LaGrande, Oregon

It was a rather short day of driving yesterday. We arrived at our usual first day stopping place relatively early in the afternoon. We're at the Eagles Hot Lake RV Park in LaGrande, Oregon. I think we were both so worn out from getting ready to go that we needed to spend some time sitting and relaxing. The next two days will be fairly long if we are to make it to Moab on Sunday, as planned.

The sun was intense for the first few hours after we arrived, and we spent several hours just sitting in the shade of the camper. There are others here, but we are at the far end of the campground where we had some nice privacy and quiet. There is a train nearby, but it was far enough away that the noise didn't bother us.

As the sun's intensity subsided, we went for a walk around the park. There is a wildlife refuge just across the road, and there must have been thousands of birds flying around and singing. We saw a lot of red-winged blackbirds, ducks, and a few snowy egrets. 

Of course, we never embark on a journey like this without our shadow selves. What would we do without them?

There is a stream running along the boundary of the park, and it was a lovely evening after the sun dipped below the hill to the southwest.

We met the world's friendliest kitty on our walk.

Don't tell Gracie and Smitty, okay?

And even though I'm always missing my kitties when we travel without them, this one was a good substitute.

We've stayed at this park at least three times. Someone has pride of ownership, and we always notice that it's a little nicer than it was the last time we visited. This time, someone had gone to a lot of effort to build tables and benches using old farming equipment. There were more old wagon wheels stored behind the clubhouse.

Here are some fellow travelers. We passed them on the interstate, and then they pulled into the park about an hour behind us. It's a modest trailer, but it clearly doesn't dampen their enthusiasm for their home away from home.

I wrote a lengthy post about the history of this place and this park, and it's interesting. You can see the Hot Lake Hotel off in the distance in the image below. The place is named for the hot springs in the area, and this lake which gives off steam when the weather is cooler. If you're interested, you can find my blog post about the hotel and the area right here. It's worth a read and there are lots more pictures.

As the sun went down, it painted the surrounding hills in oranges and yellows and it was lovely.

The temperatures cooled from the high eighties to the high fifties overnight. We'll be getting an early start today. We have many miles to go before we're finished. Today's destination is yet to be determined. For now...coffee and breakfast.