Drive to Twin Falls

On May 30 I drove my Prius 437 miles from Oakland, Oregon to The Inn at Hot Lake Springs which is near La Grande, Oregon. The drive included sort of a pilgrimage stop in Pendleton to see Pendleton Woolen Mills for the first time. I'm a big fan. I bought two long sleeve cotton shirts. My Pendleton collection now includes 8 wool shirts, 5 cotton shirts, 4 vintage wool jackets, and a wool blanket.

Pendleton Woolen Mills was founded in 1863.

Pendleton is also home of one of the best rodeos on the planet, the Pendleton Roundup. The Roundup also has a popular Indian pow-wow area. I have never been to the rodeo but would like to see it someday.

Downtown Pendleton. The Scottish spelling Whisky is rare in the U.S.

This block of Emigrant Avenue once had 18 bordellos. Working Girls hotel is one of the former bordellos.

This was my first time to drive I-84 all the way across eastern Oregon. I-84 crosses the Blue mountains roughly along the route of the Oregon Trail emigrant wagon road. I stopped to look at some of the historic and scenic sites.

I noticed that a back road roughly parallels I-84 through the Blue Mountains. I want to research if it's possible to do a motel bike tour loop that links Pendleton, La Grande, and Baker City with reasonable daily climbing. The La Grande-Baker City area is easy because I can follow an Oregon Scenic Bikeway. The mountainous and sparsely populated area between La Grande and Pendleton is the difficult part.

Blue Mountains near Deadman pass. More trees grow in the folds than on the mountaintops.

The Inn at Hot Lake Springs is a historic hotel on the shore of a boiling hot lake, owned by my friends Mike and Tamarah Rysavy. It's an ongoing restoration project. The present building was built in 1904 and has had previous lives as a sanitarium, hospital, and resort hotel. Currently there are 15 guest rooms, a pub, and a movie theatre. I enjoyed seeing the newly restored hotel and soaking with my friends in the new lakeside hot soaking tubs.

The Inn at Hot Lake Springs. 8 miles south of La Grande, Oregon.

The wood buildings on the right burned down long ago.

This was my first time to stay at The Inn at Hot Lake Springs. I reserved the popular corner suite, room 213. It has expansive valley views to the east and south.

Main lobby at the Lodge at Hot Lake Springs.

Another seating area. The building is heated by the hot spring.

The Inn at Hot Lake Springs has a bar, movie theater, and outdoor hot tubs, but no televisions in the rooms or in public areas. I appreciate the deliberate "unplugged" atmosphere. My phone does have Verizon 4G wireless service.

Mike and Tamarah showed me the restored movie theater. Movies 3 nights per week, typically.

The recently built lakeside hot soaking tubs now attract many day visitors.

I didn't hook up with Mike and Tamarah until after 9 PM. We soaked and talked until 12:30 AM. Way past my bedtime.

On May 31 I drove 290 miles to Twin Falls, Idaho, "losing" an hour crossing from Pacific time zone to Mountain time zone. I arrived in Twin Falls shortly after 2 PM allowing time for an afternoon bike excursion into the Snake river canyon. Only 14 miles, but I'm counting it as day 1 of the bike tour.

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