They were having a flea market that they hold a few times a year so there were hundreds of people there. This was as good a place as any for lunch, so we parked the bikes and wandered through the stalls and had some delicious fajitas. They had this neat little steam engine train, a smaller gauge than normal, that people took for a short ride. After lunch we headed southeast eventually getting on to highway 7 past Phillips Lake. Highway 7 eventually turns north to Baker City, but just before it makes that turn, there's a short connecting highway (245) which leads to Bridgeport. I read about this little stretch of road in the August 2011 issue of Rider Magazine called the "Little Dragon" and the guys were up for it. It is indeed a lot of turns in a short stretch of road. The article says 188 turns in 15 miles and while I didn't count them, I believe the number. Due to a small amount of gravel here and there, it became a very technical ride. Enjoying every corner but picking the precise line to keep you safe and on the sticky part of the road. I think of this road as starting with a waltz, it then moves to rock-n-roll, and then straight into combat. It was exhilarating and the most fun I've had on my bike! We just went over the pass and back again and on the south side was the only rain we encountered the whole weekend. Riding back across we ran out of the rain and got back on to highway 7 on into Baker City. By now we had traveled over 200 miles and still had a ways to go to get to Enterprise, where we were spending the night. But there were still placed we wanted to go, such as the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center just outside of Baker City. This is a wonderful museum that describes the routes and hardships of those earlier settlers of this region. We couldn't spend too much time because A) of limited daylight, and B) they close at 6pm which was only 45 minutes away. So we enjoyed it as quick as we could and headed back to Baker City, stopping to take a picture at a Trail monument erected by the Kiwanas back in 1943. Rather than hopping on to I-84 for speed, we still decided to take the scenic route and traveled highway 203, also known as the Medical Springs Highway. Sure, it added to the time, but what a beautiful road and countryside. I had not been to this part of Oregon before and had no idea it was so beautiful. The residents are rightly proud to be living there. Anways, time was a-wastin' as they say so we pushed on into Enterprise via highway 82 which skirts around the northern end of the Wallowa Mountain Range. The mountain range is interesting because it appears that there is no preliminary foothills leading up to it. It's just farmlands and then boom, mountains. Extemely picturesque. But after 350 miles, we were ready to turn in. We arrived in Enterprise at about 8:30pm and were hungry.

short trips

Trip List