RN: Hey peoples! We’ve been on the road for 60 days and today we turned the corner and started heading east! I can’t believe it’s been so long since we drove out of our driveway in Falmouth. We’ll be home soon!

FE: More than a month ago we drove west through the Columbia River Gorge on I-84 on the Oregon side of the river. Today, after more than 8,000 total miles traveled, we are on our first return leg east, driving through the Gorge on the Washington side. WA14 is a much smaller road, winding closely up and down through the enormous lava flows.

There is quite a bit of smoke in the air, it is wildfire season after all, and WA14 is closed further east because of a large fire.

I-84 on the Oregon side takes a swing into the river. This is close to where Lewis and Clark had to portage around Celilo Falls, an important tribal fishing site. Today the falls are submerged, due to the downstream dam(n) at the Dalles that was constructed in 1957.

RN: On our way east, we visit a full size reconstruction of Stonehenge in Maryhill WA that was built from 1918-1929 as a memorial to the soldiers of Klickitat County who died in World War I. At the time, it was thought that Stonehenge was a sacrificial site so it was constructed to remind others that humanity is still being sacrificed to the God of War (seen on the plaque at the site).

It’s a solemn place with plaques that have the names and birth/death dates of the soldiers that died. They were all young- in their twenties and many died just before the war ended.

PEACE!!

We arrive in Walla Walla (Walla²), go wine tasting at Woodward Canyon Winery, and wander around downtown before dinner. It’s a really artsy community with murals, elegant buildings and statues all over town, and, of course, lots of wine bars…

At the Saffron Mediterranean Restaurant, we enjoy great food, make friends with our waiter Ross, and hand him one of our Nishistein Roadtrip cards (along with a generous tip). Thanks for great service, Ross!!!