Day Five – John Day

We are uncertain where we will end up today but we are headed northeast in the direction of Burns.  Burns is a two hour drive from Lakeview and in between is only desert.  Well, theoretically there is another lake in between but it is Oregon's only saltwarter lake, Lake Abert, that is disappearing and scientists don't know why.  The high desert is a scenic drive, but we wouldn't want to live here.  Nor would anyone else as evidenced by the lack of civilization between Lakeview and Burns.  The only bump in the road on the journey is Wagontire, which is home to a single ranch and a decrepit deserted motel. 

Eastern Oregon high desert

Not much lives here

Upon arriving in Burns… well, enough about Burns.  On to John Day!  John Day is another small town but it has a nice feel to it.  It seems to be random as to which small towns feel nice and which ones are run down. We can only guess that it takes one or a few of the right people with the right amount of pride and ambition to drive the upkeep or gentrification of a town.  The small towns on this trip that have had that driven person or people are Ashland, John Day, Canyon City and even Lakeview.  Some of the ones we thought might be nice but have had missing ambition and thus have little or no reason to visit are Roseburg, Klamath Falls and Burns. 

A very dusty and buggy Prius

Malheur National Forest

Malheur National Forest

Ranch near John Day

In the evening we meandered through the roads of John Day and stumbled upon a rodeo.  This seemed to be a big time rodeo because there were contestants from many distant towns and some from the neighboring states, like Idaho and Washington. We only stayed long enough to watch a few competitors lasso a calf before we felt that we sufficiently experienced the local flavor and subsequently lost interest.

Lassoing a calf

Holding pen... for the cowboys