Time to hit the road.

Saturday is the first day of our trip. My daughter and I are up and out of the house at a decent time and anxious to get on the road. Our trailer is now decorated with our logos and it looks really good. The trailer is full of our smokers, cooking equipment, canopies and my paraglider and paramotor.

We are excited and ready to take on the world. By the time we hit the border we slow right down to a long two hour crawl across the line. Patience is needed to keep the frustration in check but eventually we do get across and on our way. I stopped at my trailer in Birch Bay to get some tools should we have a problem on the highway and I grab a spare propeller in case I break one on the trip. As we travel through Washington the weather is hot and windy and by the time we reach inland Washington it is very dry. Around Ellensburg we start to see a lot of black smoke in the sky. Within minutes after that, a police siren alerts us to the cruiser approaching us from behind. Not much farther ahead as we pass through Yakima, there is a very large fire roaring right next to the highway in a lumber yard. The heat coming off of the fire is so intense I am sure you could have roasted a pork shoulder right on the side of the road. I was actually concerned about the new logos on the one side of the trailer melting.

We stop and spend our first night in Pendleton Oregon. Sunday we get a decent start and make our way from Oregon to Twin Falls Idaho where we have lunch and a walk along the Snake River Bridge. This bridge is well known in the B.A.S.E. jumping community as it is a frequently used platform. The canyon is like an oasis in a dry and barren part of the state. Lush with greenery at the bottom of the gorge it is a favourite place for photographers to stop and capture the imagery.

From here we travel along the interstate to Salt Lake City Utah. Once in Salt Lake we hit a Wal-Mart to pick up groceries before heading downtown to see the famous Mormon Tabernacle Temple. It is a beautiful building that reminds me of the architecture of Europe. I wasn’t sure if it was polite to take pictures or not but as we walk around it, there are other tourists taking photos and it seems to be fine. In fact the gates to the grounds were even opened up for tourists to walk through. It is a very beautiful place indeed.

Tomorrow we will make our way to Denver Colorado.