A TOUR OF THE OREGON RANCH OF DAVID AND JO ORR

In mid-January, I reveled in the Orr-branch of my family and watched my cousin, then Kristin Orr--now Kristen Riley--get married. The next day, David and Jo hosted many of us at their new Ranch in Prineville, which is about a 50 minute drive (weather permitting) from Bend.

As we drove down the gravel road approaching the house, between the river and the mesas, we rounded a bend, and we saw the view of the house that I put at the top of this page. I, in the car with Tammy, Cheryl, and Roger, joined in with the general murmers of admiration. We parked and walked up to the front deck (which was then empty, but in the pictures, the Pedersen's, who provided these photos in the person of Darlene Pedersen, are talking to Jo, or in the other picture, David, Roger, Cheryl, Jo, and me). We didn't go in right away but admired the view and spent quite a bit of time talking about what part of the land was theirs (if I got this right, the big field past the fenced in area behind Jo belongs to a neighbor, the mesas belong to another neighbor, but there is a several acre chunk of land inbetween--including all of the big field in the front of the house all the way to the river).

We went into the house. The frong door leads into the kitchen. The first picture shows the view as you come into the house (as long as you have Pedersens, Tammy, Jason, and a friendly dog to greet you), and the second picture shows how it looks once you are in the kitchen and you look back at the door. Next, we turned left, and went past the dining room (looking back towards the front of the house from where you come out of the kitchen) and into the living room. The living room is where we, and all four dogs, spent most of our time. The dogs clearly love this room. The large windows near the telescope look out towards the large field and the mountain (we thought it might have been one of the sisters viewable from Bend). There is also a comfy bedroom in that end of the house, but we have no pictures of that.

If you turn right from the kitchen, you find another sitting room (and office) on one side, and the bedroom on the other. There was much lively discussion about the bedroom wallpaper and decor, with opinion sharply divided between those who found it charming and those who found the large roses overwhelming. The closets in there are huge (and well lit), and the master shower is quite interesting for having had its enclosure installed upside down (anywhere you try to set the soap would only work if you put a gravity generator on the ceiling).

We ate and chatted and enjoyed ourselves. I'll finish this page with a picture of the river at the base of the property (my, but dogs can get filthy quickly with a good river handy).

Oh, and all my relatives should admire my cat (here he is next to the computer terminal I am typing on right now).