Day 38 - Birds and Desert

Our planned low-key day turned out to be one filled with learning and beautiful scenery.

While figuring out what to do yesterday, I remembered that the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge was near Burns. The Refuge came to national attention during the now-famous occupation of the site by the Bundy family and their miscreant followers. We were curious what the refuge was really like, so we headed south to check it out.

The refuge is a gorgeous place, an area of ancient sea/lake beds surrounded by mountains. The damage done to the Refuge by the Bundy miscreants has largely been repaired. Fortunately, they didn’t seem to damage the great little museum on the grounds and we were treated to beautiful displays of birds that are found in/near the refuge. The sheer number of bird types was amazing. I’m posting a few images so everyone can get an idea of what the museum was like.

After wandering around the grounds for an hour or so, we wound up by a small lake at the edge of the visitor area. There were 4 people there who knew an amazing amount about birds in general and birds of the Refuge in particular. We talked with them for quite a while until the mosquitoes feeding on us got to be too much to handle.

Back on the main road we drove south to the village of Frenchglen. Quaint little town, one of the few towns in the vast eastern Oregon desert. Drove back to Burns and had dinner in a little family-owned Mexican restaurant. Nice ending to a low-key day.

We have the last event of #connectingus20 today at the Harney County Library. After the event, we are headed to Eugene for a radio interview about our trip with KLCC radio on Wednesday followed by a scheduled 4pm arrival in Newport that same day.

This is a bittersweet time for Sal and me, as this phase of the project winds down. It’s been a great adventure, made even better by the comments and encouragement we’ve received from our Facebook Friends, blog readers, and our library hosts. We truly appreciate you.

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