Well it was a fun trip. Especially, I've never taken my rig out for more than a couple hundred miles in a day. Let alone do 1,000 mile round trip to Central Oregon.
Well, here was the first day.
Truck was loaded the night before. Three gun cases, two totes, a spare tire, shooting plywood, three coolers (one full of food, one with oysters, and one completely full of cheese, which paid for itself), the toolbox full of stuff, cameras, 5 gallon gas can and a small suitcase of clothes.
I left town around 6:30am, and headed east, well southeast towards Salem. Nothing worth taking pictures of. Topped off the tank in Salem, got a long stretch to Bend over the Santiam Pass. I love my truck, but a couple times, I was wishing my poor truck had a 3RZ in her. Cause when your pegged at 4500 rpms, and 60mph, your rubbing the dash and talking to the poor girl. Especially when your climbing in elevation.
And seeing beautiful scenery on the pass.
I would have loved to stopped and took pictures of Detroit Dam, and the snow capped mountains, but I had an agenda!!
Rolled into Bend at around 10:45am. I did good time, hardly anybody on the road. And that was including the 20 miles of the painting crew putting lines down on the pass at 5 mph!!
Which was a good thing, cause the breweries didn't open till 11:00am.
8)
So I hit up these Breweries on the way through, and out of the 25 of them, I only hit the tip of the iceberg. Bend is the Brewery Capital!!
http://www.boneyardbeer.com/boneyardbeer/Boneyard_Beer.html Got the Armored Fist, and Diablo Rojo for free with cheese!!
http://www.10barrel.com/ Got the ISA ale
http://goodlifebrewing.com/ Got the 29er Brown Ale
Fueled up, it only took 7 gallons to top off from Salem.
Doing good on gas.
Headed south for about 30 miles, passing all sorts of Geologic wonders. Bend, or Central Oregon is a hot bed of volcanic activity. Lava flows everywhere, cinder cones, extinct volcanoes (look up Newberry Crater, Crater Lake, Pilot Butte, or do a Google mapquest of the area), and a ton of ash. I took hwy 31 towards Summer Lake.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Lake,_Oregon The topography changed on me as I was heading southeast.
To this.
And while in the flats, and no cars to be seen for at least 20+ minutes at any given time, I was jamming on the gears.
I was actually averaging 75mph the whole time, till I came up on a blind corner, and then
BRAKES!!!! 
And to come to find out the rear tires are out of balance, so I couldn't do anything in the range of 62 to 68 mph, or I got a back massage.
So, I kept it over 70mph.
While out in the long stretches of nothingness, I got bored. And tried to have fun with the camera before the battery died.
In all my excitement of getting ready for my trip, I forgot one important thing. To recharge the batteries.
Got into the campground around 3pm, did great time. Got the tent setup, my buddies laughed at me, but I don't have a camp trailer, and I have nothing bad to say about a tent, air mattress, and a sleeping bag rated to 30* and dad's old wool army blanket.
Later after dinner of tri-tip off the grill, we hiked up to the point over looking the area.
We climbed to the point in this picture. This was the next morning sunrise tho.
If my computer was old and struggles at everything it does, I would have stitched this sequence together.
And my buddy Lucas, aka Hairtrigger
Well, onto the fields to shoot. That's Mike our guide in front of me.
And yes I have a Ruger Single Six on the dash, cause you never know when you'll need to pop a rat.
And onto the fields, some of these pictures I borrowed from a buddy, because once you get "Rat Eye" there is nothing else on your mind.
My setup, was a sheet of plywood wide enough to straddle the rails of my bed, with some strips of trim to fit down between the rails of the bed. And bungeed down. My backpack full of coats as my rest.
If your squeamish, or anti killing, turn your head now. Blood and guts are in the next couple pictures. We shoot the rats for the farmers, cause they create holes that the livestock break their legs in. And they can't spray the fields cause the spray turns up in the dairy cows milk, and the water shed. So, the farmers allow us to help them.
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The surround hills to the west. Up close you can see the layers of lava flows, and layers of ash.
Well, did two days of rat hunting, and I have to say that the rats weren't as plentiful as in years past, but my new favorite rifle has to be my .17. I was holding shots dead on at 150yrds plus, and I only shot about 20 round with the .22's, and that was with my Ruger single six, and Mark II.
Well, it was time for me to head back home. I didn't want to, because it was so beautiful out there. But I had family to get home to.
So, I decided to hit a couple places on the way home, that was in Christmas Valley. Yes, there is such a place, and their main source of income is growing alfalfa. Out there was a couple places I wanted to hit up, Lost Forest but I didn't have time. Crack in the ground, which isn't a fault line, but a volcanic fissure.
Which you could walk its 40 mile length if you wanted too. But I had to roll!!
Next on the way home was Fort Rock. Which is a volcanic Tuff, not an actual volcano. This is the result of a crater spewing out ash over a period of time, and that buildup hardened.
I wanted to get better photos of stuff, but once I was on the road, it was hard to just stop and take photos. Especially, when your hungover, and want to go home.
Also, I love the gravel roads out in the desert. Nothing like doing 60+ and no potholes in sight, and straight as an arrow.
