Just on the east side of the interstate highway (with Baker City on the west) lies the Chinese Cemetery. You will see below a couple photos of handmade signs that give a surprising amount of detail about the place and the people in it. I'll say at his point that it is unlike any other cemetery we've visited. Very few stone marker to view. I think they are all photographed here (both of them).
In an earlier post, you saw this Catholic church from the outside. Today we explore the inside. I called the church office and talked to the nice lady there and she gladly allowed me to come for a visit and photograph the church even though it was closed...the priest was out of town.
Sitting on a hill east of Baker City, not far from the turnoff for Ruckles Creek Road, sits an interpretive center describing the Oregon Trail experience. Unfortunately, it was close during our visit due to covid. Nevertheless, we could visit the outside area and see some of the wagons people traveled in as well as appreciate the view from atop this hill.
I can only assume that this blue bird is having trouble with parasites. Here he is scratching his backside. Since he was willing to pose for me, I felt obliged to stay and continue taking photos.
Our next stop is Baker City, OR. Here we have a sit with two kitties in this interesting little town on the Oregon Trail. Sitting in a semi-arid area, there is lots (and lots!) of cattle grown here. More on this in a later post.
As we drove between Twin Falls and Boise, ID, we decided to visit the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area. Our hope was to see lots of birds of prey but, alas, we only saw this one Red Tailed Hawk. On the other hand. she was on her nest and that was pretty cool.
Once you lower your gaze from the horizon, there are many treasures to find among the iron-rich lava flows.
At least in some directions, the span covered by volcanic rock does not appear to be infinite. the hills in the distance are "normal" hills. But between here and there, there is very little that is normal.
We stopped in northern Utah at Tremonton for a night's rest and then drove on into Idaho. We took an indirect route through Pocatello so we could visit the Crates of the Moon. It is an amazing place to see.
After leaving Capitol Reef, we headed north. Along the way, we spied a sign indicating a "pioneer cemetery" in the small town of Scipio. Naturally, we had to stop and have a look.
Not far away from the Canyonlands is Capitol Reef National Park. This place is different what we've seen previously because we can easily drive to see a lot of it.
As we move further into this section of the park, the land is a lighter shade of red and, while just as barren and forbidding, feels less alien.
These gnarled trees and the remains of their weathered stumps reflect the weathered canyons beyond them.
On along the road a ways, we come to a different canyon. This one was formed by the Green River flowing into the Colorado.
Just down the road a few miles from Dead Horse Point is the Island in the Sky portion of the Canyonland National Park. This park is unusual in that the four sections of the park are not connected to one another. You have to leave the park to get to any of the other parts.
Our exit from Bernalillo was a short day. We decided to break our trip In Gallup on a couple hours west on I-40. Thus, our first stop on the way was Old Town for a cup of coffee and a chai. As well some looking at the shops, of course.
After seeing a sampling of the wildlife to be found here, I thought I'd also show you what the place is like.
There was also a gaggle of Snow Geese resting along the shore of the pond. This one has assumed the resting pose.
The Northern Shovelers are having a bit of a nep here near midday. Perched in shallow water where they feel safe, they hide their beak and snooze away.
No trip to the Albuquerque area would be complete without a visit to Bosque del Apache to see a few birds. While we always seems to get to place around midday with finding birds is not ideal, we did see some. For example, the Greater Yellowlegs you see above.
Once our house sit in Santa Fe ended, we drove down the I-25 toward Albuquerque to the Bernalillo for another sit. This one came up while we were in Santa Fe and it worked out very nicely.
After visiting the petroglyphs that you saw yesterday, we decided to drive along the old route 66 through Albuquerque just to see what we could see.
Between Bernalillo and Albuquerque is the Petroglyph National Monument (among other things and places). We visited one small section of this 7,000+ acre monument, Boca Negra Canyon.
