May 2010 Camping Trip Cont.

Frenchglen, Oregon - Day 4 (our last day here)

Last night before dinner, we all took off to look for some wild free-roaming mustangs. We did spot some, but they were very far away. We also managed to find a lot of cattle with baby's, so I took a few pictures for the "ahhhhhh" factor. :-)

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Wild "Free-Roaming" Mustangs


Dinner time

Black & White calf's


Blue Grouse (Female)

This morning we woke up bright and early (OK... maybe not so "bright"), at 5:30AM. We decided to try and view the birds early in the morning, but someone forgot to tell all the birds we were coming to see them. :-) Here are some pictures from today.

Long-Billed Curlew

Northern Shoveler


Another Ring-Necked Pheasant


Mallard


Another Egret

Luckily, I had placed my telephoto lens on this morning, and we were able to catch baby geese being born without getting too close.

Baby Goslings that just hatched


Who was standing here hundreds or thousands of years ago?

Early morning on the High Desert

Well... our Frenchglen trip is slowly coming to an end. Tonight we will be eating dinner at the Frenchglen Hotel which serves "Family Style" home cooked meals. Get your reservations in early (we made ours two months ago), as they fill up fast and the food is to die for!

* Edit: Our dinner consisted of Roasted Chicken, Green Salad, Homemade Rolls, Spinach/Artichoke/Ricotta Cheese souffle, and Rice Pilaf. For desert... a Marionberry Cobbler with Vanilla Ice Cream.

Frenchglen Hotel

This afternoon, the wind really started gusting (50+ MPH Gusts)... so much so that I took down our flag. It also kicked up the dust in the area, enough that road visibility was knocked down to "0". We talked with a couple during dinner, that had to pull over off the road as they headed back to Frenchglen this afternoon!

Huge dust storm covering Frenchglen, and heading our way

We hitch up the wagons in the morning, and start our looooong drive back home. It looks as if the snow levels are falling, and we may find snow again in the High Cascade range. We'll miss our experiences we had here in the High Desert of Oregon... and our daily feeding of "Star", but we'll always have the pictures and memories.

Until our next adventure, Happy Trails...

Gary, Karen, and Abby Too!

May 2010 Camping Trip Cont.

Frenchglen, Oregon - Day 3

I have to admit that there is nothing like helping to bring in the herd! Little did we know that our "Thurlacki Adventure" today, would involve helping to herd cattle! I guess a little bit of the "City Slicker" rubbed off of us today. Why... we might even have to call ourselves Cow Pokes! :-) But before I get into that, here are a few more pictures to start out with.

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Close Encounters of the "Mustang" kind

California Quail


Avocet


Great Egret

Juvenile Red-Tail Hawk

Closest picture of a Prong-Horn Antelope we've ever gotten!

OK... now about the round-up. While out wondering the OutBack (actually... we were on a wrong road for going to where we wanted to be), we came around a corner and happened upon a real cattle drive... right in the middle of the road! I asked one of the "Cowgirls" if it was OK to proceed down the road, and she said "it sure was... just go slowly". So slowly ahead we moved. This was actually fun! We didn't need to ride horses to rustle up the cattle, we could just sit comfortably in the Dodge 1-Ton Ram, and mosey them off the side of the road while our trusty Yellow Lab Abby, kept them in check. And all from the front seat of the cab. :-) Of the three roads in all of Haney County, we just happen to get lucky to be on the wrong one. All this with Dave & Sandy's truck with only 1/4 tank of gas. Luckily, all ended well, as Dave's truck fuel light came on within 4 miles of Burns, Oregon. Such is the simple life of the "Thurlacki" way... it's almost like being a Cowboy living on the edge, and bring home the herd.

After we rounded the last curve, the cattle moved slowly off to the open range. A man who was parked and hunting for rocks, saw us moving the cattle, and stood there with his mouth opened. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. I rolled down the window, smiled, and told him... "Hope we didn't bother you much, this was our first cattle drive". (that's the truth)

Get along little doggies


Real Cowboys keeping the herd in check


Modern day herding... all from the comfort of the truck cab


Home, home on the range, where the deer & the antelope play...

As today's adventures come to an end, happy trails to you, until we meet again.

Gary, Karen, and our trusty side-kick Abby

May 2010 Camping Trip - #1

Frenchglen, Oregon Trip - Day 2

This morning we woke up to light snow falling. It dropped down to 27 degrees again last night, but we always stay nice and warm in our HitchHiker. Last night while eating dinner in Dave & Sandy's trailer, we decided that we would drive North for today, following the "Center Patrol Road" which runs through the heart of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge. It follows the Blitzen River, which helps to flood the marshes, ponds, and lakes. Below are today's pictures.

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Snow showers falling on Frenchglen

Buzzards roosting in a tree at the end of the Center Patrol Road

3 - Mule Deer & 2 - Greater Sandhill Cranes grazing together

Cinnamon Teal

The very illusive Ring-Neck Pheasant

A flock of Ibis

"One Tired" Old House - Look closely... did you get it?

Prairie Dog - a.k.a. Ground Squirrel

American White Pelicans


Badger Butt... just to dang quick!


Peter French's "Round Barn"


Inside the round barn

After visiting the round barn, we decided to head off to the town of Diamond, Oregon (population 5)! We ate our lunch here... but found the parking meters to be just too damn expensive, so we moved on quickly! :-)

When someone dies in town, just spray paint over the number and add a new one

See parking meters in front of the car on the right. They just like to see how much money they can make off of the "City Slickers" that don't know it's a joke

These animals are hard to get a picture of... they're the Prong-Horned Antelope

The snow covered "Steens Mountains"

That's all for today. Tomorrow we're off on another adventure... so check in to see the pictures!

Happy Trails...

Gary & Karen... and Abby Too!