June 16, 2007

June 16, 2007

On the way out of Bend, OR we stop to fill up with gas. Before I can get out a man asks what kind of gas I want. Ah, this guy knows a VIP when he sees one. He then tells me that according to Oregon law he has to fill everyone’s tank. Unfortunately I can’t get him to check the oil or clean all the windows on the RV.

From Bend we drive northeast to Clarno, one site in the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. On the way there the terrain goes from pine forest to rolling pasture to dry ranchland. This small park consists of a line of exposed outcroppings resembling the Badlands of South Dakota. We hike the couple short interpretative trails here. The outcroppings are the eroded remnants of some volcanic mudflows (called a lahar) from 6-50 million years ago. Paleontologists have found early horses and rhinos from the Cenozoic Period buried in the mud.

Along the hiking trails we are able to discover some petrified logs and leaf prints in the rock. I am pretty impressed that somebody was able to find these fossils hidden within the rocks of the cliff wall. Aimee and I were able to spot them only with the help of detailed interpretative signs. There are two more locations in Fossil Beds Park but they are way farther east and Aimee convinces me to save them for a future trip. Uncharacteristically I agree.

From John Day we head north to the Columbia River gorge where we spend the night at Deschutes River State Park. The RV is parked where Oregon Trail pioneers forded the Deschutes River on their journey west. Lewis and Clark also stopped here on their journey down the Columbia River. There used to be large rapids here which they had to portage around. I wish we had stayed at more state parks in Oregon. They are great. Not only super scenery but hookups for the RV as well; and they take credit cards!