SATURDAY
We spent the day learning about the ancient jungles of Central Oregon--a story told in the fossils of these painted mountains. Apparently banana trees, crocs, and rhinos were plentifully until the hot lava redecorated the landscape.
We drove through some great small towns. These pictures are from our drive on the business loop in the "town" of Mitchell. It was sad and artistic and scary and beautiful. These buildings are not all abandoned. They house businesses, families, and the ghosts of happier pre-Interstate times when the Business Loop was a regular stop for cross-country travelers.
On our travels we happened across this bizarre looking tree with some Jurassic fungus. Shoe-shaped fungus...No! It's fungus-filled shoes! The sign seems to read "A bearing tree--no cherries or peaches--just a few pairs!"
Saturday night...Alex won. He really really really wanted to go camping. He was certain that the extra bedding he brought would keep the bitter cold at bay...and--I admit, it did sound fun.
After an indeterminable amount of time we agreed that the violent shivering of our bodies was not actually warming the air in the tent...perhaps we needed to consider a different lodging option. But...we didn't have enough gas to get to a town with a hotel. We only had enough gas to get to towns that had gas stations open during daytime hours. Hooray for heated seats! We threw our air mattress and blankets in the back of the wagon, turned on the heat full-blast until we were sweating--then turned off the engine and dove under the covers! It wasn't quite as comfortable as our "really nice" motel room...but it was warm!
to be continued...
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