onion storage shed (empty at the moment) so that our rig won't get dusty on the roads into the farm, and so that it will not sit outside in the sun and heat over the next day and a half...it's like pulling our plane into a private hangar!
We have a wonderful dinner with some of Brian's family...his mom, his brother Doug and wife Terry...it's been 26 years since we have seen them, and it is great fun to catch up a bit.
Tomorrow we'll have some fun on the farm...and rumor has it we might attend a rodeo...!? Only one way to find out...tune in again!
Posted with Blogsy
No comments:
Post a Comment