Sisters to Prineville, OR

Hwy 126 to Redmond, then secondary roads to Prineville. 42 miles. We bounced back from yesterday's tough ride, thanks in part to a gently rolling route along. The weather was warm but not oppressively hot (at least up to the time we rolled into Prineville). Our route took us further into the central Oregon high desert between the Cascades in the west and the Blue Mountains in the east. The section between Redmond and Prineville, which followed the course of the Crooked River, was particularly nice. A great road surface, virtually no traffic and stunning scenery - mountains, bluffs and picturesque horse ranches. We pretty much forgot about yesterday's grind up Santiam Pass, which is good because we have another pass (Ochoco) to conquer tomorrow.

Prineville was originally established as a railroad center by Irving "Barney" Prine, which is odd because there does not appear to be any tracks here at all, and certainly no current train activity. We toured the local historical museum, which was centered on railroads, logging and the Oregon pioneers. They also had an amazing collection of mouse traps. In addition to the traditional spring-loaded traps,* the early settlers developed a wide variety of bottle traps, "ashtray" traps and even a trap that drowned multiple mice by luring them into a one-way tunnel/tower that ends in a plunge into a water tank.** (I hate rodents, so I really got into this display.)
*I think of myself as somewhat of an authority on mouse traps. We have had a persistent mouse problem at home, and have tried everything on the market to get rid of them (except for a cat, as Penny is allergic to cat dander), including traditional (they are humane, still work well), but can be messy, sticky pads (not humane), plug in electric 'dog whistle' devices (humane, but worthless). Nothing works well 100% of the time, which is why there will always be mice and people working new ways to catch them.

**At our old house we had an even bigger mouse problem than we do now at our current home. We used to regularly find drowned mice that had somehow climbed up the side of the dogs' water bucket, then fell inside unable to climb out.
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