Started today from Mitchell.
Valerie, Deb and Brent are the bloggers today! We rode through the Painted Hills after a 6.5 mile uphill that challenged many of the riders since the day had been titled an "easy" day. Beautiful scenery and great downhill rides made this a magical day.
Ended up in Dayville, Oregon, a town of about 150 people with great local pride. Whereas many of us felt that Mitchell, although interesting and with some lovely people, was a bit downtrodden, Dayville seems to be moving forward. There are banners down main street with pictures of graduating high school seniors, a nice hotel and RV park, cafes with espresso and more than one restaurant. Our campground host offered us fresh garden salad from her own garden, introduced us to her family and delighted in the rain.
Sage covered hills emit a whiff of sage (no surprise!). The winding two lane road that ran downhill almost all the way was perfect for bike riding and included a lava layered picture gorge. Picnic lunch was at Cant Historical Hall followed by a tour through the John Day Paleontology museum where we saw, besides lots of children from Portland public school, fossils from the local volcanic flows. The Clarno Formation preserved a picture of a diverse climate thousands of years ago.
While careening downhill (more or less under control) Timmy spotted a bald eagle in a dead tree not far off the road --perhaps part of the country Memorial Day festivities?
Certainly not part of the same festivities was a "shoe tree" just adjacent to the highway which must have included every used pair of Nikes from the country as well. Just nearby was a 'bra tree' in the interest of gender equality. But nothing compared to the spectacular painted hills.
Max and Eric went to the Mancell Formation overlook, a volcanic tuff with mammal fossils.
Valerie, Deb and Brent are the bloggers today! We rode through the Painted Hills after a 6.5 mile uphill that challenged many of the riders since the day had been titled an "easy" day. Beautiful scenery and great downhill rides made this a magical day.
Ended up in Dayville, Oregon, a town of about 150 people with great local pride. Whereas many of us felt that Mitchell, although interesting and with some lovely people, was a bit downtrodden, Dayville seems to be moving forward. There are banners down main street with pictures of graduating high school seniors, a nice hotel and RV park, cafes with espresso and more than one restaurant. Our campground host offered us fresh garden salad from her own garden, introduced us to her family and delighted in the rain.
Sage covered hills emit a whiff of sage (no surprise!). The winding two lane road that ran downhill almost all the way was perfect for bike riding and included a lava layered picture gorge. Picnic lunch was at Cant Historical Hall followed by a tour through the John Day Paleontology museum where we saw, besides lots of children from Portland public school, fossils from the local volcanic flows. The Clarno Formation preserved a picture of a diverse climate thousands of years ago.
While careening downhill (more or less under control) Timmy spotted a bald eagle in a dead tree not far off the road --perhaps part of the country Memorial Day festivities?
Certainly not part of the same festivities was a "shoe tree" just adjacent to the highway which must have included every used pair of Nikes from the country as well. Just nearby was a 'bra tree' in the interest of gender equality. But nothing compared to the spectacular painted hills.
Max and Eric went to the Mancell Formation overlook, a volcanic tuff with mammal fossils.
Looking good team!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteLoving the descriptions of flora, fauna, terrain, wildlife, etc. And happy to see you still have the bear and triangle eye characters. :-) I'm so glad you guys are all together enjoying this experience so much. The photos are great. Cheers.
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