That doesn't mean the restaurants here will be open at breakfast time! My favorite opens at 10AM, so maybe.

Then brunch it will be!

 

Good morning. Time to rise and shine, get some breakfast and hit the road again. Today's destination: Boise, Idaho.

One very striking thing I've noticed on my trek up the Columbia River Gorge is the extent to which volcanism has created the landscape: everywhere I've looked, there's lava-- sometimes hundreds or even thousands of feet thick. Crown Point itself is at the top of a lava flow (or several flows) extending down all the way to the river bed some 700 feet below, according to this paper. The waterfall pictured above was falling over a ≈ 200 foot cliff apparently (because of its uniformity from top to bottom) built by a lava flow from a single volcanic eruption.

NB: I'm an amateur geology nerd who knows almost nothing but is fascinated by almost everything. I wish I knew more, and could have someone explain to me every interesting thing I see the instant I see it. To me, geologists are like cops: there's never one around when you need one.

Time to hit the road!

While it is true that that gorge was partly formed by volcanic activity, the real work was one by enormous floods of ice and water over thousands of years.

 

To me, geologists are like cops: there's never one around when you need one.

Yes, the bad habit of arriving to the scene two to three million years after...

 

Should be doable. It'll be Taco Tuesday, which may not relevant for breakfast.

Tacos are always relevant.

 

While it is true that that gorge was partly formed by volcanic activity, the real work was one by enormous floods of ice and water over thousands of years.

'Tis true. The biggest, I gather, was many thousands of years ago when the ice dam that formed ancient Lake Missoula broke and gazillions of cubic miles of water cascaded down the valley all at once. And then there's glaciers and whatnot...

 

Yes, the bad habit of arriving to the scene two to three million years after...

Or as much as 40 million years too late, according to that paper I linked to above.

 

I usually have a breakfast burrito.
View attachment 178569

That ain't no breakfast burrito.



That is a breakfast burrito!

Believe it or not, it was a restaurant at the Half Moon Bay airport.

And lunch the following day going into Monterrey.

 

Anything with avocado is automatically good! A dollop of sour cream doesn't hurt either.

Ron

 

On the way back from my future Yellowstone trip we are taking the train (Empire Builder) back from Spokane. It leaves at about 3AM so you get to see the Columbia River in the morning light from

I have a similar problem next year. I want to do a tour out of Spokane and want to take the train back home. It leaves around 1AM east bound. So what to you do while waiting for that early morning train? Do you grab a room?

I even considered riding to Whitefish to get a better departure time but the logistics is tricky to get there if I don't want to camp. And I don't want to camp. Also, I understand the traffic into Whitefish can be pretty hazardous. I will likely do a loop out and back to Spokane.



So how are you planning on getting to Spokane from Yellowstone?

 

Anything with avocado is automatically good! A dollop of sour cream doesn't hurt either.

Ron

It was probably the most awesome burrito I ever had state side.

 

That is a breakfast burrito!

Oh, great: now I'm starving. And I can't go out anywhere because of this darned thunderstorm...

 

Oh, great: now I'm starving. And I can't go out anywhere because of this darned thunderstorm...

The classic of when it rains it pours.

Ron

 

So how are you planning on getting to Spokane from Yellowstone?

Rental car with a few days at the local home for degen gamblers..
https://www.northernquest.com/casino/overview

 

It was probably the most awesome burrito I ever had state side.

If you want to beat it, head to Summit-Argo, IL and the El Faro (the beacon?) restaurant for the pork burrito. I've never had another burrito that even comes close, especially when you factor in the price. Steak is another choice and is almost equally awesome, but the pork is seared on one of those gyro spits and shaved off when you order. It's finished on a giant grill table. Your tortilla will likewise be nicely warmed and browned while the burrito is assembled on the grill.

The place is the opposite of fine dining and I can't really recommend being there after dark. Don't expect to get your burrito for carryout - they don't travel well. You need to tear a small hole in the bottom to let the red grease drain out as you eat from the top end. Once you get a good grip with both hands, don't plan to put it down. Just shove your face into it and enjoy. OMG I need one now.

 

Anyhow...

Right now I'm in Boise, Idaho. The trip out from The Dalles was uneventful, but interesting. Again, the geology: lava, lava and more lava; lava EVERYWHERE. Going upriver from The Dalles, it was a gorge for about the first 40 miles, with high basalt cliffs such as these in the next two pics:




These beds of hardened lava flows gradually got thinner and thinner over that distance until finally disappearing about 50 miles east of The Dalles; by 60 miles the gorge had vanished altogether and changed into a wide, flat valley. Once I was 100 miles or so into the drive, the road parted from the Columbia River and passed through open flatland.

Flatland, with nothing but potato fields to see. And alfalfa.

That abruptly changed shortly after Pendleton on entry to the Blue Mountains. This pic was taken from an overlook near Deadman Pass, looking back toward Pendleton and WAY beyond:



I kept seeing volcanic rock throughout the trip, and until I about reached Idaho I didn't see anything BUT volcanic rock. Sometimes it was in the form of flood basalts, sometimes as a layer of loose "clinker" lava (my term for what's properly called "aa" in the native Hawaian tongue), and sometimes alternating between the two. What struck me most is that at no time did I see ANY evidence of sedimentary-type rock, until well into Idaho where I started seeing some outcroppings of shale.

All in all, today's trek didn't offer the spectacular views of yesterday's drive; but it was interesting nonetheless.

Tomorrow I'll visit what has to be a volcano geek's Hog Heaven: Craters of the Moon National Monument. I'll be staying overnight tomorrow in Idaho Falls, which is only about 4 hours/250 miles from here, so I'll have plenty of time to geek out on all the lovely lava.

 

If you want to beat it, head to Summit-Argo, IL and the El Faro (the beacon?) restaurant for the pork burrito. [...] OMG I need one now.

Stop. Please stop. You're torturing me!

 

It sounds like you may be near Spokane WA, Spinnaker.
My wife comes from Quincy. She was an exchange student to Oz quite a few years ago. I kept her

Anyhow, I was going to suggest Obw0549 drop into the Owl Cafe, thinking it was in Spokane, but realized it is Wenatchee....

25 N Wenatchee Ave #102, Wenatchee, WA 98801, USA

We have nothing quite like the REAL sodas they make there here in Australia.

 

Anyhow, I was going to suggest Obw0549 drop into the Owl Cafe, thinking it was in Spokane, but realized it is Wenatchee.... 25 N Wenatchee Ave #102, Wenatchee, WA 98801, USA

418 miles/7 hours from here. 'Fraid not. Maybe next trip!

 

418 miles/7 hours from here. 'Fraid not. Maybe next trip!

And in the opposite direction. The drive through the Cascades to Wenatchee is wonderful As fat as Wenatchee itself? Eh just another town.

 

Eh just another town.

Just another town?

It's the home of the famous 'Wenatchee Witch Hunt'.
https://www.historylink.org/File/7065