Day 2
Nice stay at Pendleton last night. We all slept in a bit and had the cowboy style breakfast at the hotel. Everything is cowbow oriented around here because of the Pendleton Round Up in the fall. This area was home to historic cattle drives in the late 1800s.
After breakfast we went over to the Pendleton woolen mills to take the tour and see the high speed looms. Sharon is a handweaver, so she had been here before and wanted to show us. It was truely impressive to see these machines going full tilt. The ones we saw up close were about 6 feet wide and were being woven at about one inch every few minutes. You could actually see the pattern in progress! I highly recommend this tour to anyone who likes fabric arts.
Finally on our way, we once again hopped on I-84 East toward Boise. This is a beautiful drive up through the Blue Mountains and through the Grand Rhonde valley. The weather is 80s in the valley but much cooler in the mountains today. We stopped at several of the view points to see the sights and take pics. Kyle and Pete watch a movie in the back for some of the time.
We take a lunch break at Baker City, a quaint historic town at the eastern end of the valley. Nice town with many historic buildings and parks. It is beginning to feel hot now, but very dry. There is a very large gold nugget on display at one of the banks here in town. We'll be back though here on the way back...
As we roll into Boise, we hear on the radio that it is 102 degrees! Yikes, now that's real heat! We immediately head for the pool at the hotel! After that it's over to McGraths for good eats and beer...
Tomorrow I'll be up early for a long bike ride on the Boise greenway and then a round of disc golf.
|  | 
|
