Oregon Is Big

Whoo! Yesterday, we finally found a hotel with working network connectivity, and of course it was one out in the back country in a tiny town named after an American settler who was beat up and stripped naked by Native Americans, John Day.

On our first full day here, on our way through Portland to pick up some basic supplies, we were tempted to stop at Boss Hawg's Bar and Grill (after all, it is the Home of the Hawgarita), but we pressed on. Later, we passed up a meal at Tad's Chicken 'n' Duplins. I know.

We headed up the Columbia River Gorge for the hills, cliffs, rocks, and waterfalls. They aren't lying about this being a windsurfing haven. We took a walk out onto a pier in Stevenson, WA, to feel the wind as it gusts up the gorge. The windsurfers and parasailers took full advantage.

We made a quick visit to the Bonneville Dam, where the security checkpoint consisted of serious-looking guardhouse and then the thorough interrogation of "You going to the Visitor's Centre?" "Yes." "It's on the right."

After the scenic Gorge, the scenery changes rapidly when there's no water to shape it or nourish the plants. We headed into the "high desert" east of the Cascades, where we found a very populated ghost town at Shaniko. Our plans to continue through to the town of Fossil and beyond were foiled when we heard the news that the route east of Fossil was closed because the wheat fields were on fire. In these parts of Oregon, the towns are surrounded by miles and miles of ranchland (or sometimes wheat-growing farmland), and there is nothing between towns except juniper bushes and fence. The towns are all small, cliche western-looking towns, with few places to stay. It seems this is the "fire season", and what with fire fighters and folks cut off by the road closures, we found ourselves driving southwest through the desert to the town Madras, where the nearest hotel room could be found.

In Madras, we stayed at the Madras Hotel and Motel, which was a bit unusual since the proprietors were dressed entirely in white (or blue jumpsuits) and the lobby consisted of a large TV showing some black and white (Hitchcock?) movie to an empty table place-set with large black bookmarked Bibles. Our hostess needed to know if either of us had smoked in the past six months because all of the rooms at the hotel were "Certified Nonsmoking", whatever that means. Our room was just being "finished cleaned" at ten o'clock at night, but when the hostess showed it to us, it seemed in perfect condition to us. However, she had two more cleaning stages to perform, the last of which was a "vinegar wash". I will say, it was one damn clean hotel room.

Yesteday, we spent most of the day at two of the John Day Fossil Bed "units". At the Painted Hills Unit, we took four short walks and hikes up and around the hills the area is named for. The landscape here is very dramatic and unusual, and some of the same things that make it so beautiful also make for excellent fossil formation and preservation. I was very impressed that the US National Park service goes out of their way to demonstrate how all of the fossils were formed and how they interrelate, all within a cohesive, well-explained evolutionary context. In the main visitor's centre at the Sheep Rock Unit, there's a full-sized, real paleontology lab staffed by real paleontologists (on weekdays) and a smart but still hand-holding "here's what evolution is and here it is in action, see, right here, look" display supported by amazing specimens and detailed murals.

Anyway, tonight we're in Bend, and watching the $1,000,000 plus hour on the Real Estate Channel. I wonder if the ranch house "with full corral" is really worth a couple million bucks. Heh. Cheers for now from Brad and Joanne!