Gasless in Oregon

The day dawned cool and sunny but we could tell the day would warm up. We decided not to wear extra clothes, though I changed my mind after 20 miles and put on an extra shirt until about noon when it warmed up enough that Ray decided to go with only the mesh part of his Flex pants.

Out of Bend, we took 97 to 126 to 26. On 26 we went over Ochoco pass at 4722 feet. Then we took highway 207 and it had a summit of 3600 feet. From there we connected to 19. These were fun roads that were a mix of sweepers, curves and twisties. We turned at Kimberly and took a "local road" to Long Creek (one of many places where there was no gas!)

Highway 207 was 21 miles of brutality. The surface was truly horrid, rough and nasty and the twisties were wicked. Because I felt so good about yesterday's twisties, this road decided to teach a newbie a lesson and threw every kind of curve and camber at us.

That road, I think, was way beyond my beginner's abilities and some of those curves were very intimidating because of the radius and because if I really messed up there were 2 possible outcomes: my molecules would become one with the mountain or I would launch into the abyss and my molecules would become one with the mountain at a lower altitude.

There were no guard rails and there were no shoulders. The land generally ended at the edge of the pavement, which comprised a very rough and none too wide 2 lanes. The twists came quickly one after the other and I don't think there was a straight piece on the entire road. There was very much upping and downing, of which Wrex does not do up so quickly. Luckily for me, there was very little traffic on this road and so I wasn't holding up too many people. I think TJ KneeDragger would enjoy this road very much. I think he might go over this road and then turn around and go back over this road just for the fun of it. But I am more than happy to be done with that road. It knocked the stuffing right out of me and when we finished, I was sore all over from being tense.

We did stop a few places one little county dry (I do mean DRY) camp near a river with a boat launch and rest rooms, thank God. That was at the end of 207. We needed the rest and the rooms. Here are some pictures we did take along the way today:

We met up with highway 395 at Long Creek. There is not much there there. I never saw so many places with names that once you got there you couldn't figure out why anyone bothered to name a place with 2 houses and a barn. One "town" had 4 falling down houses and 2 still occupied. Needless to say, no gas. At the mini grocery they told Ray the nearest gas was at Meadowbrook 16 miles up the road. Luckily it was 16 miles in the direction we wanted to go, but we didn't progress very fast because I was still spooked by the "mean" twisties on the pavement from Heck. Suddenly, my gas gauge said my tank was nearly empty and estimated I could go all of 2.1 miles on what was left. O dear. We're in the mountains, there's trees and curves and not much else.

We come into a beautiful little valley and I spot a small faded sign that says Cafe, RV Park, Store, Propane, Gas. I give Ray a shout and we pull in and low and behold, there is one gas pump stationed next to a big propane tank. Out comes the nice young proprietor, carrying his 18 month old, to start the pump for us. We paid a fortune, but didn't mind. Ray went in to pay and I wandered in to see the store. I spot some tableclothed tables and ask if someone's cooking today. Answer, oh, yes, are you guys hungry? Since it's nearly 3 and we had breakfast at 7:30, the answer is a resounding YES!

We had burgers, and those burgers were worth the wait! Kris is the young man's wife and she cooks. Brandon is the young man and he does everything else. They just bought Meadowbrook Resort this past spring and live there with their 2 kids and 3 dogs, one of which is an 11 month old very goofy golden retriever. They have two cabins, one with an indoor potty and plumbing and one "dry" cabin. Then there are RV and tent spaces and 3 meals a day. Right now it's more of a hunting camp type place, very rustic, but they have plans, if all goes well. We gassed up, chatted, ate lunch, and took pictures. We spent about an hour and a half there, but it was worth it. I can't imagine a better place to raise kids than that. Should you have the desire to get away from it all...no cell phones, no Internet, nothing but quiet and woods and fields, we have all the particulars.

Back on highway 395 to finish the trip to Pendleton. There was a stretch of 35-45 mph twisties and some nice sweepers. It was a road where you don't know whether to slow down and enjoy the scenery going by or speed up and enjoy the road. It followed a river with semi open woods in a valley. We didn't even stop to take a picture. We'll need to come back to do that. We decided that part of highway 395 was our favorite road of the day. 395 was good for Susan because she got to build confidence again after being knocked down a peg by the road from Heck.

All along the way was beautiful scenery. There were very few places that had much shoulder to stop and take pictures and most of those shoulders were loose large gravel. We did stop at Battle Mountain Park 34 miles from Pendleton for a butt break and water break. So beautiful, so quiet and only us there. We couldn't figure out why a nice park like that, within easy driving distance of Pendleton was empty on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Perhaps it's because there aren't that many people IN Pendleton? And it's hot here in town so maybe people didn't know how lovely it was up there. I really would like to drive this route again, with time to stop and take pictures and read all the markers and see all the parks. Maybe some day!