Salt Lake and Sam Weller's

You might get tired of hearing about it, but it's all anyone talks about here:it has been a long, wet Spring. As we cross the Salmon River to leave Boise, we remark again at the height of the water, right up into the trees along the bank.

 Because we weren't smart enough to know there would be a very nice continental breakfast at the Modern Hotel, we left hungry. And stopped early.

Of course I had a potato. This stop (AAA recommended) was so close to the (AAA recommended) Shoshone Falls, that we decided to take a short detour. Through huddled housing developments and then into farmers fields, and then, WOW.

 The waitress at Idaho Joe's was taking her son to the Falls this afternoon because word is out that the water is high. In the summer they are sometimes a trickle, all the water captured for irrigation. The guy at the ticket booth (it's worth the 3 bucks, don't worry) still had stars in his eyes as he talked about the rainbows he saw over Shoshone Falls this morning.

 I don't want to miss showing you some of the lilacs we saw. Never have I seen so many big healthy lilac bushes. I want to bring them all into the car for the smell.

 But we are driving on, to Salt Lake today, about 5 hours through a windy world of subtle colors. High plains, I guess, but with big mountains always in the distance.

If I lived here I would paint landscapes.

 Keep your eye on the sky.

 I guess these are the colors the local artists use.

Those scuddy marks in the clouds usually mean troubled weather but the weather holds for our arrival in Salt Lake.

Our pleasant Hampton Inn Downtown is a short walk to Sam Weller's Bookstore and the office of City Weekly whose founder John Saltas is an old friend from NXNW days, through Louis Black (see our Austin stop). John treats us to a nice meal and a fine cocktail at Bambara in the Hotel Monaco. Check out the link http://bit.ly/kYcqov to a nice interview in City Weekly, written by Scott Renshaw.
John Saltas has to go to a kid's baseball game, so he'll miss John's reading at Sam Weller's but Tony Weller joins us for supper and the reading.

We have fun with him and his beautiful daughter Lila Ann and her equally beautiful grandmother Ann.
Sam Weller's is enormous and justly famous. Wally at Rediscovered Books in Boise talked about it with awe, and no wonder.

John read "Tramps" to a good crowd who must have been pleased to hear Salt Lake City mentioned in the chapter. Really nice staff. They sold a lot of books!

And we add to the collection of old friends gathered up on the road.

Hannah Rea is thriving as an RN for Hospice in Salt Lake. Here she is with her friend Gates. In Portland we saw Hannah's brother Adam. Tomorrow we'll be with their parents Tom and Barb in Casper. All we are missing is brother Max.

And I told you you'd be surprised, Lisa.

John "Solly" Sutton who left his nightclub in Park City to come hear John read. Solly was our Sound Mixer on several movies including MATEWAN and PASSION FISH. So sweet to see old friends.

The Road to Boise

It won't surprise anyone who knows the Northwest that our drive began in clouds and rain. Here we are crossing out of Seattle.

 The mountains are full of lakes and with all the rain and snow melt, they are all brimming right up to the ditches by the side of the road. It's no fun to drive in the rain but we have had such great weather on this trip we decide not to complain. (That's because John is driving.)

 Then look what happened! Sun. Suddenly it's the Wonderful World of Color.

 I had my first good idea of the morning which was to take the Scenic Drive marked on the road atlas with ............ We left the highway (I-5?) and drove onto Rte 621 through Yakima Canyon. Follow me.

 Stay close.

 The Yakima River is right up into the trees.

 I don't think you can see the hundreds of swallows that swoop down to the water.

 See the train?

 No signage, no cars, one or two houses. One fly fishing camp.

 I hope I never forget Yakima Canyon.

All vineyards and fields on the other side. This is southern Washington State.

 We cross into Oregon, so different from the other side of the state with its big trees.

 Wind breaks to protect the grape vines.

 Fields are vast and irrigated. Wind turbines by the score. Makes sense to me out here.

 Dreadful picture, but it's all you'll see of the Roll On, Columbia River, so I have to include it.

 In the distance we see four structures whose roofs are covered with the same ground cover we see growing in the wild. Pink.

Big sky and we speculate again on what weather lies ahead. It's never boring to travel this way. Moving as fast as we do, there is always something new to see, and then, what lies ahead?

The answer is Pendleton, Oregon. Really good choice for our early lunch. This is where it's good to have the AAA Travel Guides. We gauge the miles and figure out where we'll be around lunch and look in the guide for a place near the highway (but not ON the highway, NO) where there's a likely restaurant and maybe a little local color. Pendleton is the home of the Round-Up, a big rodeo, and also of the Pendleton (blankets) Woolen Mill.

 The bias of the AAA Guides is family/predictable. They also can be out of date, not surprisingly. We check out one venerable tourist restaurant and go instead for the Prodigal Son Brewery. Wouldn't you?

I

 I have a tasty burger from a local butcher Hill Meats, with Oregon's Tillamook. John has a fancy ham sandwich from the same butcher. And I have the Prodigal Son Beer Sampler.

Maybe you can see that the sampler comes with a menu and the glasses are placed on a tray with a wheel of numbers so you can keep track of what beer, ale, porter and stout you are sampling.

I liked almost all of them. John drives, to the Cookie Tree Bakery. They made the bread at Prodigal Son.

Apparently there's an underground of shops left from the old days, a tour now for tourists. This place is on the tour too.

I am planning my next trip to Pendleton.

I nap in the car. It's the sample catching up with me.

 The land is an amazing combination of colors including the new green of Spring and deep rose.

 We pass ranges of snow covered mountains all day, from Washington, through Oregon, and into Idaho.

 Everywhere we see that the rivers and ditches are full. And the final snow in the mountains has yet to melt.

 This is not the only cement plant we see.

A Stegosaurus is asleep under this pink and green hill.

 We reach our day's destination, Boise Idaho and the Modern Hotel and Bar. I have been looking forward to this stop since I talked to Mary Portser who acted in Boise recently and recommended the hotel.

It is a groovy renovation of a 60's motel. Very successful in my opinion. Later on we'll dine here on smoked trout (local) and a salad of faro and feta (local). Are you surprised? Boise IS a surprise.

We asked McSweeny's if John could sign stock in an independent bookstore that wasn't on the tour. Wally at Rediscovered Books had heard John Sayles might come by to sign, but I don't think she thought it would really happen.