Where is Jack, Day 124?

Nancy was up at 5:30 a.m. It looked pretty bleak as far as travel because she could barely turn her head--neck problems, again.

This is how she starts her day, and unfortunately, my day. I like to sleep late, but Nancy wakes me every morning. I like to sleep with my chin on the table next to my bed.

Then, the dreaded click and flash. Rude, I tell ya.

(This is Nancy. I love this pup. He's such a good traveler. He puts his head on the arm rest between the seats when we drive sometimes, and he listens while I talk to him. He's my best bud and I'm thankful to have him every day. He's suffered loss, too, he just could never understand it or explain it. I think he's in a happy place, now.)

She took a muscle relaxer and some Aleve and waited. Then, she decided she would go anyway. We started out about 8:30 a.m. First, Nancy got the inside of the trailer ready, and then we went for a walk. When we got back, Nancy put me in the truck and hitched up--only took a few minutes. Nancy decided to avoid highways and go to Lewiston. It was an amazing and eye opening ride in many ways. We saw miles and miles of farms growing the light yellow - hay or wheat, I guess. We took Route 24. There was one period of time for 45 minutes where we didn't see one other vehicle, silo, farmhouse--nada. Nancy said she could see how people could fall asleep. Funny thing, though, she decided to turn the radio on and was even willing to listen to a religious show and lo and behold, Clark Howard was on! I spotted a shiny light way far away at one point. The speed limit was either 60 or 65 mph. The shiny thing was a truck coming at us at probably the same speed. It took 15 minutes for us to pass one another-that's how straight the road was. We only found one place to pull off other than another very small town, to take a walk. Whenever we got gas, Nancy also walked me.

Nancy said to me, it's hard to believe how big this country is and how much of it is rural. It was a tiring drive. When we passed Colfax there was more traffic, but not a lot. There was a truck coming toward us and a school bus behind us. All of a sudden, a car that was completely hidden behind the semi veered out and came at us head on. The truck driver evidently didn't know he was there either.  He jammed on his brakes and went off to his right so the car couldn't get back in his lane at that point. Fortunately, Nancy saw him, jammed her brakes on, pulled the trailer brakes, and pulled over (at 65 mph) on to the shoulder and the guy somehow got through between the truck and us with only inches to spare. Fortunately, the school bus wasn't tailgating, but it pulled to the right, too, as the car struggled to get under control. What a nut. Had to be drunk. Disaster avoided, but it took its toll on Nancy. There was no where along the way to pull off to rest, and this incident scared her. One more reason she's thankful she has a small trailer and a big truck.

When we started out, we decided that although it would be a lot of miles and a long drive, we'd stop in Lewiston. We got there and there were no RV parks and the state park was full. There was, however, a vista where we stopped for about 20 minutes to walk around. Nancy took pictures (of course) Did I just hear you groan? Coming down Lewiston "Hill", we counted seven runaway truck ramps within a 2 mile distance. It was long and steep.

The only next option we had was Grainger. Nancy called Good Sam, and that's what they suggested. So hear we are at Hidden Bears (think that's the name). It's a nice commercial park, and it has private baths, great wifi, and cable. It has a field for me to run in and a dog walk. Town is only 2 miles away, but we feel like we're in the country. We figured it would be a good place for us to sight see from. Tomorrow, though, it's a book and relax--at least that's what she says, now. Maybe a night's rest will change that.

I don't know about the state and national parks in this state, but on the coast of Oregon and Washington they cost as much as the commercial parks, some with no facilities, and many of them were full. The big rigs can't get into them. Well, I'm tired--I'm sure I've left out a lot, but the memory is shot tonight. I'll just post the pictures of Lewiston and the snake river (we went by Hell's Canyon, but couldn't stop).

Lewiston was a bigger town than Nancy thought it was going to be. I guess it's a city, really. She has to do some more research, but she thinks Lewiston is named after Lewis from Lewis and Clark. Idaho is full of their history and story. Nancy and Rich once followed their route throughout Idaho and Oregon. They always came over to Idaho through Oregon or up from the south, however.

I can read this sign with Google Chrome, but don't know if it is legible with Google.

There are a lot of bridges that cross the Snake River. Rich and I were on a bridge when they were out here, one time, and there were young people planning jumps with parachutes, and some bungee jumpers. Supposedly, it's a common practice.

The Water Treatment Plant. There's a wood pulp factory--this is to clean up the water before using it, most likely to water crops (that's just a guess)

You may or may not be able to see the cross at the bottom of the picture. It's a memorial of some kind, but it was behind the guard rail so we couldn't see.

House with a View

Now, this fascinated Nancy and she took many pictures. It's the road that goes down into the city of Lewiston--the one with the truck runoffs. It looks like different roads, but that's because it's disappearing behind the hills. Again, Nancy said she was glad she had a big truck and a small trailer.