7/29/08: Pink Caddies and Purple Mountains

For those of you who don’t know, Barry is a big fan of diners. Heading along Interstate 5 South toward Terrebonne (Destination: Smith Rock State Park), I suggested that we eat at the diner we passed when we got off the exit to get some gas for the evil machine we were driving (a.k.a. COW). The place was called Rock-N-Rogers Diner, located at 3235 Market St NE in Salem, and it had all of the classic diner charm. Barry ordered a burger that the chefs made into a smiley face while I munched on a yummy salad. Interesting to note if you ever choose to eat there yourself: the bathrooms are outside in the back of the restaurant with no interior access.

It was about an hour-and-a-half or two hours later when Barry and I were both struggling to keep our eyes open, so Barry pulled COW off the road at the Detroit Lake Dam site. Within seconds of reclining our seats we were both snoozing away. We both awoke about 25 minutes later and headed on down the road, soon to be surrounded by some amazing fire damage in Corbett State Forest. Barry has a particular interest in this, and has told me a few different times about this book that he read, Reading the Forested Landscape. We made a quick side stop to find out how long ago the forest fire took place, and were able to get a few pictures of Mount Washington in the background.

We then continued on our merry way to Redmond, Oregon, which is the closest place to Smith Rocks State Park with lodging facilities. We booked ourselves at the Redmond Inn and took off for a preliminary look at the place that we want to climb for the next couple of days. With the sun setting on the rocks, it was pretty spectacular, and we’re both psyched to strap on our harnesses and scramble up some rocks tomorrow.