A Short Stop in Oregon

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Our week in Idaho was too short but we still had another 260 miles to go between the Elks Lodge in Caldwell Idaho to the Corps of Engineering campground in the Tri-Cities area of Washington state where we had a 10 night stay planned. Plus we had 3 days to kill. Having spent the week with no water or sewer connections, we really needed to go to a full hookup campgrounds so we could dump and flush the tanks. Generally that would imply a private campground, but as we were searching for a spot, I noticed that one of the state parks midway along our route had full hookup and with 50 amp electric! Better yet, there was availability for the 3 days we needed. This is only the second state park we have found with full hookups, the other being one in Texas.

Emigrant Springs State Heritage Area isn't the biggest place. Only 18 of the sites are full hookup and the sites themselves are on the narrow side. We managed to shoehorn our rig in without too much difficulty. There is a day use area associated with the park that is dedicated to the people that crossed the Blue Mountains on the Oregon Trail right along here. We only have two full days to explore the area so we will only get a superficial understanding of the place.

Just to the southeast of us right off I-84 is the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.  It was a nice little area with a name that's too long to become a big destination for most people. It is part of the national park system so you either need to pay the day use fee or just display your National Parks pass. The interpretive center had a short walk on a paved trail that led you from one sign to the next. There were also some dirt trails that looped off this paved trail. We spent a little time investigating the displays and then moved on.

Part of Oregon Trail

Nice View Along the Trail

Our "Covered Wagon" is Nicer

We had passed a picnic area on the way in and knew there was a trail located there so we headed back and checked out the historic logging display. There were some really interesting flowers in bloom along the trail. It felt good to be back in a wooded area that reminded us of Western New York after such a long stay in arid desert landscapes.

Old Logging Cart Ready to Go

Fields of Flowers

Clarkia pulchella. Pink Fairies. 

Another Pretty Flower

After lunch, we followed the more scenic side roads back to camp doing a fair number of geocaches along the way. This might have been a bad move from the sense that we are trying to coordinate our visit to the Seattle area with our reaching our 10,000th find. Our stay in the Tri-Cities area will include another geocaching mega event like the one we attended a few months ago in Yuma. It's not clear how many caches we will be doing there but it could be on the order of 30 to 40 so we really need to ration our caches for the next few weeks to not overshoot our goal. Such is the life of semi-professional geocachers!

A Train Passes While We Geocache

The nearest town of any size is to the northwest. Pendleton is somewhat famous for its wool mill and products. They offer free half hour tours several times a day during the workweek. We head there on our second day which works out since it is overcast and rainy at times so having something fun to do inside will work well. The drive to Pendleton along I-84 includes a steep downhill section. So steep and winding that there were 6 warning signs regarding downhill speed limits for trucks based on weight. A truck coming in at 75,000 to 80,000 pounds is to keep the speed down at a snail's pace - 18 MPH. It wasn't to bad in the Jeep but it is the same route we will be taking in the motorhome the next day. The interesting thing is that the two lanes of interstate in each direction do not follow the same path. A closeup of the map shows just how windy the road is.

The Curves on I-84 Heading to Pendleton

We get to the factory store with time to spare so we looked over the sales racks to see if there was anything we just had to have. There were some nice clothes but none of them spoke to me. At 11 o'clock they announce where to converge for the tour. I was surprised that there were about a dozen people. We were all handed wireless headphones so we could hear the tour guide. Of course mine turned out to be defective with just pure static, not even Charlie Brown teacher level of fidelity. I managed to catch her attention and had a working pair before we headed into the factory.

Entrance to Store and Factory Tour

Need a Blanket?

There were yellow lines on the floor and maybe she told us to stay inside the marked walkway but nobody else did and she never yelled at us. Plus, I would argue I'm bright enough to not stick my hands in fast moving machinery. The complete process of taking sheep's wool and turning it into yarn and then blankets was pretty fascinating to me. Maybe even more impressive is how many of the older machines were still in working order. It's hard to comprehend the volume that just this one factory produces. The bigger cylindrical spools of yarn holds 10 miles each! It would takes a boatload of spinning wheels and people to crank out this amount of yarn.

Spools of Yarn

Vibrant Orange Yarn

Stages in Yarn Making

Foreground Spools are 10 Miles Each!

The big looms are all computerized now and the and it is easy to see the lengthwise "warp" feeding off the huge roller. The crosswise "weft" was more difficult to comprehend if for no other reason than the speed at which the gizmo goes back and forth - 300 times per minute! As an engineer, I would have liked to see the thread up process. And Chris thought threading up her serger sewing machine was a pain.

Working Portion of Loom

"Brains" of Looms on Second Level 

They don't have a huge staff of people working here since much of the process is automated. There was at least one job that still required a person. All the material produced here is run through a series of rollers so that person can sit there and inspect both sides for defects. The woman was just coming back from break as we passed her station so we didn't get to see all the action, but as she started the thing up, I was impressed with the speed she was able to complete her job. There is a small museum of sorts that has quite a few displays and information about the history of the place.

Blankets Galore

Hanging in the Museum at Pendleton Mills

After the tour, we headed into town and found a place for lunch and then did a few of the better geocaches in the area. One was located in a highway off ramp circle and consisted of a bunch of sculptures of cowboys on horseback driving a handful of cattle with the help of their dog.

Cattle Drive Display

This Cowboy Has a Couple Doves Perched

This Dog Should Get Away

Three nights was obviously not long enough to "see" Oregon, not even this little corner of the state. But we will be back in Oregon, albeit further west, in mid to late August for the solar eclipse. We should be able to do some more exploring at that time. We haven't really planned out too much for that time period, but we should have plenty of time before we need to head south for the winter - at least I hope so.

View from Scenic Stop Along I-84