the landscape shifts

i keep trying to write this and i keep getting diverted by this view in front of my face. sometimes one has to pause mid-reach of the camera and retract the arm, saving some of that massive landscape to be drunk just in the moment. yesterday we made good time with no stops for veg oil, only to pick up a uhaul, and went on chooglin'. we pulled through the entire state of oregon and almost all the way through idaho in a day. like a band of modern-day hippies, we are squeezing the soul out of america, milking the land for free.

from portland, we went chooglin' alongside the columbia river gorge, on 84 east towards boise, idaho. as one choogles, the landscape shifts, the rocks get bigger or closer before retreating across the river and the cliffs to the south flatten out. we gradually peel away from the columbia river, entering a more arid landscape that climbs into the foothills of the blue mountains. i am having trouble containing this in words...the geography here is big.

we stopped once in idaho and that was last night to sleep at a rest area. it could have been around 3 am. most were already asleep and the windows were well condensated. when i stepped out onto the wet lawn to find the restroom, the air hung heavy with the smell of cattle. i presume the entire state smells like livestock.

this morning around 9.30 [mountain time now] ryder choogled up the bus before anybody could wake up and realize they had. with that the case, we stopped seven miles down at the lone gas station for the rest of 84 east in idaho. by the next town, we were in utah. snowville, 38 miles away. a brief stop in salt lake city has left the bus with one less passenger and one extra pillow. at the rate we hauled yesterday, the bus could be home in two days flat, but i hope the ride takes another week.