Day 88, Mitchell to Redmond, oregon.

Because of the cloud cover all day. These pictures might lack the true beauty of what this country side is capable of. We stopped for a break at this look out that over looked a small valley part way up the climb.

A little further up the climb I noticed this man made canal or something. Maybe it was a water run off.

The Oregon Hotel where we spent the night. We are on the second floor, room on the right. We got wifi from the cafe right nest door. Oh, the young lovers were in the room right next to us.

The lobby of the Oregon hotel.

There were many table top mountains framing this valley we were riding in.

A cool rock formation.

This is the road out of Mitchell. It rained all night and ended about a half hour before we hit the road.


We are out of the desert and into more lush Oregon type country.

Every time I stop, I take pictures. The road we are on leads through the valley until the climb starts.

Our room at the Oregon Hotel. My bed is the messy one on the right.

An old abandoned water slough used in the old days.

One of the deserted businesses in Mitchell.

I couldn't tell if this one was still in business or not. There was nobody there.

Riding through the Ochoco National forest.

More Llamas. I still can't figure out why they have um. You can't eat um, can you?

This is a small logging factory. They make logs for log cabins.

That's Lake Ochoco in the distance. We rode along her banks for a couple of miles.

This is not a camera trick. The rocking chair is really that big. There is a website sign on the front of it. Click the picture, and you might be able to make out what it is.

I took a natural break here, and decided to take this shot.

Entering the town of Prineville.

Down town Mitchell. Those are a group of young boys riding cross country. The car is their sag wagon.

Another shot of down town Mitchell.

Meet Dan in the front seat, and Barb in the back. They also stayed at the Oregon Hotel. And no, they are not the young lovers I mentioned earlier. The are riding east to west.


Day 88, Mitchell to Redmond, Oregon. “A Day Without Sun”. 68.26 miles. Total= 4,202.12 miles.

Friday, August 7, 2009. The town of Mitchell is located in a deep narrow canyon. It was established during the gold rush days as a supply transfer post to destinations beyond. Because of it’s location. The town was destroyed by flood on more than one occasion. All but 160 people still call this town home.

The Oregon Hotel where we stayed was a real treat. The rustic old style setting made for a cozy night out of the rain. If not for the two young lovers in the next room, I would have certainly had a good night’s rest.

We left Mitchell at 9:00AM. This morning because the only place to eat breakfast didn’t open till eight. For today’s ride, a good breakfast would be essential. It had been raining all night, and it was still raining when we went to breakfast. While blessing my food, I asked The Lord for His protection on our ride today. I didn’t ask Him to stop the rain. I figured I’ve asked too much these past three months that I didn’t want to be such a pest. About mid way though our meal. I noticed the rain had stopped. And believe it or not, it did not rain for the rest of the day. You see? Sometimes The Lord does answer prayers even if you don’t ask Him. I believe others like you out there are praying for our well being, and The Lord answers prayers.

When we left Mitchell the thermometer outside the hotel read 49 degrees. Once on the road, it was down hill the first couple of miles. Easy, but cold. Once the climb started though, things began to warm up. Slowly at first, since the sun never did come out yet. In fact, I don’t think it came out the hole day for more than a minute or two. The climb today would take us over the Ochoco Pass. An elevation of about 4,300 feet. A climb of just over 2,000 feet in 16 miles. Shorter than the previous day’s climb, but steeper. Since the temperature was cooler, I kept my wind vest on, even after we were well on our way up the hill. I stopped occasionally to take some pictures. Even though the sun was not out. The scenery was just too good to pass up. I think I said the same thing about yesterday. Anyway. We met Dan and Barb on a three wheeler, also pulling a BOB trailer. They had started on the east coast in mid April, and were also on their way to Florence.

Once over the top, we stopped at a rest area to have lunch. The place filled up real quick, so we left, hopping to find something better down the road. At mile 47, we entered the town of Prineville, A good sized town with a population of about 10,000, and found a Taco Time restaurant and had our real lunch there. It was about 3:00PM by now, and we still had another 21 more miles to go. The wind had picked up, and as luck would have it, it was head wind. We plowed our way through rich river basin farm and ranch lands. Framed by rugged rocky mountains on either side. We followed the valley, enjoying fairly light traffic, and cool views. We’ve seen so much beautiful country side that we were beginning to get spoiled. And I stopped less to take pictures unless it really grabbed my attention.

We pulled into Redmond at about 6:00PM., and checked into the “Sleep Inn Suites”. A pricey hotel, but what the heck. We had a hard day and felt like we deserved it. Tomorrow our destination will be the town of Vita, 83 miles. Good night for now. Thank you all again for being such wonderful fans. Aloha, Ted.