Sweet Jesus, who plans these trips? Up at 4:3o a.m., are you kidding me? Well, I guess we’ve got to do this while we’re young, as plenty of people have told us it will get harder as we get older. That’s Ruby Mountain in the distance under the pre-sunrise sky. Somehow, I feel lucky to be able to see this view and not only see it under full daylight, which is easy. Next stop, Idaho.

Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls, Idaho, which I can only guess was a spectacular waterfall prior to dams. While it’s kind of interesting to look at in its own right, I’d still love to see it with a serious flow of water cascading into the Snake River below.

I guess this draws in the kids and us idiots because, seriously, Native Americans riding dinosaurs? And, of course, Native Americans have to be nearly naked because that’s how they rode their horses while battling John Wayne in the old Westerns.

We drove northeasterly on Highway 26 with the hopes of visiting Craters of the Moon National Monument, but there was too much snow for our visit, and so onto the list it goes. For a consolation prize, we are offered this spectacular view of the mountains on the south of Highway 20 while driving west near Picabo, Idaho.

One more photo on Highway 20 before turning north on the 75.

We just passed Ketchum, Idaho, and the turn-off to Sun Valley which are both famous for catering to the wealthy, which makes sense as Ketchum at least is reminiscent of Durango and Telluride over in Colorado.

The snow is pretty thick out this way and seems to be getting heavier. Sure enough, just a few miles past this and north of Galena, we reach the end of the road. Well, more road, but the snow is covering it, meaning we won’t be traveling in that direction. Time to turn around and head back to Highway 20.

That wasn’t so bad, as the view looks different when traveling south instead of driving north. This is near Fairfield, Idaho, and I should admit that I’m happy as a clam that the skies are blue because if there was a hint of snow, we would have been totally unprepared for such driving conditions.

This is Cat Creek Summit and what will have to be the last photo for a while as we are heading into Oregon to meet up with my sister Amanda Goff. The nearly three hours we lost on our drive up and back Highway 75 risk making us late for our dinner date.

We stopped in Baker City, Oregon, for a pit stop and to admire how beautiful the place is, but we’re just as quickly back on the road. We are in La Grande for this sunset and about 45 minutes away from Pendleton, Oregon. Our dinner with Amanda was a brief hour and forty-five minutes, but it was the first time we had seen her in at least a couple of years.

We found a motel in Arlington, Oregon, on the Columbia River, and as we were incredibly tired we took the first place we came across. Well, it’s the only overnight option in Arlington, a place that has a population of about 500 people. The historic room is perfect vintage 1971 decor with fresh wood paneling, green short shag carpet, and burnt orange curtains.

The crackle lacquer lamp and plastic glasses on the nightstand (paper-wrapped and sanitized for our protection) top off the experience, letting us know we’ve arrived in a real class joint that has bucked modernity for that kind of authentic flair not found everywhere. How much did we pay for our night in the ’70s? It wouldn’t matter, as this was priceless.