Thirteen - Idaho, Oregon, Washington

Locks and Bolts - Greens and Golds

I woke up in Twin Falls, Idaho with a weather forecast of upper 90's and smokey skies.  I decided to hit the road quickly before any chance of getting caught in the fires near Sun Valley decided to move themselves West.  Being from the New York originally, I can't say I had ever experienced the effects of a devastating forest fire.  This was certainly eye-opening, and I wasn't even in the worst part.

Boise, Idaho is about 2 hours West of Twin Falls, and is a nice, youthful city.  Not to mention, that's where the amazing Old Idaho State Penitentiary from 1870 is.  My first impression was - well, at least the prisoners were situated within beautiful mountains in a state known for it's sunshine.  How bad could it be?

Then you step inside the stone walls.

The Women's Ward is the first building you come across, which is in a separate plot from the Men's.  This was constructed by the prisoners from 1905-1906.  Prior to this, the women served their term in the same buildings and grounds as the men.  Now, although the photos and stories of these women prove they were some seriously bad b*tches, the idea of being locked up with the men is unfathomable.

The main grounds, or where the men stayed, is made up of a series of buildings within a large, stone strong hold.  There were roses planted within the grounds, but I find it very hard to believe these prisoners had any flowers to enjoy during their sentences.

I'm a sucker for old buildings and facade's, so I found these structures incredible.

I'm very happy I live on the outside of prison walls, rather than being locked up with people like this,

who were wielding things like this:

Not to mention, you slept in one of these halls with the most model citizens.

Some were seemed to be very good at personalizing their environments.

But what did they do other than sleep and write on the walls?  They got put to work by The Man.  They were in charge of cleaning their linens and personal possessions, as well as cleaning uniforms for soldiers during the wars.

It was incredibly interesting to see the old equipment, seemingly untouched since the prison closed its doors in 1973.

Shadows and sounds began to play tricks on me, making me aware I am afraid of ghosts, so I got the heck out of the beautiful old, but terrifying spaces, and back on the road.

It's $5 to enter and check out - so DEFINITELY do it if you're in Boise.  If you're into hiking/mountain biking, you can do a few trails directly behind the buildings as well.

I pushed West, and found myself in the Historic town of La Grande, Oregon.

It's a cute town off the main highway, at the base of some small mountains, along a very large, and what looks like very busy, set of railroad tracks.

The town is full of very cool, old buildings,

a slew of fully functional, rad older vehicles,

beautiful, artistic murals,

and incredible texture.

Did I mention the cars?

Pressing on to Washington I went through fields of green and gold, mountains of tall pines, then back to fields.  There is something so beautiful about the glow of these endless fields.  They reminded me of a painting by Van Gogh, "Wheat Fields with Crows".

After miles of these rolling flats, you enter wine country.  I decided to pull off in a town called Yakima, Washington, situated along the Yakima river.  Really interesting Historic district.

Since it's located right along the train tracks, it also had a very cool shipping area.  I loved the myriad of products, crates, and objects in the area.  It creates a sort of rhythm I find very inspiring.

These three states definitely took a toll on me and my car, but in the best way.  I will absolutely be coming back to this area and spending more time perusing the landscape, downtown, as well as the wine!