It will begin changing soon. Matter of fact it has already. Moving into the upper desert plains of the Pasco area. Less rain fall here, less green. The trees begin to give way to the light tan earth underneath. Mountains now becoming less pronounced. Lower, more hills now than mountains. Smoother tops, no sharp cliffs or rock outcroppings. Soon the trees will give way completely. Leaving bare ground and nothing more. Civilization is here. The land has been carved to support man. Houses, lumber mills, shipping docks. Wider more open area brings up the winds. Nothing to slow them. They push the water into angry, white capped waves. Sky becoming one mass of gray cloud. We have left the gorge. Beauty has gave way to the rugged, bare hills of central Washington State.
As we make our way east the land gives way to vast open fields of apple trees. The river is now bordered by sheer cliffs. Very flat on top of these cliffs. Maybe a ¾ mile drop to the river. It_s almost as the river has carved out it_s own deep path through the land here. On the Oregon side the cliffs almost meet the river. Leaving just enough room for the highway to pass. On the Washington side, where we are now, the cliffs are farther back, away from the rivers edge by maybe a mile or so. Leaving room for the apple orchards. No trees now except those planted by man. The hills take on a naked look. A few scrub bushes and nothing more. Such a drastic change from just a few miles back. The wind comes out of the west. The river flows from the east. It_s almost like the wind is trying to push the water back up stream with no success. We will follow this river up to our station stop of Pasco Washington. That will be around 9pm this evening. From there we will head northeast leaving the river behind, on our way to Spokane Washington, where we will join up with the Seattle section of our train. Merge the two trains and continue on as one train to our finial destination of Chicago, 2 days from now.
JJF