Time, Perspective and a Few Adventures Later....

I left the computer and several boxes with a very kind person I met at the internet cafe at the Weinhard Hotel in Dayton. I finally made it back to the area after 9 days of car-camping adventures, and this same lovely person, Cathy, put me in touch with a friend of hers who has a house that is unoccupied for the month of August. Though I will take only a few days to repack, clean and organize before heading on to Bend, I am so grateful for this time and opportunity to get out of the ^%$#@%^ car, especially as the temperatures have sometimes topped 100 F!

I went back to the Monteillet's and apologized - that's all I could do. We all wished things could have gone differently. Joan and Pierre-Louis are lovely people, and have a great dairy, and a fantastic line of tasty cheeses. I have started a trajectory of healing and searching, and it may take a few more weeks to lessen some of the grief - - that will help me to feel more functional. I also revised my comments on the blog, so you early adopters got to see it all - my foibles and missteps, and I thank you all for listening!

Here's a bit of photo imagery from my time on the road and from the Outstanding in the Field dinner:

The table before guests

The table during the amazing five course farm dinner

Moonrise from the Airstream

Pomeroy, Washington - It ain't no ghostown

Wheatgerm separators from the Petaha Flour Mill, now defunct

Pomeroy grain storage view from the grocery store

Alex, riding her bike across the country, near the start of her journey - Hell's Gate State Park

View from Pittsburgh Landing, Hell's Canyon - it's called that because it's hot, you know!

Petroglyphs - Hell's Canyon

Along the Nez Perce trail. Worth reading, if you can see the words - It says" "The only good Indian is a dead indian." - Gen. William Custer. On [date of Little Bighorn battle] General Custer became a good white man." I was pointed to this gravestone by a Nez Perce I talked to along the trail route.

A nod to my friends in Fourth Corner Exchange

Wendy, Chief Operating Officer of Sally B farms. She makes lovely goat milk soap near Joseph, Oregon.

Two of her progeny. The King-Kirkvliets will recognize the Nubian Alpine mix  ears!

Waitsburg, a good place to rest, with lots of new businesses and  excess charm. The library was closed but the door was unlocked! I was invited to a city council meeting, look out....

White Bird notch, the place where the US Calvary and Nez Perce met, shots were unintentionally fired, and the skirmish ended with 34 fatalities to the US calvary, 0 to the Nez Perce. It started the beginning of the battle, though, and the Nez Perce, after 11 or 12 years of fleeing and relocation, were finally confined to a reservation 1/10 the size of their original treaty. The county and area is dedicated to acknowledging (at least) the amazing struggle and injustice that occurred through the change in treaty rights.