Old Retired Guy Blog
May 27 - 30, 2007
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Hooper (Page 1/2)
[May 28, 2007] What a great day! We all had a marvelous tour of the 50-square-mile ranch. In the morning we saw the livestock operations, visiting both the cattle and the sheep. It's interesting to see them on the same ranch since the history of the west was fraught with battles between the cattlemen, who wanted to retain the open range, and the sheepmen, who wanted to fence it in.
In the afternoon Mark drove us around to some of the more distant parts of the ranch (who let Mark drive, anyway?). We saw some of the abandoned buildings where we were told we might be able to find a rattle snake. The snakes did not cooperate but we did see a Great Horned Owl in the window of one of the old barns. Alyson also showed us the part of the ranch where they were raising wheat. Although the crop had a good start in the spring, it has been dry recently and they were hoping for some timely rain to help fill out the heads of the wheat.
We then drove down a gravel road that soon became a dirt road that soon became two faint lines in the grass and shrubs. It was amazing to stop at the top of a hill and look in all directions and see no buildings, no roads, and almost no other signs of so-called civilization. It was incredibly peaceful and beautiful.
The day ended with a great meal of Italian sausages that Kathy had prepared in Portland, along with salad, garlic bread and some great wine from Alyson's wine cellar. We then solved all of life's problems until it was very late, at least 10 PM, before we all turned in. Hooper |
[May
27, 2007] Did you ever want to get away from it all for a few
days? We'd heard about Alyson McGregor's ranch in Hooper, Washington, but
never had the opportunity to visit. So, when Paul Olson mentioned that
Brent was coming to Seattle and that they were
planning to spend a few days in Hooper over the Memorial Day Weekend with Paul's
brother Mark and Mark's girlfriend Alyson, I asked if
Kathy and I could come along. Luckily, Alyson said she'd love to have us
join them (she obviously doesn't know us very well). 
The drive from Portland was a little longer than expected -- it
took about 6 hours for us to get there -- but the weather was nice and the
traffic not bad. When we got there we didn't have time to rest; we
attended a party in honor of Alyson's Uncle John's 80th birthday. Those Hooperites (Hooperians?) sure know how to party.
