Eastern Oregon: Earn Your Boots

U6PHO0mkp63rhfaVxCZFR79xqnD_KZB7vNTWOhY8DiQ,efk-Qhz2TbFPA6Acmcdyi1WHpP-rIolVdz_3cc1wcU8When I moved to Oregon last year, I didn’t know they had cowboys. So when when I got a hall pass to write pretty much anything about the state recently for National Geographic Traveler’s Digital Nomad, I headed east — into cowboy country.

Experiencing all this is one of the ways I’m trying to become “Oregonian” as I explain in the article:

When I moved to Oregon last year, I bought a road map and started marking it up with things that captured my attention. I’ve highlighted the scenic drives I read about… and tape on color-coded tags for things I want to see (the Oregon/Oregon State football game) and famous footsteps to follow (the setting of the film Goonies). I call the ongoing project Becoming Oregonian, as I strive to understand a state I don’t really know. Increasingly I find it tilted toward the state’s less talked about east, a wide land of Oregon Trail landmarks, small-town rodeos, rugged high plains, and Pendleton blankets.

Also, here’s my daughter Ruby taking over the 76-Second Travel Show to share her “Eastern Oregon Bucket List,” from a trip several months ago:

About Robert Reid

Robert Reid is a travel writer (Lonely Planet, New York Times, ESPN), travel expert (Today Show, CNN's Headline News), travel videographer (76-Second Travel Show) and travel artist (don't ask).
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3 Responses to Eastern Oregon: Earn Your Boots

  1. Askan says:

    What the heck is one supposed to do in Eastern Oregon? Besides traveling. But it looks nice.

  2. Robert Reid says:

    Do you like travel? Then you’ll pretty much like Eastern Oregon. It’s ridiculously overlooked in terms of stunning scenery and unexpected things like Chinese-American museums, seven-man football, small-town rodeos, local breweries that score gold medals at national beer festivals, fresh jerky made by cowgirl poets, big fungus, bike towns of population 300.

  3. Askan says:

    Only have been in Portland, OR for a few weeks and consider it one of the most livable cities. But apparently I missed out on your new home territory. The beer and jerky should be reasons enough. Thanks for the good tip!

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