Like bears emerging from the winter den, we crawled out of the house on Saturday, blinking and squinting in the sun.  Driving around town doing errands, we saw bikes on the road and in the backs of pickups. Everyone was out having fun, and we were absolutely ready to join in.  A few phone calls, and we had a herd of riding buddies up for a loop through Antelope, Fossil, Service Creek, Spray, Mitchell and back home in time for Sunday dinner.

I’m always a little nervous about the first ride after a long dry spell, but I settled right into the riding rhythm in just a few miles. We met John, Bill, and Robert in Terrebonne, then picked up Eric and Josie in Madras.

I really love the road to Antelope, it is technical without being too demanding, and has enough straight stretches so you can relax and enjoy the view.

Sue and Lorrin were waiting for us at the little cafe in Antelope, and while some ate breakfast (and we all chugged good coffee), I decided to take advantage of the time to get a closer look at some of the old buildings in town.

Old Storefront, Church and wagon in Antelope

One decrepit storefront is my favorite, and I always click a few shots every time we’re here.

This bright green truck always stands out against the winter dry grass.

Old home slowly settling into the ground.

While I was taking pictures, a local guy wandered by and mentioned I should check out the  jail on the street above.  The building looked like any typical old outbuilding, so I’d never given it a second glance.  Fortunately, I listened to him and hiked up the hill to see.  Inside is the old jail cell, with walls build from 2×4 lumber laid like sticks one on top of the other.  The original lock and hardware are still here, and other than some graffiti, it’s still very intact.  Cool!

The original service station is also pretty neat, with some of the painted signage still visible.

Service station in Antelope Oregon

After breakfast we headed down the road to Fossil, while everyone else went directly to the restaurant, Mike and I detoured to take advantage of the early afternoon light and get some pictures in front of the courthouse.

Last summer we were able to go inside this great old building, and it’s just as detailed and regal inside as it is out.

Fossil Courthouse

Hungry riders waiting for lunch

After an always-excellent salad at the Big Timber restaurant, the group split into ‘has chores to do around the house and have to get back’ group and the ‘did the chores last weekend or screw the chores we’ll do them later’ crowd.  The group with chores headed home, and Lorrin, Sue, Eric, Josie, Mike and I continued on down the beautiful winding road towards Spray.

I really love this country, and this road especially.  Following along the John Day river, the road twists through terrain as varied as rolling farmland to tight canyons, then opens into the Painted Hills and John Day formations that remind me of Bryce canyon.  After weeks of cold and wet weather, just being out in the brilliant warm sunshine was great, the beautiful scenery and fun riding were just icing on the cake!

Painted Hills

After stopping to say hi to Henry the bear in Mitchell, we said so-long to Lorrin and Sue as they headed back to Wasco and we continued on to Prineville with Eric and Josie.

Eric, Josie and Mike in Mitchell

As we were coming down the Ochoco grade, we got behind a Jeep Wagoneer going darned slow.  Looking in their back window I spied what I thought was a really large dog, then the animal turned and looked at me, and it was a foal!  The cute little fella was standing up in the back seat and seemed pretty relaxed about the whole thing.  Maybe they always take their horses for a Sunday drive?  All in all, a quirky ending to a fun ride.

Can’t wait to do it again next weekend (crossing fingers for good weather).