Canyon and Wagon Trains

Wednesday, May 21, 2014--Ontario, OR to Baker City, OR

We stayed right on the border of Idaho and Oregon last night.  Our motel was in Oregon.  We bought gas across the river in Idaho because it was cheaper there.  Eating was less expensive in Oregon, because there is no sales tax on restaurant meals.

This morning, we drove northward continuing to straddle the Idaho/Oregon border.  Our destination was the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway.  It's a remote area with the mountains coming down to the water on each side.  It is the deepest canyon in the world, but it wasn't as impressive as we expected, because the mountains mostly slant away as they rise up.  Also the effect is less impressive because there are dams which have raised the water level higher than it was when the river flowed at the bottom of the canyon.  As I told Wes, "It is no Santa Elena!," referring to the impressive canyon at Big Bend National Park in Texas which is the most impressive one I have ever visited.  However, we enjoyed the drive which alternated between being on the Idaho side and the Oregon side for about 23 miles (40 km).

We took a back road from there to Baker City, an old mining town in eastern Oregon.  Before entering the town, we stopped at the National Oregon Trail Interpretive Center--a museum that tells the history and the hardships of those who traveled westward following the Oregon Trail in wagon trains in the mid-1800s.  The exhibits were informative, and there were nice recreations of what life was like on the trail.  The location of the museum was at a point where the original tracks from those making the trek over the trail.  From the hill, we could see the tracks of 2-3 trails they traveled.

In Baker City, we walked the sidewalks downtown.  It is a large for a town of only 12,000 people, but it was the major city for this area of Oregon 100 years ago.  We went inside an art gallery, and we explored the Geiser Grand Hotel, an old, elegant place.  Otherwise, we just walked the streets.

Our hotel is having trouble with its wifi, so we came to McDonald's to eat.  We are both using the free wifi before returning to our room.