Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Out of the Way

Not ones to get out and about that often, we nevertheless jumped at an opportunity to spend Mother's Day weekend in one of the high desert areas of Eastern Oregon.
Just a few hours' drive from our home, yet it felt like we were on an entirely different planet. All rolling hills of dry grasses and tumbleweed, with trees few and far between. This part of our state holds a beauty that is at once stark and sumptuous.
As we traveled along the mostly deserted roads, I kept expecting to see John Wayne or Michael Landon come riding over the next hill.
Our final destination was Treo Ranch, a family-owned estate that has converted from farming to hosting guided bird hunts.
This being a shared family weekend, the important parts were taken care of first, like a BB Gun safety course taught by the biggest gun safety stickler you may ever meet... my Farmboy.
Followed by the fun part... assisted balloon shooting for the littles.
And supervised balloon shooting for those with a little more experience.
And then the big boys got to go have a little fun while the rest of us stayed at the lodge and did our own thing.
Such as stalking an abandoned farmstead with my camera...

Yes, ladies and gents, these places do still exist in the dry landscape of Eastern Oregon. I wish I had a dollar for every abandoned old house we saw on our trip. I also wish I had the time to take pictures of each and every one of them.
If only those walls could talk.
By far the coolest discovery by the little people, was the triple-heaping mound of spent shotgun casings leftover from years of bird hunts. They don't leave that plastic out in the fields, but carefully bring it all back from their expeditions to gather in one place.
Thank you, Tim and Ericka, for inviting us to join you for a truly memorable weekend.
As we headed back home, I had to make sure to capture a Mother's Day 2013 photo with the two sweetest Pieces of my Heart.
In keeping with tradition, there was one last stop to make on our way home. Despite rain and chilly weather on our side of the Cascades, we simply couldn't resist the siren-song of gigantic ice cream cones.

7 comments:

Pam in IL said...

Beautiful countryside and beautiful family! Looks like you had an awesome weekend.

Wendy said...

Such pretty pictures! We've always missed this part of Oregon and headed past it to get to Canby.

Vickie said...

Hahahaha! That is the largest soft serve ice cream cone I have EVER seen!

P.J. said...

What a wonderful family adventure! Love the old house! I have to agree with Vicki; that is a biggun! Great Mother's day pic.

Jeanne said...

Wow Beth...Your hair is short !!! I must have missed that somewhere. Looks great! Great pics....especially that ice cream cone...love it.

Love to Stitch said...

That is the biggest pile of shells I have ever seen!!! Looks like a ton of fun was and is being had!!!! Love the pics :)

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri Malinovich) said...

What a great post! Love the pics of your sweet family and the beautiful landscape and buildings of Oregon! Love your haircut and that ice cream cone is outrageously large. Just my kind!