Part 1, November 2008 Land Cruise News

We left you looking at Mt. Shasta. We were enroute to Prineville, Oregon to look at the camper we made a deposit on. We ended up buying it as it has all the amenities we could ever want: standard home queen size bed, 3 burner stove/oven, head and shower, 4 person settee, good heater, large refrigerator/freezer, TV, DVD player/radio, etc. The primary reason for buying this type of camper is the way it is built. Since we will be bringing it back to Sitka this winter, we wanted something built well. This camper is made like a fiberglass boat and is very well insulated. The inner and outer shells are sprayed into a mold just like a boat hull.

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Our new "land cruiser" we call the Turtle.

We camped several nights in the Crooked Creek area which is about 10 miles outside of Prineville. We wanted to stay close to the dealer and try out all the systems in case something didn't work. All went well. Here we are parked in front of Devil's Post Pile.

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The rock formations in this area were something to behold.

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We camped right on the Creek in a BLM campground. The fall colors here were awesome. I didn't modify any of the photos. This is what it really looked like.

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As the days went on, these red wild bushes got redder.

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These rock formations are called Devil's Post Pile.

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We took a 5 mile hike up to Chimney Rock. As we started out, it was cool. It got much warmer as we ascended the mountain. Or maybe it was the exertion!

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As we climbed, we could see the truck parked near Crooked Creek.

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Chuck approaching Chimney Rock.

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The view from Chimney Rock was quite something.

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We stayed a few days in the Crooked Creek area and then took off east toward Idaho.

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On the way, we encountered this shoe tree just off the road. Quite a surprise. Those "leaves" up in the tree are pairs of tennis shoes.

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We took a slight detour to the Mascall Formation Overlook. We are glad we did. It was something to behold.

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There was beautiful scenery everywhere we looked. The eastern side of Oregon is a wonderful ranching area.

We are going to leave you here since this has become a large email. We'll send out more for November as we get internet access.