road tripping: Shaniko, an almost ghost town

Shaniko, a place where life still exists

How do you get from point A to point B? Bus, plane, train, scooter, even our feet are a mode of transportation. What about when it comes to vacation time? Is it a matter of hurry up, rush, so you can get there all exhausted and really not ready to hit every major attraction? Me? I’m a road tripping kind of girl.

When the kids were little, our family vacations always involved piling them, their stuffed animals, travel-sized games and tons of snacks into the car. We would carefully map out our stops to include restaurants with playgrounds, aka, McDonalds and our must-have on motels was a pool.

be a law abiding citizen, or face the paddy wagon. i wonder if that would have worked with fighting kids?

I have mixed memories of these road trips. 

Mostly, I smile as I think about them, and then suddenly I'm jolted back into the reality of the “are we there yet?” question mingled with the “don’t breath on me” and I need to go to the bathroom, when we are only five minutes down the road. Ahh, good times, right? Yes, in so many ways.

Life is now back to just the two of us taking off for some rest and relaxation. Sure, we jump on planes and trains when the occasion arises, but I adore packing a bag, loading up our dog and hopping in the car to explore destinations between here and there; wherever there might be.

To celebrate road tripping, whether it’s just for a day or a longer period, I’m going to post a few photo-heavy blogs this summer. Some will be recent road trips, others will be memories from the past. In either case, I hope you get the bug to cram what you need into the car, fill up the tank with gas, load up on your favorite snacks and driving music and go!

this is where life happened, the mercantile, the newspaper office and at home, number 35

We met an interesting man. To look at him, you’d think he was a broken down sod-buster who had probably never been out of Shaniko, until he began to speak. He spoke with a stutter, so he carefully chose his words. He was well educated, had served in Desert Storm (thank you) and had lived in and travelled to many parts of the world; a lesson in not having preconceived ideas by outward appearance. He offered to take our photo (he had studied photography) and chuckled out loud as he told us to beware of jumping rattlesnakes. This gentle man was a pleasure to meet, if only for a few moments.

hey baby, should we get hitched?

We wandered through the town, eating ice cream in the hot sun, swatting flies and looking at old memorabilia. 

There was old threshing equipment and a livery stable full of cars that pickers would die for. An old piano sat outside collecting dust and cobwebs. You could just imagine the tunes it used to play. A row of folding chairs still hold court at the old shearing barn. Listening closely, the sheep might still bleat in defiance to their new 'do.

can you imagine cruising in this beauty on a road trip?

With a last look at bygone days, we said farewell to Shaniko and hit the sun-drenched open road for new adventures, interesting people and places and stories of “there,” wherever that is.

Missy

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