One Mule Deer, Grasshoppers and Seagulls
7/01/2016
Happy Canada Day to all of our Canadian friends!
Tom and I left Boise, ID on Wednesday to Burns, a little town in western Oregon. We are heading toward Crater Lake and then on to the Redwood Forest in Northern California but we needed a place for the 4th of July weekend. This little RV park in Burns fit the bill, it is on the route and had space for use until July 5th. Located in the high desert of Eastern Oregon, it is a quite little town to relax.
The trip across Western Idaho and Easter Oregon was uneventful, a lot of hay, corn and potato fields. Both beef and dairy cattle until it became too dry then just sagebrush and beef cattle. The road followed the Masher River until we came to the high ridges. Like much of Wyoming and Idaho, the ridges and mountains in this part of Oregon are rock covered with little vegetation.
Thursday was a housekeeping day that I used to plan out the next week of travel. With the reservations made and the route plotted out we relax for the remainder of the day.
Friday we planned to drive down to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge about 50 miles from Burns. The drive across the “high desert" was interesting. The distant bluffs displayed a variety of shapes that allowed the mind to wander to wild bands of Indians attacking wagon trains. The fields, where they were irrigated, were covered in a lush growth of grass. Much of the hay had been harvested into huge rolls or bails stacked high. The Refuge was quiet, there were few animals except for birds and a couple of mule deer. We were surprised to see a large number of seagulls until we saw the grasshoppers. There were thousands of them, crashing against the windshield, whirling through the air. This area of Oregon is inundated with them and the seagulls love them. I hope you can see them in the pictures I took through the windows. I was not going to let them into the truck by opening a door.
While driving through the Refuge we crossed the Blitzen River but not the Donner. German for Thunder and Lightening there really is a Donner River. It was a good day.
We will see what tomorrow will bring.
July 2nd, 2016