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I have had the good fortune to take a number of road trips in the United States. Texas, Arizona, Utah, California, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Washington, and the place I call home now, Oregon.
An old column in the magazine Car and Driver offered an explanation of Ralph Nader's crusade against the Chevy Corvair. The columnist came to the conclusion that Mr. Nader really disdained all vehicles because an American could travel across the USA and discover that Mr. Nader and his fellow travelers were full of crap when they saw and experienced the United States for themselves. Today's war against the internal combustion engine has the same Nader pedigree of ideas.
Oregon is the ninth largest state in the US. Eastern Oregon, so the Oregon Outback trip requires paying attention to your gas gauge. Gas stations are few and far between in the outback and a small town that has a gas station does not mean 24-hour service.
A look at Harney County in the Oregon Outback gives the reader an idea of distances in eastern Oregon.
"At 10,226 square miles in size, the county is the largest in Oregon, and one of the largest in the United States; it is larger in area than six U.S. states. The county is the most sparsely populated in Oregon, with a population density of 0.72 per square mile."
Crane Union High School in Harney County is a public boarding school and in 1976 it was the only boarding school operated by a school district. In 2002 the attendance boundary was 7,700 square miles, about the same size as the state of Massachusetts.
If you wish to escape the crowds and see the American West, the Oregon Outback will provide a memorable road trip. The first video features driving in the Big Nowhere and the second video features hiking on the Oregon Desert Trail.
Discussion (19)
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I'm not surprised to hear this. I've driven through this area (mostly Malheur County) and wondered where the kids went to school.
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“Mr. Nader really disdained all vehicles because an American could travel across the USA and discover that Mr. Nader and his fellow travelers were full of crap when they saw and experienced the United States for themselves. Today’s war against the internal combustion engine has the same Nader pedigree of ideas.”
The World Economic Forum’s 15 Minute City idea is part and parcel of this same thinking. Nothing more than large gulags from which the residents can’t escape .
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It's also larger than the entire country of Israel.
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In the last couple of years we have driven north and south through that part of Oregon on US-95, the I.O.N Highway (Idaho, Oregon, Nevada). It is a beautiful drive without a lot of traffic.
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Sticker on a logging truck:
"Pray for me — I drive US-95."
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