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.

Pendleton, Oregon

We left Bellvue in the rain and headed up through the Cascade Mountains via the Snoqualmie Pass.  The Highways Department radio advisory was for mostly bare and wet roads with light snow.  We did see a few very fine flakes but the roads were bare and mostly dry.

Once through the mountains we entered the Columbia Plateau traveling along the Lewis and Clark trail.  This is the route that the pioneers travelled in preference to the more southern route.  They chose this route because it was shorter but it was not without its drawbacks.  This route had fresh water problems and water was often a full days travel apart.

We passed through Yacima with its sagebrush grasslands and then into the real grasslands where we could drive for kilometers without seeing a single tree.

Our stop for tonight was at the Wildhorse Casino which has a hotel and an RV park.  Storms had been passing through pretty much all day but just after we set up the RV a bit of sun highlighted the fields which were our view from our windows.

 Just at sunset another patch of open sky appeared giving us a nice set of clouds for a bit of colour.

Laura wanted to go see the casino but as we walked through the doors we were immediatly assailed by cigarette smoke and so an immediate U-turn and we were back outside.  Ah well, time for dinner anyways so back to the trailer for a beer, well, dinner too...

On the Road Again!

Well, we're finally off!  We're on our way for our first major trip in our RV.  We're off to Moab, Utah where we'll be meeting up with Gaye and Lee who are snowbirds heading back to Canada after a winter in Arizona.  The ferry ride was uneventful despite the fact that a Tsunami was on the way!

The bumpy ride had more to do with wind than an earthquake I'm afraid.  Two hours later we're in a relatively short wait at the Peace Arch border crossing.  A quick question about our destination, length of stay and whether or not we had any fresh food on board we were through without so much as a look inside the truck or trailer.  Sweet!

The wind hounded us much of the way to Bellvue but the truck handled it well and thankfully so did the trailer.  Our first stop in Bellvue gives us an opportunity to go grocery shopping and relax a bit.

Tomorrows run to Pendleton, Oregon takes us over the Snoqualmie Pass so this is a good spot to check road conditions before we're commited.  They have a number of cameras set up so we can see real-time conditions in case it snows up there tonight.

A Sunny Day in Winter

Always a welcome albeit rare, treat is a sunny day.  We went out to see if we could find anything of interest and sure enough found something.

There are a few Short eared Owls wintering at the Nanaimo River Estuary.  This day I watched one hunting in the grass field by the parking lot.
NIKON D300, f/7.1 @ 500 mm, 1/1000, ISO 400

NIKON D300, f/7.1 @ 500 mm, 1/500, ISO 400

Another sunny day we found this juvenile Bald Eagle just lifting off this stump in beautiful light.  500 mm @ 1/1000 sec, F8  with ISO 320 gives a really nice, sharp image.

I tried out the 1.4 TC on my 500 lens.  I find it a bit soft but perhaps if I shoot at F11 instead of F8 it may improve the sharpness.  This adult was sitting at the top of a tree and I was able to get right in there with 700 mm @ 1/1000 sec, F8 with ISO 320.

I guess he finally got tired of sitting and lifted off.  I usually miss these shots, especially with the big lens because it's really hard to track birds in flight.  I'm still getting used to the gimbal tripod head as well.

700 mm @ 1/800 sec, F8 with ISO 320.

Christmas break is over and that means back to work!  Who knows when I'll get out shooting next, I hear more snow is on the way.