John Day

On to Seattle and then back home.

August 7

Following a restful sleep in the Honeymoon Suite at the WhiteBirdSummit Lodge after our trip through the Magruder Corridor, it was back on the road at 5:30 a.m. headed towards Riggins, ID on U.S. 95.  The view of White Bird Canyon from the top of the old White Bird road is shown below.

After an excellent breakfast at the River Rock Cafe in Riggins, we followed the Little Salmon River to New Meadows, and turned left towards Council, Idaho where we jumped off onto the Indian Valley cutoff towards Ola and Black Canyon dam.  The cattle on the open-range south of Indian Valley were beginning to show stress as did the hills as I drove south towards Ola.

Leaving the gravel near Sweet, Idaho, we drove through Emmet where we joined U.S. 20 and then cutoff on Idaho Hwy 52 to Payette, ID where I was born.  The lack of rain was evident south of Council, ID and visibility was hampered by haze and smoke from various fires.

 Following lunch in Payette, it was over to Ontario, OR ... out to Vale on US 20 where we turned north on US 26 to John Day where we spent the night.  As we crossed the Oregon Trail, we took a picture of the prairie wagon.

The ranch land and timber on this stretch of road evidenced signs of drought everywhere. 

In the evening, we worked on the Musings for Monday and Tuesday at the Americas Best Value Inn in John Day. The internet connection was intermittant which slowed down our efforts. Today's mileage was 334 miles.

August 8

After posting the Musings for Monday and Tuesday, it was west to Mount Vernon where we noticed a lot of pickup trucks at a little cafe with a name of Silver Spur where we decided to stop and eat.  For $5.95, it was coffee, two eggs scrambled, bacon, and two pancakes. Delicious. 

It was then out to the fossil bed lookout. The John Day Fossil Beds are a national monument and continues to unearth skeletons of past mammals and other life.

It was then back on the road to Prineville and  Madras as we drove along the John Day River.

The views of Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams from the road was simply spectacular.

At Hood River we joined I-84 again for the trip into Portland for a interesting dinner with a few subscribers where we discussed the current economic market again. Today's mileage was 309 miles.

August 9 - 11

After posting the Market Musings, we headed north to Seattle on I-5 to attend the Stockcon conference at the Red Lion Hotel in downtown Seattle arriving shortly after 2 p.m.  Today's mileage was only 193 miles. On Saturday night, we had dinner at the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field at the conclusion of the Stockcon conference.

August 12-14

On Sunday morning at 3:37 a.m., we drove out of the Red Lion Parking garage headed home via I-90 east over the Lake Washington Bridge without any traffic.  At  Cle Elm, the fire was just starting which would later grow into a massive problem.

Turning onto I-86 south, we managed to make Pendleton's IHOP for breakfast after turning onto I-84 after crossing the mighty Columbia River once again.

An early lunch at the Chinese Buffet in Ontairio saw us washing the F-150 and refueling once again at the Boise Airport Chevron before heading south towards Twin Falls.  As we drove south from Boise, we could see vast stretches of range land that had been burned since our trip in July north on this same road and which may have contributed to the smoke and haze we had encountered earlier in the Jackson Hole Region. 

At 6:00 p.m., we arrived at the Hampton Inn again in Tremonton, UT, had dinner next door at Denny's, and then visited a few irrigated corn fields around Tremonton before refueling the F-150 for the next day's jaunt.  Today's corn prices should make the local farmers very pleased as the ears looked great.  Today's mileage was 763.

Early Monday morning, it was time to head south on I-15 toward Provo where we managed to open the Cracker Barrel restaurant at 6:00 a.m. for another breakfast.  Then as rain began falling, it was onto U.S. 6 up and over Soldiers Summit to Price and Green River where we turned east onto I-70 towards Denver still driving in rain showers. 

Sixty miles east of Denver, we finally outrain the lousy weather and decided to get some additional fuel at Strasburg, CO before trying to stretch my luck to Limon, CO.  Arriving at Limon, we found all the motels full so we headed south on US 287 towards Lamar, CO where we found a room at an Econolodge. Today's mileage was 802 miles.

Leaving Lamar about 5:00 a.m. CDT, we continued south on US 287 to Amarillo where we had breakfast at an IHOP.  Then it was just six more hours home to Dallas where we arrived at 3:30 p.m. Total Mileage was 579 miles. 

To return to the 2012 Trip Log, click here.

Fred Richards

August 28, 2012