Day 48: HOME!

Yes we are home!  It was a wonderful trip and think it will take us a while to process it all.  

We both woke up early--probably because we were anticipating home coming--and left the motel in Ontario and headed home.  There were many beautiful farms in far Eastern Oregon.  So thankful for the people that still farm.  

The hills are so bare in that part of the state - so very different from most of the country.  Even in Utah there are shapes to add to beauty.  Then we realized that the uniqueness of Eastern Oregon hills is that there is a "ledge" on a great many of them.  It is a layer of rock that stand out from the rest of the hill.  Usually it is horizontal near the top but not always.  There was one that started at ground level and went diagonally up and to the left. 

We went from Highway 395 west on the Christmas Valley road - first time.  Very interesting scenery.  Lots of sage brush from as far as the eye can see right up to the fog line on the road.  There was at one point along the way where there were over 10 miles of very tall, newer, power poles with a number of wires.  It was spooky driving alongside these massive poles as they looked like a nearly solid wall when looked at on end.  After Silver Lake there were juniper trees that later transitioned into pines. This is when we knew we were close.  It had been weeks since pine trees were so prominent alongside the road.  

Just about eight miles north of town - in the curves before the gravel plant - we were stopped by road construction.  It was the longest stop the entire trip (second longest was waiting for a train in Kansas).  Before we got to go 80+ vehicles went by us heading north.  As we got to the waiting cars on the other end, there were 138 vehicles waiting their turn to move.  We didn't know what was further up the road so we took Lakeport Blvd from near the weigh station and went down by JELD-WEN and then went through town.  It was 1:10 so we stopped at King Wah for lunch--about three blocks from home.  We knew once home we wouldn't want to take time for a meal.  Arrived home at 1:54 - 47 days and 30 minutes from the time we left Klamath Falls.

MILEAGE CHALLENGE:  First of all I (Karen) would like to apologize for misleading some in our early conversations.  I guessed 10,522.  Thank you all of participating.

ACTUAL MILES:  8,347.  Jana W. was closest at 8,253 - just 94 miles off.  Werner R. was exactly 300 miles over with a guess of 8,647 - was that a typo Werner?

Over the next few days we'll add some overall comments and observations.  We want to thank each of you for your encouragement and prayers as we wandered about, as well as the hours you took in reading of our exploits.