Oregon Cottage On The Oregon Trail

Sorry all, I can't help but brag a little bit about our gorgeous state! I've got a couple more posts up my sleeve to see if I can't get anyone else to make the trip here to see some truly beautiful sights.

On a frugal note, a road trip is one of the least expensive ways to see a lot without spending a lot. Our biggest expense is going to be gas. We're eating food from our pantry, with only a couple of meals out planned. We're staying in state campgrounds that are under $20 each night. We're taking hikes during the day and playing dominoes in our trailer at night. The only place we've been that we've had to pay to get into was the Oregon Interpretive Center in Baker City, and that was only $8.00 for adults and kids under 16 are FREE. This is living well on less, folks!




On our way to Baker City, we stopped at a viewpoint where we could gawk at the Strawberry Mountains (so named for the wild strawberries that grow there).

A note about why there's always someone in the pictures:

I have a thing about pictures without people in them. A few are OK, but if all our pictures are of scenery, how is that going to interest our children and grandchildren? I just don't care about landscapes of places I haven't been when I'm looking at my grandparents pictures, and I wish they had taken more with PEOPLE in them! Just a little personal quirk, I'm aware. :-)

I'm a lover of history and wanted to make the trip to the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center just outside of Baker City. After spending the night with a girlhood friend of mine (thanks, Lori!), we headed up to Flagstaff Hill.

They had very realistic exhibits of people on the Oregon Trail and what they went through that gave us a small inkling into what the experience must have been like for them. They didn't leave out the details like how dirty it was, or the sadness some endured.

I don't think I would've been able to do it, honestly.

There are trails to hike that take you past some replicas of wagons circled for the night. We climbed up on them (allowed!) and imagined we were Ma and Laura Ingalls.

You can even see and walk the ruts left by the thousands of wagons that took this route to the West. In this spot, it's easy to imagine you could be walking alongside a wagon because if you look straight you can't see power lines, cars, or buildings.

Imagine WALKING more than a 1,000 miles and seeing this. Hardly the land of milk and honey, even though you're in Oregon. You've got many more miles to go.

It's too much for me, actually. I was happy to climb back into the car.

-Jami