Hello from
Sumpter, Oregon. Wow, it has been a long
time since we sent out a Pic-of-the-Week!
Lots has happened since August 19th when we sent out our last
update. This part of our summer has been
a break from working on the Model A Roadster.
First there
was a total eclipse of the sun near Sisters, Oregon where we were having a
family get together. It was quite the
event here in Oregon, although I do not think there were all the people that
Oregon expected. There were not the huge
traffic jams that were expected, or the running out of food or gasoline. The biggest problem for us was finding a
place that was not too smoky to watch the eclipse.
After the
family get together, we went to Harriet’s 50th class reunion. She had a good time getting reacquainted with
old school friends. Then it was on to
visit Baja friends on an island in the Columbia River. The island is near the town of Cathlamet, Washington
and is named Puget Island. We were
hoping that the salmon would be running in the Columbia River, but they were
not while we were there. We went for
some nice boat rides instead.
The ferry from the island to the Oregon side of the Columbia River. It runs once an hour.
Then it was
back to my brother’s house near Sister’s to pick up my passport so I could go
to our house in Baja California Sur because there was a storm coming and we had
not completed all the preparations for a storm/hurricane before we left in
July. (Sam and Zoey were VERY glad to see me!) The storm was not a huge amount of
wind, but there was lots of water. The arroyos
ran from bank to bank.
I had some
water to mop up in the house during the storm, and there were problems with our
generator. It was not generating 120
volts, like it should, but rather it was only putting out about 108 – 110
volts. We got though the time with the
low voltage generator, and then I was able to fix the other generator which
puts out the correct voltage. It seems
like there is always something that is a problem during/after a storm.
During the
time I was in Mexico, Harriet was in Sisters finishing my quilt. It is large and beautiful!
I returned
from Mexico on Thursday, the 6th of September, and left on the 7th
for a camping trip with Harriet and my brother John, who had never seen some of the most
beautiful parts of southeast Oregon. Not
sure where he has been all his life! (I
think stuck on the windy, wet, and cold Oregon Coast.)
On the way
to Lakeview, we took a side trip through the back streets of Silver Lake for
some photos of older homes.
Then on to
Lakeview where we picked up a few pieces of obsidian, spent the night at our
favorite RV camp site, and had dinner at Mario’s Restaurant. Life is good!
The next day it was on to Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge with the pronghorns, and camped near
the hot springs. On the way there we saw
a cattle drive. I had forgotten how
dusty driving cattle can be. Usually we
see cattle being driven down the highway.
We did not
see as many pronghorns this year as we have most other years. It could be that we arrived the day before
opening day of hunting season. (Do you
think that could be it?) There was a lot
of water in the lakes below Hart Mountain in the Warner Valley. More water than we have seen in a number of
years there. This was definitely a wet,
snowy winter in Eastern Oregon.
After
spending a night at Hart Mountain and enjoying a good long soak in the hot springs, it was on to the Steens Mountains with all
their beautiful gorges cut out by glaciers.
On the way there we took photos of White Pelicans at Rock Creek
Reservoir for our bird lover friends.
Once we
arrived at the base of the Steens, and set up camp at the Steens Mountain
Wilderness Resort, we took a driving tour to the Pete French Round Barn, and
the Diamond Valley area. Again, we ran
into a cattle drive where the cowboys and cow girls were moving a lot of
cattle. Very dusty conditions!
The next day
we took the Steens Mountain Loop Road and saw the impressive mountains and
gorges. Below are just a very few of the
many photos taken. Go to 2017-09 September album to see
all the photos.
Ospray at camp
Fish Lake
Kiger Gorge
Golden Eagle
Wild Horse Lake at the top of Wild Horse Gorge
Big Indian Gorge
Wild (?) Horses enjoying water with pronghorns in the background. The funny thing about this photo is that none of us saw the pronghorns until we saw this photo (using a pretty strong zoom setting)!
We dropped
John off in Burns, Oregon where he caught a bus back to Bend, and his car,
and we went on to Sumpter, Oregon where we are at the present time. I must add that Sumpter has lost its charm,
for me anyway. It might be different
prior to Labor Day Weekend, but now when we drove through the town looking for
a place to eat breakfast, there were no breakfast restaurants, but there were
two places open that we could have bought marijuana!
The next thing on our agenda is the Pendleton Roundup this weekend ("Let 'er buck!") and then we'll return to Bend where the Model A will magically come together so we can haul it back to Mexico. We hope to leave Oregon October 3, and probably should, since we have guests coming to Baja in mid-October!! Hopefully, East Pacific Hurricanes will stay away from Baja until we get back.
Hasta la proxima vez!
Ben & Harriet
The next thing on our agenda is the Pendleton Roundup this weekend ("Let 'er buck!") and then we'll return to Bend where the Model A will magically come together so we can haul it back to Mexico. We hope to leave Oregon October 3, and probably should, since we have guests coming to Baja in mid-October!! Hopefully, East Pacific Hurricanes will stay away from Baja until we get back.
Hasta la proxima vez!
Ben & Harriet