Day Five

Yesterday I forgot to mention the actual highlight of the day. As we were driving in the afternoon we saw a couple of dust devils in the fields. Ann tried to video them. Then suddenly there was one on the road. Lots of hay swirling around and we drove through the middle of it. The car bumped a little. Luckily Ann had stopped videoing at that point!

Today we decided to have a break from early morning swimming. Ann said the place we were heading to had an outdoor pool, so we thought we would swim after the journey.

Breakfast was not as great as previous ones. Choice was a little small.

We headed off at around 10am and hit I-84 heading north west. Took no chances today, didn't let Ann drive which meant she couldn't stop and make me take over. Cut out the middle man as it were.

We drove and drove. Stereo was playing up again which meant it was quite quiet for long stints. We did race an aeroplane taking off.

Chocks away

Eventually we hit a new state, Oregon. This is one of the few we have not been too. Takes us up to 44 and 45 states respectively. Ann still has Washington state in her favour but that will change in a couple of days. It also means we have changed time zone, so now 8 hours behind the UK.

We stopped for gas and food in Ontario and then headed a few miles further north to eat lunch next to Snake River. Went live on Facebook for the first time ever. Life will never be the same again.

Carried on further north west until we reached La Grande. Turned off the interstate and headed north on the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway. The scenery was spectacular.

Eventually arrived in Joseph, Or. Checked in here http://www.indianlodgemotel.com/

It was built by the actor Walter Brennan. He played Stumpy in Rio Bravo.

There is no pool so we can't have an afternoon swim. Or a morning one.

Went for a stroll through the town. It is very nice, very picturesque. Looks a lot like Dante's Peak, with the mountains overlooking it.

She's gonna blow, Harry!

As it is Sunday night most of the town is shut. Only one place was open for food and it was heaving. We went to a food shop instead and bought some things and went back to the motel for tea. It was great.

We then headed out to Mad Mary's Soda Shop http://www.madmarys.com/ for desert. It sells ice cream. We bought some. Ann had a paltry one scoop in a tub. I decided to battle two scoops and a waffle cone.

Old style ice cream parlour

Worried by the challenge ahead

I won the battle eventually despite the cone collapsing and having to transfer it all to a bowl instead.

Now back in the room. Have put on Dante's Peak on the iPad.

Looking forward to tomorrow as we don't have drive anywhere. Our first day of proper activities which should be awesome. Will make the blog more interesting for a start.

States visited - 5

Ice Creams defeated - 2 scoops