Road Trip - Yakima 08-20-2013

We left Bend, OR in the morning; we drove on Highway 97, Highway 239, and finally Highway 218 to Clarno Unit John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.  On Highway 239, we saw a deer family about 7~8 deer on the roadside.  We stopped and took some pictures of them.

The Clarno Unit John Day Fossil was formed 44 million years ago by a series of volcanic mudflows, swept up and preserved a diverse assortment of plants and animals that inhabited a near-tropical forest.

After visited Clarno Unit, we continued on Highway 97.  It was a hot and long drive. My friend and I were getting really tired on the road.  Suddenly, we saw something really interesting … wind turbines.  Unknown to us, most of the wind power projects are in rural Eastern Oregon and near the Columbia River Gorge. We took a road next to Highway 97 and went in the wind farm.  It is a very interesting and very “powerful” site.

We stopped at Biggs for lunch. Biggs is the city where before we were crossing the Columbia River and leaving Oregon.

We reached Yakima around 3:30 pm.  After we checked in the hotel, we first stopped at Yakima Valley Visitor Center to get some information.  Then, we went to the fruit farms and wanted to pick peaches.  Unfortunately, most peaches have been picked already.  So, we just “U-Pick” peaches from fruit stands.  The peaches were so big and sweet!  Yum! 

Oh, I forgot to mention, we saw a dog in a fruit farm and her name is "Peach".  Nice dog! 

Tomorrow, we will visit a winery before we are heading to Leavenworth.  It will be a nice day!