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.

Geocaching Segment on KATU, Portland, Oregon

http://www.katu.com/amnw/segments/100784559.html

How many caching errors can you spot?

Rod Blagojevich - No Smoking Gun

CHICAGO — They were close. After three weeks of respectful but increasingly tense deliberations, 11 jurors were ready to convict Rod Blagojevich of what prosecutors called a "political corruption crime spree."

Not close enough. On vote after vote, the jury kept coming up one juror short — a lone holdout who wouldn't budge and would agree only that Blagojevich lied to the FBI. "The person just did not see the evidence that everyone else did," said a juror.

My thoughts: Rod Blagojevich does have a big, foul mouth. But if you could be convicted for talking too much and using profane language, threatening to kill someone or their barking dogs, etc. we would all be convicted and sent to prison.

There was no money involved. He did not actually do what he talked about doing. It is only talk.

And now the government is going to spend thousands of dollars of taxpayer money for another trial -- both for prosection and for the defense. Now there is money involved but it is our money!!

Richland's Geocoin Challenge, August 6 - 8, 2010

Christopher and I left Portland, Oregon around 2:00PM on Friday, August 6th. We stopped at a grocery store and got gas in the car. We traveled I-84 eastbound to Kennewick finding four caches along the way and did not find two caches. Christopher got something in his right eye at one of the cache sites from a tree limb which was quite painful. We stopped at a laundry in Irrigon, Oregon so he could wash it out. We stayed two nights in a suite (with two full bathrooms!) at the Quality Inn in Kennewick. We ate dinner nearby at Shari’s.

After breakfast at the Quality Inn, we arrived at John Dam Plaza about 8:30AM for Richland’s Geocoin Challenge -- Celebrating Richland's 100 Year Anniversary. The challenge consisted of a series of nine historical caches. Participants had to find eight of the nine caches to receive a free Richland Geocoin. They printed a total of 250 geocoins.

It was really hot. I do not do well in hot weather. I wore my Tilly hat which helped. We found nine caches but forgot to get the code word for Island Vue Drive In. We went back after getting our coin. I walked out in the sagebrush field using the GPSr to get the code word.

We went back to the suite for a couple hours during the heat of the day. Christopher took a nap in the bedroom while I watched a program about Laura and Whitney mistaken identity on the living room television. We found eight more caches and one earthcache (did not claim a find but just wrote a note). We ate a late dinner at Denny’s.

After breakfast at the Quality Inn, I packed up the car. It was easy this time. Instead of making numerous trips, I used the luggage cart. We found 13 caches in the Richland/Kennewick area and on Hwy 14 on the way home. We did not find Roosevelt Grade Overlook. It was much too dangerous for Christopher to be crawling around on the cliff. The view was breathtaking though.

We crossed over to Oregon at Biggs. We stopped at McDonalds in Hood River for ice cream. I was really exhausted. It was hard to stay awake. We took a break at Multnomah Falls. I took Christopher home with me so he could check the Internet. We unloaded the car. I took Christopher home about 9:00PM. It was good to be back to cool weather!