My walk this morning took me around a new subdivision which had view lots overlooking the mighty Columbia. Very appealing!
Fairly short miles today so we decided to take the "scenic route" over hill and dale to Pendleton. The weather is clear but still very hot. We have a reservation for the Pendleton Underground Tour tomorrow morning.
Today's ride really breaks into thirds. The significant feature of the area around Wasco and on toward Condon is the hundreds, maybe thousands, of wind turbines! The road courses down into a canyon of the John Day River which is winding its way to the Columbia. At the river we came across the Cottonwood Canyon Recreation area. It was a nice, new looking park with camping and a variety of activity areas but there was NOBODY there! This where we saw the picnic table with the built in solar charging station for your phone! And this place is many, many miles from any population center so we wondered why it was even here. Pork Barrel?
Condon seems like a nice enough little town, but, boy, is it far away!
The section from Condon to Heppner is quite different. Rolling hills, an occasional canyon, no water, no trees. Its desolate! What we found most interesting was vast fields of unharvested wheat and many more acres that looked like they had not been planted this year. And no farmers around, either! Heppner is the county seat of Morrow County. The courthouse is an impressive building! Just before we got into Heppner we came across the Willow Creek Park which featured a small lake behind a dam where we stopped for lunch. The Heppner United Methodist church sign says Jim Monroe is the pastor - can that be the same Jim Monroe we knew from years ago?
The section from Heppner to Pendleton is different yet. More rolling hills and canyons, with some fairly high altitudes (3800'). There seems to be a bit more water here as we passed by some small alfalfa fields being cut and bailed. No more wheat fields.
We arrived at our Best Western free night in Pendleton at about 4:30. The temperature is 103! Time to enjoy their swimming pool before dinner at Shari's across the street.
Watching the M's lose again!
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