Day 199

A little mother in our front yard.

Day 198

Day 197

Day 196

Day 195

A new season for the orchard across the street.

Day 194

Day 193--Antelope (the town, not the animal)

Antelope achieved international fame when Rajneeshpuram went in next door. That history has been reported recently in the Oregonian, and it was alive and well when we stopped at the Antelope Cafe for lunch. A man at the counter was going through a pile of laminated newspaper articles from that period, and there was information for sale about the days of Ma Annan Sheila.

The Antelope Cafe was also under new ownership. We had the special, which was half a turkey sandwich and homemade chicken with rice soup. It was nice to have something that wasn't a hamburger. The soup was wonderful--I'd drive all the way back for more.

We visited Rajneeshpuram when Don bought the commune's dairy herd. We heard jokes about red milk for a long time (Rajneeshees--maybe it's Rajneeshis--wore red shirts).

Day 192--Richland

Richland, Oregon, has a population of around 140-150 people. We found one small motel, The Hitching Post, and we were the only guests that night. It had signs in the room warning us not to clean fish or game, so I would guess that most of the people who stay there are in Richland for the fishing and hunting.

Don knew the man who owned Richland Feed and Seed, which was right across the street from the motel--he used to be a dairy farmer--and the woman who owned Annie's Cafe, where we had a chiliburger dinner, went to McNary High School, as did her sons. It really is a small world.

It was in Richland that, at 7 a.m., Henry bolted from the room, headed for Huntington on his own. When I stepped out to try and stop him, the door slammed shut. The keys were in the room with Kip, and the store across the street, which doubled as the motel office, didn't open for an hour. All we could do was lock Henry in the car and walk down the street for breakfast. When the store opened, we got a spare key and rescued Kip. I can't imagine what he was thinking.

Even though there was one other restaurant in town--the Shorthorn Restaurant and Tavern--we ate breakfast at Annie's again (what with Eveline being from Keizer and all).



Richland sits on Oregon Route 86 near the Oregon-Idaho border, and it was from there that we headed down a long gravel road to Huntington, following the Snake River most of the way.

Day 191--Huntington

Highway 30 to Huntington

Huntington, Oregon, on Highway 30 near the Snake River, got its start in 1870 as Miller's Stagecoach Station. In 1884, the rails of the Oregon Short Line and the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company line were joined in Huntington, and it became a regional rail hub.

Named for J.B. and J.M. Huntington, brothers who purchased Miller's holdings in 1882, the town became a shipping point for cattle.

It had a reputation as a wild frontier town, with its share of saloons, opium dens, and gunslingers. At the turn of the century, Huntington developed a reputation as "Sin City," and Governor Oswald West moved to clean it up, along with Copperfield, in 1912-1914.

In 1929, in part thanks to the railroad, the town's population was more than 4,000, but today it's less than 500.



We stopped for lunch at Howell's Cafe and the Streamliner Lounge in Huntington (yes, I know it says Clark's Cafe, but the window to the far left of the building says Howell's). I had the oysters that are, according to the cafe's MySpace page, brought in fresh from the Oregon Coast by the owner's friend, "Seafood Willy." I believe it; they were delicious.

Day 190--Unity and the Burnt River area

Burnt River Valley between Hereford and Unity.

Unity, Oregon, is located in the Burnt River Valley in Baker County. Its post office was established in 1891, and a sawmill existed in the town for many years.

In 2000, the population of Unity was around 130. When we stopped there last week, a young couple who had just taken over the local gas station/convenience store/motel were in the process of remodeling and stocking shelves. I'm not sure if they were replacing population or adding to it. The Water Hole, the local tavern/cafe, was also under new ownership, having recently been purchased by the Wilsons, a couple from Prineville. In addition to the weekly card games, they were planning to bring in a band for dances. They are also expecting a huge influx of business in the next week or so, as hundreds of sage rat hunters descend on the town for the annual Unity Sage Rat Hunting Competition.

Before we left, we wished the Wilsons good luck with their new business and, I think, we envied them just a little bit.

Day 189

I took a lot of photos on our trip to Eastern Oregon, so I will share a few more of those, even though they aren't taken on the same day they are posted. I'm hoping someone can identify this little bird.

Day 188

Antelope spotted just outside of -- wait for it -- the town of Antelope.

Day 187

Day 186

Linda at her window in Sumpter.

Day 185

Don panning for gold.

Day 184

Near Cove, Oregon.

Day 183

Color and exposure are hard to judge on Netbook, so I'm hoping this looks okay. And NO LIGHTROOM. So sad.

Day 182

Happy for another day of semi-spring--with the good and the bad of it.

Day 181

The blue in that bottom photo is the sky--in case you have forgotten.

Day 180

Day 179

Tree at My Window by Robert Frost

Tree at my window, window tree,
My sash is lowered when night comes on;
But let there never be curtain drawn
Between you and me.

Vague dream-head lifted out of the ground,
And thing next most diffuse to cloud,
Not all your light tongues talking aloud
Could be profound.

But, tree, I have seen you taken and tossed,
And if you have seen me when I slept,
You have seen me when I was taken and swept
And all but lost.

That day she put our heads together,
Fate had her imagination about her,
Your head so much concerned with outer,
Mine with inner, weather.

Day 178

Hoping no one will notice I missed a day ...

Day 177

This was not an easy shot to get. It's pretty dark in the milking parlor, and I didn't have the good flash. I used the on-camera flash, but still needed to do quite a bit of exposure and temperature correction.

Day 176

Day 175

Small drops of green. It's SPRING!