It was time for a complete change of scenery but close to home.
It didn't take long to figure out Eastern Oregon was just the place since neither of us had ever been there. Deep in the Wallowa National Forest at the end of a very, very, long and winding road, was our final destination.
I braced myself for what I knew would be a long-ass haul. That it was! The worst part: getting past the high, dry desert country in-between the Cascade and Blue Mountains.
These are the times and places that air-conditioning in Oregon is hardly optional. Driving through the hottest, driest stretches, the words "desolation" and "complete desolation" kept coming to mind while wondering, "How did anyone live out here?".
We passed places we'd only heard of on the nightly news like Arlington, Meacham, Heppner, Boardman, Pendleton, La Grande and Enterprise, otherwise known as Cowboy Country.
But our charming little cabin in the woods at 4,000 feet above sea level just off beautiful Wallowa Lake surrounded by 8,000-foot snow-capped peaks, was well-worth the drive.
Wallowa Lake Resort and Hell's Canyon wild scenic area reminded me of many other places I'd seen before like Park City, Utah; other times, it felt like we were near Crater Lake.
At any rate, we weren't in Northeast Portland anymore!
After five days breathing ponderosa pine air, getting up-close to nature, feeding deer, eating heartily--fresh, rainbow trouts caught by John--sleeping deeply and seeing how the other, rural half live, it was time to come back down to sea level.
By the time we reached Hood River and the Cascade mountains, we breathed a heavy sigh of relief. The cool greenery and hovering clouds reminded us of why we live in the verdant Willamette valley.
Mission accomplished!
