Telocaset, Oregon

Telocaset, Oregon is an unheard of place. No one I know has even heard of it, and no one could tell me where in the state it is located or even how to get there. That is unless you are a member of the Jones family, my Mom's family.  Her family lived here when she was born, then when she was 3 they moved to town, and then when she was in grade school they moved back to the property.  There is no electricity there and it's about a mile an a half off the county road. This is no mans land, just the cows live here now.  Talocaset is just southeast of Union, Oregon. If you're looking at a map of eastern Oregon you will see LaGrande and Baker City. Telocaset is about halfway between the two, just to the left of I-84. 

When we got to the property that Grandpa and Grandma Jones leased for a time we met a gate. We unlocked the gate and drove up the dirt lane about a mile.

 As we drove a valley opened up to us. There were 2 buildings that were run down and deserted. The one on the left was the house, the other was the barn with the corrals.  

 This picture was taken on the Northwest corner of the house. There is a little make shift wall that I would say was an outdoor extension of the house. It had a small roof and the panel sides but nothing else. I didn't think to ask what it use to be. The window looks into the old kitchen/ family room area. 

 Behind the house runs a small creek. Mom said it use to be much bigger than it is now. I wish I would have taken more pictures. I was pretty busy with kids. Just up from the creek, Paige and one of my second cousins, Chalyn, who is Gordon's daughter, found the top of an old wagon wheel. Paige thought that it was pretty cool and Emma was sure her Grandma was an ancient pioneer.  

 Mason climbed into a tree that hung over the creek. He got up there and then he started wining that he needed help getting down, but he hadn't yet tried either.

 After Uncle Neil and Mom shared some experiences and memories about things that happened there everyone started walking around. Carter wasn't feeling good (he was coming down with chicken pox, I just didn't know it yet) so I took him and Paige back to the car with me and gave Paige a snack and nursed Carter. While I was nursing I realized that Emma was with Grandma, but Mason was no where. I got my second cousin Amber's attention and asked her to ask my Mom if she knew where he was. After we realized no one was watching him and he walked off (he's good at that lately) Amber said she thought she saw him heading down to the pond. I wasn't really worried about him, except we knew there was a badger in the woods on the other side of the creek and that somewhat frightened me. Mason sometimes knows when he's in danger, but not often. While I sit in the car nursing my sick baby, I couldn't help to think that he would be fine or he wouldn't. Then I see my Mom helping him across the field. I grabbed the camera and took a few shots when he got closer.

 He was grumpy for 2 reasons. 1- Grandma was holding his arm so he would stay with her and she could keep him under control, and 2- he said he was trying to swim in the creek and they stopped him.  His shirt was only wet on the bottom so I'm wondering what his version of swimming was. 

I took the gallon water jug and washed him off with some towels I had in the back and had a change of clothes for him. Uncle Neil laughed as he watched me and said something to the effect that I must have experience with this. With Mason, yes, we are experienced. We headed back to LaGrande shortly there after only to realize the Carter, Paige and Emma all now had fevers. We missed my Uncle Clark's memorial, the whole reason we went to LaGrande with out Shawn. I was pretty bummed but that's what happens when kids get sick.  We stopped in at the memorial after it was over to get some food. I saw a few people I hadn't seen in a while and I could tell I was spent. I hadn't slept well the night before and I knew my time was ticking down before I had a meltdown. We headed back to the Hotel and with my Mom's help we got the kids ready for bed, Carter a bath and everyone tucked in. With everyone medicated they all slept well. Carter only woke up once and that was for a very brief moment. It was a good thing to cause we drove back to Tangent the next morning and I felt refreshed enough to drive. Going to the old homestead made the trip worth it, but I would have liked to attend the Memorial. I'm sure it was awesome.