Final soak in the hotness & where's the Antelope?

Good thing we tucked in pretty early, because the sun came peaking over the car & started eating up our shade around 7am.
We que’d up some pop tarts & EmergenC for breakfast & headed back down to the springs for a morning soak.



AHHHHHH…..



Keeping Stella out of the sun proved to be more of a challenge in the morning than in the evening, but Topher rigged up a sweet nursing station for me with the umbrelly




where I put the whammy on her & she’s sleeping soundly now for her afternoon nap. Hopefully we can put on 3 or 4 hours in the car & make it to at least Lakeview.



Thing is, there really isn’t a straight shot to Lakeview from the Alvord Desert. You can go south to Denio & cross into Nevada & then over, or you can go around the Steens & up to Frenchglen & then out into the Hart Mountains. The Denio route is longer, but is a paved road. The Hart Mountain route is an unimproved gravel road, but it is through a wildlife preserve & is a national scenic backway.

We had to get gas too, & Topher had heard rumors of killer milkshakes in Frenchglen, so we went that way. For no other reason more compelling than the killer milkshakes.

Frenchglen, however, proved to be a three fold downer. The giant mean lady with tinted coke bottle glasses at the “gas station” (which was literally two pumps in the ground & nothing else) said the milkshakes were in Fields, which we missed when we took the road to Frenchglen. She also wouldn’t let us keep the car running while we pumped so we could run the AC for the babe. She also didn’t take anything other than cash, so we only got as much gas as we had cash money for. Oh well, I guess if you had to sit on your ass all day, day in & day out, waiting for the 2 cars that came through to fill up & ask you why you only accept cash, you’d be a poopy pants too.

Frenchglen does have a cute little hotel though, & the surrounding area is green & lush & beautiful, at the base of the Jackass Mountains (no joke), so I guess it has that going for it.



We just crossed into the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge & we’ve seen 2 antelope. Trouble is, they were both on the outside of the Refuge. Don’t they know they’re supposed to be on this side of the invisible boundary!?? Silly antelope.
Oh wait, Topher just saw two antelope & there’s a black & white eagle hawk….& a horse.



All this land for two antelope, that’s a fat spread! In my next life, I’m coming back as an antelope. Especially if I can live here. Gorgeous. Big skies, lush country, Johnny cash on the stereo, takes me back to Simpler Times.





Oregon rules.

THE SOUND OF SILENCE

That was a fun side adventure! We headed back out onto the major road along the Steens Mountains & the Alvord Hot Springs, where we knew we’d get a nice soak. Little Stellita slept the whole way until we reached the springs, where we decided we better make some dinner.



I nursed her in the shade of the car while Topher got out the cooking aparati & Tasty Bites. The trusty little camping stove I bought in Joseph perfectly cooked up some grub & we headed out to the tin shack & Alvord Hot Springs for a nice evening soak while the sun set behind the mountains.




The spring comes out of the ground near the road & then trickles down where a series of pipes have been engineered to serve two separate pools, one hot, one REALLY hot. The cooler of the two pools was mostly enclosed with aluminum siding & there was a little changing area behind it for the more modest types. Although, in the entire hour or more that we were out there, we didn’t see a single soul on the road, or anywhere else, as far as the eye could see. Its kinda funny, hangin’ out on the side of the road wearing nothing but what you came into this world with, in a place so exposed, yet so isolated at the same time.
Multiple species of dragonflies bustled around us, hunting down their evening meal, some flies buzzed around occasionally, but other than that the loudest & most pronounced sound on the playa was the sound of silence. Its this sort of heavy pressing quiet all around you & the only thing you can really hear is how bad your ears ring from all those years playing in bands.
We went back and forth between the tubs while Stellita chilled in her carseat carrier. Topher figured out how to plug up the really hot one so it wasn’t quite so hot. If I had to guess I’d say it was probably in the high hundred & teens 116, 117 or so. The only other time I’ve been in a spring that hot was at Harbin Hot Springs, in the silent pool.



Really nice & relaxing.

We decided to take a drive up the road across from the springs & find a campsite overlooking the playa so we could soak again in the morning on the way out.

As the sun set, we came upon a nice little flat up the mountain a ways where Topher pitched the tent & I nursed our little girl into a deep sleep for the night.



The unrelenting quiet all around us coupled with the setting half moon on the horizon & the abundance of stars in the sky all made for quite a nice opportunity to do what else….surf the internet on our iPhones! Yes, that’s right, there was cell phone reception, & therefore internet access for the addicted iPhone user. Slow as it was, I did get to catch up on my good friends blog Malaysia Life: I missed a lot while we’ve been out of range! Sad but true, surfing the internet in such a beautiful place was pretty fun.

Nighty night!

Heat Wave? Let's go to the Alvord Desert!

Nothing like a good nights sleep on crisp sheets in a bed while your baby & your dog share the other bed, snoring soundly, to raise your spirits & ready your heart once again for adventure.
Late checkout, hotel breakfast, watched the weather channel to find out about our desert bound prospects & leisurely bathed & fed the babe.

News of the heatwave hitting the pacific northwest was all over the news, record temps, 107, 110 & higher in areas. We’re headed for the desert & what’s the weather like out there? Sunny & in the high 80’s, early 90’s, a nice breeze.


We’re rolling along the unimproved road stretching along the Steens Mountains right now & the lush green “desert” is before us, little puffy white clouds in the clear blue sky, and a cool breeze at our backs.



The irony.

Everyone back home is saying you’re headed for the desert in a heat wave? & we’re here in the desert in the coolest part of the state right now!

We spoke with my mom & she says not to come to Medford until Friday when it will cool down to 99…It’s 107 there today. They don’t have air conditioning either, so I think we’ll hang out here in the cool desert for a few days….our timing & luck….impeccable.

Once in the Alvord, we took a side road around into the Mickey Basin & the Mickey Hot Springs.




We didn’t know what kind of Hot Springs to expect, but we saw it on the map & we had plenty of gas & the kid was still sleeping, so what the heck?
After some trick road turn offs tried to lure us off the trail, we navigated the signless desert myriad of roads accurately & reached the Mickey Hot Springs. It was well signed & said “EXTREMELY HOT WATER ~ Sensitive Geological Area ~ Areas of ground where you may break through ~ keep pets on leash”. Yikes. We weren’t really looking to burn our legs off, but lets check it out anyway.

We got packed up to go adventuring & geared Stella up in her full body white desert garb. I had nursed her in the car while Topher scouted out the springs.

Topher carried her in cradled in his arm & within minutes she was passed out again. Cute. We came upon a large deep spring with crazy orange algae growing all around it. It was super deep & looked very hot. Testing it with your toe proved that theory. It looked like there might be a place where people had gotten in, but I don’t know how. You’d be boiled alive in that thing, not to mention how would you get out?

There was a littler tub up the stream that had a ledge where people obviously had sat. I put my toe in & was like, NO WAY! Topher got in, & sat on the ledge, I don’t know how.




As far as I could go was up to my knees. It was so hot that if you moved very much at all the water that had cooled down around your skin would move away & the scalding water around it would start burning you again. Not so fun. Topher seemed to like it though….crazy! After giving up on the idea that we’d be enjoying a soak, we hiked around this geological oddity & found some crazy natural features rivaling those in Yellowstone.

Heading out to places South/Stella & Mama Meltdown Madness/Salvation in John Day

4am baby cat wakes me up to nurse & after that I can’t really get back to sleep. The birds start chirping (the chirds start burping) around 5 am after I’m finished nursing & the light in the morning sky is illuminating our tent perched on the precipice of a yawning canyon. Inigo looks at me like he’s bored too, so we venture out for some dawn patrol photography. I think some of the area fires were hazing the sky a little much for the really clear shot I was looking for, but it was gorgeous nonetheless.



We didn’t really have much of a plan about where to go that day other than try to put some miles on to the south & maybe try to make it to Burns , babe willing. Technically we are supposed to be in Southern Oregon to visit my folks on Thursday, but at the rate we are going, that isn’t gonna happen if we don’t get some road under our wheels.




We backtracked down the Grizzly Ridge & mailed a package in Imnaha.



Then we followed the Imnaha river along the canyon with the Grizzly Ridge to our left & the Sheep Creek divide to our right. Really pretty. We wound down past the Hells Canyon border & then followed Pine Creek to Halfway & Richland. In Richland Stella was waking up so we stopped & hoped to swim/snack/nurse at the reservoir there.

We got all the beach gear out, but took one look at the warm, green lake & thought twice. Good thing Topher inquired. A seasoned fishing looking guy informed us that there were blood flukes in the lake this time of year. He had them twice & when they burrow in your skin they don’t really do much, but if you scratch at them they burn like @#*$&()! Good thing we didn’t take Stella for her first fresh water swim!




We had some good naked & tummy time instead.

Back on the road & trying to make it to Burns just wasn’t in the cards.

From that point on the day is sort of a blur of soothing, nursing, stopping, screaming, fussing, changing diapers, stopping, (swam in powder river reservoir finally at 6pm), until it all culminated in mama & babe crying together in the backseat pulled over on the side of the road 1 mile outside of John Day at 9pm.

Papa sprung for the last room at the Best Western & went & got AMAZING steak dinners from the last restaurant that was open just as it was closing. AHHHHH.. Funny, once we were in the hotel room, Stella was wide awake & calm. I think she just wanted out of that carseat! I don’t blame her…I was feeling it too. We convinced the hotel staff to leave the pool/hot tub open for us for an extra half an hour, so we got to soak a little to ease our nerves.





That kid was awake until 11pm!!!! I don’t know what was up, maybe too much sleep the night before? Maybe she had a ball of toxic gas in her duodenum or her Iliosecal valve? Maybe she just likes to stay up late in hotel rooms like her mama….ever since I was a kid traveling with my dad on trips to deliver cars in California, to my touring days with M4, I have loved to stay up late in hotel rooms. Who can blame her. That was a long day for me & I've been doing this kinda stuff for way longer....she's only been on this planet for 2 months, so let's cut her some slack.


We’re in for it.

The Road Calls & Hat Point Excursion

Boy did I sleep. I nursed stella through my stupor in the early morning & then Topher took her & Inigo out for a hike up Chief Joseph Mountain, little did I know.




I don’t think I woke up until almost Noon! MMMMM that sure did feel good after not getting much sleep in Pendleton & traveling pretty hard those last two days. Waking up by that little stream was such a treat.


It was hard to leave that place, but alas, the road calls…..

On the way out of town we took a dip in the Wallowa Lake (really nice & clear & cool) while Stella had her daily meltdown. By the time we got into Joseph, she was crashed & we hit a little Mexican joint for dinner. Bellies full, we stocked up on camping supplies & ice & a few little things & gas & headed out to Hat Point, overlooking the Snake River & the Hells Canyon area.

Beautiful country we live in. It is such a pleasure to be able to get out & appreciate it. All in our own state too!

We wound our way through the canyons & sculpted hills along Little Sheep Creek until we came upon Imnaha. The bustling metropolis of Imnaha boasts a closed down meeting hall, the tiniest post office I have ever seen & a general store. Probably hasn’t changed much since it was first settled in the early 1800’s. This is the kind of place where you can almost feel the history, both of the original Native American residents & the white settlers that came later to change this country forever.
The road to Hat Point is 28 miles of really respectable graded dirt & loose rock. Not too many potholes or washboards to speak of. Our neighbor was up here a few weeks back & made it sound like a super scary death defying journey. We were a little concerned when we passed the sign “extreme grades narrow road with no pullouts”, but it really wasn’t that bad.



Nothing compared to the road to Punta Abreojos in Baja, nothing compared to the road to Pena Bruja in Costa Rica, and certainly nothing compared to the road we climbed/crawled up at Elephant Hill in the Canyonlands. When you’ve driven to Costa Rica & back, its hard to find roads that bad in the states.



We hit it just as the sunset golden hour was glowing in the western sky & the babe was sleeping soundly, lulled further into her baby dreams by the smooth shudder of the car over the gravel.



The road traverses the length of the Grizzly Ridge to the South & then juts back to the north east along the edge of a series of ridge plateaus. The geology & sheer force of nature is evident everywhere you look. You are on top of a plateau that has been transformed by the millennia into the steepest canyon grade in North America, dropping an astonishing 8000 feet to the Snake river below. Definitely not as vast as the Grand Canyon or the Canyonlands, but deeper & just as fine an evening can be spent gazing at the wonder of it all.



The lookout at Hat Point was established as a point to spot lightning strikes & fires in the early 1800’s. Back then, one guy lived way the heck out there & would keep an eye out for fires. When he spotted one, he would walk/run or ride his horse to the fire & put it out HIMSELF! Think of how much money our government could save if they stuck to this method of fire/forest management. Crazy settlers, they had some serious cajones in those days.…I think we are getting lazier as a culture as technology becomes more & more capable.






The lookout tower is still there & the view from above is fantastic.




Down below the tower the view is great as well.


Camping nearby is not too shabby either.

Wallowa Mountains/ Kurt & Sia’s Wedding/The Groove Bomb

….and we did make it to the wedding!




Fortunately it was running about an hour behind & we were about an hour late. BUT, when we got there, the wedding party was lining up for their procession, so we had to potty Inigo & change into our wedding garb real quick like in the parking lot. Luckily Stellita was accommodating & just slept in her carseat through all that. We carried her into the ceremony set in the lovely canyon at the end of Wallowa Lake next to Chief Joseph Mountain. The sound of opera singers echoing the canyon & eagles soaring & deer grazing here and there, I felt like I had entered a fairy tale.
Stella made it all the way to the very end of the ceremony when she woke up from her nap ravenous so we walked her back to the car to feed her. We got to see the whole ceremony though! Yippee! She serenaded the guests with her cries while papa topher changed her diaper as they left the peaceful event.

The irony.

I sat in the car after her change & fed her & watched as a doe & a buck entered the grounds to graze. Some of the party goers wanted to play & the deer were so friendly, they just let people go right up to them & pet them….among other things….






After the deer/nursing interlude, we decided to go find the camping area & set up our tent. We had about an hour or so before dinner, so it was good timing.

We pulled into the campground at the headwaters of the Wallowa River & there was a pretty little site right on the creek. Stella had been fussy since she woke up, but when we got to the campsite and got her out into the fresh air & into the sound of the water rushing past, she fell fast asleep. She’s definitely a water girl! Born in the water, swam in the Caribbean when I was 7 months pregnant, her first camping trip at the ocean & I swam through my whole pregnancy @ the Dishman Community Center. The closer we can stay to water on this trip, the better for all of us I think!





After we set up our tent, we headed back down to the hall for dinner & dancing. By this time it was about 5pm & I realized I hadn’t eaten anything but pop tart & jerky all day.…not so good for a nursing mother. I needed some calories!
Topher took Stella for a walk up the Tramline to calm her down from her nightly witching hour while I got in the food line. Although it took a while for the food to arrive, it was worth the wait! We had a great dinner with fresh salmon & veggies & salads & pork tenderloin in a hall filled with light & laughter at the happy union of these two sweethearts. The roasts/toasts were hilarious & heartfelt, with just the right mix of joking & sincerity. That is my favorite part of weddings, when the family & friends get to pay their respects & do a little storytelling. It felt good to laugh & sing with the community to hold these two up. I haven’t been getting out much these days, so it was a really nice treat to share in that.

After the dinner reception, a second reception was scheduled out at one of Kurt’s highschool buddies’ ranch. We got Stella all bundled up & Topher wore her in the baby bjorn & we loaded up the Groove Bomb to max capacity, rocking out to Stevie Wonder & James Brown. Stella’s first Groove Bomb ride! The Groove Bomb was the first bus M4 used for touring. It is an old Tri-Met bus converted to an RV. It has facilitated & seen some fabulous events, this night being one of them. Now it is mostly used for Safety Third functions & other slightly dangerous mobile parties.

When we got to the ranch we unloaded under the endlessly starry night of the open range & Topher & I watched in amazement as an instant Burning Man in a Bus was constructed all around us. The ranch hands placed giant bales of straw all around the field for lounging & a big flatbed truck for a dance platform. Dex, a pyrotechnic master constructed the fire torches & fire cannons on top of the Groove Bomb. Solovox set up his one man sound onslaught & Tito & others set up the bar/buffet.
The fire show that ensued was insane. It was crazy to sit back & watch it all & think, we are out in the middle of nowhere in Wallowa County. That had to be the most underground Burning Man style party ever produced, Melissa & I joked about it the next day.

It was however, pretty loud & we new parents were slightly concerned for our little one without any earplugs handy. We were also pretty whooped & getting horizontal was sounding good after a couple hours of enjoying the instaparty. She did sleep the entire time we were out to her credit. I think all that touring & gigging with her in my belly has solidified her as being very at home & comfortable in the party environment.

In our excitement to go ride on the Groove Bomb, we completely spaced our ride back situation. We didn’t bring Stella’s carseat….oopsie! Oh well, I guess Topher will just wear her in the baby bjorn in the back seat…that’s about the safest place she could be I’d imagine, strapped to her papa. Hell, our parents never even made us wear seatbelts back in the day. I remember flying around in the back of our Suburban on the back country roads, Dad hauling ass around corners, us sliding around laughing & giggling. Somehow, we survived….Stella would too this night.

Luckily there were very accommodating rancher’s sons standing by to shuttle people back, completely sober & really nice kids. Michael, our chauffeur, told us all about the ranching life, about their 5000 acre ranch, about how they ONLY had 200 cows & how that wasn’t that many out in these parts. About how they ONLY hay about 1700 acres worth of land & how that is not that much out here, but that it is bone breaking work. About how when he’s not working what does he do for fun? Rest he says. He was only 21 but he says he has the body of a 50 year old. He brought us right back all the way to our car & Topher gladly tipped him well.

That baby was so out when we got back to our tent, we could have played checkers on her & she wouldn’t have woken up. Sweet sweet sleep, by the sweetest little stream, sweet sweet dreams sweet family…..

the great escape...coast to pendleton & hit pdx pit stop...WHEW!

We packed up the next morning & hiked all our #@*& out to the car with the speed of an overlanding giant snail. We made it out unscathed, a belly full of oysters & our first family camping adventure under our belts...that much the wiser. Now we are in for a whole another kind of lesson: driving back to PDX for gear transfer & then out to Pendleton where we'll stay the night at the Vidos Esq. penthouse. The next day our friends Kurt & Sia are getting married in the Wallowa Mountains in the very NorthEast corner of Oregon at 3pm, so we are going to do our damndest to make it. Staying the night in Pendleton will be a much needed reprieve from sleeping on the ground for 3 days.



Driving...finally! Stella had a MASSIVE meltdown in PDX. I think she missed the sound of the ocean & was really mad we left there. We finally got her down & in the car & were able to drive the entire way to Pendleton with her asleep (about 3 hours). We got in around midnight & hit the sack. Boy were we tired...don't forget we hiked out that same day/morning...that was a very long day of travel & Stella did over all really well.



Rise & shine! I got up & took a SHOWER! Ahhhh....



now my challenge is to get these two up. Come on! the wedding is at 3pm & it is 3 hours away & it is 11 AM now! this is the response: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz



on the way, Stella gets a diaper change on the hood of the car. Classy.



We made it! There's the Wallowa Mountains & the lake in Joseph, Or. Oopsie though, it is 3pm when I took this photo....hopefully the wedding isn't starting on time?

Will our heroes make it????