I think Vi may want to hire a new navigator. Every time we looked at Snowflake's compass today, it read E or NE - not exactly the way to get from Reno to Seattle (for those others who are geographically challenged, the compass should have read NW). However, we had to stop at Fallon NAS and take care of some business. Therefore, we decided to head north out of Fallon, then NE to Winnemucca and took US 95 north to hook up with I-84 in Idaho. Outside of going in a totally different direction than we were supposed to, it was a beautiful drive through some fantastic country. Took a side trip through Lovelock to see one of only two round courthouses in the country. That's also the town where we go in February for the balloon festival and where they have the Lock Your Love chains behind the courthouse.
Out of Winnemucca, we drove up through sand dunes, wide-open spaces and mountains with not a tree in sight. In Northern Nevada, we hit the Owyhee River (interesting story about how it got its' name)* which runs into the Snake River. One of the interesting sights in the mountains there was our seeing cowboys herding cattle to corrals in the canyons. Still need cowboys on horseback to get up in the mountains and canyons - even ATV's are no good in that rough country. Through Oregon where the country is really wide open. It's hard to describe how different eastern Oregon is from western Oregon which is primarily seacoast and well forested because of the heavy rainfall in that area. However, because of the rain shadow effect, none of that moisture reaches the eastern part of the state. The result is a very dry high desert topography. If it weren't for the Snake River and the various irrigation projects, they wouldn't grow much there.
We made a short incursion into Idaho and then came back into Oregon to travel NW (finally) up to Pendleton. Because of the irrigation from the Snake River, that part of the country has many and varied crops, including potatoes, apples, wheat, alfalfa, and hops. The hops are perhaps the most interesting crop. They are grown on wires strung from what look like telephone poles. They were in various stages of growth - some just plants on the ground, others about a foot up the wires, still others four or five feet up, and then there were some in the final stages all the way to the top of wires.
After coming back into Oregon, the topography changed dramatically again and we were traveling through canyons with many trees. Close to Pendleton, we came out on a plateau and dropped dramatically into the valley. It was beautiful with the whole countryside spread out in front of us as we came down. Had dinner at a local pub - The Prodigal Son, and then took a walk through the town. Pendleton is mostly a tourist town which bases its' income on the Pendleton Mills. Also the site of the Pendleton Rodeo, one of the oldest rodeos in the nation.
Tomorrow we head up to Seattle - back on the NW heading again!
*The name "Owyhee" derives from an early anglicization of the Hawaiian term "Hawaiʻi." When James Cook encountered what he named the Sandwich Islands (now the Hawaiian Islands) in 1778, he found them inhabited by Native Hawaiians who Anglo-Americans referred to as "Owyhees." Noted for their hardy physique and maritime skills, numerous Native Hawaiians were hired as crew members aboard European and American vessels. Many Owyhees sailed on to the American Northwest coast and found employment along the Columbia, where they joined trapping expeditions or worked at some of the fur trade posts.
In 1819, three Owyhees joined Donald Mackenzie's Snake expedition, which went out annually into the Snake country for the North West Company, a Montreal-based organization of Canadian fur traders. The three Hawaiians left the main party during the winter of 1819-20 to explore the then unknown terrain of what since has been called the Owyhee River and mountains and disappeared. They were presumed dead and no further information regarding their whereabouts has been found. In memory of these Native Hawaiians, British fur trappers started to call the region "Owyhee" and the name stuck.[10][11]*
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Start of June 2013 Trip East Blog
Why does this seem all so familiar? Anyway, we're leaving on Thursday, May 30th and heading for Seattle. Thought we'd try a different route, so we're heading East on I-80 & US 50 to Fallon, then north on US 95 through Nevada to Oregon and Washington.
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