Bend to Baker City

Its day seven and we are safely in Baker City, OR...our last stop in the great state of Oregon.  Our route today followed a lot of the same roads that I cycled across Oregon on in 2007.  While much of the scenery was only vaguely familiar, there were spots I remembered like it was yesterday...the awful, cigarette smoke filled room in John Day, the long climbs leading to Ochoco Summit and Keyes Summit and the sleepy downtown of Mitchell, OR where we stopped for lunch one day.

I must admit that I am wearing down some.  I was alert and felt great while riding.  I enjoyed the ride and the scenery a lot today, but I'm pretty drained right now.  Gonna bang out this blog, eat some Mexican and crash early.  We still have close to six hundred miles to ride over the next two and a half days and we need to stay sharp. 

The 231mile route today was nice, but compared to what we've seen recently, not particularly dramatic. I guess that's my excuse for taking very few pictures today.  That and the rain we rode in for the second hour.

Temps were cool (50's) and skies were completely overcast leaving Bend this morning,  nice motorcycle touring weather.  But if I'm being honest, I was focused on finishing the ride today and getting off my bike.

Within minutes of leaving our Hampton Inn we were on Hwy 97 North to Redmond, then Hwy 126 East to Prineville.  It was here that we picked up Hwy 26 and rode that almost all the way to Baker City.  Out of Prineville we passed Ochoco Lake (almost totally dry) and then we began ascending through the Ochoco Mountains, as I did in 2007 on my Giant road bike.  Somewhere in this area it began to rain lightly and this stayed with us for an hour or two.

As we passed the tiny town of Mitchell, I had a flashback of the group I was cycling with stopping here for a break and some food and sitting on the bench in front of the town's General Store, watching the local ranchers come and go.  So, of course, I peeled off and made a loop through Mitchell.  Took roughly 22 seconds.

We stopped for lunch in John Day at a Dairy Queen. It was everything I've come to expect from Dairy Queen. 

The final push into Baker City along Hwy7 was scenic, but after the sights we've seen in the last two weeks...it was not memorable.

Had this been a local ride, I'd probably be gushing.

The hotel pickings were pretty slim in Baker City and I'm grateful that we'll only be at the Sunridge Inn for a night.  I am comforted by the fact that it was less than half what the Hampton Inn cost in Bend.