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Winter Escape - Hot Springs & the Alvord Playa (Oct 2018)

"Let's go somewhere." said @mrs.turbodb after I'd been home just a short time from my previous trip. That was of course fine with me, and so we set about finding a place to go. It was going to be cold and rainy on the Washington coast, so we set out looking for somewhere warm.

Now, we only had a few days, so that limited our options - essentially to adjacent states. Oregon was our best bet for warmth, so we started looking for options there - and it didn't take long to fill out the itinerary. Ever since visiting the Owyhee Canyonlands on one of our first adventures, and the Malheur area not long after, we both knew there were places in southeast Oregon that would be great to go see - in @mrs.turbodb's case, some hot springs; in mine, the Alvord Playa at the base of Steens Mountain.

It was a trip that would - like many - get us hooked on a new place. One we'd eventually return to several times!

Read the Whole Trip Below!

toyota tacoma in owyhee canyonlands Hot Springs & the Alvord Playa | Winter Escape #1 - "Let's go somewhere." said @mrs.turbodb after I'd been home just a short time from my previous trip. That was of course fine with me, and so we set about finding a place to go. It was going to be cold and rainy on the Washington coast, so we set out looking for somewhere warm. Now, we only had a few days, so that limited our options - essentially to adjacent states. Oregon was our best bet for warmth, so we started looking for options there - and it didn't take long to fill out the itinerary. Ever since visiting the…
toyota tacoma at sunrise Hot Springs & the Alvord Playa | Winter Escape #2 - Our night on the Alvord Playa was uneventful - the wind picked up a bit around midnight, easily remedied by closing the door on the windward side of the tent. And, one of the nice things about winter - at least when you're camping - is that sunrise is a bit later. For us, it was nearly 7:00am before the light started on the horizon. Clouds having blown in a bit overnight, we got quite the display as the long rays of morning sun played over their undulations, a rainbow of colors ranging from yellow to purple reflecting down onto…

 

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