I’m sitting here at the beautiful Krebs’ Family Ranch overlooking the gorgeous grasslands and mountains to write about the latest leg of our awesome journey. That means that we successfully made it to Wallowa County!
We have had a really long day of travel, from Corvallis, to Wallowa County. We left Corvallis at 8 am this morning and arrived in Enterprise at 4 pm. Along the way we got to see the amazing change in landscape that occurs crossing Oregon. If you don’t know the area well, we traveled across the state completely, viewing all kinds of different landscapes!
Our trip was filled with wonderful views, great discussions, and tons of laughter! We got to see rivers, log yards, poplar plantations, agricultural fields, grasslands, cows, horses, wind turbines, mountains, waterfalls, and all kinds of beautiful scenery.
When we got to Wallowa county we came out to the Krebs’ Family Ranch and met up with a group of ranchers and farmers within the area. They were all gathered to meet with us, tell us about their lives, their community, and their unique resilience. We circled up and they went around and told us about their individual experiences, and situations. They also let us ask questions and get a better understanding of the way they live, and take a TON of notes. As one of them, Cameron Krebs (he spelled his name out so that we could cite him correctly) said, he walked up and started asking questions and all of a sudden a bunch of tiny notebooks popped out! I was really interested in a sheep production process that he is working on by incorporating sheep grazing into a poplar plantation as a form of agroforestry. We definitely got a good start to our data collection here in Wallowa County!
After the formal discussion, we had a more informal BBQ with the community and got to talk with them on a more personal level. They were so nice, friendly, and inviting! We ate hamburgers, salad, various side dishes, and an assortment of desserts. It was delicious!
The Krebs’ family was also generous enough to allow all 5 of us girls to stay in their bunkhouse for the night. By bunkhouse, that is what they called it, but it is a gorgeous little house, completely off the grid (heated and electricity run through solar panels) with heated floors, unlimited hot water, super comfortable beds and an AMAZING view! The boys are staying at a couple of different houses in Enterprise and Joseph.
