Day 13 Boise/Nampa to Bend Oregon
Yesterday’s discontent with Idaho may have been more about too much time on the Interstate than a lack of attractions in the state. Today we spent only a short time on the Interstate, opting for secondary roads shortly after crossing into Oregon where we will spend a couple of days in various cities.
From highway 20 central Oregon is a land of contrasts. Beautiful winding hills along the eastern border give way to miles of flat farming fields, followed by high desert plains. The halfway point in our travels was the little town of Burns. We found a little drive in where, if you want to, you can drive up to a menu board and the food is brought out to your car. I haven’t seen one of those since the 1950’s.
Today we really went off the beaten path. A friendly store manager in Burns told us how to find a feature called Glass Butte, a remote deposit of volcanic glass off route 20 between Burns and Bend. I am a former rock hound and had seen a reference to the deposit on a map but the directions were vague.
The trip was harrowing. The dirt road was very rough and rutted and with anything less than my all wheel drive Outback I wouldn’t have attempted the first quarter mile, let alone the nearly five it took. This place was very remote.
Fortunately Gloria spotted deposits of Obsidian (black volcanic glass) on a hillside behind a remote turnout. We spent an hour digging and sorting. Our biggest problem was how to decide what to take and what to leave behind.
The view of the mountains entering Bend was marvelous, all of them snow capped and more snow predicted over seven thousand feet again tonight. Bend is a fun little city of 80,000 loads of bookstores, bars, shops and a great old town with brick sidewalks and loads of charm. We walked five blocks from our hotel and spend a great evening sipping local beer and munching on barbecue. We encountered the weirdest vehicle here (two of them). They were thirteen person bicycles, they looked like a trolley car but with no motor. Riders face each other and operate a set of pedals as the vehicles make the rounds of local pubs of which there are many. What a hoot.
We tried a new to us hotel chain in Bend - the Days Inn. We were very impressed. The room is as nice as the Hampton Inns we have been using, has all the amenities, and cost about half as much!
Tomorrow I get to play mechanic. I have a burned out headlight and spotted an auto supply store a few blocks away from our motel. Headlights are pretty easy to replace, few or no tools needed. However it started to rain a few minutes ago so I will wait to morning.
Tomorrow I get to see Crater Lake and the forecast is for sunny sky. I can’t wait.
I will let you know what I find along the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment