Eastward Ho - Starting back to the Right Coast

Monday June 18th: We packed up and left Seattle Saturday morning, the 16th and drove up to I-90 and points east. The trip up and over the Snoqualamie Pass was beautiful, then down the other side toward Yakima. Coming down we began to see the land dry up until we were again in sand and sagebrush. We left I-90 and moved onto I-84 toward Pendleton, Oregon for our first night out. Pendleton needed more time as it looked to be a city to spend a couple of days enjoying, but we were only here overnight. Sunday we got back in the saddle and drove on down I-84E to Boise, Idaho. Up and over another mountain pass, this one around 3600 ft (Snoqualamie topped out at right at 3000 ft). The land was in continual transition looking more like some of New Mexico that we had seen on the way west. Today we traveled on up to Pocatello, Idaho and will stay here for a couple of days. We passed flat topped mesas and cattle country with miles of sagebrush. Then hugh tracts of land supported by long moveable water systems supported fields of corn and wheat. Further north we began running alongside the Snake river and the irrigation became more serious. Large, large tracts of potatoes began to appear in the valley areas between the mesas, all irrigated of course. Spectacular mountains always in the far or near distance. I could not have said what my idea of Idaho had been prior to the trip, but it did not include the variety that we have encountered. Tomorrow we will drive up to the Craters of the Moon National Monument then see the Idaho Potatoe Exposition in Blackfoot, ID.