Fri, Oct 15, 2010

Friday, October 15, 2010

The Red Lion here in Eugene, OR has won the best room of the trip so far.  Amble room, tastefully decorated, nice furniture, comfortable bed, large bathroom, good water, and a great desk with rollers on it so we could move me out into the room and I could actually see the TV.  Also, the room was very reasonable and came with a full breakfast which was delicious.  So the day began well. 

Today would be what we call a “travel” day which means we need to cover some miles because we do need to be home before our family no longer recognizes us.  We don’t drive faster or take direct routes necessarily but we don’t take as many side trips and our stops are not nearly as long.  So today, we would spend most of the day riding.

Our route would take us from Eugene, OR to Ontario OR or from the western side to the eastern side of the state.  It would take us thru a number of small towns along the McKenzie River and we would take the Old McKenzie Highway thru the Willamette National Forest then the Deschutes National Forest into Sisters and then Redmond and Prineville where we would enter the Ochoco National Forest.  So the ocean of yesterday gave way to the forests and mountains and these would give way to the high plains the long valleys and the sage desert.  But for those like Charles and myself it was still an awesome day of gorgeous scenery.   We particularly enjoy the long valleys that hold the John Day River.  They are home to some of the most gorgeous historic ranches and it seems at times that each valley holds just one then we wind around and enter another valley and there is another beautiful old barn and ranch house with long flat pastures beside the river, filled with cattle. For us there is no more fulfilling sight.

We made our usual stops for short hikes and puppy play and the weather, though cooler, was still quite tolerable.  At one stop at the Historic James Cant ranch the Park Ranger walked by and remarked about just how wonderful the weather was today and we had to agree.  Everyone seems to be enjoying these warm sunny days.

We made it to Ontario just about dark and have a nice room and have had a light supper and are going to relax for a while. Tomorrow we will drive across Idaho and possibly make it to West Yellowstone… if something more interesting doesn’t present itself.

We are well tonight and hope you all are too!

Peace, Hope & Love,

Donna, Charles, Paris & Dodger