Day 69: Baker City, OR (0 miles)
A welcome non riding day in Baker City. After sleeping “in” (until 6 am), several of us headed to breakfast at the Little Pig restaurant close to the campsite. The leader notes, which describe the ride and area, said previous riders had a “fancy pants” breakfast here. We disagreed, but the breakfast burritos were tasty.
After breakfast, we took the van to see the National Oregon Trail Interpretive Center about 7 miles out of town. The exhibits describing the hardships of the many settlers who went west for a better life, were fascinating. It was hard not to draw some (limited) parallels to biking across the country, however our danger levels are so much lower. It was interesting to recall some of the same landmarks that we saw on this trip were the same ones the settlers saw 160+ years ago, like Split Rock, and the Platte and Snake Rivers.
In the afternoon, we went to a local town festival in a park by the Powder River. While eating a half rack of ribs, I discussed cross country travels with a couple from Alabama who were touring with their 42 ft travel trailer. They talked about several places they couldn’t go because their trailer was just too big. For dinner, the group went to Barley Brown’s Brewpub. I had chicken fried steak and a breakfast stout, both delicious. Also tried fishing the Powder River a half mile from the campsite near dusk with no activity.
Image above: Oregon Trail Wagon replicas
Bison exhibit in Oregon Trail Interpretive Center
Sign out front
“Fancy Pants” Breakfast Crew (Tom, Steve, Bruce, me)
Notice lack of any suspension
Oregon Trail in the distance
Typical rock formations
Bike rack- Downtown Baker City
Oregon Trail map
Beer menu at Barley Brown’s Brewpub
Only you can prevent forest fires! Smokey at the local festival in town.
