We LOVE Fossil, Oregon!
So we are currently on a vacation in Fossil, Oregon. It is AMAZING. We are having a ball, and with our two kids, that's saying something. The focus of our trip, you should not be surprised to hear, is fossils, fossils, fossils! And Fossil knows how to deliver.
We are staying at the Wilson Ranches Retreat Bed and Breakfast (see: http://www.wilsonranchesretreat.com/). It is a charming B&B that is very family friendly. It is actually a working ranch, with a B&B just as a side business, so there's real work that gets done. Nancy and Phil are wonderful hosts, and they preside over breakfast. Note, though, that Nancy and Phil don't actually live at the B&B, they live down the road a good mile off. We were a bit surprised when we drove in and didn't find anyone other than other guests at the B&B.
Breakfast is served at 8 am, and is served family-style. This morning we had Dutch baby pancakes, ham, eggs, oatmeal, applesauce, OJ, and divine coffee. The breakfast was excellent. It was great to chat with the other guests -- we got some great tips, and learned a bit about ranching in Eastern Oregon.
Once breakfast wrapped up (they wouldn't let me help clean up, so I had to get out of the house... it was bad, bad, bad for my table-clearing tendancies!), we went for a walk to see the cows and horses across the road. We also drove down the ranch road a ways and looked at more cows. ;-)
The boys were really, really wanting to find some fossils, so we went behind Wheeler High School (in Fossil), to their fossil beds (see: http://www.paleolands.org/find/time/here/C52). It was $15 for a family of four to go in and dig around. They provide the tools, even! We found tons of fossils in just a few minutes, mostly of leaves. Big A shows a really knack for finding good fossils (maybe it due to G's help? maybe?). In any case, this was a HUGE hit. After a good hour a bit of chunky rain and a cool breeze blew in, so we decided to wrap up our fossil hunting for another day (read: tomorrow).
We then went to the John Day Fossil Beds, Clarno Unit. The John Day Fossil Beds are extraordinary, and are comprised of three "units", which are discreet beds of fossils. The Clarno unit is closest to Fossil (see: http://www.nps.gov/joda/clarno_unit.htm). We ate lunch at their covered picnic tables, which worked out nicely.* We then did a couple of short trails, both of which were excellent. One was a Geologic Time Trail, which was 0.25 miles each way, and had interpretive signs that noted geologic events for the last 50 million years. Each foot of the trail represents like 37,000 years, so it was pretty cool to talk to the boys about it. We then went on the Trail of Fossils, which was a pretty easy circle loop. We did pop Little B into a backpack carrier for this trail, as I thought it was a bit steep and rocky for him. Big A did fine with the trails, but was tuckered out at the end of both of them. More rain showers were rolling in, so we didn't do the final trail, the Clarno Arch Trail, but if we didn't have rain we would have done it.
* To keep from having to eat at restaurants, which is not something Little B enjoys, we are packing backpack lunches of pb and honey sandwiches, bananas and juice (Alex's favorite). Delicious!
Little B was beyond tuckered out, so we drove back to the ranch for a lovely nap (I joined him ... wouldn't want him to sleep by himself in an unfamiliar environment, right?). Big A watched a movie and rested his knees ("They're like jelly, Mom!"), and G read a book.
After everyone had revived a bit, we went to find what I argue is the most remote golf course in Oregon: Kinzua Golf Course (see: http://www.pasturegolf.com/kinzua.htm). We had a one-paged, faded map and some rather vague directions, but G's golf passion saw us through. We drove ten miles on unmarked gravel roads to find the course literally seconds before I squashed the craziness of it all. The course looked lovely, but was still closed for the season. The boys were pretty disappointed, but we'll call and see if they open for the weekend tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
We needed to appease the golf fanatics in the car (adult and children), so we headed back to the B&B. The boys played golf in the yard while I put dinner on -- Trader Joe's frozen pizzas grilled on the B&B grill. Delicious! The B&B has a microwave and a charcoal grill available for guests, so we went for something pretty easy. Since we are so used to doing vacation rentals, this is a bit of a change for us (I'm used to having a full kitchen), but we are planning on eating out for the other two dinners, so it will be fine).
In any case, today was tremendously fun. Tomorrow we're thinking more fossil hunting, heading over to the Painted Hills Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds. The Painted Hills Unit has more hiking trails, so we'll try to head over there earlier in the day. We will seek out more golf in the afternoon. Saturday we are doing horse rides and more hiking! The rest of the week is supposed to be sunny and warmer (almost 60 on Saturday and Sunday!), so that should be awesome.
A note: we are loving traveling this time of year, as the rattlesnakes and black widow spiders aren't out yet.
We are staying at the Wilson Ranches Retreat Bed and Breakfast (see: http://www.wilsonranchesretreat.com/). It is a charming B&B that is very family friendly. It is actually a working ranch, with a B&B just as a side business, so there's real work that gets done. Nancy and Phil are wonderful hosts, and they preside over breakfast. Note, though, that Nancy and Phil don't actually live at the B&B, they live down the road a good mile off. We were a bit surprised when we drove in and didn't find anyone other than other guests at the B&B.
Breakfast is served at 8 am, and is served family-style. This morning we had Dutch baby pancakes, ham, eggs, oatmeal, applesauce, OJ, and divine coffee. The breakfast was excellent. It was great to chat with the other guests -- we got some great tips, and learned a bit about ranching in Eastern Oregon.
Once breakfast wrapped up (they wouldn't let me help clean up, so I had to get out of the house... it was bad, bad, bad for my table-clearing tendancies!), we went for a walk to see the cows and horses across the road. We also drove down the ranch road a ways and looked at more cows. ;-)
The boys were really, really wanting to find some fossils, so we went behind Wheeler High School (in Fossil), to their fossil beds (see: http://www.paleolands.org/find/time/here/C52). It was $15 for a family of four to go in and dig around. They provide the tools, even! We found tons of fossils in just a few minutes, mostly of leaves. Big A shows a really knack for finding good fossils (maybe it due to G's help? maybe?). In any case, this was a HUGE hit. After a good hour a bit of chunky rain and a cool breeze blew in, so we decided to wrap up our fossil hunting for another day (read: tomorrow).
We then went to the John Day Fossil Beds, Clarno Unit. The John Day Fossil Beds are extraordinary, and are comprised of three "units", which are discreet beds of fossils. The Clarno unit is closest to Fossil (see: http://www.nps.gov/joda/clarno_unit.htm). We ate lunch at their covered picnic tables, which worked out nicely.* We then did a couple of short trails, both of which were excellent. One was a Geologic Time Trail, which was 0.25 miles each way, and had interpretive signs that noted geologic events for the last 50 million years. Each foot of the trail represents like 37,000 years, so it was pretty cool to talk to the boys about it. We then went on the Trail of Fossils, which was a pretty easy circle loop. We did pop Little B into a backpack carrier for this trail, as I thought it was a bit steep and rocky for him. Big A did fine with the trails, but was tuckered out at the end of both of them. More rain showers were rolling in, so we didn't do the final trail, the Clarno Arch Trail, but if we didn't have rain we would have done it.
* To keep from having to eat at restaurants, which is not something Little B enjoys, we are packing backpack lunches of pb and honey sandwiches, bananas and juice (Alex's favorite). Delicious!
Little B was beyond tuckered out, so we drove back to the ranch for a lovely nap (I joined him ... wouldn't want him to sleep by himself in an unfamiliar environment, right?). Big A watched a movie and rested his knees ("They're like jelly, Mom!"), and G read a book.
After everyone had revived a bit, we went to find what I argue is the most remote golf course in Oregon: Kinzua Golf Course (see: http://www.pasturegolf.com/kinzua.htm). We had a one-paged, faded map and some rather vague directions, but G's golf passion saw us through. We drove ten miles on unmarked gravel roads to find the course literally seconds before I squashed the craziness of it all. The course looked lovely, but was still closed for the season. The boys were pretty disappointed, but we'll call and see if they open for the weekend tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
We needed to appease the golf fanatics in the car (adult and children), so we headed back to the B&B. The boys played golf in the yard while I put dinner on -- Trader Joe's frozen pizzas grilled on the B&B grill. Delicious! The B&B has a microwave and a charcoal grill available for guests, so we went for something pretty easy. Since we are so used to doing vacation rentals, this is a bit of a change for us (I'm used to having a full kitchen), but we are planning on eating out for the other two dinners, so it will be fine).
In any case, today was tremendously fun. Tomorrow we're thinking more fossil hunting, heading over to the Painted Hills Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds. The Painted Hills Unit has more hiking trails, so we'll try to head over there earlier in the day. We will seek out more golf in the afternoon. Saturday we are doing horse rides and more hiking! The rest of the week is supposed to be sunny and warmer (almost 60 on Saturday and Sunday!), so that should be awesome.
A note: we are loving traveling this time of year, as the rattlesnakes and black widow spiders aren't out yet.
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