Pic-of-the-Week for September 12, 2017

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 19^th 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 50^th 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 6^th of September, and left on the 7^th 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