Sis and I spent a three day weekend exploring the John Day River, located in Northern Central Oregon. There are several Scenic Byways in the area, and we took one that was new to us and thoroughly enjoyable. The entire drive took about 7 hours round-trip from Bend, Oregon. Lovely, out of the way, side roads, old ghost towns and wonderful scenery. There were a few other souls enjoying the beautiful Indian Summer in that area. The temps were about 65 degrees, and sunny. Wow...is all I can say.
There were cattle ranches, and a couple of tiny towns along the way. We brought everything we might need along with us. We filled up the gas tank in Prineville and were on our way. The first part of the drive takes a highway over the Ochoco (Mountain) Divide (Pass). A forest of old growth Pondersoa Pine, and open meadows to the summit. There was quite a bit of traffic from firewood cutters, and elk hunters heading east into the mountains. When we left that highway there wasn't any traffic. Our first main stop was in a tiny town of Mitchell, Oregon. We talked with a local gal about our plans, and showed her the map to see if she had local knowledge and suggestions.
She really liked the route we planned, but was very assertive that we stop at a ghost town along the route. Well...this town is on the map...Richmond...and there are a few people still there. There were neat old buildings to look at.
One of those old houses that was still occupied had 2 vintage trailers sitting in the side area. Wow, I has gawking at them. You know what I was thinking...I bet that you could purchase them for very little. However, I doubt that they were road capable, tires flat and probably completely rotten. You know that way out there, anything that is not used or broken just get taken off to the side and stays there forever.
This photo was taken in the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. We stopped to take a pic and look who was watching us.
These blue mountains really are pretty...the landscape is extraordinary. The area is so different from my home...where there are mountains covered in Douglas Fir trees. The deer are still watching......... All in all a great weekend that we are going to remember. I almost have her hooked on getting a little trailer....so we can spending a night or two camping, when we go on our adventures. A little progress, is good!
