Eastern Oregon, mostly

 From Spokane we crossed the state of Washington in a generally southwestern direction. During the course of Thursday’s drive I wondered aloud if we had not somehow ended up in Oklahoma’s panhandle. I almost stopped to take a picture just to show why I wasn’t taking pictures. You get the idea. But at the end of it we spent pleasant late afternoon and early evening wandering along the Columbia River for a short walk and then a walk through town and early dinner.

Friday saw us driving Oregon 97 from The Dalles through Bend, where we did not stop, to Klamath Falls where we did. It was a much nicer drive than the previous day, lots of scenery most of which I did not stop to photograph, but an old farmstead and then a piece of the DesChutes River did stop me. As fans of the Columbia River Gorge we were saddened to see the damage wrought by the Eagle Creek fire when we visited Mt. Hood this past summer. Today we were heartbroken to see the extent of the fire so far southward.

We’ve only been in Klamath Falls once before together. (Sharon was there as a girl.) But we remembered it fondly. So after off-loading at our hotel we went for a rain-foreshortened stroll downtown. I was looking for pens and knives, but we stopped in front of a saddlery, interested just because we have bought saddles (for Anna) in the past. We chatted with the sadler and in one of his cases I espied a beaded Indian sheath and knife. The saddlemaker told me that he had gotten it from someone in Santa Ynez, California who owed him money. The story is verified by the fact that the Santa Ynez band of the Chumash people are traditionally beadworkers and this piece, while relatively modern, uses their colors and motifs. But I am no expert. The knife fits the theme, a J. Russell Green River Works 35-246 5” hunter. Green River Works were among the most popular of early hunting knives, though, again, this knife appears to be relatively modern.