Pillars of Rome
I am at the Basque Hotel tonight and it is already feeling like home.
We woke up and asked the Shell attendant about the internet cafe in JV, and he directed us to JV Cafe. We went over to the café thinking we would order something light to eat to justify our use of the internet and catch up on email. We sat next to a table of 8 senior citizen bikers out on a tour and listened in a bit on their adventures. We then politely ordered some food and asked for the internet password. The waitress let us know that they didn’t have internet but Rockhouse has wifi. So we had our modest breakfast while immersing ourselves into the local culture and then walked to Rockhouse Cafe, whose sign advertised that it had unforgettable bathrooms. It was a cute cafe and, indeed, had artistic bathrooms with mosaic designs.
After a bit on our computers, we headed toward Rome, to see the Pillars of Rome, some very interesting rocks that have eroded to look like Roman temples, amongst other things. I am not sure what geological forces created them (I have googled it but to no avail), but driving down a road, and all of a sudden, about 10 square miles of these unique structures.
On route though, we saw signs for where Jean-Baptiste “Pomp” Charbonneau, the son of anSacajawea and a French trapper in the Lewis and Clark party, was buried. We took a detour and saw his grave, as well as a small amount of information about his life. He was well traveled even by today’s standards (studying in Europe and Africa), and on route between California and Montana, he contracted pneumonia, and died in the little town of Danner, Oregon.
Paying Homage to “Pomp”, Sacajawea’s Son
You can probably visualize the formations of the Pillars of Rome without any further words from me. You look at them and have many possible images – or maybe they are hallucinations. One moment they look like pillars in an ancient Roman engineering works; the next like walls of a chateau in the Dordogne region of France in the 16th Century; … It is quite similar to looking at masses of clouds sailing by, except in this case the forms are, for the moment at least, very stable. The terrain was craggily, yet we climbed up into them, as we wanted to get as close to them as reasonable. Although they were mostly beige, there were other tones present in lesser amounts- oranges, and browns- all of which bled into each other with ease. It was hot but we persisted in the exploring, taking breaks in the shade of the rocks. What was spectacular, but understated, is the sound of silence, and the bird calls. At points, we simply both stopped conversing and allows the ambiance of the space to call to permeate our beings. It’s so wide open in these parts, and we could actually feel how wide open it is.
One of Many Striking Pillars of Rome
After the Pillars, we tried to take a shortcut to Coffeepot Crater, but a funny thing happened. Roads on the map ceased to exist, or existed for a bit, and then were non-existent the rest of the way. Although this meandering brought us through some scenic lava fields, we both thought it was best to simply go back to town and relax a bit.
We did go to the main corner in JV to see the cute museum with the open sign and the pelota court. The museum was closed. The pelota court is where a type of handball was played for many years, when the Basque presence was rich in the region. It evolved from more ancient types of handball, such as what the Greeks and Mayans played.
The Pelota Court in Jordan Valley
An evening stroll was in order, so we took a very short drive out of town, down a country road, and found a place to stretch our legs, listen to the birds sing, admire the seemingly old growth willow trees and see the cultivated grass sway in the gentle breeze. We walked for an hour or so and acknowledged that where we were, is simply a special spot on the planet. And perhaps the best part of it, is that it’s very untouristed.
Dinner was another nourishing meal and had us coming back for seconds. Cauliflower and broccoli in a cheddar cream sauce, and walnut chicken with mushrooms and onions, deglazed in an Herbs de Provence cream sauce. We were transported to gastronomic heaven and are ready to drift off sweetly into a slumber.
