Cindi's Blog
Title: Wolves in Wallowa County
Date: 08/24/10
Today there will be a special aired on Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) about the wolf issue in Wallowa County. This is one hot topic in Wallowa County right now. You can't go anywhere without hearing someone talking about the wolves and what this will mean for our cattle ranchers in Wallowa County.
Even heard it talked about on Facebook this morning from a friend whose son plays on the PeeWee Football team. The coach wanted to call the team The Wolf Pack and he met with more than serious hesitation from a lot of the parents.
I am not going to discuss the wolves and the pros or cons on this blog, because, well, I like to keep my political viewpoints mostly to myself in this blog area, but I will tell you a side story on the wolf issue.
Those that follow this blog, or know me, know that I love horses. Love the smell of them, love the looks of them, love to ride them, love to watch my children on theirs. Heck if truths be told, I would give up a lot of modern day conveniences and be a cowgirl and live on a ranch. But, I know that isn't ever going to happen, so instead I just play with them.
Our mare Annie had a baby about 5 years ago. His name is Duke and I absolutely love this horse. He has been my pasture pet for 4 years and I have a real connection with this silly horse. Long story short was that I had a bad first training experience with him, brought him home, and found the perfect trainer for both him and me. Her name is Vixen, and she owns Dun The Right Way Horses. Vixen took my supposedly "meaner than a snake horse" (after the bad experience he turned into a naughty horse for a bit), and turned him back into my horse that wanted to please--he just had some trust issues. Vixen worked with my horse with love and respect but complete authority and it was nothing short of amazing to watch my beloved horse turn back into the guy that I had always loved. I will never be able to adequately do her training skills verbal justice--she is nothing short of amazing in my opinion.
After she was done working her magic, Vixen suggested that maybe he needed some life miles on him and suggested that a friend of hers Jason Cunningham take him and ride for the wolves out Lick Creek. I knew of Jason, but had never had the opportunity to meet him. When I was able to meet him, he was everything that Vixen had said of him. Calm, patient, and knowledgeable. Jason took Duke out to Lick Creek and rode for the wolves from July 1 until mid August.
After a week at home, Jason took Duke back out to ride for the wolves this week. It was a very bitter sweet moment for me to have him load back into that trailer and leave me for another month, but I know that the lessons he is learning out there will pack me for a lot of years with this horse.
Jason was hired by the Ranchers in Wallowa County thru a position offered through the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Jason is hired to ride the wolf territory looking for wolf kills and then he reports that back into the ODFW and the Ranchers. For more information on this program, or to see one good looking horse visit the ODFW website. The picture that you first go to is Jason on my horse Duke. (isn't he pretty!)
I will get on my soap box for just a second though. Before you make up your mind pro or con for wolves, do your research. There is more to this debate than just a wolf and their being able to roam God's Country in Wallowa County free and easy. There are ranchers who make a living off the land, and there needs to be some sort of a plan in place so the ranchers and their animals can co-exist with the wolves.
So, go look at my pretty horse, and admire that beautiful scenery, and know that this is a horse that has had great training (thank you Vixen!!) and is getting a new lease on life thanks to a true Cowboy named Jason!
Title: My Favorite Foods in Wallowa County
Date: 08/19/10
One of my favorite things to do is eat. One of the many reasons I look forward to going to Wallowa Lake is to splurge on all of the great foods at various restaurants. There are many places to go out to eat and try different foods. I will list my favorite breakfast, lunch, and dinner food joints and give a brief description of each.
Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. Lucky for me there are many great breakfast restaurants to eat at. As I have mentioned in one of my past blogs, I love to eat at Mountain Air Café. It is located right on Main Street in Joseph. I always order fantastic hot chocolate there usually followed by a great cinnamon roll that my family and I share for an appetizer. For the main meal I like to order one of these: oatmeal (with milk and brown sugar on the side,) pancakes (they are huge,)ham and cheese omelet, or the homemade sourdough bread. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it!
For lunch or dinner, I always enjoy eating at Ember’s Brew House in Joseph. They have to die for onion rings! Along with the onion rings, I always get a side salad with Thousand Island dressing. Yum! My three favorite things to order are the calzone, club sandwich, and hamburger. Usually I share the hamburger with my little sister because they are so huge!
If we have a big lunch and we want to stay at our cabin for dinner, we pick up a u-bake pizza from Video Buffs in Enterprise. They have a wheat crust that is very appetizing. While you are there you might as well finish your day off right with a waffle cone of ice cream (I strongly suggest moose tracks flavor!) or a Twenty Below frozen chocolate drink.
I hope the next time you visit you get to try out some of the wonderful foods Wallowa County has to offer! Sincerely, Paige
Title: Shopping in Wallowa County
Date: 08/11/10
When we visit the Wallowa Lake area, we always make sure to check out all of the cute shopping and souvenir places in Enterprise, Joseph, and right at the lake. First, in Enterprise we always visit Deb’s Apparel. Deb’s has really cute clothes mostly for kids. Next we go to Ace Hardware and always get something for our yard. One of my favorite stores in Enterprise is Bee Charmed. It has really cute scrap booking supplies and much more.
On the main street in Joseph, there are many nice shops. A couple of my favorites are Mad Mary’s, Simply Sandy’s, and Joseph Fly Shoppe. Mad Mary’s has a very neat souvenir shop with lots of stuff, and there is also a restaurant. Simply Sandy’s has a very nice arrangement of things. I can always find a cute bracelet or necklace to get there. They have jewelry, but they also have decorations for one’s home, too. At Joseph Fly Shoppe, there are a lot of fishing supplies for streams and rivers. I got my first fly fishing rod there the last time we visited.
Last but not least, right at the lake I like to go to the Swiss Village. It has a coffee and an ice cream shop in it, and a very nice assortment of souvenirs.
Next time you visit Wallowa Lake I hope you get the chance to check out some of the shops surrounding it!
Sincerely, PaigeTitle: Wallowa Lake Fishing
Date: 07/22/10
Wallowa Lake is very beautiful to look at, but it is also great for fishing. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, my family and I always enjoy fishing when we visit Wallowa Lake. Usually my dad, brother, sister and I go fishing when my mom is resting back at the Ram's Head Cottage. On rare occasions we rent a boat, which is always fun, but more often we just fish off the side of the lake. My favorite weather for fishing is when it is warm and sunny because you can just cool off by getting in the lake!
While fishing you get to relax and look at the wonderful Wallowa Mountains. Even though it is relaxing I can guarantee that you will feel wide-awake when there is a fish tugging on your line! It is always so exciting to be reeling in a fish! Wallowa Lake has some huge different types of fish, including Kokanee. The world-record Kokanee has actually been caught in Wallowa Lake!
On my recent visit to Wallowa Lake, my family purchased a new fly fishing rod at Joseph Fly Shoppe. I am looking forward to getting the chance to fly fish. I hope you also get the chance to fish at Wallowa Lake, or fly fish soon, too! I hope you have fun on your future visits to Wallowa Lake!
PaigeTitle: Joe's Place
Date: 07/15/10
Bumper Boats and Mini Golf
Every time my family and I visit Wallowa Lake doing bumper boats and mini golf is always on our to do list. It is a great family activity and very enjoyable. There are two places that have mini golf, but the one we visit is located right across from the Wallowa Lake Lodge and is called Joe’s Place Bumper Boats and Arcade.
To start off, the mini golf has nine holes and each one is different and challenging. Once you finish the nine holes you get the chance to win a free game on one more additional hole. The mini golf is fun and peaceful, but when you get to the bumper boats, be ready to get wet! The ‘boats’ are very exciting to ride in and drive.
When we are done golfing and riding in the bumper boats, we go to the restaurant located right by the mini golf. They offer pizza and their ice cream is delicious! Next time you visit Wallowa Lake, I encourage you to go mini golfing and ride in the bumper boats. It will be a great family activity, and I hope everyone enjoys going!
Sincerely, PaigeTitle: Paige's 4th of July
Date: 07/08/10
Last weekend my family and I were lucky enough to spend the 4th of July at Wallowa Lake! We left Thursday and stayed until the following Monday. The weather was not what we would have wished for, but we had lots of fun anyway. First off, I will talk about the food. Practically every day we ate ice cream at Video Buffs in Enterprise. I tried not to eat too much dessert, but the ice cream was so good that I got a huge waffle cone every time! We also ate at Embers for Dinner. Their hamburgers, salads, and pizza were very appetizing. For most of our breakfasts we ate at Mountain Air Café. They have the best oatmeal and homemade sourdough bread I have ever eaten. One day, we ate at Cheyenne Café for breakfast. They had delicious, huge cinnamon rolls.
For activities at the lake, we participated in go carts, (I accidentally crashed and my brother beat me,) bumper boats, and mini golf. It was all very fun and I wish we could have stayed longer. We didn’t go up the Wallowa Lake Tramway because the weather wasn’t permitting, although we plan to go on our next visit.
We also spent a lot of our time shopping. My mom, sister, and I shopped while my dad and brother golfed in Enterprise. The stores we went to in the area were Debs Apparel, Bee Charmed, Mad Mary’s, the Swiss Village, Simply Sandy’s, and Ace Hardware for some yard work tools. All of the shops were a lot of fun and we found some cute clothes and souvenirs.
Over the four days that we visited, I think my favorite thing we did was watch the wonderful fireworks show. We watched it with some family friends up on a hill that had a great view of the lake. It was so beautiful, and I look forward to getting to come back to Wallowa Lake and watch them again next year!
Sincerely, Paige
Title: Wallowa Lake Tramway as seen through Paige's eyes!
Date: 06/27/10
Wallowa Lake Tramway
As I previously mentioned, each week I have decided to describe one of my favorite activities to do at Wallowa Lake, Joseph, or Enterprise. This week I have decided to write about the wonderful Wallowa Lake Tramway that is by the lake.
Every time my family and I visit Wallowa Lake, riding on the tramway is what I look forward to doing the most. Usually, I am scared of heights. But, when I ride up the tram, it doesn’t even phase me, because it is so beautiful. It takes about ten minutes to ride up the mountain, and once you step out of the tram and look at the view, I can promise you will be amazed.
The mountain is tall enough that you can see four states from one location along with the lake. This proposes many good opportunities for great family pictures! My favorite thing about being on top of the mountain is not only the view but also getting to feed the chipmunks and squirrels! Right when you get off the tram there is a stand where you can buy food for the little creatures. My siblings and I always find it very enjoyable to feed them and look at how cute they are.
On the mountain there are also walking trails. When my family and I visited last summer in July there was still a little bit of snow left on the sides of the trails!
Next time you visit Wallowa Lake I strongly suggest going on the tram. It is a very fun activity to do with your family, or even to just go on a hike. Once you have gone on it once I can guarantee you will want to go on it every time you visit Wallowa Lake from then on!
Sincerely, PaigeSummer Bloggist for Wallowa Lake Vacation Rentals
Title: Paige's First Blog
Date: 06/10/10
Paige’s Blog
I am very excited to get the chance to be a part of Wallowa Lake Vacation Rentals by writing my own blog! As previously mentioned by Cindi, I am Paige. I currently live in Idaho, and as of finishing my year of school this Tuesday, I am now a sophomore. I am looking forward to the opportunity to share all of my favorite activities to do in Wallowa Lake with you. There are so many including the Wallowa Lake Tramway, bumper boats, mini golf, hiking, fishing, go carts, shopping, and most of all-eating! I am planning to go into more depth each week about a specific activity that I have enjoyed doing at Wallowa Lake, Joseph, and Enterprise. Wallowa Lake is my most cherished place to visit. We now come at least three times a year.
I am so thankful that my family knows about and visits Wallowa Lake. It all started when my grandpa moved to Enterprise and started Video Buffs. Video Buffs is still going on today and has movies, pizza, and amazing ice cream. (I suggest the Moose Tracks flavor!) My grandpa lived in Enterprise with his son, my uncle, who graduated from Enterprise High School in 1984. My dad would then come and stay with his dad and brother over the summers. Once I was born my dad took me to Wallowa Lake, and now it is my favorite place to visit!
I am looking forward to future blogs!
I hope you all have a wonderful stay at Wallowa Lake! -Paige
Title: Newest Summer Employee
Date: 06/03/10
I always am thinking.....thinking of what needs done, by whom, what still is on the horizon, and thinking of ways to keep you, my current and hopeful renters, happy!
I have decided that I want to freshen up the Blog. I get a lot of comments from you guys telling me what you think of my Blog, your experiences, and I really appreciate that you are reading it and I am just not talking to myself!
So, for the next couple of crazy busy summer months, you will be having a weekly NEW blog by Paige! She is Kaycee's daughter (Kaycee is one of our Reservation Specialists), and vacations every year in the Ram's Head Cottage. Paige has some fun things to discuss, and I know that you will fall in love with her just as much as I have!
So, enjoy your summer browsings with Paige.....Until Fall, Cindi
Title: Memorial Day Weekend part 2
Date: 05/24/10
Maggie (a loyal customer) and I were just visiting on the phone about the upcoming busy kick off weekend and the weather, and my "forecast" for drippy yellow stuff might not be in full effect for the whole weekend, but maybe part?!
Keep your fingers crossed friends....we are DUE FOR GOOD WEATHER!
| Events |
|---|
| Juniper Jam Music Festival |
| 09/04/10 |
| Juniper Jam - The sweetest little music festival in Eastern Oregon Saturday, September 4, 2010 11:00am - 10:00pm Wallowa County Fairgrounds, Enterprise, OR The Wallowa Valley Music Alliance is pleased to announce the launch of a new music festival, taking place over Labor Day Weekend at the Wallowa County Fairgrounds in Enterprise, Oregon. This fun-filled day of music starts at 11:00 AM on Saturday, September 4, 2010, with music going on all day until about 10:00 PM. Festival goers will enjoy many styles of music, including folk, country, jazz, Americana and blues, as well as great food and drink, plus children's activities. Tickets for the event are $10, kids under six are free. |
| Hells Canyon Mule Days (30th Annual) |
| 09/10/10 |
| Mule Show with events for every age and skill level. Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Artisans & Exhibitors on The Green, Non-motorized Parade, Pit B-B-Q Dinner, Quilt Show, and Mule and Horse Sale... |
| Hells Canyon Mule Days Quilt Show |
| 09/10/10 |
| Hells Canyon Mule Days Quilt Show Welcome to our 8th annual quilt show that is staged during the Hells Canyon Mule Days event in Enterprise at the Wallowa County Fairgrounds. This exhibit recognizes individual quilt makers from the area with over 100 quilts on display for the three day event. Our show committee is always pleased to show new quilts and we welcome your entry. The Cloverleaf Hall comes alive with quilts that foster designs from the past and also current day patterns that will amaze and inspire the quilter and non-quilter alike. Quilts will be entered in three categories; Bed Size Quilts, Crib/Lap Size Quilts, and Wall Hangings. Also, a special category sponsored by Hannah Beaudoin from Savoie’s Specialties, for Mule designed motif quilts. There will be vendors representing quilt shops throughout the region for all those “must have/can’t resist” items...The raffle quilt will be on display and tickets may be purchased for $1.00 each or six for $5.00 and the winning ticket will be drawn on Sunday at 2:00 pm. Ample free parking and handicap accessible. Admission: $3.00 - good for all weekend. Show Hours: Friday 10-5, Saturday 10-5, Sunday 10-3. |
| Hop The Blues Quilt Shop Hop - 2010 |
| 09/29/10 |
| Gather your quilting friends and "Hop" from shop-to-shop in northeastern Oregon and southeastern Washington, during the 10th Annual “Hop the Blues,” including two shops right here in Wallowa County. Visit all shops September 29 through October 3, 2010 (Wednesday through Sunday) to be eligible for awesome grand prizes. Every shop will be filled with FREEBIES, wonderful samples, prizes, and lots of fabric for your quilting needs. Pick up your passport, which will be available just prior to the hop at any of the participating shops. Contact: Cattle Country Quilts in Joseph, 541-432-6669, www.CattleCountryQuilts.Com for more info! Hop the Blues participating shops: Aunty Ida’s (Hermiston), Cattle Country Quilts (Joseph), Claudson’s Sew & Soak & Quilt Therapy (La Grande), Savoies Specialties (Enterprise), La Donna’s Fiber Art and Traditions Quilt Shop (Baker City), Pendleton Quilt Works (Pendleton), Quilts Plus (Halfway), Walla Walla Sew & Vac (Walla Walla, WA). |
| Christmas in Joseph Holiday Bazaar |
| 11/26/10 |
| Joseph Community Center We run the bazaar 2 separate weekends. Some vendors attend both weekends and some only one or the other. We have both hand crafted and commercial exhibitors. There will be door prizes and Christmas music both weekends. On the 3rd and the 4th, Santa Paws will be at the Bazaar. Santa will be there for photos for children, adults and of course our most beloved pets! We have 30 vendors attending each weekend from within Wallowa County and also out of state vendors. A grand variety of gifts, decorations and greenery, including fresh Christmas Wreaths and Swags. For booth or table information contact Beverly Wyffels at (541) 432-9501. |
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