MOUNT ST. HELENS TO POCATELLO

June 20-23, 2013

Driving along the Columbia River Gorge

 I wasn't able to post to my little travel blog the last couple of days.  I didn't have internet available.  We didn't really do too much sight-seeing, because we've been sticking to the interstate to get to our next big destination of Grand Teton National Park.  But we did pass through another very scenic area that we really should have planned to stay in for a few days; the Columbia River Gorge.  After driving through Portland, we got on Interstate 84 to head east.  We drove right along the river for over 150 miles.  There are several waterfalls on one side of the road and the river is on the other side with lots of shipping traffic, lochs and dams.  Lots to see.  We traveled a total of 275 miles from Silver Lake, Washington to La Grande, Oregon.  We spent two nights in La Grande.  We had some housekeeping things to do, so we didn't do a lot of sight-seeing, but we did hear there was a cute little town down the road called Union, so we took a drive one morning to see it.

Old Rexall Drug Store in Union, Oregon

We were pleased to see that this small town still had a small independent drug store right on main street.  Because Steve and I have fond memories of the Rexall store on main street in Belton, we decided to go in and check this one out.   It was cool to see that they had a working soda fountain with all the old fittings.  We enjoyed having an ice cream cone and talking to the lady that works there about how the man that owns the store is a pharmacist and how he's determined to keep this little store open as it has been for years.  Not an easy thing to do when he competes with the big chains 25 miles down the road.

Steve enjoying an ice cream cone from the soda fountain in Rexall

This is a picture of one of the old homes in Union, Oregon.  Such a cute place.  

Today (June 23), we drove 423 miles from La Grande, Oregon to Pocatello, Idaho.  It was all interstate.  Lots of open, flat land with dry looking vegetation in eastern Oregon.  Lots of agriculture along the interstate in Idaho (more wheat than potatoes).  So many bugs on the windshield, Steve had to get the ladder out at the rest stop to clean it and then clean it again when we got to the RV park.

We will just stay in Pocatello one night and then drive on up to Grand Teton.  We will stay there for a week.   Hope the weather stays nice.  I think Teton is one of the most beautiful places in the U.S.