Twin Falls, Idaho

LONG day!

We left Pendleton this morning after setting the clock ahead for daylight savings time.  Travelling east we also had to lose another hour as we went into Mountain Time.  So it was a double whammy for us!

Heading eastbound, well, southwest of Pendleton you're climbing Crawford Hill.  This is a loooong hill and very steep.  Add to this a headwind so strong you could barely walk upright!  Dang!  Just our luck!  You could watch the fuel gauge dropping!  On the plus side the F 150 has more than enough power and not once did I have to put the pedal to the metal!

Despite the headwinds the trailer, a Komfort Islander Resort 24RK, towed very well.  We've refined our setups and takedowns now so that we get everything done without a fuss.  Two-way radios make backing and positioning very easy.  Our experiences with boating have given us many transferrable skills so we certainly don't look or feel like newbies.

We're still following the Oregon Trail.  You may have heard that the Oregon Trail is a pair of wagon ruts still visible today.  This is only partially true.  The actual trail is about two kilometres wide as the wagons preferred not to travel in the ruts of course.  The dust raised by the wagons, horses and cattle was so thick it obscured visibility to those in the rear.  We may think it a small hassle setting up the RV once we arrive but these early settlers had to do a lot more work setting camp at the end of each long, hard day travelling.  Chores included getting water, gathering firewood, baking bread, repairing the wagons to name only a few!  As I sit here writing this and sipping a glass of Yellow Tail Shiraz which I bought earlier today for only $6 a bottle ($12 at home on sale!) I try to imagine what travel was like for those early pioneers.

We crossed the 45th parallel which marks the halfway point between the north pole and the equator.  We're now closer to the equator than the north pole and as I walked to the office building in my t-shirt it's not hard to imagine!

We're up on the high plateau which is not much more than sagebrush and the occasional Pine or Juniper trees.  The scenery is quite monotonous and so we're really just putting on miles in an effort to get to our destination.  Tomorrow we cross yet another state line, this time into Nevada and the next day into Utah.  I feel like I'm on one of those European tours.  You know, the kind that advertise 10 countries in 10 days! We should make Moab on the 15th as planned.