Wallowas - Eastern Oregon - Days 1 & 2

Panorama of the Wallowas from the BnB

For spring break this year, instead of staying at home we decided to go somewhere. Tickets are always expensive and we really wanted to check out Eastern Oregon. I had heard about Rob Klavins' (from Oregon Wild) Bed 'n Breakfast in the Wallowas for a while and looked it up and made reservations for 3 nights for us to go away. 

View as we drove out of town to get to a hike.

What a brilliant plan, it turned out to be! 

It's about a 7.5 hour journey from Eugene and once you get off I5 and onto 84, driving through the Columbia Gorge, the drive is breathtaking! We had no idea how beautiful the gorge is! The steep rising rocks on both side of the river, the river meandering along, and because we were lucky, the mountain tops were blanketed in freshly fallen snow. It was our first time seeing snow still on the branches of the trees on the mountains. It looks so much prettier than the usual snow-capped peaks you see when you typically look at snow caps. 

We stopped at the one view point on this direction of I-84 and boy was it windy there! 

Viewpoint View

The Barking Mad Farm BnB is really cozy, inviting, and what a fantastic location! We settled in quickly and talked to Rob and Emily a bit, getting dinner suggestions. From the house, you look out at farms and see buffalo grazing and wild deer herd, against the backdrop of the magnificent Wallowas! Our window faced this view too. Waking up and having this beauty pour into your morning was a delight and immediately relaxing. 

Barking Mad Farm BnB

View from our room and our bed!

Rob and Emily mentioned that Terminal Gravity (a local Brewery that Rebecca had told Saurabh about, too) has really good buffalo burgers from the farm we were looking at. We miss our bison burgers from DC and we didn't need too many other dinner ideas to make up our mind. The burger was incredibly fresh tasting and definitely one of the better burgers we have had. The plan for the following two dinners was decided. We wouldn't get this back in Eugene...we were going to have it as many times as we could while we were there! :) 

Terminal Gravity

Breakfasts at Barking Mad were delicious. And while, I didn't take photos of all our breakfasts there, I did of the second breakfast. 

Polenta cakes with poached eggs (from their chicken) and avocado. Mmmmm

Our first hike there was near the Wallowa lake. Rob and Emily recommended stopping by a green gate along the lake, jumping the gate, and hiking up the moraine. There was snow/ice on the ground, but apart from the incline it was a fairly easy hike. The views of the lake and the Wallowas as we hiked up were spectacular and gave us a great reason to take a breath and stop. 

Woodpecker

Hiking up the moraine.

Partial view of the Wallowa Lake. One side is a bright blue...

...the other side is a darker blue! Storm approaching!

Getting to the top. The colour is still half and...

...and half.

Once at the top of the moraine, we could see the seven devils mountains on the other side, way in the distance. That where hells canyon is. We couldn't go there at this time of the year in our car. Too much snow and rough roads there. 

Photo-Hub

Seven Devils Mountains in the distance.

After the hike we went to Joseph, which we had driven through to get to the hike. We noticed the sculptures outside and wanted to check those out, even though it seemed like more of the art galleries wouldn't be open. 

Joseph

But, before the art, hot chocolate. We went into Arrowhead Chocolates planning on getting coffee, but Saurabh noticed that they have hot chocolate and had a feeling about it. Man, was he right! You can pick if you want your hot chocolate made with dark or milk chocolate, and of course we picked the dark. They melt chunks of chocolate in the melting machine thingy and take the chocolate out with a spoon. They add the chocolate to your cup, and then give you the "chocolate spoon" to lick clean. Aaaaah! 

Arrowhead Chocolates is in that building.

Chocolate-melting machine

Chocolate Spoon!

I got a small dollop of whipped cream on my hot chocolate. Everything was just perfect. We tried to go back the next day, but after our hike that day we got to Joseph just as it closed. But, no worries, we went back the last morning before we left for the Palouse area.

Hot Dark Chocolate, with a view!

After that deliciosity, we walked around looking at the sculptures, peering into closed galleries. The art work was different, interesting, and beautiful. We were impressed. We didn't expect it to be this good. After Thomas, we have become a tad snooty about art, and we found ourselves wishing that the galleries were open so we could have gone in and seen the work more closely. 

Chief Joseph

'Garden Walk'

Some old, almost abandoned buildings in Joseph. The building in front, however, is being re-purposed to be the Prairie Mountain Folk School for Traditional Craft

Later that evening we found out that Valley Bronze Gallery in Joseph had done the bronze sculpting work for the World War II Memorial in DC!!! This is the second connection we have found in Oregon to DC! It warms our heart and thrills us so much! (The first one being in Bandon, OR when we saw the Washed Ashore {which we had seen at the Zoo in DC for the first time} main headquarters). 

Valley Bronze Gallery - It was closed our entire time there.

We got back to the BnB early that evening. While Saurabh finished up his grading, I showered and went for a walk by the farms. I walked along the road and had maybe 2 cars pass by in the 40ish minutes that I was out. I did see an own! A Great Horned Owl, as Rob identified it.  

Walk Views

Walk Views

Empty Road!

Horse stable along my walk

Great Horned Owl

That night, we had dinner again at Terminal Gravity (duh!). But, Rob and Emily joined us and there was live music while we were there too. A fun evening! 

Lunar Eclipse, Jan 2018

Jan 30th night. It was cloudy. We didn't think we'd be able to watch the moon disappear

Early this morning was a lunar eclipse, and we got to see it from our apartment. Well, we got to see the moon disappearing. As soon as it was completely in Earth's umbra, poof! it was out of view for us. We never got to see the red tinge. We did see the shadowed part of it as red hot iron after 75% coverage. But that's all the colour we saw. 

With our alarm set at 3ish in the morning, and the umbral phase beginning around 3:48AM, we woke up to silver light pouring in through our bedroom window. The moon was visible from our apartment! Which means we didn't need to brave the cold and go up to the rooftop. It was hard to stop looking at the moon in all its magnificence. It was big and so beautifully bright! 

We started to notice a shadow on the moon. After gazing at it for a few minutes, we got out of bed, put on our warmest jackets and socks, opened the french window in the living room. set up our cameras, and settled it. 

We watched, as the moon started to disappear. The living room started to get cold, and the little blanket on our couch was not really helping. Saurabh got our comforter from the bed. I made us some tea, and we settled back down, warm and snug, under the awe of the moon. 

We were glad that despite the clouds, we still got the view we did. So beautiful. So lucky. In less than 6 months, we got to watch a total solar eclipse, and theoretically a total lunar eclipse. 

Setting Up

See how little the moon has gotten in comparison to the previous photo!

I was so delighted!

A tiny scallop of the moon is gone.

Going...

going...

going...

GONE!

Ice Storm 2016 in Eugene

On Wednesday it rained. It was the cold, freezing kind of rain. Which meant, icicles! Lots and lots of them! We have seen ice storms in DC. We have seen icicles in DC. But, we have not seen these many icicles, and they definitely did not last 5 days! 

Every morning, I woke up in utter wonder, that the trees outside our windows still bore these beautiful icicles! I know in Eugene we won't get the blizzards and the snow we did in DC. But, for the prettiness of the ice for these few days will take me through a lot of the winter. Ice storms aren't usual here - it's been decades since Eugene has had one like this. Maybe it was a Welcome to Eugene winter gift to me? 

Living in downtown, and living in an apartment, brought with it huge benefits. We didn't lose power. Tree limbs didn't come crashing down on our home. We got the beauty without any of the negative. More and more, as time passes, I become less convinced to want to live in or own a house.

Wednesday - I left work and enjoyed myself on my way home!

Thursday, surprised that the ice was still around, we took our cameras out and went romping.

Friday, we headed up to our terrace, because it seemed like Eugene had been transformed to Narnia.

View from our Terrace

Saturday, sun!

On Saturday, the sun came out, and look what it did with the ice

Sunday, we had to go for a walk. Get out of the house. We walked to the river.

Saturday's sun didn't do much to melt the ice. Sunday, these fences remain frozen.