Friday morning found us in Oregon. Ah, Oregon....
If your image of Oregon is wet and green, you're forgetting that the eastern side of the state is much drier with more extremes in temperatures. I'm wondering about wandering that little trail in the middle of this photo just to see where it goes.
Along the Snake River - part of Oregon's Treasure Valley.
Another view of the Snake with some white birds in the foreground.
Blue skies, white puffy clouds and a lone pine. Driving through this area I could see a tall building in the distance at the exit for Historic Downtown Baker City.
Our itinerary didn't allow time for investigating the area so it went on the list to look up when I got home. This is The Baker City Tower an Art Deco building built in 1929 as a hotel. At first I thought this was probably the hotel and spa I had noticed a sign for.
But no, that would be this one - The Geiser Grand Hotel and Spa. If you look at pictures of this hotel online you will see what a gorgeous building this is. I wouldn't mind staying here a few days, touring the area and enjoying a spa treatment or two. Built in the Italianate Victorian style in 1889, the hotel is said to possibly be haunted.
A lunch stop in Pendleton, OR gave me a chance to take more pictures of these life-like cattle drive statues. The first time I saw them a few years ago I thought they were real! Pendleton celebrates with an annual Round-Up each September.
The mighty Columbia River. On schedule to be in Portland by early evening. A pit-stop and driver change in The Dalles resulted in one of our more interesting Oregon Trail stories. I suggested making the stop at a McDonald's with an ulterior motive - I wanted an ice cream cone. When we got out of the car I could hear someone's car CD player blasting out a tune. At first all I noticed was the beat. Then as we got closer I started hearing the voice and the words. Bud hadn't picked up on it yet - "Bud! Bud! That's Mark! It's Mark! I had stopped next to the car when Bud turned and walked back. He bent down to the window and pointed to his shirt.
The guy in the car gave him a thumbs up and then turned down the volume so he could talk to us. He said "You're a fan, too?" Bud said "well, actually he's my son." Mark's fan could hardly believe us. He kept saying "Really? You're kidding! Really?" Finally he asked me if Bud was telling the truth. (Obviously I look more honest than Bud.) We finally convinced him we were telling the truth. He seemed so star-struck that I kiddingly I asked him if he wanted to shake the hand of Mark's Dad. Which he did. He went on telling us how much he loved Mark's music and how excited he was that he and his girlfriend were going to be seeing him in person for the first time which was also when they were getting married. (We should have told him Mark is licensed to perform weddings but didn't think of it in time.)
We finally went on in to the restaurant. Bud was ahead of me on the way back out. By then the guy's girlfriend was back in the car. He was pointing at Bud and saying, "There he is. That's him!" So we met the girlfriend, too. This chance encounter with some of Mark's fans was so much fun - gave us a taste of the adulation performers must feel.
Another hour and half and we're finally in the City of Roses.
Our reason for the trip - to see Kari & Ken and their new home. The area of Portland where they now live is known as Roseway. Roseway in the City of Roses? Hmm, I wonder if they call their home Rose Cottage?
Rose cottage might be a bit of a misnomer unless we plant at least one rose bush in our yard. ;-)
ReplyDeleteAlso not really a cottage, right? But Rose Mid-Century Modern just doesn't have the same ring to it. :)
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