Day 11 Pendleton, OR

Mountains, mountains, mountains. This leg of the trip was almost all mountains. We rose early and had a light breakfast at the hotel and left at 8:30 a.m. We beat the rush hour traffic out of Salt Lake and were headed north. Leaving the city brought views of snow covered mountain tops, miles of dry pastures, and cattle. The mountains in Idaho dropped in elevation to 3,00 ft. above sea level and started a rolling effect. The tops were brown and there were hardly any trees on them. The rocks were white and a shade of yellow. Tumble weeds littered the sides. Still a pretty sight. We were making good time and were in Boise, ID by 2:00 p.m. We stopped and had a quick lunch then saddled up to head to Oregon. As we were leaving Idaho, the elevation started to rise and the mountains started to come to a peak instead of being rounded. Off in the distance we could see more snow. As we climbed higher the temperatures dropped quickly and we thanked God that we had dressed appropriately. We traveled through the Oregon Trail and were amazed at the quick drops in elevation. We stopped at a rest area on the trail and read some of the history about it. It is hard to believe that settlers passed through the area on horse back and in covered wagons, with mules pulling supplies. Many people perished on the trail and it was easy to see why. Shortly after passing Hell's Canyon we came up on Happy Canyon. It was obvious why it was called Happy Canyon. It was like God painted the landscape with trees, streams and pure beauty. The rest of the ride we saw giant evergreens, rolling streams and grass. All at once everything was green. What a beautiful sight. We headed into Pendleton down a long and winding road. Were we coming down from the Blue Mountain and the valley was picturesque as the sun was setting. We pulled into a hotel for the night, ordered Chinese food, and are just relaxing. Today's ride was 598 miles bringing our total to date to 4,324. More road ahead. Were not sure if we will be able to post while we are in Canada. I will make every effort to keep everyone informed as to where we are by utilizing the hotels internet. (not sure if my broadband card will work in Canada). Good night and God Bless.