September 17, 18, 19 and 20, 2008
Drove from Portland to Powell Butte, OR
Visiting with Mary and Joe Hankins and Lucille Coll
We drove from Portland to Powell Butte on Wednesday. We came through the Columbia Gorge and then on the East side of Mount Hood to the Redmond, Oregon area (Powell Butte). We saw a variety of scenery, everything from apple, peach and pear orchards to high desert, which is just another name for a desert in the mountains. We saw lots of wheat fields. Joe said they plant winter wheat just before it snows and it comes up in the spring and then they plant again right after the frost goes away and the moisture from the frost germinates the wheat and it grows in the high desert without irrigation. We saw miles and miles of the high desert area. Once again I took lots of pictures out of the motor home windows and I got some good ones and some not so good. But at least you will get an idea of what this area of the Oregon countryside looks like. Joe said that Oregon has a lot of different looks in different areas. Parts of Oregon have hardwood forests, parts have a lot of orchards and there are a lot of big ranches here. Some ranches have over 200,000 acre ranches. They have Angus, but Hereford are dominant. They use Brahma bulls because the cows calve easier with them. (Is that TMI???). There are also a lot of horses in this area. Unfortunately, we just don't have time to see all of Oregon, but at least we got to see this part.
We decided to play it safe and put the motor home in the shop and have the fuel leak fixed, so we have been her longer than we originally intended. They had to order the part. Merrell took it in Friday and we stayed with them last night and Merrell picked it up today with a new "governor housing" (of course you all know what that is, right?), so it's all fixed and we are going to head to Salt Lake City tomorrow morning. It has been so great seeing Mary and catching up on our lives over the past 40 years. She has a beautiful home and a wonderful husband. Her Mom is living with her right now and it was great to see her and get reacquainted. We have had a wonderful visit with them and hate to leave, but we just can't stay any longer. I think we are leaving around 10 or so in the morning.
I'm sure we will be taking more pictures tomorrow, so guess what???? Oh, yeah. That's another POST!!
Love, US
This looks like an oasis in the middle of a desert, doesn't it?
This is the Deschutes River at Maupin, Oregon. That's a small town on the road across Mount Hood. It was so strange to see this nice blue river right in the middle of the high desert area.
Isn't this just the neatest picture. I felt like I was in Saudi Arabia or in one of the old movies like Arabian Nights. It's actually dry land wheat, not sand!!!
This picture was taken in theMaupin area also. It has some greenery.....................
Once again here is my beloved barn.
Old horse drawn thrashing machine that was sitting beside the road.
Green and brown. A lot of this area had irrigation and those parts were so nice and green and the parts that weren't being irrigated were soooooooooooooo brown.
One of the orchards we saw on the way to Powell Butte
Another one of my barns
And yet another barn and COWS!!!! Green fields. Teeheehee
Ok, this time I will say this was taken to show the irrigation being done instead of the barn in the background. LOL
More green and brown mixed
What a view. It has kind of an awesome stark beauty. I can't explain it, but it is a sight to see.
Darn, another old empty building. :>)
Another orchard. All of the orchards we saw looked so healthy. They must have an awesome irrigation system.
Mary and I were in the kitchen using spoons as weapons. ONLY because the guys were being guys and we had to protect ourselves. LOL
Mary and her mother Lucille. Mary and I graduated together (won't tell you what year, but it was 40 years this year, LOL) I can't believe that Lucille is 79. She sure doesn't look or act it. She rivals me for glitz. She loves bedazzling things too.
Mary, Donna and Lucille. Together again after 40 years. I used to go home with Mary when we were in school. Lucille and Charlie (Mary's Dad) were like second parents to me. They also always went and listened to Carl and Merrell play music with Homer Milem and Lloyd Stevens.
Mary's husband Joe Hankins. I think he was camera shy!!! He was born in Colorado, but has lived in Oregon since he was three. He's a super nice guy and we're very happy for Mary. Merrell, Joe and Chuck got along really well. We're not sure who could tell the tallest tales. I think it was a tie. :>)
