This Pic-of-the-Week is a really long one; because not a lot needs to be said, but the scenery is so beautiful in this part of Oregon that it takes a lot of photos to really do it justice. We're going to say right at the beginning, even more photos from this trip are located in our special SE Oregon Picasa Album.
In our last Pic-of-the-Week, we were stuck in Salem with our truck in the shop. As it turned out the problems were nothing that money could not fix. Ben sure hopes that Mexico switches to Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel soon like the fuel is in the USA! Then we could get a truck with a better engine.
Our truck engine did get fixed Saturday morning, July 25th, so we headed out of Salem that afternoon. It was pretty good timing as it was starting to rain in Salem so we headed South East where we hoped for sunny skies and warm temperatures.
We knew that did not have a lot of time this trip, but wanted to visit a number of places that we have visited in the past. Since we were not being tour guides, and not meeting friends, we wanted to do and see some different things this trip. Our first stop was Ana Reservoir RV Park. This RV Park is at the north end of Summer Lake, and turned out to be a nice place to stay. It was not fancy, but still nice and comfortable. Notice too that we did get out of the heavy clouds and rain.
The view out our window towards Summer Lake.
The RV park manager was a friendly guy to talk to, and Ben asked him for suggestions of different things to see in the area and in the Hart Mountain area, our next stop. He had some suggestions for Hart Mountain that we had not heard of so we added them to our plans.
If you have never been to Summer Lake, or Hart Mountain, you should add that to your travel plans. They are both beautiful places to visit and explore. This is a view of the huge ridge line at Hart Mountain known as Poker Jim Ridge.
After arriving at our camp spot at Hart Mountain Hot Springs, we enjoyed a wonderful soak that evening. We think that this is one of the best hot springs in Oregon, and you can meet the most interesting folks there! The next day we visited an area with petroglyphs that was suggested to us by the Ana RV Park owner. This area is off the beaten path and takes about 45 minutes to drive the 6 miles off of the main road to get there. The petroglyphs are quite well preserved and have some interesting figures. With a little imagination you can see all kinds of things about the life of the artists.
Did you know that the early Native Americans did not own combs? Did you know that they invented the modern day salad tongs? Did you know that young Big Horn Sheep are the most desirable for eating? Did you know that some of them had a problem with weight just like some of us today? It is truly amazing what you can learn by studying the art work of these early people! All these things can be learned from the photos below. If you need help, just ask!
About 1 mile further on is the Glass House that was suggested to us as well. I do not know much about this place except that it was built by a private party(s). Rumor has it that the owner died, and then the property was sold to the US government that wanted the land.
It was built partially into the ground of steel and glass.
The shower.
The bedroom.
From what we deducted, it was built by an eccentric artist!!! The top of a stone wall near the entrance.
It was not just built for function, but his artistic touches were everywhere! These are extensions of the roof supports.
The front side of one art piece.
And, the back side. (There must be meaning there somewhere!
The next morning, after another fine soak on the hot springs the night before, we headed east toward Frenchglen. We could not leave Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge without showing you one antelope photo. Actually these animals are not antelope, but rather their proper name is Pronghorn. We saw about 40 Pronghorns as we left our camp site and headed for Frenchglen.
Rather than go up to The Steens Mountains, as we usually do, we took a side trip through the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Some places you can see things, and some places you cannot because the willows are so dense on each side of the road. We did see lots of birds, and 2 of the largest mule deer that we have seen in a long time. (Sorry, I was too slow with the camera!)
We will only bore you with just one photo of birds.
And one of a cattle drive.
Actually, that was not a real cattle drive, but rather wooden or probably steel silhouettes which we have seen for a number of years now.
The next morning we headed south toward Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge. On the way there we stopped at Fields Station restaurant, store, liquor store, gas station, and probably other services as well. Fields, population 12, so they say!
They serve world famous burgers and milk shakes! Ben just had a bacon cheese burger w/fries, while Harriet had both a burger w/fries and a black berry milk shake! The burgers are ½ lb. and they even serve the milk shake in the metal container that they use for blending the ice cream and flavoring. Very frosty, big, and delicious!
After that very filling lunch, which neither of us could finish, it was on to Nevada and the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge. A few years ago when we traveled that area, we saw wild burros (donkeys), and wild horses. This year we saw none. We camped that night at the Virgin Valley Camp Grounds and hot springs. This is a photo of those hot springs.
The springs felt good to my hand during the hot day, but it was not real warm later that evening when the temperature had cooled down. I talked to the camp host and asked about the burros and horses. He said that the government rounded up all the burros and now have them in a different area of the refuge which is fenced. Also, they rounded up 1,500 horses, but there are still some around. We did not see any antelope (pronghorns) either, but there must be some on the reserve somewhere.
After a night there at the hot springs camp ground we proceeded on to Lakeview, Oregon. One of our favorite RV Parks in Oregon is a few miles west of town. It is Junipers Reservoir RV Resort that is located off the highway on a cattle ranch. It was our good fortune that they were moving a group of cattle from one pasture to another as we were arriving. The cowboys used both ATVs and horses to round up the cattle.
Even Sam and Zoey loved to watch the round up!
Did you know that cowboys come in all ages? I think this guy is just getting his start! Maybe we will see him at the Pendleton Round-Up in a few years!
OK, all in their new pasture so we can proceed on to our RV Park, seen on the right.
Here is a link to a video of the cows being moved.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105471094228418480553/201507JulySEOregon#6177430310109246610
Friday morning we left our nice RV Park and went to the metropolis of Silver Lake, (maybe 75 people live there), where we met our friends from Salem, Thane and Kathy, and their daughter Adrienne and her husband Reuben. If you don’t know about the Cowboy Dinner Tree Restaurant, just outside of Silver Lake, then you have missed out on one of Oregon’s (No, make that The USA’s) finest restaurants! This is the store, the restaurant looks similar.
When you make reservations, you need to tell them whether you want steak or chicken. This is the restaurant’s new BBQ. It can BBQ 50 steaks at a time. I am not talking about small steak. Each steak is 26 – 30 ounces!! The chicken dinners are a whole chicken!
They always supply doggy bags!
The next day (Saturday) it was on to Prineville with a stop in Bend for fuel. Well……… when we stopped for fuel, the shift cable broke to the transmission. We limped on into the Ford Garage (it was stuck in first gear) and described the problem. We were told it would be 2 weeks before they could look at the problem. (I now dislike that Ford Garage.) So we limped on to an independent shop where the owner looked under the pickup, and diagnosed the problem immediately as a broken shift cable. It will be fixed Monday or Tuesday! The end result is that as we end this Pic-of-the-Week, we are once again without our truck waiting on repairs. Grrrrrr!
The good part is that both times we have had truck problems this summer, we have been close to a good repair shop! This problem certainly could have happened anywhere on our trip when we were miles and miles from the closest repair shop! Thank God for big favors!
Until the next adventure....
Your friends in beautiful (smoky right now) Oregon,
Ben & Harriet, Sam & Zoey
In our last Pic-of-the-Week, we were stuck in Salem with our truck in the shop. As it turned out the problems were nothing that money could not fix. Ben sure hopes that Mexico switches to Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel soon like the fuel is in the USA! Then we could get a truck with a better engine.
Our truck engine did get fixed Saturday morning, July 25th, so we headed out of Salem that afternoon. It was pretty good timing as it was starting to rain in Salem so we headed South East where we hoped for sunny skies and warm temperatures.
We knew that did not have a lot of time this trip, but wanted to visit a number of places that we have visited in the past. Since we were not being tour guides, and not meeting friends, we wanted to do and see some different things this trip. Our first stop was Ana Reservoir RV Park. This RV Park is at the north end of Summer Lake, and turned out to be a nice place to stay. It was not fancy, but still nice and comfortable. Notice too that we did get out of the heavy clouds and rain.
The view out our window towards Summer Lake.
The RV park manager was a friendly guy to talk to, and Ben asked him for suggestions of different things to see in the area and in the Hart Mountain area, our next stop. He had some suggestions for Hart Mountain that we had not heard of so we added them to our plans.
If you have never been to Summer Lake, or Hart Mountain, you should add that to your travel plans. They are both beautiful places to visit and explore. This is a view of the huge ridge line at Hart Mountain known as Poker Jim Ridge.
After arriving at our camp spot at Hart Mountain Hot Springs, we enjoyed a wonderful soak that evening. We think that this is one of the best hot springs in Oregon, and you can meet the most interesting folks there! The next day we visited an area with petroglyphs that was suggested to us by the Ana RV Park owner. This area is off the beaten path and takes about 45 minutes to drive the 6 miles off of the main road to get there. The petroglyphs are quite well preserved and have some interesting figures. With a little imagination you can see all kinds of things about the life of the artists.
Did you know that the early Native Americans did not own combs? Did you know that they invented the modern day salad tongs? Did you know that young Big Horn Sheep are the most desirable for eating? Did you know that some of them had a problem with weight just like some of us today? It is truly amazing what you can learn by studying the art work of these early people! All these things can be learned from the photos below. If you need help, just ask!
About 1 mile further on is the Glass House that was suggested to us as well. I do not know much about this place except that it was built by a private party(s). Rumor has it that the owner died, and then the property was sold to the US government that wanted the land.
It was built partially into the ground of steel and glass.
The shower.
The bedroom.
From what we deducted, it was built by an eccentric artist!!! The top of a stone wall near the entrance.
It was not just built for function, but his artistic touches were everywhere! These are extensions of the roof supports.
The front side of one art piece.
And, the back side. (There must be meaning there somewhere!
The next morning, after another fine soak on the hot springs the night before, we headed east toward Frenchglen. We could not leave Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge without showing you one antelope photo. Actually these animals are not antelope, but rather their proper name is Pronghorn. We saw about 40 Pronghorns as we left our camp site and headed for Frenchglen.
Rather than go up to The Steens Mountains, as we usually do, we took a side trip through the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Some places you can see things, and some places you cannot because the willows are so dense on each side of the road. We did see lots of birds, and 2 of the largest mule deer that we have seen in a long time. (Sorry, I was too slow with the camera!)
We will only bore you with just one photo of birds.
And one of a cattle drive.
Actually, that was not a real cattle drive, but rather wooden or probably steel silhouettes which we have seen for a number of years now.
The next morning we headed south toward Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge. On the way there we stopped at Fields Station restaurant, store, liquor store, gas station, and probably other services as well. Fields, population 12, so they say!
They serve world famous burgers and milk shakes! Ben just had a bacon cheese burger w/fries, while Harriet had both a burger w/fries and a black berry milk shake! The burgers are ½ lb. and they even serve the milk shake in the metal container that they use for blending the ice cream and flavoring. Very frosty, big, and delicious!
After that very filling lunch, which neither of us could finish, it was on to Nevada and the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge. A few years ago when we traveled that area, we saw wild burros (donkeys), and wild horses. This year we saw none. We camped that night at the Virgin Valley Camp Grounds and hot springs. This is a photo of those hot springs.
The springs felt good to my hand during the hot day, but it was not real warm later that evening when the temperature had cooled down. I talked to the camp host and asked about the burros and horses. He said that the government rounded up all the burros and now have them in a different area of the refuge which is fenced. Also, they rounded up 1,500 horses, but there are still some around. We did not see any antelope (pronghorns) either, but there must be some on the reserve somewhere.
After a night there at the hot springs camp ground we proceeded on to Lakeview, Oregon. One of our favorite RV Parks in Oregon is a few miles west of town. It is Junipers Reservoir RV Resort that is located off the highway on a cattle ranch. It was our good fortune that they were moving a group of cattle from one pasture to another as we were arriving. The cowboys used both ATVs and horses to round up the cattle.
Even Sam and Zoey loved to watch the round up!
Did you know that cowboys come in all ages? I think this guy is just getting his start! Maybe we will see him at the Pendleton Round-Up in a few years!
OK, all in their new pasture so we can proceed on to our RV Park, seen on the right.
Here is a link to a video of the cows being moved.
https://picasaweb.google.com/105471094228418480553/201507JulySEOregon#6177430310109246610
Friday morning we left our nice RV Park and went to the metropolis of Silver Lake, (maybe 75 people live there), where we met our friends from Salem, Thane and Kathy, and their daughter Adrienne and her husband Reuben. If you don’t know about the Cowboy Dinner Tree Restaurant, just outside of Silver Lake, then you have missed out on one of Oregon’s (No, make that The USA’s) finest restaurants! This is the store, the restaurant looks similar.
They always supply doggy bags!
The next day (Saturday) it was on to Prineville with a stop in Bend for fuel. Well……… when we stopped for fuel, the shift cable broke to the transmission. We limped on into the Ford Garage (it was stuck in first gear) and described the problem. We were told it would be 2 weeks before they could look at the problem. (I now dislike that Ford Garage.) So we limped on to an independent shop where the owner looked under the pickup, and diagnosed the problem immediately as a broken shift cable. It will be fixed Monday or Tuesday! The end result is that as we end this Pic-of-the-Week, we are once again without our truck waiting on repairs. Grrrrrr!
The good part is that both times we have had truck problems this summer, we have been close to a good repair shop! This problem certainly could have happened anywhere on our trip when we were miles and miles from the closest repair shop! Thank God for big favors!
Until the next adventure....
Your friends in beautiful (smoky right now) Oregon,
Ben & Harriet, Sam & Zoey
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