Day Seven – The Heat is On

We knew this day would a warm one and it was. We tried to get out early but ended up leaving around 8:45. We jumped on southbound 97.  Not a very fun ride considering it is a main truck route.  

It was, as predicted, mostly high desert. Washington state is famous for their apples and we passed several orchards. It is a stark contrast to have miles of desert and then see these beautiful green fields of apples and wheat. 

 At one point we rose in elevation into forestland. At the summit we got our first peek of Mt. Rainer.  We decended back into desert and met up with the Columbia River.  We saw many Ospreys in flight and in nests. Not only was the truck traffic heavy, so was the wind. That’s why these were here!

We stopped for lunch and decided to take an alternative route. Great decision because it was a fun curvy road that wandered through farmland and gave us views of Mounts Ranier, St. Helens and Hood.

We dropped down into the Deschutes River town of Maupin and crossed over the Deschutes on this unique bridge.

We soon met back up with Highway 97 and back to desert but we were close to our destination. We checked in to our hotel in Madras and walked to dinner. After, we walked to Safeway to get a bottle of wine.  Back at our hotel, we asked the front desk for a corkscrew. Apparently they don’t get too many California wine drinkers here because they didn’t have one. Luckily the manager moonlights as McGiver because he took us and our wine bottle to the maintenance room and came up with this solution!

Now we’re enjoying wine and talking about whether or not, we’ll see Crater Lake tomorrow. Last chance for this lake. Cathy has tried seeing it three other times and is convinced it doesn’t exist.  Hopefully tomorrow we will be sharing pics of the elusive lake!