Weiser, Idaho

Feeling refreshed from our relaxing day yesterday, we left LaGrande, Oregon, this morning with a plan to make it to Stanley, Idaho, this evening. As it turned out the trip to Stanley was farther than we thought, and we completely neglected to think about the time change, adding yet another hour to our trip. We decided to stop when we passed by an RV park in Weiser, and here we are for the night. It will make our trip to Stanley tomorrow a rather short day.

When I last wrote, we were getting ready to head into LaGrande for breakfast out. Remember that I told you the only "quilt shop" in town was the Sew & Soak? So you can imagine my excitement when we stopped for a red light and there it was, out my window to the right.

 Of course, I needed to snap a picture of that. We figure this is a mom and pop store. Mom does the sewing, while pop installs spas. Nevertheless, there are quilts in the window, so...who knows? Maybe it's a quilt shop after all. Closed on Sunday, so for now, it's anybody's guess.

Just around the corner was the restaurant of our desire, Earth & Vine. Oh look! There's a couple looking just like us getting out of their truck and heading inside!

The "bistro and wine bar" scared us a little, but they were serving Sunday brunch. The menu didn't make it easy to choose.

We started with mimosas while we perused our brunch selections.

Mike chose the Smoked Salmon Benedict.

I chose the savory crepes. The crepe was stuffed with mushrooms and scrambled eggs, then topped with hollandaise, green onions, and feta cheese. Tasty stuff.

After that, we drove the main drag toward Union, Oregon...not much to see there, but it was something to do. And, Oregon being a legal state, we saw this: a cannabis dispensary right there in little LaGrande, Oregon. What a world.

When we got back to the trailer, Himself was chomping at the bit to get outside. He's always more excited to go outside than he is to actually be outside.

After considerable coaxing, he left the safety of the RV step and actually set all four feet on the ground for about ten minutes.

He and Sadie have become good buddies, and they play quite a bit, chasing one another back and forth through the RV at all hours of the day and night. When they're not playing, she makes herself scarce. She's discovered she can sleep on top of the washer and feel fairly secure. She comes out in the evening, but during the day, she only comes out when there's food to be eaten.

After Smitty's short walk, I went on a walk on my own. Along the way, I saw this little tiny butterfly. You can see it's barely larger than those little clover flowers.

The RV park is right next door to a wildlife refuge and home to many birds. There are bird houses mounted almost literally on every tree and pole. Many of them show signs of having been inhabited recently.

At the lake end of the park, there is a very tall raptor nesting platform. We see it every year when we come. This year was the first time we'd seen signs of a nest. Then while out walking yesterday, I saw the bird...it's an osprey.

It was calling and calling, and I caught it on video. It was fairly windy, and so the video has a fair amount of wind noise, but you can hear the bird.

If you can't see the video, click right here.

Our RV was parked in what you might call the "catbird seat" since we had a clear view of everyone and everything coming and going. Of course, our shadow selves had to show up at some point, being rowdy, drinking margaritas, and making rude comments.

Eventually, we were treated to a dramatic sunset.

After breakfast this morning, we headed down Interstate 84 and took the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway after turning off in Baker City. This is the Oregon Trail Route as well, and there are interpretive exhibits all along the way. We stopped at a rest stop and took in the Blue Mountains and the vast expanse of the valley.

We traveled along the Powder River for much of the day.

When barking like a dog didn't keep Mike awake, we pulled off the road where he tipped back his seat and took a ten minute nap. I used the opportunity to get out and walk a little bit. While we were there I took this pano of the idyllic valley below.

It also gave me an opportunity to get a picture of some of the Desert Sunflowers that have been blooming all along the way.

When we reached Oxbow, Oregon, we traveled right along the Snake River for about ten miles 

before crossing over the river at Brownlee Dam

and into Idaho and Mountain Time.

It was a winding road for most of the way, and we still had far to go to reach Stanley. We decided to stop for the night in Weiser, and here we sit. It's a nice spot, quiet, and along little Monroe Creek. We haven't explored the creek at all yet, but we're told there isn't much to see this time of the year. It's fairly warm out and there are some annoying little black flies. Nevertheless, we'll get out in a while and explore.

Tomorrow we'll reach Stanley and spend a couple of days there before moving on to Craters of the Moon National Monument.