It's not over until it's over...

Click the sunset to see a slide show of our travels. The sunset photos are a series we took from our coach in the Jerome, ID KOA on the evening of June 2nd. There are several of the Snake River Valley and other sights along our travels from Jerome to Baker City, OR. The buildings at the end are, in order: the city hall; another government building that houses, among other things, the water authority; an old building refurbished for office space; the recently restored Geiser Grand Hotel; and the St. Francis Cathedral. This post was actually made a day late, because I couldn't get the photos to upload at last night's park, which was otherwise lovely.


We thought we were done with sightseeing and just heading home, but today (June 3rd) relieved us of that misapprehension. We left the KOA at about 8:20 AM, heading west. The weather was beautiful, and Jill got some more great landscape shots. Sadie cruised along, much happier to be at lower altitude than the Rocky Mountains.

We arrived at the Mtn. View RV Park in Baker City, OR about 1:30 PM. Yes, we are back in our home state. The only downside so far is no more pumping our own gas. There was a thunderstorm this afternoon, but it wasn't too near us.

Neither Jill nor I had ever seen the National Oregon Trail Interpretive Center that is run by the BLM. So, we unhitched Daisy Mae and drove over there. (This gave us one more chance to use my Golden Age Lifetime Pass.) The Center is quite interesting. There are several dioramas of the lives of the people who traveled the Oregon Trail as they migrated westward in the middle of the 19th century. Perhaps, the most interesting part of the Center is the remaining ruts made by the wagon wheels of these intrepid pioneers.

On our way back to the campground, we made a tour through downtown Baker City. There are a number of architecturally very interesting buildings. The City Hall, another government bulding, several churches, and the Geiser Grand Hotel, which has been restored by the family that owns the building to its late 19th century grandeur. It is a working hotel, and it is quite charming. The restaurant serves meals that sound delicious for very reasonable prices. If we didn't have the motor home with us, we might have stayed there. We could even have brought Pogo with us!!

Back at the campground, I began trying to blog, but I could not get our photos to upload to Flickr. I will try again tomorrow or later this evening. I finally got so frustrated with that problem that I went outside and scrubbed the bugs off the front of Sadie. You gotta know I was frustrated to take on that job for the first time in a couple of weeks! Anyway, Sadie looks pretty nice for a coach that hasn't had a proper wash job for a month.

I can't say the same for Daisy Mae. She takes the brunt of everything that Sadie kicks up off the road. The LeBra nose protector that we installed before we left home has protected her from rock chips, but she is pretty dirty. Coupled with the naked wheel on the right rear as a result of the loss of the wheel cover when we had the blowout, the dirt makes Daisy Mae look pretty sad. She'll get a good wash and wax job and a new wheel cover, when we get home.

Tomorrow, we will head for Rufus and Friday we expect to make it home. Unfortunately, I have a "honey do" list (of my own making) about as long as my arm. So, as with all good things, our vacation must come to an end, but the memories of this trip we will treasure for a lifetime.