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Notes from the trip:

WED July 14. Camping in eastern Washington on the Columbia River, after it turns north to leave the gorge. Quite a nice state campground, spacious sites, lots of shade. Must be 100 or close, my kind of weather. Probably take a dip in the river soon.

Driving across the vast spaces of the west, what music other than country evokes the landscape and mood of the land. Of course, it's almost all you can pick up on the radio. Yet there usually is a public radio station coming in, giving you the choice between Mozart and Merle Haggard -- and the latter wins out every time. The landscape suggests the same forlorn emotions as the music while at the same time making promises, things will be better now, no matter how bad you've screwed up, hit the Oregon Trail, kiss the past goodbye, and one always can start over in the west. If the west is not as vast as it once was, there is still the sensation of endless open spaces, enough to hide away in, to begin anew without baggage, without history. The myth of the west is the myth of the geographic fix.

Tomorrow we'll do some local site-seeing before heading east and south to Lewiston. There's a petrified forest up the way that we've never seen. Nothing on the agenda tomorrow except checking into our motel, then driving 40 miles to Orofino to see Esther, Dick's mom. Take her to dinner if she's up to it.

We have two tents, the small quick up and down just to sleep in tent, and a large live in tent, and we brought only the former this trip. This is our only night camping unless we decide to take two days coming back. We've reserved 3 nights in the Lewiston motel, which is about halfway between Moscow and Orofino, the two towns where we'll be visiting. We decided to get though it means more driving.

Surprisingly quiet here. I expect more kids swimming. Quiet is good.

Reading a short bio of Galileo, very nicely done. Food for thought for a future project.

8PM. Peaceful and quiet, after a spurt of noise from late arrivals with kids swimming down the way. If I go for a swim, it will be at 6 or 7 tomorrow morning ... we'll see.

The cliffs across the river red-brown in the setting sun. The river very still. Never saw more than a few boats on it at a time -- 3 or 4 at most -- so this is one place to put in where you get a sense of "owning" the Columbia. Mid week contributes to this, I'm sure.
Only work I brought al kind of laptop, several years without a battery worry.

Going to take back roads instead of the Interstate tomorrow, heading east and south to Lewiston. Only 3 or 4 hrs away, even the back way.

THUR, I can't believe it! H is up and about, shortly after 6. We may get out of here before 7. I love to cruise, take our time driving, leaving early. H tends to leave later and drive like a bat out of hell. Maybe we'll do it my way for a change ha ha.

Time to enjoy the first cup of coffee at camp ...

EVE. 101 as we rolled into Lewiston today. A great day of exploring! Getting an early start, not pressured to make time, we drove back roads, including farming roads. Discovered Palouse Falls, very nice. Endless farmland. "The farmer is the man who feeds us all," says the old folk song but we're a long way from Jefferson's vision of a nation of family farmers. May have lost out as a result.

Everything greener than what we're used to since this trip usually is made 6 weeks or so later. Drove into Orofino to visit Dick's mom, more frail than last year at 85 but all her faculties very sharp. Very humorous about how angry she was that her rest home flew the flag for Reagan at half staff for an entire month! This is the former chairwoman of the Clearwater County Democratic Council.

In the motel, a view of the river, air conditioning. A long hot drive to White Bird tomorrow as H boats up the Snake River.

FRIDAY. Back from the pilgrimage to my best buddy's resting place. The drive to Grangeville and down to White Bird brought back many memories of the several "running drunks" Dick and I went on in this area of Idaho. I recall one morning in Grangeville, waiting for Dick to finish some business, I was sitting at the bar in a tavern when an old-timer in bib overalls came in. The bartender had a short pitcher of beer and tomato juice waiting for him, which the guy lifted without using a glass and after a long swig, let loose of an extraordinary belch. Then he left the pitcher on the bar and walked past me toward the men's room, mumbling to himself about taking his morning constitutional.

Another time, at a bar in Riggins south of White Bird, we listened to a country duo called Rusty & Dusty. My wife at the time, a folksinger like myself, who dabbled in some country, was with us, and after the duo finished their gig we had a jam session on Main Street that grew a crowd until the local cop moved us on.

On the way back, drove through most of the small towns along the way, leaving the main road, towns with a few hundred residents, Cottonwood and Fenn and others. Hanging out in the motel now, but later will take the dog for a walk downtown, maybe get a coffee. Downtown Lewiston is quite nice, full of shade trees and sidewalk tables. Don't pick H up from her boat trip till 5, so have some time to kill.

Was good to visit Dick's resting place. I would be a very different person if he had not entered my life when I was a young man.

Later, Friday. Rerun of last Sunday's The 4400 is on. Love the premise of this scifi story, which hooked me last week. Hope it doesn't disappoint me in the episodes left. I don't watch much scifi any more but this one works for me. (So does ET, Close Encounters, but not Star Wars ... not into the futuristic wars, I suppose).

Sketch really conked out. Maybe I shouldn't wake him for a walk in 103 heat outside.

SATURDAY. Today is our mellow day, relatively speaking, hanging around Lewiston this morning, walking Main St, stopping for coffee, later driving to Moscow for an afternoon-evening BBQ at the home of Dick's son, Brad, and the other son will be there as well as the ex-wife (the mother of the sons), whom I've known for over 40 years. Thurs I was talking with Dick's mom about how different his life might have been except for a summer in the late 60s. Dick had a full fellowship to grad school at the U of Idaho, planning to study Poly Sci, focusing on China since one the country's top Chinese scholars was there and his mentor. But that summer he discovered his wife was having an affair with a good friend. She took the kids and fled to So Cal ... and before the summer was over, Dick had given up his fellowship to pursue them. He kept the marriage together for the sake of the kids, gave up grad school, ended up making his living thereafter in real estate. As soon as the kids were grown, the marriage ended anyway. But what would his life have been like had he become a professor, a Chinese scholar? Well, who knows. Pointless question, I suppose.

Overcast, news talk of possible thunderstorm, which would be great. I love them. Two things I miss from my short stay in the east, great thunderstorms and lightning bugs. Not much else. I'm definitely a west coast person. It felt like everyone in the east was on speed.

H had a great time yesterday on the boat trip but it doesn't sound like something I would have enjoyed, a noisy jet boat, speed ... I'm the mellow float on a raft type. I especially hate noise on a river.

Actually I'm ready to get home and back in my work rhythm. White Bird was the main reason for this trip. Yes, it will be nice to see Dick's sons but it will be nice to get home and back to work, too.

SUNDAY. To Moscow yesterday, which is a drive up the Lewiston grade to a plateau of rolling Palouse country, green and golden fields from horizon to horizon, farming as holy work. If Lewiston is dry and arid, blue collar in feel, Moscow is a small college town, the university at the heart of the community. It was good to spend hours with three people I've known for over 40 years. Brad and Kass both are in danger of embracing their father's demons, and usually K is the one most visibly wrestling with them but he looked great yesterday and it was B I'm a little worried about. B is living the musician's life, with all its mine fields. He's beginning to look like one living the night life.

As soon as H is up and ready, we're out of here, heading home. I'm ready. A good trip but it's time to get home.