Beautiful Vacation

A vacation to remember for sure. 

This picture was taken in Paisley Oregon.  A fun stop on our adventure to get a cup of coffee at a local kiosk.  This town has the population of about 200, a rather large town compared to its neighboring towns.

Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge.  This is a picture of the Warner Lakes.  Just a tiny glimpse of the beauty we saw at nearly every turn in Eastern Oregon.

Vultures riding the thermals at Poker Jim Ridge

Antelope are part of the desert landscape in this part of Oregon.  We saw so many throughout our trip and were able to get up pretty close to this set.

I couln't resist posting this picture since it just might be the most adorable picture of Sawyer minus the fact he's going potty.  This is how we do it when facilities are not availabe for us to use out in the desert!

 



Soaking in the hot springs in Hart Mountain Refuge.  The thermal activity in this area is abundant.  Some of the hotsprings are developed and some are not as you see above.

Giant frisbee is one of our sources of entertainment out here!

Racing is another favorite activity.

And being silly never gets old!

Especially when it comes to daddy.  He is first to join in on the fun!

Due to extreme fire danger, our fire making needed to be strictly pretend.  The boys were so excited to roast marshmallows that we went through the motions of doing it and they did not care one bit that our fire was imaginary!

Our nightly routine of reading stories with daddy continues.

Our mornings were bitter cold so we found a way to stay warm until the sun came up!

I found a nice little spot in the sun to enjoy my coffee.

 We stopped at picture rock pass to find a set of petroglyphs and were excited to come apon them. 

We found a nice little spot at Marsters Springs outside of Paisley Oregon to set up camp.  This exact spot is suppose to be the 6th best campsite in the state of Oregon.

Excited to have a water source.

Never a dull moment with my boys!

Enjoying some hot cocoa before bedtime.

Our coldest morning was at this camp site waking up to ice all over our camp!  The good news is once the sun hits it gets warm fast!!

This dragonfly was caught by daddy the bug catcher and was calm enough to hang out in our hands for some brief pictures.

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As our adventure continued, we stopped in Frenchglen Oregon for a quick treat and to take pictures of this town that is still stuck in the early 1900's. 

Little lunch break at Fish Lake on our way to finding another camp site.

Kiger Gorge and the famous Kiger Notch.

Boys enjoying the beauty of this Gorge.

Jackman campground.  We found a nice little spot tucked back in the changing aspens.

Part of the Steens Mountain Loop.

The Steens Mountains are gorgeous and so vast it's hard to capture the beauty of this place.

Before leaving the Steens we took a little hike back to the Riddle Brothers Ranch or as we refer to it as Cowboy Camp!

We had so much fun exploring the cabins that were still left as if the Riddle brothers went out for cattle drive.

There was a care taker there who gave the boys the 2 egs she was probably planning to have for breakfast the next morning.  They were so excited to collect them and sure cherished them.

Our last stop before entering the Alvord Desert was in Fields Oregon.  Population 86.  They are known for their world famous milkshakes so we had to see for ourselves if this was true.  Greg ordered one and it was delicious but impossible to finish it was that huge!

A highlight for all of us was the Alvord Desert.  Such a beautiful place. 

We found a gorgeous place to camp across from the Alvord Desert.

Desert in the background.

Our last night was spent here before heading back home.

Five days of camping was coming to an end.  It was so enjoyable and we were truly able to see country that most people don't know exists.  It's beautiful in it's own way and we are thankful to have seen it.

We will definitely come back to this place!