Drought

 Many of the areas we have visited in the west are suffering through droughts. These lands are naturally dry most offering only vegetation suited to very dry conditions. A few crops are maintained with irrigation when a water source is available. As I drive through the large swaths of land only able to maintain scrub brush, I always wonder what the inhabitants of the few ranch houses I see set back from the road do to make enough money to get by.

Today, we spotted a common manifestation of drought in southern Utah - fire. The road curved away about the time I took this photo, but the cloud of smoke was impressive.

Road to Winnemucca

 The road to Winnemucca is one of those next gas 100 miles don’t look over the edge into the canyon kind of roads. The road takes you from southern Oregon into Nevada initially on two lanes. When the highway finally widens to four lanes semis pulling three trailers rush past you on the down grades and you pass them again as they crawl up the next incline.

During the early stage of the Winnemucca drive, we encountered two herds of cows being drives toward us by cowboys and one cowgirl on horseback, You have to admit this is pretty unusual. The cowboys were friendly and wished us a good trip and we wished them a short drive so they could avoid the 100 degree temps.

I found it interesting that rest stops were fairly common along this desolate road. The accommodations were primitive and for our kids who always ask, “yes, they were pits”.

The ads for queso are attractive.

Car repairs

 We have this strange metal grinding sound in our car and Don (husband of Lori daughter of Ken and Ruth) said he thought it was worn out brakes and he would fix. I admit to being a little skeptical that a music teacher would have the necessary skills, but I have seen other handyman skills Don regularly applies and thought it a reasonable venture. Kenny has a well stocked garage. With a quick trip to the car parts store, Don was off and fixing. Watching someone dive under the car to position the jack made me a bit nervous. He says YouTube is wonderful for learning things and this background is all he needs for many tasks. Sure enough, I watched as he changed the brake pads on two wheels.

Lacking mechanical experiences and the way of thinking to accomplish such tasks which likely only comes from experience, I was amazed watching him work through the process of removing the brake assembly and replacing the pads. We were grateful to have the task done without having to try to find a time we could get the car into a shop.

We did find in replacing the brake pads that one of our tires had worn considerably from being out of alignment. Klamath Falls had several options for the larger sized tires we needed without having to have them shipped in so we were able to buy new tires. We drive an all-wheel drive vehicle which means if you have one bad tire you usually have to replace all four. This does get expensive, but you also don’t want to be stranded on the side of road in the large stretches between towns you can find yourself in during drives in this part of the country. 

, ' '

Back on the road.

Tillamook Cheese

 

I know Tillamook as the cheese I buy at COSTCO. I always get the same kind. We have a great cheese plant and store near us in Wisconsin that is great, but the sliced Tillamook from COSTCO and it turns out Tillamook, OR, is great for sandwiches. 

The crowd at the creamery was huge, but most were headed for the ice cream counter. The three-scoop sampler seemed the main target. We headed for cheese-based foods. The macaroni and cheese was gone so I added the cheese curds to my chicken sandwich. Too much cheese.

Cape Meares and the Fog

 The Northwest has a reputation for being dark and rainy. We haven’t experienced the rain, but nearly every morning starts with fog. Sometimes the fog lasts and some times it burns off. What I have found unique is how it can hang on hillsides and in the woods in what appears from a distance to be heavy blankets. 

We took a very short side trip to see the Cape Meares LightHouse. It is generic as light houses I have viewed go, but the setting is spectacular. The fog was hanging in the woods and the combination of the wind and the fog generated a lot of rain falling from the trees rather than the sky.

The lighthouse and its Fresnel lens

I think it is the trees that give the forests here that create the distinctive look. The pines are large, thick, and have dark trunks. Looking into the forest through the fog offers some great photo opportunities.

Mo’s

 I am getting old enough so that many of our adventures are repeats. We ate at Mo’s maybe 30 or so years ago and we ate there again today. I had clam chowder in a sour dough bowel. I can’t remember if I had the sour dough bowel last time, but I know that clam chowder was a reorder. I hope this was the same building, but Cindy and I both remember the original more as a shack and the surroundings less densely inhabited. This is what tends to happen with age. There are also now multiple MO’s. Not as common as Starbucks, but still several. We are calling it the original.

We had a discussed last night about photographers who include people and photographers who do not include people in their photos. Just to try to keep everyone happy, here are some people. I recognize them all, but names might be a challenge. 

I suppose must clam chowder looks similar. You can’t photograph taste.

P.S. I don’t know if you see ads when reading my posts. I do when not viewing on a phone. The ad today was for a free will kit. Google must read my posts too so I am going to have to stop making comments that would allow the AI to estimate my age. Hopefully your ads address topics that are more upbeat. I think I should go for a walk.

Pacific City Retreat

 We have arrived at the housing for our reunion. Really great location close to the beach. Shortly before we arrived we pulled into a rest area and tested.We have spenttime with so many people on the way we thought we should check. Good to go.

A few photos from our location.

A hike is scheduled for the large sand dune you see in the second image. It is a lot larger than it probably seems in the photo so I plan to skip that event. The trip to the brew pub sounds more my speed.

A few more photos from the coast follow.

One sunshine photo. 

Wood River Recreation Area

 We are familiar with Kiteboarding and Windsurfing from our time in Kauai, but we have not watched these activities pursued with the enthusiasm we witnessed sitting on the benches of the Wood River Recreation Area. The best description I can come up with is "swarming". The water was swarming with kiteboarders and and windsurfers. 

Columbia River Gorge

 We are staying in Hood River on the Columbia River. We drove along the Gorge for most of the day and it is massive hosting barge traffic and lots of recreational boats. Our stop for the day has been in Hood River which is picturesque. 

The news has just broke that President Biden has contracted COVID. We continue to take precautions, but we are spending time with a lot of different people. I keep telling myself it would be little different if we were still in Minneapolis.

The photos below provide a couple views of the river and an image taken where we are staying for the night.

Big Country

 We spent the day driving through the middle of Montana into Idaho. The terrain of the northern plains is spectacular in its bigness. This type of scenery is difficult to capture with a camera. It is difficult to record the scope and depth you see. I tried creating a panorama with my iPhone and I think this approach works pretty well. Click on the image if you are using a computer to view a larger image.

Here is an image that may take some explaining. It looks like an overpass, but what about the grass. You might guess if you look at the road side and notice that there are abnormally high fences on both sides of the highway. This is an animal bridge. Now you know how the elk cross the road. I wish we had something to protect me from the deer when I drive in northern Wisconsin.

One more photo. This one from the western edge of the state.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

 We had time to drive through Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Driving was pretty much what we could handle as the temp was over 100 at mid afternoon when we arrived. The images that follow are from the North Unit of the park. We have spent time in both sections of the park during previous visits. The North Unit has an easy drive with great scenery (see photos and videos that follow). The South Unit is were you would camp. It was so hot we thought we might not see any animals. No Big Horn sheep, but we did see buffalo.

Hopefully, I can convince you that North Dakota has some great scenery if you are willing to travel to the western side of the state.