Day 44- Redmond to La Pine, Oregon – 46 Miles

Today was the day that we really started for home, not too swiftly for sure, but it was at least in a southerly direction. Our plan was to spend the best part of the day at the High Desert Museum that we first encountered on our way north some 45 days ago. At that time we spent only a couple of hours before moving on, but we were aware that we had missed the majority of what the museum had to offer.

The High Desert Museum was also the place where I unwisely decided to climb to the top of a pillar that had been constructed to hold the Museum’s entrance-way sign. My motive was to produce an unusual photograph for the blog. But unfortunately I lost my footing and fell off the pillar backwards onto some rather sharp-edged rocks

For almost the entire trip since then I have been slowly recuperating. An ER doctor that we visited in Oregon City, just across the river from Portland, told us that it didn’t appear to him that I had broken anything. But, he said, I had no doubt acquired some painful contusions that I would suffer with for some weeks, or even months to come. The good doctor was indeed correct and my improvement, while steady, has been a slow process.

Putting that sad tale aside, we decided that since we were going to be traveling through Oregon again on our way to Nevada, why not stop and finish our tour of the High Desert Museum. Of course Concetta made me promise NOT to try and repeat my performance on the pillar, a concept with which I readily agreed.

The last time we visited we had walked through the Western History section compliments of a Museum tour guide, and the tour was excellent. Today we wanted to participate in the “Raptors of the Desert Sky” demonstration, visit the American Indian room, walk out to the Miller Family ranch and sawmill, as well as a slew of other attractions like the Birds of Prey hall, the otter exhibit, and the trout pond viewing area.

Unbelievably, though we spent at least four hours at the Museum, we still didn’t get to everything. But a major chunk of our day we devoted to watching the “Raptors of the Desert Sky” demonstration. Neither of us had ever seen anything like this program. Five different predator birds were each in turn lured by their trainers to fly toward our large group of observers and land on convenient limbs or snags so that we could watch them and photograph their movements.

Though I had my doubts as to how anyone could get good shots of moving birds, especially since they would be dark objects against a brilliantly lit background, I did manage to grab a few shots that came out okay. But the birds in flight move so quickly and change their perches so quickly, that you had to be constantly firing the shutter to capture at rest. Overall, the experience was not to be missed. I had never in my life been close enough to an actual raptor to capture his or her portrait.

We started with a barn owl with a perfect snowy face. He was notable for his silent flying. When he would go overhead, you did not hear him at all. The most impressive thing about the Barn Owl, the narrator said, is that he can eat his weight in field mice each and every year. That amounts to about 1,100 mice out of your barn and fields. Pretty impressive.

Next came the Harris Hawk, which is an Aplomato Falcon. The person doing the program narration said he likes to bite the backs of the neck of his future dinners. Incredibly, the next bird that we watched and photographed was a Turkey Vulture. They fly very slowly, use the thermals, and the narrator said they are exceptional among birds as they have a sense of smell, a very handy thing for a bird that must find dead things to eat.

Next we got to watch two Swanson Hawks that swopped and played and chased each other around the meadow by which we were sitting. These birds are from Argentina and migrate north during the summers down there.

Finally came the most incredible bird of all, the Peregrin Falcon. Capable of flying at anywhere from seventy to two-hundred miles an hour as they dive from great heights to swoop down and seize their prey. They can’t do their flying in forested areas like where we were sitting, but must call the wide open countryside their home. The narrator said that as they have lost habitat they often can be found inhabiting tall buildings in the city.

After the raptor show, we walked out to the parking lot and had lunch in the RV. After lunch, Concetta and I went our separate ways. I wanted to visit the Miller Farms and photograph the sawmill and other farm buildings. Concetta was anxious to visit the American Indian part of the Museum indoors. Agreeing to meet in an hour, we went off to our respective destinations.

I was so excited to start shooting that I forgot to change out the battery in the camera when we had lunch at the RV. So it was that I had only done a dozen shots of the Miller Farm, and the battery went completely dead. There was nothing for it but to retrace my many steps out to the parking lot, and secure the spare battery. This required a good ten walk in each direction.

Once back at the Miller Farm, I took up the shooting where I left off. I visited the cabin, the root cellar, and the barn where I found a wonderful old freight wagon. Everything in all the farm buildings was just as you would have found it a hundred years ago.

My next shooting subject was the saw mill, which looked to be a full-scale version of that most essential of frontier businesses. Not only did the saw mill look like it could actually mill lumber, there was a stack of milled planks in the run-out area to prove it.

I especially liked the mill since it had all of its vintage machinery, blades, and conveyors. The whole operation appeared to run on steam, though there was no one around to ask. It had what looked like a boiler and a drive piston arrangement, so it probably was steam driven.

After my photo shoot at the farm, and Concetta’s tour through the Native American Museum, we met at the gift shop where I purchased a cool book on the the life of John Riis, one of the earliest forest rangers in the brand new U.S. Forest Service that was formed by Gifford Pinchott back in 1905.

Concetta was hoping to find gifts for the grandkids, but didn’t find anything that took her eye. On the other hand, while Concetta shopped I drifted over and bought an ice cream bar at the snack bar and read a few pages in my new book.

We didn’t have far to travel after we left the museum as our camp was only ten or twelve miles away. We’re staying at the La Pine recreation area just north of the town of La Pine, though when we pulled up to the gate we found that there were only three or four spaces available. Thankfully, we were able to snag one and it turned out to be easy to maneuver the rig into.

Tomorrow we’re headed for Crater Lake. Perhaps if we get lucky we might even be able to camp there overnight. But since we never make reservations, we never really know where we’ll get to stay.

I can't emphasize enough that the High Desert Museum is a wonderful place to spend a day. As you probably noted, even on our second visit Concetta still didn't get to see everything we wanted to see. We hope you decide to come. And when you do, we wish you exciting destinations and memorable travels from the Davises, the Happy Wanderers.