The Town of Diamond
I was intrigued by the descriptions I read of the town of Diamond. It is a "small ranching community" that takes its name from a diamond-shape brand. The town consists of a renovated Hotel Diamond, which contains a small store, and a few residences. You know you are there when you see the wall of poplar trees. AND if you notice the "Welcome" sign below, the population is officially considered to be 5. When we stopped at the store, we were happy to congratulate the hotel owner's daughter-in-law on the birth of the newest "addition" to the community!
If I ever come back this way again, I would definitely try to stay at the hotel. It felt very comfy and homey, and the folks were nice (of course). The little general store provided me with another of my prize Oregon souvenirs, a Diamond Hotel mug!
Walking around the area (less than a half city-block), I was taken by the antlers on the storehouse. And Tom had earlier called my attention to the unique mailboxes--note the large barrel, for holding packages!
Hopping back into the SUV, we headed north to spend the night in Burns. But first, I HAD to stop by the Malheur Lake National Wildlife Refuge visitors center. After all, it IS one of the country's premier birding hot spots (although not so much in August). I did add two new birds on my list there, white pelicans and rufous hummingbirds.
Once we were back in Burns, we were faced with a decision about dinner. After walking around the downtown strip for a while, we finally decided to try the "Elkhorn Club and Linda's Thai Room." Somehow, eating Thai in a 1950s-style club atmosphere in the middle of a cowboy town made sense! I have to tell you, I think that was the best meal I had in Oregon (although the Chinese in Astoria was really good too). Linda is Thai, and her American husband is the waiter--he has been told to stay OUT of the kitchen. Each dish is cooked individually, so it's not necessarily a very fast meal. But, oh my, was it tasty and fresh. I ordered extra-spicy (American-level, not Thai), and it really matched my hopes.
My only regret is that we didn't have the time to go even further south and see the Steens Mountain and Alvord Desert. Perhaps on another trip, some day.