Today I started driving home.  I decided to take the backroads – the blue route.  The road was scenic and remote; in places slow and twisty.  The road north of Burns had a rhythm; twisty-turny up hill, pine forest, a summit sign, twisty-turny down hill, then valley grasslands; repeat.  It took me 7 hours to drive it.  I’m guessing I saw a total of forty cars the entire day, except for the short stretch on Highway 26 and at Burns.  An enjoyable road.

My destination for the night was the BLM Echo Meadows Oregon Trail interpretive site.  The site is a short circular drive that you can park parallel to.  I wouldn’t call it camping.  It is more like a nice peaceful parking spot for a night.  (Note:  Camping is no longer allowed at this site.)

That night I chatted with a local.  He told me about his life – it was a country song in the making.  He was a professional bull rider and did construction work.  When I asked how much one can make riding bulls, he told me that he had made $23,000 one weekend. But that was only one weekend.  He drove an old car. I remember him saying:  “I pay my bills and my car has heat in the winter and the windows roll down in the summer.”

The next day I was home.