Jarbidge to the Oregon Trail

I will be gone for the next couple weeks. Don will be on his own with Murphy.

I am packed and ready to go. Tomorrow morning, Harvey and I will pick up our two hitch-hikers: Chrystal and her beau, AJ. We will cruise across Oregon to La Grande, where we’ll stop to visit my mother-in-law and father-in-law (briefly) and then on down to Ontario, OR, where we’ll spend the night.

Friday morning, we’ll cross into Idaho where you can drive 75MPH but you have to pump your own gas. We won’t slow down (or have someone else pump gas for us) until we return to Oregon after the Elks have their memorial service on the 21st of May. I don’t mind the higher speed limits but I sure am going to miss having someone else pump gas for me! And trust me: it isn’t any cheaper to purchase gas in those self-serve states next to Oregon.

It will be an adventure for AJ: he’s never been out of the state of Oregon, except for maybe a jaunt into Vancouver, WA. It will be a journey of memories for Chrystal and I.

I’ll tell them of the days when it was a 2-lane highway through Caldwell and Nampa. Of the days when Nampa was a small town and didn’t flow into Boise non-stop. I’ll tell them stories of all those small towns between Ontario and Boise. I’ll take – as is my custom – the cut-off through Thousand Springs: Hagerman, Buhl, Filer – rather than drive into Twin Falls and cut back to US 93 South. I like the drive. Less traffic.

I will tell them how Jackpot used to be a couple mobile homes with hitches still attached and sickly cottonwood trees. Hopefully, we won’t have to stop in Jackpot except to use the rest area south of town. I’ll point out the peaks of the Jarbidge Mountains to the west.

In Wells, Chrystal will tell us about her friend who was a little boy when he was hit by a car and killed. It was the first funeral Chrystal ever went to. That was long before she came to live with me.

We’ll fly past the Ruby Marshes and Secret Pass to our west.

And through Currie. I had my first beer with my father in Currie. I was 18 and under-age in Nevada. I flew into Salt Lake City from college for Christmas vacation and took the bus to Wendover where Dad met me. We drove south on Highway 93 and stopped at the bar in Currie. In Nevada, if there is a wide spot on the road, it’s a bar. We sat at the bar and Dad ordered his drink. I ordered an Oly and waited for the bartender to ask for ID. But he knew Dad and he assumed I was 21. That was the best Oly ever.

There’s the Lages Junction where we’ll make a right-hand turn. The left-hand turn heads to Salt Lake City. I’ve never stopped at Lages (Loggee’s) Junction but in the winter of 1974 when I had the best Oly ever, they had a frozen cascade of water all decorated with lights. I think it was a sprinkler they left on so it would freeze solid in the bitter cold, then they laced the lights through the columns of water.

At some point, I will show the kids the road that leads out to Cherry Creek. Pat Nixon was born at Cherry Creek. I have a photographer friend (Arla Ruggles) who still lives in Cherry Creek. Check out her photos – they are amazing.

Mostly, it is just a long old drive down the Steptoe Valley toward McGill and Ely. Maybe we’ll see antelope or coyotes or even wild horses. That would be nice. My city kids need to see wild animals. I’ll be looking.

It’s an adventure for Harvey, too. I don’t know anything about his first two years of life and he’s just now becoming my dog. He’s developing a personality. He’s most likely never seen a jack rabbit. He has certainly never gone on a road tip like this before. I know he will be ecstatic to have AJ with us.

And then, Ely. Ely and the green cinder-block house on B Street with a view of the Nevada Northern Railway. We’ll all tell AJ how a movie ended there. And maybe we’ll go for a train ride. My dad would like that. He loved the steam train.

Maybe I will blog from Ely. Maybe not. I will promise to take photos. I will promise to drive safely. I will promise to breathe in and breathe out.

I promise to cry.

God, I miss my parents.

Take care and make sure you call your mom and dad today. Promise me.