Backroads of Oregon - Day 8

On Saturday, September 4, my son, Christopher, daughter, Catherine and I had a complimentary continental breakfast. We traveled back to Crescent Lake, back to Oakridge, crossed the river at Lowell, through Fall Creek, Springfield, Marcola, Crawfordsville to I-5 and home to Vancouver/Portland. We stopped at Oakridge Ray’s for sandwich and bottle water. We ate lunch at a picnic table near the red Office Covered Bridge.

The highlight of the day was visiting the various Covered Bridges: Lowell, Office, Unity – Fall Creek, Pengra, Wendling, Ernest (this bridge appeared in the movie Shenandoah starring Jimmy Stewart that was filmed in the Mohawk Valley during the mid-1960s. The movie company altered the bridge to reflect Civil War architecture, and then restored it back to the original condition in 1965), and Crawfordsville Covered Bridge. We found 13 caches (Catherine found three additional caches and Christopher found two additional caches) and 2 benchmarks. All together we found 152 geocaches and benchmarks during our eight day trip.

I took Catherine to her home in east Vancouver, stopped by my house to get Christopher’s cat where he had been staying, drove Christopher to his apartment in northwest Portland and then got back to my house very late at night. It was good to sleep in my own bed once again!

Backroads of Oregon - Day 7

On Friday, September 3, my son, Christopher, daughter, Catherine and I traveled from Lakeview to Valley Falls, Paisley, Summer Lake, La Pine, Crater Lake, Chemult, Crescent Lake and Oakridge. I got bananas and Greek Yogurt for breakfast. We ate lunch at Taco Bell in La Pine. We drove around Crater Lake clockwise stopping briefly at the Lodge as the sun was setting. We got sandwiches for dinner at Odell Sportsman Center in Crescent Lake. Christopher tried to find the nearby cache but it was just too dark. We stayed the night in Room 217-A at the Best Western Oakridge Inn at 47433 Hwy 58.

The highlights of the day were the Memorial Gravemarker at Silver Lake Cemetery; Fort Rock; and the drive around the Crater Lake rim stopping at the Viewpoints including Crater Lake Lodge. We found 16 caches and 2 benchmarks

Backroads of Oregon - Day 6

On Thursday, September 2nd, my son, Christopher, daughter, Catherine and I traveled from Hines/Burns to Frenchglen, Fields, Adel and Lakeview. We had breakfast at Apple Peddler #7. Once again the food was good but the service was terrible! We stopped at the Safeway in Burns to purchase sandwiches, BBQ chips, and Devils Food Cookies. We ate the picnic lunch at the grounds of the historic Frenchglen Hotel. We had ice cream at The Narrows in Princeton located 26 miles south of Burns on Highway 205 at 6:59 PM. We stayed the night in Room 138 at the Budget Inn on 411 North F Street.

The highlights of the day were a visit to the Wild Horses just west of Hines; a stop in Frenchglen for a picnic lunch; and crossing into Idaho and Nevada briefly. Christopher found part of a dead rattlesnake at Denio Junction. We found 7 caches and 1 benchmark.

Backroads of Oregon - Day 5

On Wednesday, September 1st, my son, Christopher, daughter, Catherine and I had a continental breakfast at the Inn. We traveled south from Ontario to Nyssa, Adrian, Jordan Valley, Burns Junction, Voltage, Burns and Hines (Hwy 201//95 (Idaho)/turned west at Jordan Valley on Hwy 95; then NW on Hwy 78 (Steens Hwy). We got lunchboxes at Albertsons.

We had a picnic lunch in a park in Jordan Valley. It was really windy. We had ice cream at The Narrows in Princeton. We stayed in Room 206 at the Best Western Inn at 534 Hwy 20 North in Hines. We ate a late dinner at Apple Peddler #7 in Hines, Oregon. While the food was good, the service was terrible!

The highlights of the day were seeing the Pillars of Rome – tall, chalk-colored cliffs above a dry tributary of the Owyhee (they stand 100 feet high and measure about five miles long and two miles wide); Jean Baptiste Charbonneau’s (1805 – 1866) grave at Inskip Station near Danner and the Machine that Won the West in really good condition. We found 11 caches and 4 benchmarks.

Backroads of Oregon - Day 4

On Tuesday, August 31, my son, Christopher, daughter, Catherine and I had breakfast at BW. We traveled from Enterprise to La Grande, Baker City, Sumpter, Huntington, Weiser, Payette and Ontario.

As we left the BW I took several photos of the nearby gutted US Forest Service Building. Fire engulfed the US Forest Service Building located at 88401 HWY 82 in Enterprise, Oregon late afternoon on Sunday July 11, 2010. The investigation has identified the probable cause of the fire to have been spontaneous ignition of materials (cloths) used in the application of sealant to the exterior of the building. We purchased sandwiches at Albertson’s in Baker City for lunch. We had lunch at a picnic area at Phillips Lake. We had delicious ice cream in Sumpter at the Scoop-N-Steamer Full-Service Restaurant. We stayed in Room 215 at the Sleep Inn at 1221 S.E. 1st Avenue in Ontario. We ate dinner at Denny’s.

The highlights of the day were delicious ice cream at The Scoop N Steamer Station in Sumpter; the Chinese Cemetery in Baker City; the Oregon Trail Wagon Ruts at Birch Creek (The area was first named "Riviere aux Bouleaux" (River with the Birches) by French-Canadian fur trappers however emigrants found Willows and not Birch trees); and seeing the Snake River. The Snake is a major river in the greater Pacific Northwest region. It is the largest and longest tributary of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. We found 11 caches and 1 benchmark.

Backroads of Oregon - Day 3

On Monday, August 30, my son, Christopher, daughter, Catherine and I had a full breakfast at the BW. We traveled from Pendleton to La Grande, Elgin, Wallowa, Enterprise, Joseph and Imnaha. The Mt. Loop Road (Hwy 39/86) was closed until fall or later as the road was washed out in five places so back to Enterprise.

We purchased sandwiches for a picnic lunch at Albertsons in Pendleton. We ate our lunch at a picnic area along the Wallowa River located at the end of a very long, narrow gravel road. We stopped at The Blue Banana at 143 Hwy 82 in Lostine where Catherine got a coffee drink. We backtracked to Enterprise where we stayed the night in Room 204-A at the Best Western, 1200 Highland Avenue. We got a large pizza at Family Bake Pizza in Enterprise about 7:30 PM.

The highlights of the day were seeing the exterior of the famous Opera House at Elgin; exploring the exterior and interior of the Blue Banana Espresso at Lostine; and seeing the Brennan gravestone and learning about Walter Brennan’s ranch in Joseph. We found 14 caches and 5 benchmarks.

Backroads of Oregon - Day 2

On Sunday, August 29, my son, Christopher, daughter, Catherine and I had breakfast at the Sleep Inn. We traveled from Redmond to Bend, Prineville, Spray, Heppner, Pilot Rock and Pendleton. We drove to the top of Pilot Butte in Bend to do a Virtual and photograph the benchmark. From Prineville, Oregon we took Hwy 26 east about 60 miles and then north about 7 miles to the bold yellow and red striped Painted Hills. We ate our picnic lunch in Mitchell at a park with a really tall children’s slide.

After our picnic lunch we visited Sheep Rock Unit where Christopher left both GPSr in the Men’s Restroom. We discovered they were missing an hour later when we were a couple miles north of the Visitor Center. We were able to retrieve them from a young man that found them. I was really worried that we would run out of gas before we got to Pendleton as we traveled through the dark, deserted hills. We had dinner at Shari’s Restaurant in Pendleton about 9:00 PM. We stayed the night in Room 202 at the Best Western, 400 SE Nye Avenue in Pendleton.

The highlights of the day were the Scenic Viewpoint at Pilot Butte, a 511-ft-high cinder cone; viewing the Painted Hills; and visiting the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center at Sheep Rock Unit (John Day Fossil Beds). We found 9 caches and 6 benchmarks.

Backroads of Oregon - Day 1

On Saturday, August 28, 2010 my son, Christopher, daughter, Catherine and I traveled from Vancouver, WA through Sandy, Zigzag, Maupin, Madras, and Terrebonne to Redmond on Hwy 26 and Hwy 97. We stopped at Joe’s Donuts in Sandy, Oregon for donuts about 10:00 AM. We stopped at Safeway in Madras to purchase sandwiches and BBQ chips. We had a picnic lunch in the park at Madras. We had dinner at Shari’s Restaurant in South Redmond about 9:00 PM. We stayed the night in Room 308 at Sleep Inn, 1847 N. Hwy 97 in Redmond.

The highlights of the day were getting fresh donuts at Joe’s Donuts in Sandy; visiting Timberline Lodge at the 6,000 ft. level of the 11,235 ft. Mt. Hood to see the photos of the 1951 movie “Bend in the River” starring Jimmy Stewart and Julie Adams; and visiting Ogden Scenic Wayside Park to see the three bridges that cross the Crooked River Gorge. We found 12 caches and 3 benchmarks.