Wy Id Or Wa

It's been a couple of days since a post. That's because when I finally get to be with family or friends, it is much more important to be with them. And I just spent a fantastic, rejuvenating couple of nights with my cousins Bill and Lisa and family in Eagle, ID, just outside of Boise. I got to have two home cooked meals, fun and play with the kids, and I took scenic tour of the surrounding area. I felt totally welcomed and comforted and even got to help out nephew-once-removed Ian as he was working on a project that needed a picture of a sunset. It was great to be with family again after 10 days on the road....if the Phillies hadn't lost, it would have been a perfect layover.

In order to get to Eagle, I exited Jackson, WY (BTW, the title of this post refers to the 4 states I have traversed). I headed out for a couple of scenic drives in making my way across Idaho. Besides seeing the back side of the Grand Tetons (which are equally beautiful, yet too far away to be awesome), the highlight of the trips were the Upper and Lower Mesa waterfalls. For the Upper Mesa Falls, the short trek took me to within spitting distance of pour over, and it was great. Perhaps it's always there, but in the early morning when I was there, a constant rainbow was wafting in the mist.

I then cruised across Idaho off the main highways in order to see the Craters of the Moon National Monument. The monument is a 25 mile stretch of the Oregon Trail made up of the remnants of earlier volcanic activity. Early travelers across this stretch of the trail were lucky if their wagons survived the landscape. It was the last great scenery before arriving at Eagle, ID for the aforementioned couple of nights with family.

Today I left the Boise area and quickly entered Oregon. My route across eastern OR was leisurely and scenic taking me through both the Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests before straddling the Blue Mountains, again along the Oregon Trail. Nearly every mile of the drive presented new and changing scenery and was thoroughly enjoyable.

I entered the state of Washington, passing through Hermiston, OR where cousin Bill and I had gone fishing on my first road trip. From there, I just followed the highway into Washington's large wine country, and followed Bill's recommendation...I sampled the wine. Then I sampled more. Before I was done, I had gone to 5 wineries, and decided that it might not be a good idea to drive anymore.

So I checked into the nearest hotel, and am now chilling in Prosser, WA. I bought 6 bottles of wine. (I expect they'll all be opened at my next couple of stops in Seattle, Portland and San Fran.) Every winery I was at recommended the same place for dinner, Picazo, and two of them said the Paella was the meal to order. They were right, and the baby clams, muscles, fish and perfect shrimp added to the complex flavors.

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As my next few stops will likely be with family and friends, posting blogs may to be sporadic over the next week or so, but I do hope to fit in at least one more National Park before I hit San Francisco next week.