Northwest romp part 3

Almost there...
And we arrive at a Shangri-La in the deep Oregon woods, I don't know if they have named their home, but that's what I would call it. Tea and Nina have a wonderful place that is like the Spruce Goose in that you can't take just one picture and get the whole thing. Besides, one picture just wouldn't do it justice.

One of the first things I saw as I stopped my bike was this sign, I asked about it and Tea showed me the Dragon.

This is the Dragon. The Dragon is a Japanese pottery kiln. Tea tells me there are about 48 of these in the US. When they fire up the Dragon it gets to 2,600 degrees, takes 12 cords of wood for five days, and takes 2 to 3 weeks to cool down.

Inside the Dragon. To get the shape he built an upside down boat, then put bricks and dirt and some type of liner over it.

I'm looking down on Tea and their home from the 'barn' where I will spend the night.

Their home is a living museum, everywhere you look is more art. I think I could have spent days just wandering around.

Some of the cute fish that Nina makes.

The oyster bake. A first for me, I like them and had several with different things added to spice them up...

The oyster chef, sculpter, artist, and potter, Tea.

The barn, my lodging for the night. After we finished the excellent oyster bake and chatting I walked in the dark up the dirt path to the barn. I paused on the barn's deck in the absolute silence, not seeing any light that was powered by electricity, not hearing any human caused sound and had this thought; this stillness is so complete it soothes my battered ears, the stars are so vibrant they soothe my tired eyes, the Peace of this home is so encompassing it soothes my weary soul. For me at least, this truly is a Shangri-La.

After a refreshing nights sleep, it was fun to watch the animals as they started moving around.

This hen has a secret......

What could it be......?

And there it is........

More of Tea's work.

Getting ready to leave. During the oyster bake Nina had told me, "the first time I came here it felt like home, and I just never left." I now know exactly what she meant, but sadly I had to leave. I say good-bye to my wonderful hosts, give them both a heart felt hug and was missing the Shangri-La of Oregon before I got to the end of the driveway.

I ride the 10 miles down to the nearest town, Junction. Another 15 miles gets me to the nearest I-5 entrance.

I exit the freeway at Roseburg and take SR 138 to Crater Lake, after passing through several miles road construction that is....

I didn't want to pay for a permit, so I had to walk normal while I was in the park.

Late August and still lots of snow.

Crater Lake.

My lodging in Bend, Oregon.

Prineville. They guy at the chevron station told me how to get the cool pic of the whole city, unfortunatly it was a bit hazy that day.

Mitchell Oregon mainstreet.

Shoe tree west of John Day about 40 miles.

My favorite lunch, this time in John Day.

Several of these flying around, this one liked my pen.

On my way to Baker City.

Lodging in Baker City. Very inexpensive and clean, but the best part is the guy that runs the place. I parked my bike and carried some gear up to my room, when I came back out he had put a small bucket with cleaning rags and some windex by the bike so I could clean it off. Wow! I've never had that happen before, I wondered if my bike was just very dirty, but later some other bikes came in and he did the same thing for them. Knights Inn, Baker City, recommended.

The next morning I'm on my way to Hell's Canyon recreation area. After 4 days on the road, and the oyster bake I feel a certain kinship with this monument.

Going south from the dam to Cambridge. Possibly the curviest 25 miles of road I've ever been on....Sweet!

My last stop on the way home in Tremonton Ut...no worries, I still had .258 gallons left!

This might be the best trip I've ever had. Hard to say why, but it was 2300 miles of good times, great people, and good food!

I Was able to check off 4 things from my bucket list.

1. Mt. Saint Helens

2. Spruce Goose

3. Crater Lake

4. Hell's Canyon Recreation area

If you are interested in seeing more of Tea's and Nina's work you can go here:

(edit) this address should work better. Thanks Fenton!

http://www.tealartistcoop.com/ThanhNina.html

My Darkside tire is about done....20,000 care free miles.