Portland or Bust!

After the second night in a row of a gummy bear binge, we made it to Boise, ID around 11PM. (Yes, I was super psyched about this. Boise has been my favorite state capitol since we learned all of them in the third grade. Finally made it out there to see it!) Anyway, Amy & I make a great driving team! When she started driving, the arrival time in Boise (according to the GPS) was 11:55PM. By the time she was done, she had the time down to 11:30, and I was able to shave another half hour off, making last night our earliest arrival time yet! We took full advantage and really felt like we were “sleeping in” today… we got 6.5 hours of sleep! After a breakfast of the best waffles yet, we hit the road for Portland. David drove for the first 3 hours, Chris is at the wheel now. We just took a break for a driver change, gas, and some blueberry studelace from the local bakery to help us weather the time change and make it to a normal lunch time.

Southeastern Oregon has proven to be very scenic, but with lots of different types of scenery. We started out going through pretty flat lands that looked similar to Illinois, continued on to ranch country (big rolling hills dotted with cattle), and finally on to two national forests. We just came through John Day, OR… where we were not allowed to pump our own gas.

For my own entertainment (and hopefully yours), the top seven questions we’ve been asking so far this trip:

1. How in the #&%$ has Old Faithful worked for so long?
2. What's the difference between a buffalo and a bison?
3. Where are all the elk? 
4. How were the Badlands formed? Erosion, glaciation, both, what does that even mean?
5. Why were so many trees in Yellowstone dead?
6. How long can 4 people subsist on gummy bears, chocolate chip cookies, and turkey sandwiches?
7. Why do we live in Illinois again?
1. Answer:  Because the people and places and things that we love are there. J

Portland or Bust!