Oct 12, 2009 -- Hood River, OR to Twin Falls, ID

We arose fairly early to a cool but pretty day.  It was 40 degrees, sunny and clear.  We headed up the Columbia River Gorge and began to see windmills again as we neared the eastern Washington plains across the river.  The highway, I-84 ran right beside the Columbia River.  Look closely to see the windmills:

Near Boardman, OR, the highway veered southeast away from the Columbia and we started seeing groves of the controversial Pacific Albus trees:

It was interesting to learn that we were traveling some of the roads protected by the Oregon Scenic Council, which got laws passed to protect 3,585 miles of highways for their scenic value.  The laws caused the removal of over 7000 signs and billboards that detracted from the beauty.  The resulting views are quite impressive:

One thing that we both noticed as unusual was the very long tractor-trailer trucks.  The tractors were pulling three trailers and made for a very long vehicle:

We passed the 45th Parallel, half way between the equator and the north pole, then crossed into the Mountain Time zone while still in Oregon -- the line makes a detour into Oregon for some reason:

Soon after, we entered Idaho and Passed through Boise, ID.  We were driving through low mountains and saw many "Chain Up Area" signs.  There was snow on the peaks of the mountains.  We were pleased to pass this truck hauling nothing other than real "Idaho Potatoes:"

We stopped for the night in Twin Falls, ID and did a little provisioning at the local grocery store.  Going there in the gathering dusk, we crossed a bridge that caught our attention and we decided to visit it again tomorrow.