5 days in

Yesterday, I got the gold star. I drove for all 408 miles from Portland, Oregon to Boise, Idaho. Jimmy was catching up on the blog and uploading pictures so I just kept driving. I had all intentions of switching at a point because I didn’t think I could make the whole drive. When we stopped at the halfway point, he was still blogging so I continued on and next I knew, I’d driven the whole way.

The drive started out on 84 East out of Portland. We got one last view of the city skyline……

84 East took us along the Columbia River Gorge which separates Oregon and Washington. It was a very pretty drive winding along the mountains and the river. The mountainsides were speckled with yellow trees too, thanks to autumn…….

We hopped off on a smaller road that ran parallel with 84 to see some waterfalls. The first one we stopped to see was Wahkeena Falls. As soon as we stepped out of the RV, you could feel the moisture and coolness from the falls.

Daisy even got to check it out too……though if it was up to her, she would have gone for a swim.

The 2nd stop was for Multnomah Falls which ended up being my favorite of the three. There was one large really high fall that pooled into an area and created a second smaller fall underneath it.

They had a little path you could hike up to get to the walking bridge which we decided to check out. The last fall we stopped to see was Horsetail Falls. It was a long narrow fall and looked exactly like its namesake – a horsetail.

We got back on the road and continued on 84. Before we knew it, we were out of the Columbia Gorge scenic area and getting into more flat lands. The odor along this drive was full of two things….onions and cow shit. Sometimes the two scents would mix and create an even more awful odor. I don’t mind the smell of onions cooking, but the smell of onions growing and being harvested was totally different.

Another interesting thing we kept seeing along 84 were tree farms. The land was completely flat and out of nowhere, a perfectly lined small forest would appear. All of the trees were planted in rows and a lot of them looked very mature. One particular patch was full of changing leaves which was beautiful…

The drive continued on into the dusk and we were rewarded with a gorgeous Oregon sunset.

We crossed over into Mountain Time and just like that, we lost an hour. I was sad leaving Pacific Time behind. I think it’s my favorite time zone in the US. I feel like you always get an extra three hours there, as funny as that may sound.

Along the drive, we also passed a sign which told us we were at the half point between the North Pole and the Equator…cool, huh?

After crossing over into Mountain Time, the Idaho border greeted us….

We weren’t too far from our destination for the night after crossing the border – On the River RV Park in Boise, Idaho. We had called ahead so when we got there, we knew to pull into spot A3. Driving was over for the night and it was time to settle in.

We looked at our route for the rest of our travels and decided on Moran, Wyoming as our next destination. We’ll be spending 2-3 nights there and will explore Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons during our stay (blog updates may be sporadic if at all while we are there). Getting to check more National parks off of the list is exciting.

Jimmy started off our trip today but we had to make a stop before we got on the road. Since the temperatures have been chilly at night, we’ve actually needed to use our heat. Since we’re still new to the RV life, we had no clue how to turn on the heat at first. We figured out that the propane not only controls the kitchen but also the heat. Lucky we had enough to get us through our first few nights. Though, after checking the temperatures where we’ll be staying in Wyoming, we knew we’d need more. The temperatures overnight are supposed to get to a low of 16. We’re going from fall to winter pretty quickly. I knew there was a reason I packed my winter coat, hat and gloves!

From Boise, Idaho to Moran, WY is another 400 miles. We’re still traveling on 84 east, though the immediate land around us is flat and full of farms and irrigation. In the distance we see small mountains, but so far the ride is uneventful which isn’t a bad thing. I’m excited to check off another new state, too. In an earlier blog, I had mentioned that I’ve been to 35 states. Idaho makes 36 and Wyoming will be 37. How many states have YOU been too? We can make this blog interactive, folks!

Thanks for continuing to read. New pictures can be found here!