Day 26: Central & Western Oregon

It was much cooler today and there was not as much picture-taking. There were a lot of miles between stops -- most of it quite breathtakingly scenic (forests and ocean views). But I was also stuck looking at the butts of far too many slow-moving hay trucks and giant RVs for much of the time.

There was a long drive in the morning out to Lakeview which is in the high desert in Central OR. They are proud of their tallest town status -- this sign is in the middle of the fairgrounds. I believe it was used as a welcome sign in town in a more prominent location on the highway.



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Lakeview really felt like Texas. I was surprised by the town's appearance and dryness, as well as the amount of cowboy hats and Western-themed signage, etc.



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Here's a non-Western example from downtown -- a shoe store with not one but two nice neon signs:



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Later, up north in Bend, we stopped at the Funny Farm for a few minutes. It's a bizarre mix of folk art and antique store.
http://www.funfarm.com/

The agitator wall ("Without agitators: nothing in the world would come clean"):



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The bowling ball tree:



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and other fun, slightly scary stuff:





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I finally got to see Petersen's Rock Garden in Redmond. But I hadn't counted on the abudance of peacocks in the parking lot and all over the place. The dogs were berserk over them. I had to carefully climb in and out of the van to avoid bloodshed. The dogs' barking was audible for miles during my visit. At first, the peacocks were a little concerned but they quickly got over it and confidently strolled about.





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One of Petersen's grand sculptures is surrounded by a moat with lily pads. There are super tiny frogs that you could easily miss. Anybody know what these guys are called? Here's one at the center of this photo:



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After finishing the Central portion of the trip, I headed west. It took quite awhile with the twisty windy roads and traffic. It was already dusk when we arrived but I got a couple photos in. Then, I found a stretch of beach for the dogs to run around. Lost Creek State Park in Newport had clear signs about leashes being required but hardly anybody was around so I found a deserted area to let them rip around. We all had a blast and it was nearly dark when we left. This photo doesn't really do the place justice:
http://www.u-s-history.com/or/l/lostcree.htm