August 27, 2007

August 27, 2007

Aimee wouldn’t let me pass Pendleton, OR without doing some shopping for wool fabric. Besides a store, Pendleton Woolen Mills also has a factory tour. We arrive for the first one at 9 AM. It is a short tour but it gives us a good idea of how wool is spun and weaved into blanket fabric. I am surprised this laborious process is still being done in the US. Their products are nice but pretty pricey.

From Pendleton we head southeast on I84 to Baker City where we stop at the Oregon Trail Interpretative Center. It is a pretty good place to kill a couple hours. The biggest thing we learned is that neither one of us could have survived a pioneer’s arduous 2000-mile walk across the west. These pioneers had to be either very desperate or very nuts.

From Baker City we drive a little further east and spend the night near Huntington, OR at Farewell Bend State Park. This is where Oregon Trail pioneers left the Snake River behind for the last time and crossed overland to the Columbia River valley. With kids back in school, the park is pretty empty and we get a prime spot overlooking the Snake River. The park is very nice. We are continually impressed with how nice Oregon State Parks are.