Steens Mountain, Oregon to Cape Perpetua Oregon

After enjoying some quality time at the rest stop on the Bonneville Salt Flats, we crossed the border into the rather soulless town of Elko, Nevada and turned south to the Ruby Mountains where we saw the elusive dusky grouse.  Then we had a long six hours drive to Steens Mountain but not before another fill up (can't do that too often you know) in a town that has inspired many a song.  Well actually only one song.

I've been everywhere man, literally crossed the dessert bare man.

Such a lovely place, but can't linger here because we need to turn right and head to the Oregon coast.  But, you know what, it's a long way to the west coast from Austin, Texas so we stopped once again at a place called the Narrows, which was at the end of a very dusty, washboard road.  There is absolutely nothing out here in eastern Oregon.  Just this one little RV trailer park near Steens Mountain.

Like I said, to much here

Ahhchoo

In the evening we practiced shadow puppetry in the middle of the highway

Stunning sunsets and boy did the coyotes howl at night

As we settled into the RV park we discovered that the Bambi had lost power to the fridge, cooktop, lights, exhaust fan, gas heater, basically one half of the camper stopped working.  After some googling of the symptoms I concluded that the Bambi had a stroke.  Basically, unresponsive on one whole side.  Many busted fuses later Fred determined the problem would have to wait till we got to a bigger city.  Oh well, we are intrepid former backpackers (well me anyway) and that's what ice chests are for.

The main reason anyone stops here, other than hunters anyway, is for the drive and hikes to Steens Mountain.

Fred....sign

Yodel-ay-de-hoo

Just like the little mermaid, if she was on dry land, wore bifocals and dressed in heavy fleece

That's the Alvord desert in the distance, I really wanted to go here at night for the stars but it was way too far to drive

Not too many birdies out here

We hiked to the tippy top of Steens Mountain for some incredible views

Icy cold lake, thistles were still blooming way up here

Great view of the Alvord from up top

This alien communication station is on the very top, or it could be for weather monitoring I suppose

When we climbed down we ran into a guy who had this big horn sheep head attached to his backpack.  His friends were backpacking out the rest of the carcass.  He was all smiles, apparently this is a big deal among the type of people who enjoy cutting the heads off wild things.  Oregon gives out a couple of permits each year and there are thousands of applicants.

Git along little doggies, and that's just what we did

From desolate eastern Oregon, we arrived in the rather over crowded town of Bend, Oregon.  We had high hopes for this place but it was just too busy of a little town.  We could not get a spot in the state park because it was filled up so we ended up at a pretty nice little RV park where we were able to confirm with a mobile RV repair guy that the Bambi has a short behind the circuit board.  A repair that will entail a short hospital stay once we return home.  

The best part about Bend?  

The generous samplings at the Deschutes Brewery

Finally, finally, this is why came out this way, the coast.  Nothing against the prairie, the grasslands or the dry, empty landscapes of eastern Oregon but come on how can you beat views like this:

We spent two nights at the Carl G. Washburne State Park which I highly recommend.  At first we were bummed because the sign on the highway said the campground was full.  Fred thought that did not apply to us so we drove in and sure enough a guy was just pulling out and we got the last spot.  And look how nice it was:

Across the highway is a beautiful beach with no one on it.  Miles and miles of empty beach with soft, powdery sand.  

Well there was one other dude out there besides me

But mostly, it looks like this

From our campsite it's a short drive to Cape Perpetua, which has some pretty amazing views of the coastline and an interesting geologic feature.

Fred.....sign

This feature is aptly named, it is very churny

Fred getting way too close for my comfort.  The sea is funneled into this narrow channel very forcefully and makes a thunderous sound when it crashes right around where Fred is standing

This pelagic cormorant was basically in a washing machine.  He didn't seem to mind

Meanwhile, back at the campsite, that's a Clark's Nutcracker but clearly he prefers a cracker of a different kind.

Did someone say Cheez-Its?

Or maybe they're really Chee-toes

Last little hike through some gnarly woods 

Next up, it's off to my favorite beach on the west coast, Cape Blanco.

Austin to Ruby Mountains, NV

Meanwhile, at a roadside stop somewhere in the Great Salt Lake Desert.......

Yes, that is a gas can and yes, we ran the hell out of gas.  Before you start gettin' all high and mighty about how you would never have that happen yourself, let me just explain in a defensive voice that there is absolutely nothing between Salt Lake City and West Wendover the next big town on the border with Nevada.  Oh sure, there are some towns on the map and so when Fred said we were getting close to empty I thought no biggee we'll just stop at one of the three towns along the way.  Well, that is until we passed each one and each one had a big, blue "No Services" sign posted right under the town name.  Hmm, ok well worst case scenario we've got 3 gallons of gas in the truck bed for use in our generator.  Whew, crisis averted I guess.

Um, no.  As the gauge counted down the miles to empty and my gas app on the phone showed 12 miles to go to the nearest gas station we coasted on our last fume into a roadside rest stop on the Bonneville Salt Flats.  That's when we discovered the merry pranksters that work at Ford have a truly twisted sense of humor.

You see that blue gas can Fred is holding?  Well, as he started to pour it in the truck we realized the nozzle would not fit and all that happened was the gas would drizzle down the side.  Turns out that the guys in charge of designing gas tank mechanisms at Ford thought it would be funny if, while you are frustrated and pissed about not having gas, you should also use that moment to discover that you have to have a specially designed Ford "easy" fuel gas funnel.  Supposedly, it comes with the truck but to really amp up the fun they locate it under the backseat in a special compartment that can only be accessed if everything is removed from the seat.  You know what's on our seat right now?  A heavy-ass cooler, a tripod and scope, a case of beer, groceries, a computer and some rocks (don't judge me).

So, while you are sweltering in the desert frustrated because the damn Mormons don't have enough gas stations in their state, you have to gather your wits and remove everything from the backseat onto the hot pavement only to find out that the very special gas nozzle is not in fact where it is supposed to be.  At this point, Fred was ever so patient and calm and set about trying to figure this conundrum out in a calm, analytical way.  Um, not.

Time lapse forward, for reasons we are still scratching our head over, the nozzle was located in a drawer in the Bambi.  Neither of us have an inkling how it could have gotten there since we have never run out of gas ever before and would have had no reason to pull it out from the truck and even if we had seems like we would have remembered that event.  I'm gonna chalk this one up to clean living and divine intervention because without that thing we would still be stuck there.  I mean, we had gas so walking or hitching to a gas station would not have helped.   Even calling AAA wouldn't have worked unless they carry that particular special nozzle.

Lesson learned from this?   Check the meds that the Ford Motor Company provides to employees.

After we got a few drops of gas in the truck we were able to really look around and it was one amazing rest stop.  Check it out:

Bonneville Salt Flats, they're very sparkly in the sun

It's best if you don't have a cut on your tootsies 

This guy had his dogs on the salt flat.  The origin of the term salty dog.

Crunch, crunch, crunch

I can't imagine how anyone could make a living out here, oh wait.....

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  We actually drove from Austin to Quanah, TX, spent one night then drove to Sugarite Canyon State Park near Raton, NM, spent one night then drove to the Pawnee National Grasslands in CO for one night.  Lots of driving and none of these spots were really worth spending more than one night.  We had been to the Pawnee before and it was great but it was during the spring.  This time it was pretty dead.

The grasslands in all their glorious grassiness

It wasn't totally dead, there were a bazillion huge grasshoppers

Fred spots a sign, insert sound of screeching tires

Well worth crossings two lanes of highway

After the Pawnee we plotted a course to the Ruby Mountains outside Elko, NV.  I had never heard of this place but it turned out to be one of our all time favorite camping spots.  Middle of nowhere, gorgeous mountains, no one around, we loved it.

You can't see it here but a stream was flowing right by our camping spot.  It was so nice to hear at night and you can see we hang a hummingbird feeder on the back window so we can see the birdies without having to leave the comfort of our fleecy covers.

The views weren't too shabby either

Lock her up Fred, let's take a hike

Can you see that itty, bitty cabin?  It has now become my official dream house.

Looks and feels like fall up here

It took me hours to hike up to this lake, altitude and laziness both were factors

Since my retirement, Fred now brings home the bacon And fires it up in a pan

While Fred was out doing this hike above, I stayed at the camp and read a few pages of my never ending Game of Thrones book.  As I glanced up, I thought I saw something move in the tangle of bushes across the stream.  It looked like this:

Can you see it?  Look harder.

I couldn't figure out what it was so I ran up the trail a ways to see if I could catch Fred but he was long gone.  When I came back to camp, it wasn't there.  So bummed because I knew Fred would want to see it and I wasn't exactly sure what I was seeing.  I crossed the stream to search the underbrush but no luck.  As I came back and plunked down in the chair, looked what wandered up to me.

It's a dusky grouse, friendly as a chicken

Such a cutie and darn good eating I hear

On the hike we took up to the lake, we had talked with several hunters with rifles and bows all after grouse.  None of them were successful.  Maybe this knows a birdwatcher when he sees one.  He hung around long enough for Fred to come back and he took lots of photos, which is good otherwise he would have been grousing the rest of the trip.

If you get a chance, go here

Next up, Steens Mountain in eastern Oregon.  But first, we really need to fill up.