We left Idaho and went throught Spokane.  We were both surprised at how flat southeast Washington is.  It is more like desert or prairie than what we expected.  We are now in Pasco on the Columbia River just north of the Oregon border.   We will spend two nights here so we hope to have more pictures.  We can see the Cascades off in the distance although not very clearly because while it is sunny and bright (93 today, 100 tomorrow) the visibility is hazy, probably due to dust in the air.  The Yakima and Snake Rivers join the Columbia here and it is where Lewis and Clark first sighted Mount  Hood.  Maybe we will be able to see it tomorrow.