Leaving Wenatuchee National Forest. Gas next right. Easton Sparks Road —> Ramp closed. Mountain ahead.
Oil tanker: Milky Way.
Iron Horse State Park Next Right. Yakima River.
90 East. Cle Elum, Ellensberg 28 miles. West Nelson Siding Road.
Speed Limit 70
Trucks 60.
Evergreen shadows stretching across highway. Tractor trailer. Tractor trailer.
Opposite lane: RV.
Weigh station 2 miles. Exit 78. Gold Course Road. Tired? Service 5 miles ahead. Salmon la Sac. Crow, wings outstretched, gliding over highway. Diamond-shaped yellow sign with rearing buck in black silhouette.
Tractor trailer: Sam's Club.
Rest area: Pepsi Warriors Quick Stop Pepsi.
Indian John Hill Elevation 2141. Elk Heights Road. Driver thumbing furiously on screen of handheld device at 75 mph. Windmill farm. Miles of wire fencing along roadside uphill and downhill protecting empty fields. Anderson Hay Elevators. Historic Thorp Mill next right. Exit 101. Spokane 179. 2:06pm. Downtown Ellensberg next 2 miles. Museum.
Two dozen cows standing in a field as closely groomed as a putting green. Wild Goose Casino. Dairy Queen. Yakima 38 miles. Long Quonset huts stuffed with hay. Right lane must exit. Viewpoint next right. Exit 11 Military Area. Tractor trailer: The Arizona Bomber—Dropping Loads Everywhere.
Field roast bahn mi sandwich in plastic wrapper. One way sign against backdrop of canyon, mountains, endless sky. Wind in cellophane, wind in hair, hair in mouth. Dry sage. Yellow spiny flowers.
Mount Ranier ahead. Caution Severe Side Wind.
Selah 1 mile.
Yakima Trading Center. Fruit. Antiques. Rest Haven Road. Exit 31A. Naches. Yakima Next 4 Exits. Nob Hill Blvd.
Fly in car, lands on dashboard, open window, smack with sketchbook, wind-buffeting sound, fly vanishes. Signs: Volvo, Trailers. Merry Maids. Complete Suite Furniture. Freightliner. Outback Steakhouse. Shopko. Super 8.
East 82.
Speed Limit 60.
Exit 37.
Toppato. Zillah 13 Miles.
Tourst Activities Next Right.
Exit 40.
Thorp Road.
Parker Road.
Exit 44.
Wapato 1 Mile.
Emergency Parking Only. Zillah 7 miles. Richland 63. Exit 50. Toppenish. Yakima Nation Cultural Center. Murals Museum.
Food next right.
Golden Arches.
Division Road 1 mile. Fields watered by enormous self-propelled sprinklers moving at an imperceptible pace. Corn fields. Fly again, or another fly, landing in sunlight on dashboard, rubs front feet together, hold breath, raise sketchbook, bam, fly flips over, lands on back, bam, wet snotty smear on sketchbook cover wipe with napkin (sorry, brother fly). Cherries big and ripe. Exit 63.
Cows standing in groups under tree, singly, in twos and threes in field. Sunnyside. Mabton. Exit 67. City Center next right. 3:58pm. Lava Rock Nursery. Leaning barn of rotting wood held up against gravity as if by magic. Grandview 4 miles. Prosser 12. Think of the past, briefly, then think no point thinking of the past. Huge boat clearance. Entering Grandview. Stover Road.
The Inn at Horse Heaven. Cows standing, cows lying down. Port of Benton next right. Yakima River. Mabton Paterson —>
Two-story white clapboard house with black shutters standing alone on small hill in shade of large tree.
Paths cut in dirt by off-road vehicles.
Freight train winding it's way slowly through valley of yellow grass. Gibbon Fruit. American flag on top of very tall flagpole dwarfed by surrounding mountains. Yakitat Road. Tractor trailers: Walmart, Swift, Budget.
Exit 96.
Benton City. Umatilla 37 miles. Conoco. Kennewick Exits. Badger Road. Livestock trailer, a dark shoulder of something visible between slats. Pendleton 73 miles. Tractor trailer: Covenant Transport. Kick off sneakers, wiggle toes, rotate ankles.
Miles and miles of telephone poles wiring nothing to nothing in sight. Exit 122. Coffin Road. McNary Locks. MaNary Dam. Oregon Welcome Center. Use exit 1. 4:52pm. 62 Megamillions 171 Powerball. Ford Altima 482-FOG. Umatilla River. Two hitchhikers sitting on their belongings on shoulder of road. Entering Umatilla Army Depot. 84 West Portland. 84 East Pendleton. Right lane Lake Grande Ontario.
White horse standing in yellow field.
Wildhorse Resort & Casino.
Hermiston 9 miles. Sheep, heads down, cropping grass. Ontario 193 miles. Why is Dick Cheney still alive and Angela Carter not? Same re: Donald Rumsfeld, Henry Kissinger, Paul Wolfowitz. Why not Raymond Carver instead? Must remember: William Gass, 90, is still alive. Philip Roth, Alice Munro. This is something to be thankful for. Not only the good die young. Exit 193. Echo Road.
Pendleton 17 miles. Why didn't he, she, they, them, love me. Why did I believe the lies they told me or convince myself I did. Why did I stay so long try so hard, no point in thinking of all that. Big solitary house on crest of hill against backdrop of darkening clouds as sun angles down.
Lorenzen Road.
McClintock Road.
Adopt a Highway Program.
Exit 199.
Central Refrigerated Service. Emergency Parking Only. Slower Traffic Keep Right. Intrepid, red, Idaho plates 35—too many numbers to remember before we pass—three passengers, passed and never to be seen again. Pendleton Airport. Stage Gulch. Exit 202.
Woodpecker Truck.
5.22pm.
Ford Windstar, forest green, Washington plates, 468-WWW. Pendleton next 3 exits.
Pendleton Round Up and Happy Canyon Hall of Fame. Billboard: Advertise Here 1-800-221-4114. Pilot Rock Ukiah keep right. Oxford Suites. Denny's. Burger King. Wendy's. Subway. Starbucks. Sinclair. Right Lane Must Turn Right. Quiznos Subs. SW Court Ave. Taco Bell. Walmart. Jack-in-the-box breakfast served all day. Econolodge. 5.40pm.
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