Baker City is an iconic Eastern Oregon small town, which among other things, makes its living off tourist traffic from I-84. A couple of surprising things struck us as we entered the town. First, the streets are as wide as a 4-lane highway, but uncluttered with traffic and lined by buildings built in the 1800’s. Second, the beauty of the architecture was startling. Engravings, cast iron edifices, soaring towers and steeples – one building looked like it belonged in New York City, not a town of just under 10,000 people. That evening, while the cats explored the motel room, we walked to dinner on the Leo Adler Memorial Parkway along the Powder River. Barn swallows swooped along the river’s surface. We saw several townspeople biking and walking along the trail, and each one remarked on the beautiful weather. It had been a long, cold winter everywhere in Oregon and tonight the sun was warm and the breeze was cool. It was perfect!
The next morning we had breakfast at the Oregon Trail Restaurant. Lee looked at the local paper. He discovered that Wally Byam, who invented the Airstream trailer, came from Baker City. He died in 1962, and every year, original Airstream owners come from all over America to meet up in a local park to celebrate his life. (basecampbaker.com/blog/?p=134)
The paper quoted him as observing that you can choose a life that will make you successful and wealthy, or one that can make you happy. For the lucky folks, he got the first life by choosing the second one. Lee remarked that you could tell a lot about people by whom they pick to be their heroes. As we were packing our car to leave, a grey haired man who was cleaning rooms, told us he had lived in Baker City since 1970 and he bragged about how safe the town was. He said you do occasionally hear a police siren, but that’s only to blow the bugs and cobwebs out of the horn.
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