Off to Burns and the Malheur River Country of Oregon

I was surprised by the size of the Malheur River. A dry land, but with access to more water than in the American Southwest.

Burns is the largest town in 150 miles in any direction. And it's not that big.

I talked briefly to an owl-eyed boy, about nine years old (who reminded me of me when I was his age), in the Days Inn motel lobby. The transmission failed on their vehicle and they had limped into town. His dad was busy trying to arrange bus trips for his family to Reno, and farther on, plus arrange for car repair. Thousands of dollars. Sounded like a perfect nightmare. Something to remember in the future!

I wanted steak, so I ate here.

I was charmed by these abrupt mesas and flatlands with swales near the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. It reminded me very, very much of New Mexico, on the opposite side of the Great Basin, a thousand miles away. To me, it looked like Native American paradise. Desert, but with lots more water and wildlife! If the Ancestral Pueblo Indians had known of this place, they would have left New Mexico immediately and come over here. And this place wasn't empty either - the Paiute are nearby.