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Post by mbabeav on Jun 30, 2020 20:00:17 GMT -8
The wife and I are doing an Oregon walk about, and today's back roads found us stopping for gas at Frenchglen, located on the west side of my favorite hill, Steens Mountain in SE Oregon. Now we're both Beaver proud and even our facemasks are sporting Beaver logos. The woman behind the counter asks us if she can get a picture of us for her mother. She told us her step-grandfather had been a former OSU President.
We ask who, and she says Paul Risser, the man that I believe was most responsible for the revival of OSU sports, and the University in general. And if we hadn't ended up in the middle of nowhere in unfamiliar territory, we never would have met someone close to a man who understood better than anyone how to blend sports and academics at a power 5 school. It was an honor and made our day and vacation.
Go Beavs, and thank you to the Risser family, especially one granddaughter in particular.
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Post by Beavcat on Jul 1, 2020 8:16:25 GMT -8
Very cool, my favorite part of Oregon. Was she working at the store of the hotel?
As I'm sure you're aware, Frenchglen is bustling compared to Fields. We sat outside the Fields motel one evening around 6:00 and watched as motorists drove up and realized the gas station was closed and they would have to find somewhere to spend the night since there is no gas until you get to Frenchglen. I once saw a small plane pull up to the pumps at Fields.
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Post by bennyorange on Jul 1, 2020 10:30:06 GMT -8
The wife and I are doing an Oregon walk about, and today's back roads found us stopping for gas at Frenchglen, located on the west side of my favorite hill, Steens Mountain in SE Oregon. Now we're both Beaver proud and even our facemasks are sporting Beaver logos. The woman behind the counter asks us if she can get a picture of us for her mother. She told us her step-grandfather had been a former OSU President. We ask who, and she says Paul Risser, the man that I believe was most responsible for the revival of OSU sports, and the University in general. And if we hadn't ended up in the middle of nowhere in unfamiliar territory, we never would have met someone close to a man who understood better than anyone how to blend sports and academics at a power 5 school. It was an honor and made our day and vacation. Go Beavs, and thank you to the Risser family, especially one granddaughter in particular. I agree completely with your assessment of Paul Risser - he brought us out of the depths of sports hell that McVicar plunged into for decades. I fondly remember him roaming the parking lot on game day and thanking us for our support. Ed Ray may have done a lot for the university but was an empty suit when it came to sports as far as I'm concerned. His parting action didn't do him any favors in my book either.
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Post by RenoBeaver on Jul 1, 2020 14:42:46 GMT -8
Wow havent heard that name in 40 years. When I was a kid my mom and her boyfriend used to go there to vacation every summer. I dont even know where it is!
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Post by mbabeav on Jul 1, 2020 17:19:08 GMT -8
Frenchglen is about 65 miles south of Burns.
She was at the store, not the hotel, and we were there to make sure we had enough gas to get back. She told us she is having a really busy season, people are road tripping in a big way.
It was quite the adventure driving lost half the time, but we saw a lot of sights and are having a great time. The drive today from Burns to Enterprise was a 9 on the wow factor
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EOBeav
Freshman
Posts: 499
Grad Year: 1989, 2002
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Post by EOBeav on Jul 1, 2020 18:32:38 GMT -8
That's God's country down there. I'm thinking of heading there with my camera in the next few weeks.
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Post by cbeavs1 on Jul 1, 2020 18:46:36 GMT -8
Take Hwy 3 going north towards Lewisburg. Be sure to stop at the Joseph Creek overlook and be prepared 5 miles past that for Rattlesnake grade. Keep your eyes open for elk and Big Horn Sheep.
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Post by spudbeaver on Jul 1, 2020 19:17:04 GMT -8
Take Hwy 3 going north towards Lewisburg. Be sure to stop at the Joseph Creek overlook and be prepared 5 miles past that for Rattlesnake grade. Keep your eyes open for elk and Big Horn Sheep. Lewiston probably?
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Post by cbeavs1 on Jul 1, 2020 20:06:32 GMT -8
My error. You are correct. Lewiston.
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Post by mbabeav on Jul 1, 2020 20:45:04 GMT -8
My error. You are correct. Lewiston. I was going to say, "I live in Lewisburg", and that's 400+ mile drive from where i am at.
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Post by jefframp on Jul 2, 2020 6:40:51 GMT -8
We were down there with our 5th wheel a number of years ago and made a wrong turn somewhere after Frenchglen and ended up in the Alvord Desert. This was during the prehistoric period of not having a GPS.
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Post by Henry Skrimshander on Jul 2, 2020 7:47:19 GMT -8
That "empty suit" Ed Ray went to bat for the athletic subsidy from the university's general fund every year he was president. And it has not always been a very popular position to take on campus, in some years it was highly unpopular north of the railroad tracks. It kept the athletic department solvent.
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Post by mbabeav on Jul 2, 2020 8:35:58 GMT -8
We were down there with our 5th wheel a number of years ago and made a wrong turn somewhere after Frenchglen and ended up in the Alvord Desert. This was during the prehistoric period of not having a GPS. I wanted to get to the Alvord desert, but it was just a bit too far out of the way given that Gina wanted to visit some of the highlights on the east side of the wildlife refuge, and I wanted to hit the Diamond volcano area going the same direction. I'm a bit of a geology geek and it may not be Newberry Caldera, but getting to stand on the lip of a crater in a very out of place small area of cinder cones, lava vents and the like that i didn't realize was there till I saw it on the map was pretty cool.
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Post by beaverstever on Jul 2, 2020 8:45:34 GMT -8
When I was 17, I went camping in the Alvord desert... 50 miles from the nearest paved road. No cel phones, GPS, etc, and likely nobody coming by for a long time. I recall even at the time thinking it was somewhat risky... that we might be a flat tire away from a pretty rough time. We came by a well-marked (warned) hot springs that was just below boiling, where apparently a few folks have horribly lost their dogs that ran and jumped in. That area doesn't coddle anybody.
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Post by mountainbeaver on Jul 2, 2020 12:37:11 GMT -8
I love the Steens. The gorges are incredible. The alvord is a fun place to hang out too. Lots of great wildlife and the ridge/basin geology is really cool. Hope to get back there this summer.
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