08-02-2009, 02:01 PM
I don't think we have a travel topic, so I'm starting this one. It seems a better place to share then the WAYDREN thread even if it rarely gets used. I can wade through this topic to find a travel tip someone might have left easier the WAYDREN thread.
I enjoyed my road trip. I had never been to Malheur or Harney Counties, so it was an adventure for me. I expected to see a desolate arid land and I was not disappointed. The area is vast and looking out over some of it from a high point gave me an appreciation for its vastness. I was in the high desert most of the time. The elevation was between 4500 and 5500. The further east and south we went, the sparser the vegetation. There was mostly sage brush and grass and endless hills, cliffs, canyons and flat dry lake beds.
Along the river valleys is a totally different landscape. There is lots of agriculture which keeps much of the lower areas green. I saw miles of potatoes, sugar beets, alfalfa, corn, wheat, oats and even vineyards along some of the Snake River. I stopped and bought some Hermiston seedless watermelons for 14 cents a pound.
We stayed in Ontario the first night. This Oregon city along the Idaho border feels more like Idaho then Oregon. The local TV stations are Boise based, and interestingly, the area uses Mountain Time. The Mountain Time Zone extends approximately 75 miles into Oregon but only in this section of the state and nowhere else in the western three states. The next day we went into Idaho and ate lunch at the Kodiak Grill, a place my wife saw on the food channel located 15 miles up Highway 21 North of Boise. It had good food and itâ??s in a rural area along the Boise River.
I mentally paid my respects to JR Simplot that has a large home visible from I-84 in the hills above Boise. Potatoes have been very good for JR. Now driving back in Oregon toward the Owyhee River area, I notice (from car license plates) that there are more Idahoers (pronounced Ida Whores) in Oregon along the border than Oregonians, well maybe not, but there are plenty. They come to shop and avoid the 6% Idaho sales tax and to play. No problemo or anything, itâ??s not like we were crowded.
The Owyhee River is beautiful in that special way that rivers in arid climates are. The lush green along the narrow riparian zone contrasts sharply with the brown, yellow and grey land around it. We saw lots of wild life including Antelope, wild Donkeys and lots of birds including Egrets, Blue Herons Cranes and one Bald Eagle that was standing in a field of fresh cut alfalfa.
I could go on but I wonâ??t. Oh, one last thing, I took a detour to Goose Lake on the way back and drove down a residential street in the town of New Pine Creek where everyone living on the south side of the road was in California and north side Oregon. Why that amuses me I'm not sure.
Two photos of the Owyhee, one taken near the farmland near Rome and the other taken up on the rim. You can see why locals call it the Grand Canyon of the Owyhee.
![[Image: EasternOregonJuly2009002.jpg]](http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee21/1cletus/EasternOregonJuly2009002.jpg)
![[Image: EasternOregonJuly2009004.jpg]](http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee21/1cletus/EasternOregonJuly2009004.jpg)
I enjoyed my road trip. I had never been to Malheur or Harney Counties, so it was an adventure for me. I expected to see a desolate arid land and I was not disappointed. The area is vast and looking out over some of it from a high point gave me an appreciation for its vastness. I was in the high desert most of the time. The elevation was between 4500 and 5500. The further east and south we went, the sparser the vegetation. There was mostly sage brush and grass and endless hills, cliffs, canyons and flat dry lake beds.
Along the river valleys is a totally different landscape. There is lots of agriculture which keeps much of the lower areas green. I saw miles of potatoes, sugar beets, alfalfa, corn, wheat, oats and even vineyards along some of the Snake River. I stopped and bought some Hermiston seedless watermelons for 14 cents a pound.
We stayed in Ontario the first night. This Oregon city along the Idaho border feels more like Idaho then Oregon. The local TV stations are Boise based, and interestingly, the area uses Mountain Time. The Mountain Time Zone extends approximately 75 miles into Oregon but only in this section of the state and nowhere else in the western three states. The next day we went into Idaho and ate lunch at the Kodiak Grill, a place my wife saw on the food channel located 15 miles up Highway 21 North of Boise. It had good food and itâ??s in a rural area along the Boise River.
I mentally paid my respects to JR Simplot that has a large home visible from I-84 in the hills above Boise. Potatoes have been very good for JR. Now driving back in Oregon toward the Owyhee River area, I notice (from car license plates) that there are more Idahoers (pronounced Ida Whores) in Oregon along the border than Oregonians, well maybe not, but there are plenty. They come to shop and avoid the 6% Idaho sales tax and to play. No problemo or anything, itâ??s not like we were crowded.
The Owyhee River is beautiful in that special way that rivers in arid climates are. The lush green along the narrow riparian zone contrasts sharply with the brown, yellow and grey land around it. We saw lots of wild life including Antelope, wild Donkeys and lots of birds including Egrets, Blue Herons Cranes and one Bald Eagle that was standing in a field of fresh cut alfalfa.
I could go on but I wonâ??t. Oh, one last thing, I took a detour to Goose Lake on the way back and drove down a residential street in the town of New Pine Creek where everyone living on the south side of the road was in California and north side Oregon. Why that amuses me I'm not sure.
Two photos of the Owyhee, one taken near the farmland near Rome and the other taken up on the rim. You can see why locals call it the Grand Canyon of the Owyhee.