Adventure day 4. It got off to a better start after I actually slept, yay! I had a campsite breakfast and was on the road by 8.

I was heading for home but decided to take the long way, the Journey Through Time Scenic Byway. It meanders through the John Day basin, the Painted Hills, and up through rolling grasslands to the Columbia River Gorge.

I took a short hike at the Clarno Unit of John Day Fossil Beds and had the place to myself, as I have everything. I was ready to stop again at the town of Fossil and I dug for, wait for it… fossils! I’d never done that before. I found a couple that are clearly fossils, and many that might be if you squint just right.

I stopped in a cafe for a road burrito and they had baked goods made from scratch every day. I got a huge cinnamon roll and a tiny pie to bring home for Bob.

The drive was so fun and beautiful. It was curvy and winding, and climbed high mesas and dipped into river valleys. It was constantly changing and so vast and quiet. I made one more stop in Shaniko, which seems to make a thing of being a ghost town but had more traffic and commerce than the living towns!

From there I hit the gorge and headed home. I forget how beautiful the gorge is because it’s in my own backyard. But it is spectacular. I made it to Portland in time for rush hour, so I started my day with no people and ended with all the people.

What a fun time. Thanks for following along!