(Ginger is pictured above, one of the gang)

There I am, leaning against a stock gate, with the afternoon sun just starting to dip behing the rim rock, as this big white van comes bumping along the dusty dirt road. As the van revs it way around a big corner, a flock of wild turkeys squabble across the road, and trot into the sagebrush. There in the passenger seat, is my hound dog. You can tell he’s smiling, as his head just bounces along with the  jittery ride.

Lucky got to spend another weekend at the local “doggy camp”, which is located a few miles from my door, but down a pretty hairy road, so the folks are kind enough to meet me half way, so I don’t have to take drag my lil’ car through the creek so many times.

As it turns out, he is becoming quite a favorite there, and seems to be quite the friendly guy.  They recently took in a few more strays,and Lucky was the best negotiator between the bunch, just an overall happy dude, who would rather play than fight. (Tom jokingly commented that he is most likely just the kid that nobody likes, so of course he globs on to the new guys.) The folks who run the rescue have actually requested Lucky come back in another week, to help with all the intermingling of the new dogs to the rescue.

Here is the sweetest part of the whole deal, see I bake all sorts of goodies for the dog rescue’s holiday bake sales, and in return, they take care of Lucky when I sneak away for a weekend here or there. And while it’s always great to get out of dodge once in a while, it’s also pretty sweet to return home to hang out with my lil’ gang!

There are 640 acres in a square mile, so when you walk the outlying fence line of the property I live on, you cover at least 4 miles. It’s a really neat hike, that consists of mostly following deer trails, climbing up steep embankments of rimrock, walking through meadows of cheat grass, and even doing a little of your own trailblazing.  You will come across at least 4 springs, a 40 foot seasonal waterfall, great views of two old neighboring homesteads and old barns, a large den that may have one time belonged to a cougar or possibly big foot, a few very steep rimrock cliff view points, and scores of deer, elk, cow, and coyotoe tracks & scat. You are also sure to see a couple dozen white butts that belong to mule deer hopping up and down the hillsides, a wide variety of birds, piles of animal bones left behind by old age or cougar kills, and maybe even a jack rabbit or two. If you do this hike in the summer months, well you will also see quite a few snakes, some that might even have a rattle. But one thing you won’t see, is any other people. Below are some photos I took on my most recent trek around the Rim Rock Ranch.

Lucky looking down off a steep cliff drop off

cliff near the west fence line

there really is life in the desert, a small forest of trees being take over by neon green lichen

gate to a neighboring ranch

old homestead that lies roughly one mile from my house, just over Starvation Ridge.

view of the 40 foot seasonal waterfall (more impressive in person)

a large den that I suspect belongs to a cougar, pack of coyotes, or maybe even bigfoot

Also, pictured at the very top is one of the freshwater springs trickling down the rocks. I invite you to take this hike! And I recommend doing it before the snakes wake up from hibernation this spring. All you need is a sturdy pair of boots, and I can even send Lucky along to be your guide dog!

This blog is absolutely amazing: The Bacon Show, 1 bacon recipe per day, every day, forever: http://baconshow.blogspot.com/

I suggest checking out their mighty fine selection of bacon & chocolate recipes. I first made the Dark Chocolate and Bacon Cupcakes: http://baconshow.blogspot.com/2008/08/1182-dark-chocolate-and-bacon-cupcake.html Below you will find a photo of Lucky oogling over a plate of these yummy treats. Too bad dogs+chocolate=Not Good.

I couldn’t stop there. So I went on to replicate some bacon caramel chocolates I had once had made by a fancy chocolatier. I googled up a homemade caramel recipe. http://oldrecipebook.com/caramels.shtml

 Fried up some more bacon, crumbled it up into little pieces, then dipped bitsize caramel pieces topped with bacon into melted chocolate. Yum.

 I plan to keep experimenting, and I will publish the perfect bacon/caramel/chocolate recipe once I find it. I will say, I am totally on the right track, and just in time for Valentine’s Day!

WANTED FOR: Peeing on Older Ladies, Killing a Goat, Frightening Chickens, Destroying a Kitchen, and Digging Tunnels Under the House.

Lucky now resides in the Hound Dog Jailhouse during the days when I am at work. After the goat killing, he has become quite the escape artist, so with the help of a great handy man, a secure lockdown dog run was built.

This new & improved Doggy Pound is fully enclosed. We used the stock panels that were used as fence around the previous dog run, and wired them together. Even the floor on this sucker is hard wired panels, no way to dig out of this place! We also secured down metal roofing. Add one dog house with bed, and you have Lucky’s new daytime play area.

It’s the afternoons though, that he loves the best. When I get home from work, and we get to follow deer trails around the property. Just me and my creature of a dog. Lucky runs along the banks of the creek, seeking out scents, while I discover private little swimming holes to return to this summer. For as much trouble as he gets me into, he’s still my dog, and I really do consider him a dear good friend.

If you are thinking of going on a NE Oregon Hot Springs Tour this winter, please stop. You will be hard pressed to find a nice hot pool of water you can actually get at this time. But I will still highlight all of the hot springs you may be able to visit at some time in the future.

Hot Lake Springs near La Grande, Oregon is currently going under a huge remodel, and is scheduled to re-open March of 2010. We weren’t able to take a tour as we had hoped, but you might have better luck. From the sounds of it, they will soon have the soaking tubs open, a working bronze foundry, a hotel, restaurant, and spa. It’s also known as one of America’s most haunted places. The Old Hotel used to be Sanitarium. Below is a photo of me practicall getting blown away in the strong fierce winds infront of the hotel.  http://www.hotlakesprings.com/

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Cove Warm Springs Pool. This place is really cute, quaint, and would be an excellent pool to relax and soak in, in the summer. The water comes bubbling out of the earth, and keeps the pool heated to a nice 86*F, not quite hot enough to temp on out of their winter jacket and boots that are keeping them warm in the cool winter air. We got a chance to talk with the owner, a very nice gentlenman, who the place and lives next door. A soak will cost you a few dollars, and would provide quite the nice summer evening activity. Located in the town of Cove, Oregon, 17 miles from La Grande, off I-84.  http://www.covepool.com/

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Lehman Hot Springs would be a natural choice to stop and soak in on our way back home through the Blue Mountains. In the winter months, you would normally find a steaming hot oasis surrounded by snowcovered pines, but unfortuantely, Lehamn is temporarily closed at the moment. They are in a bit of hot water with the DEQ, and it looks like they have a battle on their hands, to read more check out their website (which is also were I found this great photo): http://www.lehmanhotsprings.com/

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Well, 3 down, 1 to go, or so we thought. I had heard good things about a hidden away hot springs near Lehman & the town of Ukiah, but when we stopped briefly to inquire on this icy January evening, we were told Hid-a-way Hot Springs was snowed in at the moment.

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Oh, and a NE Hot Spring Tour wouldn’t be complete without mentioning my favorite one of all (which is closed in the winters, but lovely in the summers) Ritter Hot Springs.  http://www.ritterhotsprings.com/ 

past blog article I wrote all about ritter: http://galwith750acres.wordpress.com/2009/07/31/getting-away-from-everything-at-ritter-hot-springs/

I so totally wanted to be the “Elk Expert” on this little expedition. I even wore this great vintage Camo Elk Hat. I dreamed of being the know it all on the back of the cart, shouting out elk facts that seemed too odd to be believable. But unfortunately, I didn’t know a whole lot about elk before taking this little horse drawn elk tour, so I had to sit there and be quiet and talk it all in.

Located about 1/2 drive from La Grande, Oregon, and down a little icey road, you will find the parking lot for T&T Wildlife Tours. For $7 you can hop on a horse drawn cart and get pulled within feet of a giant elk herd chowing down on grass.  This herd of Rocky Mountain Elk ranges from 100 to 250 elk, and they are fed here in the winter to prevent them from over grazing on neighboring farms.

It’s a really great little trip to take if you are in the area. Hop off interstate I-84 at North Powder and follow the signs for 8 miles. It’s on the way to Anthony Lakes Ski Area.

The tours run every half hour from 10:30 to 2:00 on Weekends December through February.  T & T Wildlife Tours at (541) 856-3356; http://www.tnthorsemanship.com/tours.htm

If you look closely, you should be able to spot a couple of corks that flew up and landed in this here Chandelier in Room 314 of the Geiser Grand Hotel in Big Ol’ Ba-ker Ci-ty, Orygun.  (I can only take credit for one of ‘em, but will carry this tradition to many a hotel from here on out!)

The Geiser Grand Hotel offers the perfect mix of Old School and Swanky for a traveler on the Eastside of Oregon. The rooms start at about $80, and go a ways up from there. The restaurant offers great speicals, heck the New Years Eve Steak Special was only $14 a plate, pretty nice when you’ve got a cute date!  From there we stumbled one block over to the Stockman Bar. It’s got a slight Fushion thing going on, a thing that happens when you mix a Country Western Bar with a bit of Chinese Food Flair. This is where my most favorite band ever, The NeverCanEvers played on New Years Eve.  http://www.geisergrand.com/

Here is a photo of me out in front of the Stockman, the night of their show…. would you expect anything less from a #1 Fan?

 And here is a picture of my favorite band, The NeverCanEvers.

As soon as their #1 Fan gets her copy of their latest demo CD, she will put a link to their Ranch Rockin’ Songs. http://www.thenevercanevers.com

A truly lovely white [icy frosty freezing fog] Christmas! I am convinced I live in the most gorgeous place on earth. I certainly couldn’t imagine myself living anywhere else. And I couldn’t ask to be surrounded by better people. A huge thank you to one of my most favorite familys who had me over to enjoy Christmas Dinner with them today!