Road Trippin' The USA: Eight Weeks Across America, Part 3

In my quest to discover America, I left Seattle and headed east. On my way, I discovered one of those roadside oddities that I get such pleasure from. In Zilah, Washington I found myself driving past an unusually shaped building. It was a red and white "teapot" shaped gas station, so I stopped to check it out, of course. I went in to the station and chatted with the man who was running the place. He explained that the building was built by the original owner, a Mr. Ainsworth, as a political statment. At the time, the infamous "Teapot Dome" oil scandal was being investigated. The man I spoke to explained that since I was unfamiliar with said scandal, my teachers had obviously done a poor job of teaching me American History. Luckily for me, he provided me with a short history lesson that day. At the time of my visit, the gas station was still working and I've heard it may have been one of the oldest gas stations still in operation! However, my understanding is that it has since closed for business. If you're traveling along I-82 in Washington, DON'T MISS IT at least stopping for a  picture! It's a funny little building and it will be unfortunate if a piece of historic architecture like this ends up neglected.

I continued on, with an overnight stop in Kennewick to visit my Aunt and Uncle. They were kind enough to take me out for the evening with dinner, beer tasting and a comfy bed and good company for the night. This was when I was introduced to the fantastic Henry Weinhard's Blackberry Wheat beer. Blackberry Wheat beer is what I refer to as a "chick beer". Chick beer is beer, but it has the sweetness from fruit that make it palatable to those who dont usually enjoy the bitter beer taste.

The next day, six pack of Blackberry Wheat in tow, I headed back out on the blue lanes... back through the northeastern corner of Oregon. It seemed like I never had enough time to see and do everything I would have liked to do.  Since I couldn't squeeze in a tour of the Pendleton Historic Red Light District while driving through Pendleton, I visited the Umatilla County Historic Museum instead. It was sort of a mish-mash of th local history, but I always enjoy getting historical info on the small towns I pass through.

Back on the highway, I stopped for lunch at the Main Event in Baker City, Oregon.  Baker City is one of those historic towns along the Oregon Trail and its quite cute, but I didn't have a lot of time for exploring before heading to Idaho. 

Once in Idaho, I made a quick stop to take a hike around Hell's Half Acre Lava Trail. It was good to get a little exercise, after a long day on the road. But, besides that little hike, I mostly used Idaho for a motel and a highway. The one thing I really wanted to do while in the state was go to the Idaho Potato Expo, where I knew I would find the world's largest (fake) potato. Well, I saw the potato, but the expo was closed that day and I was sorely disappointed. To show my disappointment, I headed out of that state fast. I'll show them! And, I was off to Yellowstone. But, that's another story.

 ~Read Eight Weeks Across America, Part 1 HERE!

 ~Read Eight Weeks Across America, Part 2 HERE!

Jennifer St.Antoine, Gather Travel Correspondent 

Jennifer's column, Road Trippin' The USA, published every other Friday, beginning February 9th to Gather Essentials: Travel, is a chronicle of her experiences traveling the Roads of America.  In addition to regular installments of Jennifer's eight week adventure across the country, Road Trippin' The USA will occasionally include her other experiences on America's roads, including recommendations and warning for places to see, stay and eat.

You can find all of Jennifer's Road Trippin' the USA articles at www.gather.com/roadtrippintheusa

You can keep up with all of Jennifer's articles and her other Gather activity by joining her Gather network. Just click here: ladyjadegd.gather.com and select the orange JOIN button on the left side of the page. 

You can find Jennifer and other Travel Enthusiasts at travel.gather.com