Day Two – Tried and True and Something New!

We awoke to a very smoky Burns and could even smell the bad air through the open window in our room. We made quick work of the NYT Spelling Bee and got ready to hit the road.

We usually take Hwy. 395 N, which is one of Tom’s favorite roads but this time we changed it up by taking some lesser known roads east of 395 through the towns of Prairie City, Sumpter and Granite. Some stretches were pretty remote; just US Forest Service paved roads.

The roads were fantastic with long easy curves. We went over six passes ranging from 4,800 to almost 6,000 feet in elevation.

We rarely saw another vehicle but we did some interesting sites.

The sky was partly cloudy and we smelled rain. It wasn’t long before we encountered wet pavement and the pitter-patter of raindrops on our shields.

We stopped to stretch and have a snack before turning onto Hwy 84 east and then onto Hwy 244, the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway. This is a beautiful ride through ranch land nestled up against the Wallowa Mountains.

We arrived in Joseph in the early afternoon and enjoyed a visit with our friends, Chris and Christina and their adorable dog Ananda. They have a beautiful home in Joseph next to pastures filled with cattle. Christina is a Reiki is a practitioner and has put us up in her studio. It’s a well equipped, luxury cottage next to the main house – both of which her son built.

After cleaning up, we went to Terminal Gravity for dinner and met up with some friends of Chris and Christina’s that we haven’t seen for nearly twenty years.