Sat, May 21, 2011

Saturday, May 21, 2011

I now have the typical road trip tan… the back of my right hand. – Donna Downey

We always tend to linger on the coast as long as we can and then it necessitates some longer driving days to begin our trek back toward Mississippi.  This would be one of those days.  The forecast was for rain and we did get in a little rain throughout the day but it was what we call a drizzle and actually very pleasant. 

It was a day of massive landscapes.  As you leave the forests of southwest Oregon you enter the high plains.  There are not a lot of different routes across Oregon and most follow a river so it was another day of beautiful water views as we drove.  With snows running almost 200% above average and several weeks of warm weather and more rain than usual all of the creeks and rivers are running full or more. 

We had planned to take the Elkhorn Scenic Byway thru the mountains west of Hells Canyon but at a fuel stop in Sumpter, Oregon we were informed they were not sure when that road would open due to the record snows.  So we took a little extra time in the historic small town before picking another route.  Two really interesting sites here were the Gold Mining Dredge and a small seesaw two opposite ends of the size spectrum for sure. 

The Dredge was used to mine for Gold in the Powder River and could eat up about 60 acres a year picking up material from the river, sifting out the gold and spitting out the bulk behind as it inched along.  It leaves behinds mounds and mounds of rock and of course in these times would not be allowed.

The seesaw was a real treat.  It was sitting outside a small local museum.  It is a “revolving” see saw made completely out of metal.  Even more interesting was the maker, which was the Freeman Company.  Of course, I got a real kick out of that because it is my mother’s family name. 

The most massive and expansive views came via the drive from Baker City to Hells Canyon.  Large, mostly treeless mountains interspersed among huge long valleys.  Lots of scenic old barns and ranches along the way, it was a nice ending to our long day of driving.  The sun even popped out several times and gave us some incredible vistas to enjoy. 

We arrived at our destination of McCall, Idaho just about dark and have found a nice room and are settled in for the night.  We are well tonight and hope that y’all are too.

Peace, Hope & Love,

Donna, Charles, Paris & Dodger