Trip Report
July 26: We departed at 8:00 a.m., taking I-5 to Wilsonville where we had a rest stop, picked up a passenger, and had coffee and goodies. We then proceeded up I-5, I-205, and I-84, exiting at Troutdale. We drove the Old Columbia Gorge Highway, stopping at Crown Point and Multnomah Falls, with lunch at the Bonneville Dam viewpoint. Then on up the Gorge with another rest stop at Pendleton. Seven miles east of Pendleton we stopped at the Tam’astslikt Cultural Institute, a beautiful, new, unique building with exhibits telling the Native American view of history. We stayed in Pendleton that first night.
July 27: We headed toward LaGrande, stopping first at the Blue Mountain Crossing Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. It was a refreshing break in the pine forest. A very sentimental stop for some whose ancestors had made the crossing. We left I-84 at LaGrande, taking Hwy. 82 to the Minam State Campground for our morning break along the Minam River. Then to the Wallowa Store in Wallowa, the C.W. Crowe General Store in Lostine and the City Park in Enterprise for lunch. Then we went back three miles to the Forest Service, Wallowa Mountains Visitor Center, where we picked up information, saw videos on the Snake River and the Nez Perce Indians and viewed the Seven Devils from a distance and the Wallowas up close. Then on to Joseph and Wallowa Lake, where we stayed two nights. Shopping in Joseph was difficult due to construction on Main Street.
July 28: A leisurely start, for the tramway up Mt. Howard doesn’t open until 10 a.m. Congratulations to those who rode the tram for the first time! The wildflowers were gorgeous, as were the views from on top (in spite of the bugs that bite). At noon we boarded the bus for Joseph, where a luncheon awaited us. Then across the street to the Manuel Museum and Foundry tour. Then back to the Wallowa Lake Lodge, built in the 1920s, and then back to our lodging.
July 29: We started with a grocery stop in Enterprise, then east on Hwy. 350 out of Joseph to Hwy. 39 (the Scenic Highway). Lots of switchbacks for the driver, lots of beautiful scenery and a breathtaking view at the Hells Canyon Overlook during our morning break. Lots of wild flowers, too. Part of the highway was rebuilt after the 1997 flood. Then on to Halfway, Richland and finally Baker City. We stopped just east of Baker City at the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center on Flagstaff Hill. When we arrived in Baker City we took an impromptu tour of the restoration of historic Baker City while waiting for our rooms to be ready.
July 30: We took the scenic highway to Sumpter. The City Park is a real attraction on weekends, when the trains run. The old gold dredge is there, too. On to Prairie City for our break. There was a little museum about the Sumpter Valley Railroad, but it was closed. Then we headed west again through the John Day Fossil Beds and the Painted Hills before our lunch stop in the Ochocho Forest. Then the long haul to Prineville, Redmond, Sisters and Eugene. Back in Eugene by 5:00 p.m.
Riders were: Ethel Allen, Joan Berry, Billie Brown, John & Marian Borchardt, Mary Lee Cheadle, Sheila Dempster, Doral & Rose Marie Etter, Margaret Fea, Dora Harris, Barbara Hasek, Marjorie Jackson, Ben & Pat Jeffries, Rosella Jones, Virginia Kapsa, Ann Keating, Ben Kirk, Gloria Layden, Dode Leppmann, Marie Loome, John & Lenore McManigal, Cleora Mersdorf, Barbara & Walt Miller, Joyce Mixer, Lois Nelson, Virginia Prouty, Kathleen Schlenker, June Smith, Louise Thurber, Caroline & Christof Wegelin, Cristy White, and Liz Reanier (leader) & Bette Hack (co-leader).
