Still Loving Fossil!
Day two of our Fossil adventure was just as fun as day one!
Today started out with a great breakfast (Sisters Coffee, you do make the best coffee I've ever had. Seriously!) and chat with Nancy and Phil and the rest of the guests at Wilson Ranches B&B.
We decided to be a bit adventurous today and headed out for the Painted Hills Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds (see: http://www.nps.gov/joda/planyourvisit/painted_hills_unit.htm). It was about 40 miles from the ranch, but took a little over an hour to get there. The boys did admirably in the van, which was nice.
There are a lot of cows on the road in this part of the state. Lots of them. Today we saw an honest-to-goodness cowboy and his two cattle dogs driving a huge herd of cattle down the road... well, highway. It was impressive. Then, as we were coming back from the Painted Hills, we see the same guy, same dogs, different herd of cattle, a good 30 miles apart. That guy earned his pay today (I would assume he earns his pay everyday, but you know what I mean).
At the painted hills, we did a couple of hikes, all excellent in their own right:
We started with the Painted Hills Overlook Trail, which was a nice 1/2 mile hike. Not too steep, but the trail had large gravel. Little B had some biffs, so he ended up in the backpack. Big A charged up and down the hill, but ran out of fuel about 1/3 of the way down. Only the promise of a peanut butter and honey sandwich kept him going.
We had a nice picnic lunch at the Painted Hills Overlook trail head, and then decided to burn off our lunch doing the Carroll Rim Trail. This was not the hardest trail I've done by any stretch, but it was a long one for Big A. Little B rode in the backpack most of the way, as it was pretty steep with a good drop-off. The brochures say the hike was 1.5 miles, but it seemed longer than that!
We finished up with some snacks and then walked Painted Cove Trail, which was gorgeous. Part of the trail is boardwalk, and you get right up next to the colored hills. They are amazing. Way, way amazing. Big A had such a great time "observing" them that we walked the trail twice.
We drove back to the ranch, Little B took his nap, Big A met some kids who are staying at the ranch, and then we headed into town for dinner. We had dinner at the Big Timber Family Restaurant in Fossil. It was solid family restaurant food, with out-of-this-world milkshakes. Big A had peanut butter and Little B had strawberry. G and I got to taste, but weren't permitted to drink them up (per Little B). We then walked around Fossil for a bit, but rain seemed to be intent on getting us to head back to the ranch.
It was near bedtime for the boys, but we insisted on a quick dunk in the claw-footed bathtub. Those boys were a mess. Big A was super proud of himself, as he wore through his first pair of jeans (knees are gone)!
Heard today: Little B, to Big A: "Take it down a notch, buddy. You're too much."
In any case, much fun again today. I got a little sun, despite sunscreen applied liberally today, and clouds. Then again, we were outside almost all day.
Today started out with a great breakfast (Sisters Coffee, you do make the best coffee I've ever had. Seriously!) and chat with Nancy and Phil and the rest of the guests at Wilson Ranches B&B.
We decided to be a bit adventurous today and headed out for the Painted Hills Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds (see: http://www.nps.gov/joda/planyourvisit/painted_hills_unit.htm). It was about 40 miles from the ranch, but took a little over an hour to get there. The boys did admirably in the van, which was nice.
There are a lot of cows on the road in this part of the state. Lots of them. Today we saw an honest-to-goodness cowboy and his two cattle dogs driving a huge herd of cattle down the road... well, highway. It was impressive. Then, as we were coming back from the Painted Hills, we see the same guy, same dogs, different herd of cattle, a good 30 miles apart. That guy earned his pay today (I would assume he earns his pay everyday, but you know what I mean).
At the painted hills, we did a couple of hikes, all excellent in their own right:
We started with the Painted Hills Overlook Trail, which was a nice 1/2 mile hike. Not too steep, but the trail had large gravel. Little B had some biffs, so he ended up in the backpack. Big A charged up and down the hill, but ran out of fuel about 1/3 of the way down. Only the promise of a peanut butter and honey sandwich kept him going.
We had a nice picnic lunch at the Painted Hills Overlook trail head, and then decided to burn off our lunch doing the Carroll Rim Trail. This was not the hardest trail I've done by any stretch, but it was a long one for Big A. Little B rode in the backpack most of the way, as it was pretty steep with a good drop-off. The brochures say the hike was 1.5 miles, but it seemed longer than that!
We finished up with some snacks and then walked Painted Cove Trail, which was gorgeous. Part of the trail is boardwalk, and you get right up next to the colored hills. They are amazing. Way, way amazing. Big A had such a great time "observing" them that we walked the trail twice.
We drove back to the ranch, Little B took his nap, Big A met some kids who are staying at the ranch, and then we headed into town for dinner. We had dinner at the Big Timber Family Restaurant in Fossil. It was solid family restaurant food, with out-of-this-world milkshakes. Big A had peanut butter and Little B had strawberry. G and I got to taste, but weren't permitted to drink them up (per Little B). We then walked around Fossil for a bit, but rain seemed to be intent on getting us to head back to the ranch.
It was near bedtime for the boys, but we insisted on a quick dunk in the claw-footed bathtub. Those boys were a mess. Big A was super proud of himself, as he wore through his first pair of jeans (knees are gone)!
Heard today: Little B, to Big A: "Take it down a notch, buddy. You're too much."
In any case, much fun again today. I got a little sun, despite sunscreen applied liberally today, and clouds. Then again, we were outside almost all day.
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