Rainy, rainy day

Twin Falls, ID

Oregon --> Idaho

 I didn't make it very far my first day driving back to Maine. I ended up spending the night in Pendleton, OR.

Finally, I came upon the Snake River in Hell's Canyon! The left picture was what I saw first. Then, I drove about another 1/2 mile around a bend and saw the real Snake River!

Surprising terrain hiding all sorts of beauty throughout North America! It really is a stunning country.

Starting my trip back to the Northeast

Yesterday I started back to Maine. It was really hard saying goodbye to family over the last few days, especially Evan. Don't know when I'll see him again.
I didn't get very far, though, because I was delayed by an accident on the highway through the Columbia River Gorge, which is as beautiful as ever (sorry, no photos taken!). I was in standstill traffic for about 1 hr. When I finally was able to pass the site of the accident, the firemen were cleaning off the road and there was a burnt out hull of a truck next to the road. I found out later that the truck was carrying 42,000 apples and it caught fire! See http://kxl.com/2014/09/27/semi-truck-fire-closes-i-84/ for a picture of the truck and apples before they were totally gone, which is when I drove past.
Spent the night in Pendleton, OR and am now heading off to Idaho. It is probably going to be raining by the time I get there. Not real interested in spending the night in rain, so I might stay in a hotel. I hope the weather improves as I head across the country!

Oregon

Driving into Oregon was so exciting! I had never entered from the East before, so I got to see the Oregon Plateau before heading into the Cascades, which are not the mountains in the background of the picture below. The Cascades are several hundred miles further west.

I also happened upon a strange tree along the Oregon Trail. What kind of "fruit" does this tree bear?

Idaho

 Crossing Idaho felt rather long. I was getting pretty tired of driving so I ended up stopping several times. One place that I stopped was called Craters of the Moon, which was exposed region of lava flows within the plains. Here is a region that they call Devil's Garden because of the twisted trees amongst the lava rock.

Battle of Little Bighorn National Monument

In Montana I stopped at the Battle of Little Bighorn National Monument. The picture on the left shows how the area was mainly grassland.

There were several monuments at the site, including unknown soldier white gravestones, indian red gravestones and the horse sculpture. I did learn that there were indian tribes that were fighting with Custer against the other indian tribes - the politics of the battle were not simple!

Wyoming mountains and national parks

Once in Yellowstone, I drove along the eastern road which follows the Yellowstone river and has some hot springs and mud holes.

Dragon's Breath

 

Buffalo on the plains of North Dakota

So, I didn't keep a running blog while on my western bound trip to the Northwest. But, I decided to post pictures for people to look at if they would like to follow my trip in the virtual past. It was a really nice trip across a bit of southern, eastern Canada and northern US. My first several days were mostly about driving and thinking. Montreal region and Ontario were nice, though not especially picturesque, so no photos to post.
I came back to the US through the Upper Penisula of Michigan along the bottom of Lake Superior. I tried to camp at the Laughing River that Greg Brown sang about, but camping wasn't allowed. :(
I started taking pictures once I got to North Dakota, a state that I found very beautiful!

Here I am with the world's largest buffalo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_Largest_Buffalo), which I found at the Frontier Village in Jamestown, North Dakota. The Frontier Village was actually rather impressive, with a lot of old prairie buildings moved to one site and outfitted with antiques and artifacts. The whole village was put together by members of the town including many school classes.
I then spent 2 nights in Theodore Roosevelt National Park which has badlands geology, bison herds, extremely cute prairie dogs, wild ponies, and petrified wood. The 2nd morning, I was awakened by a wild pony galloping past my tent, splashing through the Little Missouri river and running off in the brush across the river - guess it was out for a morning run.

First day

I only wish this was my party at the Stone Mountain Arts Center in Brownfield, ME - a fancy sending off party for my long awaited Northwest Quest to deal with my mid-life crisis! Alas, it is for others who are celebrating a combined 140th birthday with Girls, Guns and Glory!
My car is loaded to the brim and I am ready to be on the road by myself tomorrow morning to head to the North Country.