Hola Amigos,
We are back in Baja, and in spite of all the rainstorms that the peninsula endured during hurricane season, the roads were quite passable and well marked for our trip. All in all, a pleasant trip with stops in our favorite places, and good food to enjoy on the way. The house and property were in very good condition. Our house sitter, Brian Generoux, was very capable and could fix anything that broke!
We put our trailer away in a new spot this year; on the property of our friends Katie and Mel. We cleaned the area, put down a load of gravel, smoothed it out, and "voila"! A nice new spot. We appreciate having this place to park it because it is on our normal route to and from our Baja home!
We enjoyed visiting with our son Ryan's good friend Mike S who was visiting his family in Oregon; he's living in Thailand now. He and I got in a hike in Fort Rock, and also visited Hole in the Ground.
We then took a trip over to the Steens and joined friends Andrea and Dave. They had never been there before, so we got to show them the magnificence of the place. We even managed to see lots of wild horses near the south end of the loop drive.
Unfortunately, Ben contracted a really nasty cold while there, so he wasn't able to join us in the second day's tour to the Round Barn and Diamond (population 3?) The Diamond Hotel is for sale there, in case anyone is interested. It's a very neat historic building in a beautiful setting.
After that, we did another camping trip (after a few more doctor appointments!) to Hart Mountain with good friends George and Carolyn, and John and Marilyn. It was a great trip; we got our normal camping spot, and took advantage of the hot springs and hiking and touring around looking for Pronghorn. When we came down from the mountain, the smoke from a California fire was pretty bad, but we spent a day in an RV park in Lakeview just getting cleaned up and dumping tanks.
After a few busy days in Fort Rock again, getting our trailer spot ready, we headed for Pendleton and the Roundup. We took the road north from Christmas Valley, which connects with Hwy 395, one of our favorite roads. It was good to get back to see all the action, and the parade on Friday. It's the largest non-motorized parade in the US.
Most horses and wagons move right along, but this one decided he wasn't moving. Nope! It took quite a while to get him to cooperate! We think he didn't like the band in front of him! (No reflection on the band, of course!!)
It was great visiting with my niece Anne and her hubby Mike. We park our trailer in their yard during the Roundup. They are so accommodating, and their dogs are a hoot. Zoey again had to be reminded not to chase or bark at the "BOSS", their huge orange cat. Their NewfyDoodle has grown up, and doesn't look like the Muppet Animal anymore, but he's still huge! Just a bit intimidating to Zoey, but he is gentle with her. He just can't understand why she doesn't want to play with him!
We got back to the "Purkey Ranch" (Ben's brother's place) for a few critical appointments (new truck tires and the trailer wheel bearings lubed, a pedicure(!), and dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant in Bend), then a very, very quick trip to Salem without the trailer for a truck repair job at the place where we bought the truck in 2018, and a very critical purchase from our favorite jeweler in Salem (Roy John).
We then headed back and hooked up the trailer, towed it to Fort Rock, cleaned out the freezer (and everything else!) and put it on our handy-dandy new storage spot. The horses next door were very curious about their new neighbors. Thankfully, they can't get to it to rub on it or make beds around it like the deer always did when we stored it at Tygh Valley!
We left Fort Rock on Monday, a week earlier than normal, and had a fairly easy trip back home, arriving on October 2. We are expecting our first company on October 24, when my sister Shelley and her husband's cousin Mary will come visit.
I have created 2 albums. 2022 September and 2022 October. I will be adding more to October, but go ahead and take a look.
We hope that you are all healthy and enjoying the fall weather. It is still HOT here, but starting to cool down a bit. We should be used to it by now, but I can tell you we sure to appreciate our air conditioner in the bedroom at night.
By the Way, I am still walking most days, and am still on track to get in my 600 miles this year. The view above is from my first day back walking in Baja. (When I also came across a turtle path and nest!) As of today, I have just over 538 miles recorded! I'm also dedicating some effort this month to walking 35 miles for Breast Cancer, since it is very prevalent in our family.
Hasta la proxima vez,
Tus amigos back in Baja,
Harriet, Ben & Zoey
