May 10: Southwest Road Trip Day 1

The day has finally arrived for us to start our SW Road Trip!

We've been thinking about our next 45 days on the road for weeks and in the last several days have been putting objects aside, laundering and organizing clothes, and making lists of things not to forget. This morning we packed the car, took a quick walk to Homegrown to buy some sandwiches for lunch, and, at 9:15, headed south on 99 to connect to I-90, I-82 and I-84 headed for first night, in Baker City, OR.

Ha! Seattle was not so easy to leave! It took us 30 minutes to drive from the south end of the Battery Street tunnel to exit at the stadiums for the "quick" hop to I-90. Only a 2 miles, but it's all good and we finally got on our way at Interstate speeds. The rest of Western Washington was easy. We ate our sandwiches at a nice picnic table off the Interstate just before the town of Selah, WA (just before crossing the pass into the Yakima Valley.

The weather was good and the vineyards and farmlands were beautiful.  Beautiful was the appropriate word for the high forests of Northeastern Oregon. The forest is not as dense as the western slopes of the Cascades so it is easier to see the varied terrain. This being Spring, the grass carpet under the trees was very green.

These first few days of the trip are primarily to get us to Arizona as quickly as possible, but to still enjoy the road. We decided to try to keep it under 400 miles on any given day so we don't get overly tired. Mission accomplished as we pull into Baker City's Geiser Grand Hotel in time for Happy Hour at the bar.

The Geiser Grand

Opened in 1889, this was the finest hotel between Salt Lake City and Seattle. It had the third elevator installed west of the Mississippi. It fell on hard times, closing in 1968 after accommodating the cast of Paint Your Wagon during filming in the nearby Blue Mountains. Lovingly restored, it reopened in 1993. Our room was on the second floor, with quite a view of those mountains. We dined in the Palm Court, which has an immense stained-glass ceiling.

Blue Mountains

Palm Court from the 2nd Floor

Ceiling Glass of the Palm Court

The soundtrack at dinner included songs from Paint Your Wagon and other westerns. Amy had a salad and steak, I had Bourbon & Honey-glazed chicken. Satisfied, we called it a day, having covered 383 miles. Tomorrow's weather is supposed to be even better as we head into Idaho and on to Utah.