Halfway (Multi-Post Day)

The weekend of March 20th I knew we would be kid free so I planned a little get away for Ken and myself. I packed up a bag and surprised Ken when he got home from work that Friday evening. I had planned to get away that night to Ontario, Oregon and stay that night in a bed and breakfast. We had a computer problem and couldn't leave right away and the Inn in Ontario never called me back about my reservation. We ended up leaving early Saturday morning. We drove out to Baker (2 hours away) and ate brunch and the Sumpter Cafe. I love that place because of the miniature train that goes by every table. If you are ever traveling through there stop, you won't regret it. After that we shopped a little (tax free) at the Bi-Mart nearby. We drove north after that to the town of Halfway, Oregon. The town was so tiny that I think the cows outnumbered the people 10 to 1. Everyone waves to everyone else. It was a very nice little town. We stayed at the Inn at Halfway. This is a picture of the outside of the place. We were the only guests. The inn has about 10 rooms and all were lovely. We chose a room on the second floor that would face out to the left of the above picture. We toured the whole property.

This thing was attached to the barn and it appears to be some kind of phone.

This is a cast iron cow and just behind it is a pond that is stocked with fish for the guests to fish for. In the winter the pond can be skated on. We arrived at a time that the pond was available for neither.

The house on the property is over 100 years old. It has been completely renovated to at least the year 2000 standards. The inside is 100% modern in every way. In the rear of the home is an outdoor kitchen used to keep the house cool in the summer months and was used for all the canning and cooking. They still use it some today. Inside the home is a huge professional kitchen that they make their own preserves/jams/jellies out of. They also cook meals on demand for guests. These pictures are of the barn just behind the house. It has really rugged rooms that the owners are fixing up for people who want to rough it. They would be more camp style.

Dad- What are those?


This picture is what you see out the west side of the house. It really is out in the middle of nowhere. They have their own fruit trees and berries that can be picked in the summer. They also had a room that would fit our whole family for $150.00 a night. We want to go back in the summer with the kids.

After checking in we drove up to the Hells Canyon Recreational Area.


It was beautiful there. I had never been there so I was awed by the depth of the canyon.

That evening we had dinner at a small cafe and went back to the inn for cookies and hot chocolate. There is no television there so Ken and I read and sat in front of the fire before heading off to bed early.

The next day we enjoyed a yummy breakfast of bagel and yogurt then left the inn. We tried to drive north to Joseph and Enterprise but the road isn't maintained in the spring and it was snowy. We turned around and went back to Baker. We toured historic downtown Baker and the Geiser Grand hotel. (I want to stay there next time). We then drove south to Sumpter and scouted out some things we want to do in the summer. They have a railroad we want to take the kids on and in the summer they have a flea market that is cool (we heard). We tried to drive beyond Sumpter (further south) but it began to snow again so we headed back to Baker. After that we drove home. It was a really nice getaway. We celebrated (early) for our anniversary (April 14).