Chat II

To bring you up to date on my wanderings, here's another chat.

We left West Yellowstone Montana and proceeded on Route 20 West into Idaho we continued on her 20 down to a South to a town called Ashton where we left this main road and picked up state Route 32 which led us to state Route 33 in the towns of Tetonia, Driggs, and Victor. Our directions provided by DeLorme software had us make a U-turn in Victor and follow state Route 33 North back to US 20. I, of course, can read a map better than DeLorme. I could see that state route 31 off 33 would lead us to US 26 and across to US 20. So the driver followed my directions and we went over a mountain on State Route 31 where truck warning signs were posted. At one point we saw a 7% downgrade ahead. The next sign showed a series of curves and the speed posted on the serpentine sign was 60, yes, Sixty. Mike managed to hold the RV on the road at 50. Needless to say, we did not set any miles per gallon records on this trip.

We traveled on Route 20 through Idaho Falls and awe in through Butte city to a town called Arco. In Arco we were right on the page of the mountains we later learned that except for this southern section called the snake River Valley or region, Idaho is mountains. In Arco, the mountains come right to the edge of town and high school tradition requires that each graduating class painted of their year and number on the rocks on this nearest mountain the tradition has been going on since 1927. I kind of liked it. We debated how often the number has to be repainted and who does it particularly for the class of 1927 and its near numbers. I decided grandchildren did the repainting! We left Arco and followed Route 20 to Mountain Home, Idaho. All along Route 20, the mountains remained just to our north. Near the end of this route, we suddenly had to cross the mountains to our south. This time it was DeLorme's fault.

My son Erik observed that we must have Calamity Jane on board this bus. As he was hearing from me about places we had left, he noticed the news consistently reported calamities there. For instance, we left Wisconsin and they were inundated with floods. We left Fairmont Minnesota in the rain and it rained there for a week. One day they got something like 8 inches. More floods. The day we left Bozeman Montana, there was a gas main explosion and fire in the city with great damage. A couple of days ago, we decided we'd go to Sisters Oregon to stay a few days and rest up from our arduous journey. Peggy called to make a reservation and was told there was no room at the inn! Tonight, just before dinner, I turned on the TV for local news and found there is a major forest fire out of control just outside of Sisters. Now I don't want to claim either Calamity Jane type powers or the ability to project a revenge on people, but I think people should be warned about us. Don't you?

My daughter, Melissa, came through with info about Lodgepole Pine. It seems growth depends on the soil but it is reasonable to assume that the 10 foot trees I saw were indeed about 20 years old. Live and learn.

As we got on the interstate this morning from Mountain Home, we discovered the street we'd been following for about 4 miles simply ended as an entrance ramp onto the interstate. That reminded us of the peculiar entrance and exit at Medora, North Dakota. Going west, you can exit at the Medora ramp but you can only get on again going west after passing through the town. It's the same going east. That town is set up to get the tourist dollar.

We saw a sign saying welcome to the high desert country while we were in Idaho. I have never seen so much irrigation as we saw there. There was great circle irrigation where the water is pumped through a pivot in the center of the circle. The irrigation lines are carried on wheels in arcs between each wheel, sometimes very far -- I would say 100 yards to 300 yards. Another type of irrigation is the wagon wheel type. The pipes are connected through the center, the hub, of a series of wagon wheels spread out in a line across the field. Spray holes in the pipes irrigate the fields. Another type is 20 inch wheels supporting poles and the water is dispensed from the arcs running between poles in a straight line across the field. Instead of spray holes, these arcs have hanging hoses with a spray type nozzle in the end every foot or so spraying water on the field. When we crossed into Oregon, I thought we had left irrigation behind because there were no machines like those described above in the fields. However, the truth soon dawned. The need for irrigation is just a strong in that part of Oregon touching Idaho but there is a difference. If you look at a map of the Eastern Oregon, you'll find a series of tiny blue squiggly lines all over the map. Rivers, brooks, streams of all sorts draining eastward from the mountains. The farmers of this section of Oregon have set up canals to tap the water from the streams and bring it miles, in some cases, to the fields where it is sent through these cement channels six to 12 inches wide along the edge of the field. Dipping into these channels are hoses which lead the water from the channel down the rows in the fields like a soaker hose. I have seen corn, onions, alfalfa, soybeans, hay fields and pastures being irrigated in south eastern Oregon. I never expected, in my life, to see hayfields and pastures irrigated. By the way, I saw two large dairy farms northwest of Boise Idaho. These are the first dairy farms I have seen since Wisconsin or maybe Eastern Minnesota.

Snow fences here in Oregon have a new twist. They are made of aluminum and the horizontal "boards" are like the old tin or aluminum corduroy roofing. Another new thing in Oregon: Farmers have pole barns setup to move the hay undercover. This is the first sign I've seen of hay being protected, and not left as bails in the field. Maybe it's because this is hay grown on irrigated fields. That must make it much more expensive.

Now I need more help. We have seen a great deal of a tree type which looks a lot like a white birch but isn't quite. Any ideas of what this look alike is?