Best Western Adventures

Series 13

GREAT BIG NOWHERE

It was time to go. Our ten days of adventure in the West were coming to an end and it was time to head home.

First, though, we had to get to the airport in Portland, upper west corner of the state, from where we were in the lower east corner of Oregon.

So the Last Great Road Trip of the Summer begins with a stop in the town of Lakeview, OR, the closest town to the in-laws house, for fuel and snacks. Lakeview is named for its proximity to Goose Lake, and served as a hub for the sheeping and cattle industry that attracted Irish and German immigrants in the mid to late 1800s. The lumber industry played a role in the economy of this town, known as the "Tallest Town in Oregon" because of its elevation (4793). It has a small town feel, with a population of less than three thousand, and grocery errands with my mother-in-law would involve small town talk with people she knew in the store.

We headed north from Lakeview on 395, then took the Paisley-LaPine highway running northwest towards the Bend area. None of us had ever been this way before.

I had looked at this shortcut late in my trip planning, so I didn't have a lot of geocaches loaded for this part, which was fine because we needed to make some time.

Our first stop along the way was called Chandler Park Wayside, and it was at a rest stop area. It is funny how from reading the descriptions on the cache page, you formulate one idea of what to expect when you get there, but it doesn't always match what you imagined. In this case, I was surprised at the steepness of the hill we had to climb to get to the cache. My oldest son and I went together, and we started strong, but both were gasping for air by the end of the short climb. On the way down, I taught him how to slow his sliding descent by aiming your body for appropriate flora and fauna to act as body brakes. It sounds weird but it works.

We picked up a geocoin from this cache that I dropped off at a cache in my neck of the woods about two weeks later. I have the same kind of coin myself, and I bought it because it reminded me of the Pink Floyd song. Mine is currently traveling all over Sequoia National Park and the person carrying it promises pictures and a drop in San Diego when he is done having fun with it.

After this we did a short park and grab style cache and then entered the most desolate piece of country I have ever been in. Nobody was home for about three or four hours of driving.

The only residences we saw as we drived through Paisley, and until we got to LaPine, were the ones pictured at the top. Attached to the property was a salvage yard, with hundred and hundreds of junked out cars. As we drove by, we both made the same joke referencing a horror movie. Don't break down in Paisley!

The scenery was amazing, though. Here are some of the many pictures I took from this part of our journey. Incredible geographical features abounded.


Abert Rim - a great place for hang gliders

Dust storms

around the dry edges of Summer Lake

Nice house! I want one!

Next and last installment of the Best Western Adventures will cover the journey from Bend to Portland, since it was vastly different than this leg.