"The Way West"...Day 9...Thursday, June 21, 2012

Even after a late night, I'm still up at 6:00Am...a quick bottle of 5 Hour Energy and two cups of coffee...and I'm on the road.
I've really been looking forward to today's drive...especially the 100 miles or so stretch along the Clearwater River in Idaho.
But first, I've got to travel the 200 miles or so from Bozeman to Missoula...then a very narrow, twisting road through the mountains, up over Lolo Pass and down into Idaho. Then it's my second trip over U.S. 12 along the Clearwater River, through the Clearwater National Forest along the Lewis & Clark Trail. It's a beautiful drive with lots of curves and great views of the river. It's the very same river down which the Lewis & Clark expedition canoed in the fall of 1805. Another interesting fact about U.S. 12...it starts on the coast of Washington and has as it's eastern terminus the city of...Detroit (where we know it as Michigan Avenue).
Around noon, I'm out of the Clearwater National Forest and into a section of land, straddling Washington and Idaho, known as the "Palouse"...notable for it's large rolling hills and fertile soil.
The rest of the drive goes through arid, high desert country into Walla Walla. When most people think of the State of Washington, they think of the waters of the Seattle area and the lush forests along the coast. But all of that is on the western side of the Cascade Mountains Range. Once you cross over the mountains to the eastern side, it's mostly high desert...and about 2/3 of Washington is like that. The reason for this is that warm moist air from the ocean hits those mountains and is pushed up. This cools the air and causes rain to fall on the western side. This produces the lush rain forests, but leaves little rain for the eastern side of the mountains.
A little after 3:30PM, I'm in the city of Walla Walla and setting up camp at the Four Seasons RV Park. Somewhere along the drive, I've crossed into the Pacific Time Zone and picked up an hour.
Right across from the RV Park, there's a bus stop with buses running every thirty minutes to downtown...the fare is only 50 cents. At around 5:00PM, I'm sitting in the Vintage Wine Bar enjoying a few glasses of excellent local Cabernet from Woodward Canyon Estates. Regrettably, the best restaurant from my last visit, 26 Brix, has closed. So...instead I head for Brasserie Four for French cuisine. Onion









soup, a great Caesar salad and a massive charcuterie plate are all washed down with several glasses of another local Cab from Seven Hills Vineyard. After dinner, I've still got a little room for dessert, so I head for Colville Street Patisserie and a few scoops (Earl Grey Tea and Chocolate) gelato. A few more hours of barhopping...some excellent locally-brewed Pilsener beer...cab back to camp.
Tomorrow, I've got a full day of wine tasting...and a chance to hook up again with my friend, Spencer, who is now running his own winery, El Corazon Vineyards...should be great fun.