Prineville to Crooked River Ranch- An afternoon with a fellow nomad

August 9, 2018

The ride from Prineville to Crooked River Ranch was 34 miles and mostly downhill. This was perfect for the toasty temperature-hazy sky combo, and O'Neil Highway was scenic and low-traffic.

This guy has been waiting a long time for someone to move that fence

We approached the town of Terrebonne on roads that skirted Smith Rock State Park. If the weather had been cooler, we would have happily taken a detour to walk into Smith and watch the climbers there. The towering rocks are spectacular and the park draws talented climbers from around the world.

As it was, though, we opted for a quick 2nd breakfast at Sunspot Drive-in before we continued on toward Crooked River Ranch RV Park. After we turned off of highway 97 the remaining roads had decent shoulders, but pretty heavy traffic.

This was a first... a field of industrial hemp. We though we smelled cheeb (marijuana)....

Shortly after we arrived at the RV Park, a friend of a friend and fellow traveler joined us for an afternoon in the park gazebo. Eileen has a 19-ft Class B travel van and has been on the road for a little over a year with her dogs Sally and Trax. She has a great blog at makintrax.com and it was great to hear some of her stories in person. One impressive tidbit was that she makes enough to cover her expenses with a location-independent part time job. All she needs is internet service and electricity. And she has set up a schedule that allows her to relax, explore, and enjoy the people and surroundings at each campsite. Like us, Eileen has met some fascinating and kind people on her journey.

Eileen left us a couple of delicious beers

If only everyone could trade in their television for a few interactions with kind strangers. We might all feel a little less fearful and more optimistic.

After Eileen left to go back to her campground outside of Madras, we did a lot of sitting in the shade. We considered walking to the Crooked River overlook, but it was just too hot. Rather than set up our tent, we layed out our sleeping bags on an AstroTurf pad at a vacant RV site. The insects had all fled the heat wave, so we enjoyed a bug-free night and a great cool breeze once the sun set.

The campground/RV park is situated right on the Crooked River, which was probably very scenic. But it was so bloody hot we didn't want to walk down there.

Today's ride: 35 miles (56 km)
Total: 2,073 miles (3,336 km)

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