Saturday, July 16, 2016

Today was a different kind of driving.  No Interstate highway, no divided highway, just narrow, winding, up and downhill driving.  The 163 miles (79,156.9 total) to Dayville, OR was more than enough to wear me out.  The road took us by such a change in the landscape. High desert gave way to a lush forest as we climbed.  We saw our first glimpse of snowpack high on some unidentified peak.  I even got to have a seat on a Paul Bunyan sized Conestoga wagon.

We settled into a nice shady site right along the banks of the John Day river.  I should note the "river" at its deepest is maybe mid-calf and is no wider than 15 feet.  The campground had some issues with power.  The 15 amp plug didn't supply enough current to operate our microwave.  Good thing we are self-contained and have other options for cooking.  It didn't hurt a bit that there was a nice breeze and the temperature was probably mid to high 70's. Absolutely delightful!

After a few hours of relaxing, we headed 8 miles up the road to the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.  We checked out the Visitor's Center to get acquainted with the area's geologic features and history.

We met our neighbor, Juliet, who also travels full time.  She is accompanied by her two dogs, Mick and Romeo.  She maintains a very nice website tailsfromtheroad.com that is well worth checking out.