Driving south from Seattle to the Lava Beds NM gives one plenty of time to think about how to solve the world’s problems. I didn’t do that, I just zoned-out and drove. Smiling as I enjoyed the scenery. I had forgotten how pleasant the drive is between Biggs and Madras on Highway 97. Not much traffic and high plateau farming and ranching. At the north end are huge un-worldly wind turbines.  Looking at them reminded me of all the marvelous things engineers have figured out.  After a night spent at the Haystack Reservoir East Shore Campground I continued driving south.  It was a rainy day, raining the entire way from Madras to Klamath Fall with low clouds. No scenery and lots of traffic.  Ugh.  The dogs and I needed to take a break and do something other than driving so we stopped at the Collier Memorial Logging Museum. What a pleasant surprise.

Seeing the machine below reminded me of Star Wars.  In reality it is a type of high wheel (without the high wheels!).  The logs are held by cables attached to the high end (right side) and dragged with the low end attached to some sort of moving equipment.

The Facts

• The Haystack Reservoir Campground (east side) was nice.  Lots of space between camping sites.  The one negative was that many of the sites were not level.  $15/night and $7/night with a geezer pass [ 🙂  first time I got to use my pass].
• The Collier Memorial Logging Museum is free.  Visting the museum was a treat.  I spent over an hour wandering around.