Dinner at the Diamond
First, let us welcome Mike and Sharon, Jerry and Shary, Jim and Randa and Helen. They have us spread out from the Sod House Ranch (more on this later), the visitor center and general maintenance.
The outside "guests" at the Diamond Hotel
The Diamond hotel trip was a suggestion from Roger. He is a volunteer who was already here at the refuge when we arrived. He is a photographer (among the many hats he wears) and Sally has been picking his brain about the use of a camera to get the good shots. Mike and Sharon, Jerry and Shary and Helen all went to enjoy the family style meal at the hotel. The pork loin and vegetables were fantastic. We’ll probably go back (maybe next year!)
Kiger Gorge, Steens Mt, Oregon
After getting up one morning and seeing the smoke was missing from the sky, we decided to take a trip up to the highest mountain around, The Steens. We had lunch at the Frenchglen Hotel (there we go, eating again) and headed up the mountain. We looked into Kiger Gorge, a perfect valley made by a glacier, it is beautiful. We ran into a group there, one of whom attended Auburn University and married a lady from Jacksonville (home of Tom’s college).
View to the east from Steens Mt (Mann Lake in the distance)
The next week saw us head out to Boise Idaho. We had several small projects in mind. One was to find the Camping World where we have scheduled another appointment to try to have our satellite dish repaired. Maybe we’ll get lucky this time. We also ate at a Basque restaurant. Basque is a region in the Pyrenees Mountains in Spain and France. The food is similar to Greek and Indian, and quite tasty.
Judging the salsa at the fair
The highlight of the trip was an adventure at the Western Idaho Fair. We saw stock animals and a bit of a barrel run. There were many breeds of horses, cattle, hogs and sheep. We witnessed a salsa contest. We saw canning and food preservation booths. We ate fair fare, and Sally took a ride on a large swing. It was a lot of fun.
Swinging at the West Idaho State Fair
Animal exhibits at the fair
We arrived back at the refuge for a volunteer pot luck supper. It seems we eat a lot, but isn’t that the way to socialize. The group here is an interesting mix of experienced volunteers and one newbie couple. One couple was in Alaska at the same time as we were last year.
Volunteer Potluck (taken by Roger)
We finally got to visit the Sodhouse Ranch. Everyone asks if you can still see the sodhouse, of course, and the answer is no. The refuge has a couple of signs explaining that the sodhouse was very near refuge HQ and was the first "structure" in the area, which eventually took the name of Sodhouse (as in Sodhouse School, Sodhouse Farms, etc.) The Sodhouse Ranch was actually the northern outpost of Peter French's ranch. They made sure to have people living there in order to maintain possession of that section of the ranch. There are several buildings remaining from the ranch's heydey in the late 1890's. The buckaroo's bunkhouse is actually where Peter French's body was taken after he was killed and where they held the inquest. There's a long barn for the horses, the original fenced corral for the cattle, the ranch office and the icehouse, plus several other old buildings. Very interesting...
This week is our last at the refuge. It is easy to believe in the song “Home on the Range”. The stars are very bright at night. The sage brush goes on for miles. We have seen deer and antelope. We missed the buffalo here, but we have seen them on this trip. We are looking forward to getting home to family and friends, but it is still a sad thought to leave such a nice place. We wish to thank the staff here at Malheur NWR. Our experience has been great.
Sally says goodbye to the BIG GUY at the Visitor Center
Next report is from the road home.
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