Back Roads; No Highways

I wish all of you could meet my wife Kathy. When I’m on the Internet writing, she’s next to me seeking out the next great place to visit or stay.

Before we had kids Kathy was a travel agent. We’ve always loved to explore but I think my cancer has given us the ability to take that in a new direction.

When you live on the less traveled path you tend to look for out of the way places instead of highways. As we make our way home from Eastern Oregon we are staying off the main paths and traveling the backcountry.

Just past LaGrande, Oregon, we jumped off the freeway and headed on highway 244 towards Ukiah.Ukiah is a former timber town that used to be home to hundreds of people. Now, only about 200 live in the area.

It’s a funky little place with some odd art that leads to the only espresso shop in town. To be honest we didn’t order coffee I have this sixth sense about places with good coffee and I was getting a bad vibe about this one.

The antler hotel is well a bit odd. In fact the whole town seemed strange but the people waved and answered our questions.

The next stop was Heppner. I have relatives here but have never been to the town. The courthouse is beautiful and so is downtown. This is a farming community and proud of it. We did find an espresso shop in town and that made our day.

The road between LaGrande and Condon is beautiful. Oregon has so much farmland out here and so few people. It takes longer to drive the less traveled path but it’s worth it. Kathy and I tend to talk more when wheat fields and endless sky fill the landscape.

Today, a bike ride from Condon to Fossil, then we get back in the car and head to…..I’ll let you know when we get there.