Joseph, OR - Aug 30-Sept 3


 

I love Joseph, Oregon.  I mean, it is my hands-down favorite small town in all of America, and I have visited a lot of them.  Why?  Because it's very small and intimate, it's authentic in that it isn't pretentious Park City or touristy Gatlinburg.  It's authentic in that it completely reflects its agricultural/cowboy/ranching environs but does so in a most classy way.  It's super clean with adorable shops lining the road, festooned with flowers everywhere, clean as can be, artsy in stunning fashion, and it sits in the shadow of the massive and rugged Wallowa Mountains (which we will backpack into next week).  It's remote enough to prevent an onslaught of tourists because you have to go out of your way down a long one-way back country road to reach Joseph.  Yet it's modern and savvy enough to boast a host of wonderful activities, one of which my favorite is to just walk Main Street up and down visiting all of the adorable shops and eateries and take in the multiple bronze sculptures festooning the streets.  

From the shops and historic buildings…










…to the art galleries, bronze foundries, and sculptures lining the streets…














…to the hiking in the Wallowa’s, one of Oregon’s Seven Wonders…




…I love this place!  It's one of Oregon's best kept secrets, so don't tell your friends!  We are camped at the end of pristine Wallowa Lake at a stake park tucked deep into the woods. 





One of Aaron's sons lives remotely outside of Joseph raising cattle on his 1300 acres, so we try to make it here at least once a year for a visit.  He's one grizzled cowboy, that son of his, but he's sweet beneath the dust and dirt, and his four adorable cowdogs win my heart. Sunsets are spectacular, and the super dark night skies show off millions of stars and a brilliant milky way.  I'd forgotten how much I love the night sky when we were deprived of it for weeks in Alaska. 














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