day one, mostly pictures

I have no idea if I will be able to (or want to) sustain this for the whole trip, but I thought I'd share some pictures from day one. I ended up taking a lot of pictures on instagram (via an ipod touch) because my regular camera had a low battery.  That instagram is also fun and requires no cable to get from there to here is a bonus. This is a basic out the windshield picture just east of The Dalles, Oregon. That weird shape in the foreground is a reflection of the air bag thing. The Columbia river is to the left (out of frame).


heading east east EAST. So many people only think of rain or the rainforest when they think of Oregon, but so much of it is desert or mountains or ranch or farmland.


wind farms everywhere - we passed several wind turbine blades being moved by truck  - they were as big as a whale. I've got pictures of those on my other camera.


This was at a rest area -  I did not find the news very restful at all. AT ALL.  The gravel I had to stand in to take this picture was all rattlesnake colored and I had minor heebie jeebies for the entire second it took me to snap the sign.


X-Files looking container. I'm sure there was some sort of alien lab or medical lab inside - probably guarded by rattlesnakes. The rectangular shapes to the right of the 45 are bales of hay on a truck passing by.


By the time we got to Idaho, there were lightning storms brewing. There were blue skies above the black clouds - very weird, headachy weather. I watched lightning and thought about Zeus throwing thunderbolts from Mt. Olympus. (I've been reading a book about Greek and Roman Mythology, so it keeps popping into my mind.)


More moody clouds.  We're staying tonight in Twin Falls, Idaho - a cute town, but it pretty much smells like cows outside, everywhere.

Tomorrow we head down to Salt Lake City and points beyond - I've never seen the Great Salt Lake - I'm looking forward to it!