Columbia County

Legend has it that Columbia County was named after the ill-fated space shuttle.  Legends tend to make the mundane more sexy, and regrettably my money is on Columbia County being named after the river on which passes by.  It's even spelled the same, so unless the river was named after the county, which was named after a blown up shuttle, then I just can't buy into the legend.

So it's October, and I have about 10 counties left to visit.  And the kids have soccer games every weekend and, um, it's October.  I needed to schedule some work meetings around the state, and Portland couldn't accommodate my free parking mandate, I turned to Columbia County and surprisingly, there was a small amount of free parking.  By a small amount I mean a buttload of free parking at a very nice building in St Helens.

As luck would have it, St Helens also has a Burgerville, which is my favorite fast food place.  I went there for lunch and had a pumpkin shake with my lunch.  One thing Burgerville does is on their receipt they include nutritional info and even have suggestions for healthier alternatives to what you order.  Oh and Columbia County was nice, too.  

Malheur County

This trip came on the heels of Harney County.  Malheur touches Idaho to the east and Nevada to the south and east.  Once again this is sagebrush country.  And once again, this is a beautiful place.

We were headed to Owyhee River, specifically Three Forks, which requires traveling over 30 miles on a gravel road.  One of the highlights of the drive in was seeing my first dead cow, very bloated with feet up in the air.  Regrettably I didn't get a picture.

It was a long drive getting out to what was to be our campsite.  It was in a gorge that you drove in to.  We expected a campground and there was no campground.  There was a river bar and a vault toilet and nobody there.

We set up the tent right along the river for the kids and adults slept in the SUV.  It was amazing.  The only detraction was the feeling that a sniper could take you out at any time.  I spent the entire evening catch bass after bass and the kids joined in.

Getting home from here was tough.  Another 30 miles on a gravel road that included a short stint in Idaho.  We got gas in Jordan Valley, which is in the mountain time zone, and drove 500 miles all the way back to Eugene.  It was then that I realized with absolute clarity that Oregon is 75% sagebrush country, but 75% (at least) live on the wet side of the mountains. 

Harney County, Part II

Part I of Harney County was climbing into the Steens Mountains and taking in amazing views. 

A bit of confusion was caused because Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is in Harney County, not Malheur County.  Just outside of Fields, we were thinking we were crossing into a new county, which was our goal.  It worked out OK, but my gubernatorial support may be dictated by the candidate that will change that name to Harney National Wildlife Refuge. 


Milkshakes inside


Fields: It was a 9 year old girl birthday day and the party consisted of getting a shake at the Fields General Store.  "The best burgers and shakes within a 100 miles." Knowing the remoteness of the place really enhances the slogan.  The shakes were great.

Clean living!

Alvord Hot Springs: This is a roadside attraction not to be missed.  We had the place to ourselves.  Long ago, someone constructed concrete pools and piped in hot water in.  There is a changing area clad in corrugated sheet metal and an indoor/outdoor pool (indoor also clad in sheet metal).  After several days in the desert, it was very refreshing to clean the dust off.  The 'seats' in the pools were upside down washing machine drums.

Alvord Desert

Alvord Desert: An old dried up large lake bed provided a safe place for our 3 kids (ages 13, 11, and 9)to drive under heavy supervision.  The 9 year old birthday girl was first and she sat on my lap.  She was content with driving maybe 100 feet.  The oldest went next and she was white-knuckled and topped out at 25 mph.  The middle child (the boy) was the most comfortable with driving and went as fast and far as we would let him.  The oldest child was white-knuckled in the backseat and wanted him out. 

Imagine a day being a kid that begins with milkshakes, then hanging in hot springs, followed by driving on the desert?  I never had a day like that, but my kids did!