Historic Frenchglen Hotel in Oregon

The Frenchglen Hotel Historic Site is the perfect midway stop on Hwy 205 between Denio Junction, Nev., and Burns, Ore. It is a small slice of rustic beauty in southeastern Oregon, nestled at the gateway to the mighty Steens Mountain and Malheur Wildlife Refuge.

Proprietor John Ross and his "better half," Kelly Everharth, operate this historic American Foursquare building between mid-March and October. 1.

According to John, the hotel was built in the mid-1920s to house stagecoach travelers and visitors to the nearby "P" ranch. It was remodeled by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1938. Today, the hotel still offers eight rooms for rent and serves excellent country cooking three meals a day. "We get a lot of birders here."

For more information about the region contact Kelly (info@harneycounty.com) at the Harney County Chamber of Commerce.

Photos: Frenchglen Hotel Historic Site. Hotel proprietors Kelly Everhart and John Ross. (Julianne Crane)

Slinging the bull in the Oklahoma Panhandle

Folks in Beaver, Oklahoma, all 1,500 of them, are gearing up for their annual Cimarron Territory Celebration and world-famous Cow Chip Throwing Contest, a competition in which you could say the winner is determined through the process of elimination.

Cow "chips", for the more urbane among us, are globs of mostly-dried cow poop, beautifully rounded and flattened just as they fall, with the aerodynamic properties of fat, fecal Frisbees®. Contestants vie for the annual King and Queen of BS crown by attempting to throw a chip farther than any of his or her opponents.

The current world record cow pie toss is an elusive fact. While it is listed at 182'3" by Leland Searcy in 1979, the Wisconsin State Fair holds its own competition each year and in 1991 multi-year cow chip chucking champ Greg Neumaier of Sauk Prairie, Wisconsin, managed a Herculean throw of 248'0", though it is listed merely as a state record.

As many as five thousand visitors from around the globe will travel to Beaver for Cimarron Territory Celebration events including a chili cookoff, carnival, parade, team roping, kids events, old fashioned church revivals, a motorcycle poker run, and a hobby and crafts show. The week-long celebration begins Saturday, April 10th, and culminates with the 41st Annual Cow Chip Throwing Contest the following weekend.

If you're up for the challenge it will cost you a $35 entry fee for the opportunity to select and throw two bovine biscuits. Here's how it's dung...er, done:

American history lives under big Montana skies

If your summer travel plans include a visit to Glacier National Park in Montana, consider taking a day trip to the tiny town of Browning, just 13 miles from East Glacier Park Village.


You're in the Blackfeet Nation which, at three thousand square miles, is larger than the state of Delaware.

For four days every summer the Blackfeet are host to Native Americans from every region of the United States and Canada. North American Indian Days include the most impressive of Blackfeet tribal events including traditional drumming and dancing contests, the crowning of Miss Blackfeet, a parade, fun run, PRCA Rodeo events and more.

This year's North American Indian Days will be held July 7th through 11th on the Blackfeet Celebration Grounds, north of the Museum of the Plains Indian in Browning, Montana.

Even if you aren't in the neighborhood those particular days, a visit to Browning is still a rewarding educational experience for all. On the road between Glacier National Park and Browning you'll travel through the Blackfeet Nation Bison Preserve which offers breathtaking views and plenty of opportunities to take pictures of wild buffalo herds. Once in Browning you'll find the Blackfeet Heritage Center & Art Gallery, representing more than five hundred Native American artists, artisans and crafts people from 19 different North American tribes. The gallery carries a wide variety of authentic Blackfeet and Native American creations, including bead work, handcrafted jewelry, quill work, pottery, rugs, kachinas, horse hair work, moccasins, carvings, bronze work, sculpture, baskets, rawhide work, drums, dolls, hides, original water colors, acrylics, oils, wood relief, prints and a wide selection of Blackfeet and Native American historical, traditional and contemporary books.

Campgrounds and RV parks are nearby; history is all around you in Big Sky Country.

Did you know that American Indian nations really are nations unto themselves? The U.S. Constitution and other federal laws grant to tribal nations more self-ruling sovereignty than is granted to states or other local jurisdictions. It is not full sovereignty, however. U.S. laws apply in these tribal lands as elsewhere. The official term, therefore, is "domestic dependent nations". 

Wickenburg's Western Sculpture Walk

Voted the "Most Western" town in the west, the Arizona community of Wickenburg has atmosphere.

A couple of years ago, True West magazine, put Wickenburg in the "Top 10 List of True Western Towns of 2008."

In the mid-1800s Henry Wickenburg came to the area in search of gold and discovered the Vulture Mine, where over $30 million in gold was found. There are still relics around the area that stand as a tribute to these early adventurers as well as a walking tour around Vulture Mine, according to the Wickenburg Chamber of Commerce.

Wickenburg's western attractions have called tourists to come "Out Wickenburg Way" since the 1930s. To add a contemporary touch with an affectionate nod to its history, the town commissioned realistic life-size bronze sculptures that are threaded through the old section of town.

The sculptures are a series of six old western characters and 16 linking animal pieces by renowned artist J. Seward Johnson. The artist's work is in private and public collections around the world.

An added feature is that each large sculpture includes a button with a narrative on the history of the area.

The public art includes "Jail Tree Felon" that depicts "the use of the large mesquite tree as a place to chain prisoners in early Wickenburg days until they could be transported to the nearest jail in Prescott. It is located at the Jail Tree Park on Tegner Street (Hwy-93) by Chaparral Ice Cream Parlor and Circle K."

"Vaquero with Guitar" provided "an evening serenade to downtown visitors in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. He strums on Wickenburg Way (Hwy-60) in front of the Gold Nugget Lounge."

The 16 smaller bronzes "depict local desert creatures including gila monsters, roadrunners, tarantulas and rattlesnakes. They provide linkage between the six major pieces."

If you go:
Cost: Free
Hours: 24/7
URL: www.WickenburgChamber.com
Phone: (800) 942-5242

Photos: From top: 'Jail Tree Felon,' 'Vaquero with Guitar,'and 'Gila Monster.' Julianne Crane

Maryhill Museum of Art

Sam Hill was a dreamer, and also rich. This allowed him to purchase thousands of acres of parched dry land in the east end of the Columbia Gorge to follow his dream of establishing a Quaker farming community and building a mansion. The farming dream withered like the grass on the slopes surrounding the mansion, which did get built in 1914.

When his dreams faded, he turned his mansion into a museum of art including several eclectic permanent displays such as the Native People of North America, International Chess Sets, sculptures by Auguste Rodin, and the Theatre de la Mode Miniature French Fashions of 1946. The Loie Fuller, Sam Hill, and Maryhill Galleries display significant paintings by American and European artists, and sculptures dot the outdoor gardens.

On the Washington side of the Columbia River just west of Biggs Bridge in Goldendale. Open daily 9 – 5, Mar. 15 - Nov. 15. Visit their website for more info.

Airstream Ranch - a Florida Roadside Attraction

Since 2008, travelers along I-4 between Tampa and Plant City in Florida have been getting an eyeful of the "Airstream Ranch," an unusual display of eight aluminum travel trailers buried nose down in the ground near Bates RV.

RV dealer Frank Bates had long had the reputation for "other visual stunts such as hanging a trailer from a construction crane near the entrance of his dealership," wrote Ken Storey of Roadside America.com.

He "created what he says is a tribute to roadside architecture, and what his critics claim is his most audacious advertising stunt yet.

Bates considered it art, adding that "the easily-identifiable Airstream design is 'truly an American art form,' and that an Airstream is part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Frank says that he is a huge fan of roadside attractions, and that on a recent cross-country flight (in his personal helicopter) he landed at Cadillac Ranch, the attraction that inspired his work," said Storey.

It is said that the "whole idea of art is to convey ideas and promote communication, and Airstream Ranch has certainly accomplished that."

Bates's Stonehendge-ish art tribute resulted in a two-year legal battle with the local code enforcement board.

"The county cited Bates in January 2008 for several code violations, including misuse of agricultural land and unauthorized outside storage," stated an article in The Ledger in Lakeland, Fl. "A three-judge panel overturned the code-enforcement board's ruling" in early 2010.

All of which means the "Airstream Ranch" remains as another unique roadside attraction and photo opportunity.

If you go:

Airstream Ranch
Address: 4656 Mcintosh Rd, Dover, FL
Directions: Bates RV Exchange. I-4 exit 14, southwest corner. Park in the Bates RV lot.

Hours: Daylight hours. (Call to verify)
Phone: 888.228-3778
URL: www.batesrv.com

Photo: Bates RV

Batter up for 'Cactus League Spring Training' baseball during March in Arizona

Where do Snowbird RVers kick back for a few hours on warm March afternoons in Metro Phoenix? They go where more than 1.47 million fans did in March 2010 -- to one of the half-dozen daily ‘Cactus League Spring Training’ baseball games in the greater Phoenix area.

That's where four of us from the Pacific Northwest went on a recent Sunday afternoon--to a ballgame at Scottsdale Stadium to watch the 2010 World Series Champions San Francisco Giants face off against the Seattle Mariners.

If one is a Giants' fan, it was a tremendous game. In fact, just about everyone in the park was wearing orange and black--except for what seemed like four folks from Washington state.

For decades, with its incredible March weather, Arizona has been hosting Major League Baseball spring training. What makes the experience extra special for RVers are all the park facilities, surrounding scenic beauty and close proximity to great outdoor venues.

Along with the Giants and Mariners, 13 other major league teams with spring training here include: the Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles/Anaheim Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres and Texas Rangers. They play their Cactus League games in 10 different stadiums.

Tickets range from under-$10 for seating on the lawn, to more than $40 for stadium seating, depending on team and section. Lawn seating is on the grassy area behind the outfield. Arrive early, wear a hat and sunscreen, and bring a blanket or towel to sit on.

No food or bottled water was allowed through the gates at Scottsdale Stadium. Purses and backpacks were checked. As with any professional ballgame food fare, there is a variety, but it is spendy. Vendors hawk cold beer ($5), peanuts ($4.50) and lemonade ($5).

For more information: www.cactusleague.com

Photos: Scottsdale Stadium, San Francisco Giants vs. Seattle Mariners; young fan; and ballgame food fare. (Julianne Crane)

The spring gold rush to Daffodil Hill

Daffodil Hill

California State Highway 49 stretches along the Sierra Nevada foothills from southwest of Yosemite National Park to the northeasternmost corner of the state. Best known as the Gold Rush Trail it meanders through some 300 miles of the most beautiful and historic land in the West.

Less than an hour's drive from California's capitol, Highway 49 passes through an array of mining towns with names that spring from historical texts including Sutter Creek, named after the man whose nearby lumber mill was the gold discovery site in 1848. People still pan gold from the rivers and streams of the region but these days the main Gold Rush is the annual spring pilgrimage of tourists to nearby Daffodil Hill.

Daffodil Hill is in a beautiful alpine setting at an elevation of over 3,000 feet. With pine trees, an old barn, wagon wheels, rusting mining equipment and farming tools, the flowers are everywhere, some three-hundred thousand of them. Here, pea-fowl, chickens, pigeons and lambs make themselves at home because it is their home. Daffodil Hill is a working ranch still owned and operated by the McClaughlin family which planted the first bulbs into this ground in 1887.

Nature sets the schedule for public viewing. Daffodil Hill is a nonprofit and non-commercial tourist favorite which is neither formally promoted nor publicized. The grounds are opened to the public when twenty-five percent of the flowers are in bloom and closes when only twenty-five percent remain. 

300,000 blooms in a few short weeks...

The time to visit Daffodil Hill is the spring, usually from the end of March through the first three weeks of April. It's the only time of year you can visit Daffodil Hill without a personal invitation from the McLaughlins. 

For a visitation schedule and additional information phone (209) 296-7048.

Learn about the American Revolution at Minute Man National Historic Park

Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord, Mass., is a great place to learn about the American Revolution including the famous 1775 ride of Paul Revere as he warned the Colonials about the British invasion.

See Battle Road, where the stone walls alongside afforded Colonials cover as they fired on British troops. On April 19, 1775, British soldiers and American militia, "minute men" met in a series of skirmishes along a 22-mile stretch of the road that ran from Boston to Concord. The five-mile Battle Road Trail for walking, bicycle or wheelchair, follows remnants of the historic road, and visits historic houses, farming fields, wetlands, and forests.

The park includes a tavern dating to 1733 and the home of 19th-century American authors Nathaniel Hawthorne and Louisa May Alcott. The connection to storytellers is fitting for a place that relates one of the most exciting narratives in American history. Though many of us became familiar in grade school with the story that climaxes in “the shot heard round the world,” the tale still captures our imagination.

Learn about minute men -- ordinary citizens who unwittingly wrote themselves into history by standing up for their rights -- as well as the less known but equally important women of colonial Lexington and Concord.

A good time to visit is in April during Patriot's Day, where visitors see history brought to life. And don't miss the pretty little town of Concord, a Norman Rockwell kinda place.

There is no camping in the park.