Today, Dave, Roberto and I travelled in three different states: Washington, Oregon, and lastly, Idaho, where we are calling it a night. It was another day that made me think of my dad (who celebrated his 75th birthday yesterday!) as there was plenty of agricultural activity going on. Around Yakima we saw all sorts of hop plants in the rolling hills - apparently the city they call "The Palm Springs of Washington" is a significant grower of hops, ranked at one point as the eleventh biggest producer in the entire country! There are also a number of wineries, so they must have a nice micro-climate there that allows for this type of production.
Our scenery today included foothills and rugged snow-capped mountains. It would have been neat to check out Portland, Oregon but we weren't in the state for long, and we were nowhere near the city. We did travel through Ontario, Oregon - which I thought was pretty neat! I had to snap a picture of the sign and put it on Facebook, hopefully confusing a few people! :)
From what we saw in Oregon and Idaho, agriculture is a major part of the economy. Of course I have heard about all the potatoes that are grown in Idaho, but there are many types of crops that thrive around here! Not only did we see dump trucks full of spuds - we also spotted trucks full of carrots and onions. One must have hit a few bumps as there was quite a trail of onions on the side of the road!
Or, maybe the onions had fallen out of the truck because the speed limit in Idaho on the I-84 was 80 miles per hour! Not kilometres, but miles! Some super speedy vehicles passed our slow but steady Roberto! Perhaps they are fine with putting the pedal to the medal as fuel prices are the cheapest we have seen yet: $2.65 US/gallon! I think that's around 90 Canadian cents a litre!
The dairy industry seems to be one of significance around here too as I noticed what I think is the biggest open-air dairy barn I have ever seen! It was huge! So many Holsteins! Dad, you would have loved to check it out.
Before we called it a night at our rv campsite, we made a stop at Target, one of my favourite stores that is no longer in Canada (sniff, sniff) - and, everyone, I think something is happening to me. I don't think I am the shopper I once was...
Say what???
It's true. Yesterday, we spent a bit of time at the outlets north of Seattle and I bought one thing. A sweatshirt at the Gap. It was $10 so I couldn't refuse. Dave, on the other hand, bought a couple of pairs of pants, some running shoes, a new set of Nike slides, and more.
At Target, they have Joanna Gaines' line of home decor (you know, she is that adorable woman from Waco who has the show Fixer Upper and is such a gifted designer and decorator - can you tell that I love her?) and I went around the entire collection of offerings twice and I didn't bite on anything. What is happening to me?
Ok, enough of the melodrama, CC!
Dave and I have settled into our little campsite in Boise - we just ate a delicious barbecued steak supper and were able to watch some tv using the good old aerial! I love cooking shows (yes, to my sisters, I know those shows should be rubbing off on me more than they have)! And the show that was on was Jamie Oliver's - he is always so entertaining!
I am very thankful to share this time and adventure with Dave - he really makes life a whole lot of fun. We spent so much of the drive today laughing. The fact that he can laugh with me (or maybe it's more AT me) after this many days of being on the road, side-by-side, is quite something!
I hope someone made you laugh today too.
Thinking of loved ones tonight who are in need of a good laugh - you know who you are.
Good night, my loves! xoxo
