Day 1: Vancouver to La Grande, OR

It was a perfect travel day from the bright and sunny weather, except for some marine fog that settled in just north of Bellingham and lifted just south of Seattle, to getting a chuckle out of the border guard who really didn’t know if we were allowed to take celery into the US – but have a safe trip. And the day became no less perfect for having missed our very first diversion from one main highway to another.

When on previous road trips I’ve often thought that, in order to fully absorb the sights, to capture the landscapes and vistas in photos or video or even written journal, it would be best to walk the entire distance. Every scene would be permanently recorded and not committed to memory alone. This being impossible or at least impracticable, I like to try to take away one or two impressions each day. Hopefully I’ve been fortunate enough to photograph them, but, at the very least formed a solid memory to be recalled when reminiscing about the trip.  So, what did I take away today? Well, I had no idea that so much of Washington State was a desert. It’s probably more accurately described as semi-desert with hill after rolling hill of short, golden, grass and, where there was any green vegetation at all, sagebrush as far as the eye can see.

Near Yakima, Washington, which was the most arid area we travelled through, we crossed the Fred G. Redmon Memorial Bridge on Highway 82. It spans the Selah Creek Canyon and boasts the longest concrete arches in the US. It’s an imposing man-made structure bridging a 500 foot gap in the desolation of this semi-desert.

We ended our day in La Grande, Oregon but not before reaching heights of 4,193 feet at the summit of the Blue Mountains. To put that in perspective, Grouse Mountain is 4,093 feet. It was a great road but, nonetheless I was very glad I had the forethought to get new brakes and new coolant before starting this journey.

We started our trip a day later than we expected and travelled about a hundred miles fewer than we expected. But, having the luxury of no specific schedule to keep, we’re still, strictly speaking, on track. 

Until tomorrow . . . .