Kelowna, B.C. to Othello,WA. and then on to Meridian, Idaho.

We left Kelowna at about 8am on Saturday morning and had a lovely days drive.  No rain, no wind and sunshine.  What more can you ask for! 

West side of Okanogan Lake heading for Osoyoos and the border.

Cliffs along the way.

Downtown Oliver…a nice little town built in the 1800’s in the mining boom  and the wine capital of Canada according to Tourism B.C.

When we crossed the border it was quite busy with lots of RV’s heading south. 

Looks the same as Oliver, B.C. but now we are in Oroville, Washington which is from the same era.

Metal sculptures at the Indian gas station at the south end of Omak.

Left to Highway 17 and Moses Lake.

Turn right up the big hill to Dry Falls and then down to Soap Lake. 

Coming down from the Dry Falls look out towards Soap Lake.  We like to stay at the Soap Lake RV park on the north end of the lake on the way home. 

Amazing rock formations through this area.

We made a fuel stop in Moses Lake and then onward.

We arrived in Othello at about 3:30 pm and pulled into the Wal Mart which is our usual first night stop.  I had lost most of my vegetables when we crossed into the USA and now I needed to shop for more.  I have had times when they have taken nothing at the border and other times like this when they take almost everything.  I can’t understand how vegetables that came from the US into Canada and are now coming back can be a problem.  They also took my home grown potatoes which would have been okay if they were commercial ones. No home grown produce.  Next time I’ll give them away.

So…a quiet evening eating frozen left over's and having our little Glo Warm propane heater keeping us warm.  We use the generator to heat supper in the microwave and also for coffee and toast in the morning.   I was also able to use lots of  lights as Eric put two new 12V RV batteries in the rig.  Yahoo….luxury!

Sunday (this morning) we were off to Meridian, Idaho  and the Boise/Meridian KOA which is our next stop.  Again another sunny day without wind.  Two days in a row ….the Gods are smiling on us. 

A sunny cool (2C) morning when we left Othello. 

Hard to see with the early morning sun in our eyes.

The road was covered in leaves….but there are no trees…what the heck….

A truck with an uncovered load of onions so the road was covered in onion skins…not leaves!

It was a quiet drive through the Tri Cities (Pasco/Richland/Kennewick which was nice as it can be a very busy area on a week day morning.

Getting ready to cross the Colombia River south of the Tri Cities.

Old narrow bridge.

A little marina on the other side of the bridge on the Colombia with an RV park in the back ground.  We should stop and have a look some time.  Looks like a nice place to stay. 

Fuel stop in Pendleton, Oregon and then up and over Cabbage Hill.  A long climb up to a peak of 4200 feet and again no wind, rain,snow or fog.    It can be ugly up there but….not today. 

Heading up Cabbage Hill…it looks ominous but today it’s okay.  This link tells the whole story. 

http://www.bakercityherald.com/Local-News/Infamous-freeway-Part-1-of-3

The weather is okay.

You climb and climb and climb and then you think you are going down but…

Up you go again.

The Larch trees are yellow and will soon loose their needles. http://oregonforests.org/tree/western-larch  an interesting species.

Finally we are heading down. 

Pretty as we travel along.

We are now past Baker City, Oregon where we picked up fuel and are heading down to the Weatherby rest stop where we’ll have lunch. Again another dangerous stretch of highway when the weather is bad….or you are going too fast.

The Ash Grove Cement plant

http://www.bakercityherald.com/Local-News/Infamous-freeway-Part-1-of-3 

  We ate lunch in the front of the truck.  I packed our lunch as it is too cold to make lunch and sit in the RV.  Pretty but breezy and cool. 

We are now parked in the Boise/Meridian Koa and the sun is shining.  The power/water and sewer are hooked up and all is well.  This is our first stop with running water in the rig since we left home and I am now a happy camper.  We quite often don’t hook up to water until we get past Ely, Nevada which is at 7000 ft. but it looks okay over the next few days.  We don’t want frozen pipes!!! 

We’ll stay here in Meridian for 2 or 3 nights and then move on.  I’ll do my winter shop for butter/cheese etc. (at….you remember ….my favorite grocery store WINCO) and maybe we’ll go to the Harley shop. 

It is quiet and it will be an early night.