Day 2: To the Alvord Hot Springs
Definitely nice to wake up refreshed today. The last 3 nights, we stayed on an air mattress in our house on Prescott b/c the bed had already been moved. A real bed made the difference.
We slept in (though the puppies didn’t) and checked out of the Aspen Inn around 9a to make our way toward The Steens (a great mountain range in Eastern Oregon, in case you’re not familiar with the territory). Another piece of good juju showed up as we were checking out. One of the owners of the motel, Heidi, was wearing a Dinosaur Valley State Park t-shirt! Here, in small town Fort Klamath, a woman was guiding us through our next steps via a real paper map, whilst wearing a t-shirt from the place where we got married….all the way in Glen Rose, Texas. What a giant, yet also tiny planet we’re all on.
Heeding Heidi’s advice, we decided to use a paper map all the way to the Alvord Hot Springs. Needless to say, this caused more bickering and decision-making about which routes were the best and why, but it was much more fun than Google Maps on our phone. I think we’re gonna try to find a map per state and keep the habit going.
Finally pulling out of the drive, we stopped by a memorial cemetery in Fort Klamath, had breakfast at a cute cafe in Klamath Falls called Nibbley’s, and headed toward Beatty, hoping for some sandwiches at Palomino’s. Upon entering Palomino’s, we saw NO open kitchen and a slew of marijuana paraphernalia for sale. Hahahaha. Lady behind the counter said she wanted the day off, so she decided not to do sammies today. So, Cory and I were left with a Sprite for him and Pop Tarts for me.
After hitting up a Safeway in Lakeview for instant coffee, cheese, tomato, salami, and bread (our staples for road trips), we dipped into Nevada for just about an hour, then turned north, splitting the Pueblo Mountains and eyeballing The Steens.
We decided this evening was going to be an adventure. The hot springs are surrounded by a few metal structures that are rented out for “camping.” These rentals are M.A.S.H. (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) containers with no bathroom, no running water and no lights. Yup — that’s us. Going for the experience. Upon arrival down 10 miles of gravel, our jaws dropped. The Alvord Desert is like nothing I’ve ever seen. Cory just had to drive down onto the desert grounds and take pics with the puppies. It was pretty majestic.
Lucky for us, a small thunderstorm rolled in, allowing us to mosey to the hot springs and enjoy the naturally heated pools without sweating to death. The view was spectacular.
Now, we hang out, reading before bed (as I write) and prepare for Day 3: Idaho!
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On the Radio- Day 2: Not too much to report because we went out of radio range pretty quickly and kinda enjoyed the fresh air and scenery without serenade or commentary.
- Finished my audio book, “Little Fires Everywhere” by Celeste Ng (highly recommend if you have a teenager, were ever a teenager, or know a teenager…so basically everyone)
- “Fell on Black Days” by Soundgarden
- “The Fireman” by Sir George Strait (Cory’s favorite; he always sings REAL loud to it — makes him happy, I think.)
- “Listen to Old Alabama” by Brad Paisley
- “Play It Again” by Luke Bryan
Wanna read about yesterday at Crater Lake? See my previous post.
