We're on the move!!

Since last we posted we have been on the move. Our first stop was in Pendleton, Oregon.


We visited the Pendleton Mills and the Pendleton Underground. The Blankets and clothing were beautiful but the clothes were too expensive and we already have a blanket for the coach. We were unable to tour the mill as they don't have tours on Saturdays.









The underground was created by the Chinese who were not allowed to be out after sundown. In order to travel from place to place they dug tunnels. Since some things were already in the basements of buildings their work was eased a bit. Over the years the underground housed Chinese laundries, opium dens, card rooms, saloons, speak easys and even an ice cream parlor. In addition there was a meat market that used the basement to make ice to keep their meats fresh. For those that wanted some excitement, the town boasted no less than 34 saloons and 18 bordellos. The bordellos were not closed until 1953 when a new Presbyterian minister came to town and for six months wrote down all the names of visitors he saw entering the houses of ill repute. He then went to the City Council and threatened to publish all the names unless they closed the houses down. They did so that night at a special meeting--obviously most of the council were probably on the list.




We continued along the Lewis and Clark Trail to Orofino, Idaho on the Nez Perce Reservation. We had a beautiful camp site on the Clearwater River. Lewis and Clark were looking for the Columbia River to make their way to the Pacific. They asked the Indians if this was the big water of the Columbia, and the Indians said "no". In actuality the Clearwater River empties into the Snake River which then empties into the Columbia.













We visited a few stops marked as Historical Sites. From this site (where the Nez Perce helped the Lewis and Clark expedition build canoes for their voyage) you can see the Dworshak Dam. It is the highest straight-axis, concrete gravity dam in North America. The lake the dam creates is 54 miles long.








After a couple of day in Orofino, we headed out down highway 12 towards Missoula, Montana (this also the Lewis and Clark trail). Almost all the way we were accompanied by the Clearwater River alongside the road. One spectacular sight after another of awesome rapids. Just as surfing is popular on the West Coast, riding the rapids is the sport of most young people here. Highway 12 climbs through the Bitteroot Mountains before dropping you at Missoula's doorstep. When you consider that Lewis and Clark started their trip on August 31, 1803 from Pittsburgh, you have to have a tremendous amount of admiration for their courage in embarking on such a journey.

It ain't exactly camping!