A Dry Day at Last!

Last Saturday the wind blew down my canopy ... but hey it did not rain or snow! That I spent the evening with my brother Nick made it even better

Murphy was very excited to see Nick, she almost jumped into his MG!

Nick had come expecting a campfire dinner but the wind canceled that idea ... we did enjoy chicken soup in the lee of the little teardrop.

Our neighbors finished there own meal as the wind died with the day ...

Nick overcame his equine anxiety and greeted a very friendly gelding.

Earlier on Saturday I had plans to visit Smith Rock State Park and found the place swarming with more visitors than the parking lot could hold ... adjusted my plans and spent a couple of hours wandering the State Park Wayside at the Crooked river canyon crossing ....

The canyon is now spanned by 3 bridges ... a 100 year old rail bridge that still carries trains; the first auto bridge from 1926 designed by the famous engineer who linked Hwy 101; my grandmother Dorothy celebrated the linking of The Dalles-California Highway when the bridge was dedicated! When this bridge was replaced in the 1980's by the Rex Barber Memorial Crossing the old bridge was left for pedestrians and bicyclers.

One hundred years ago the race to bring a railroad into Central Oregon Ponderosa Forests made for a race between competing companies with gunshots and sabotage from each side of the Deschutes River by companies racing to be the first and only link. That the rivets hold and trains continue to be carried across is amazing!

Rex Barber a local kid from a potato farm in Culver is famous for his brave exploits as an WWII aviator who shot down the plane carrying Japanese Admiral who planned the raid on Pearl Harbor ...

A concise summary of the history here is provided at:

http://www.willhiteweb.com/oregon_travel/bend/crooked_river_canyon/peter_skene_ogden_state_park_372.htm