Gigabit Prineville

The next morning I checked out of the Econolodge---a pleasant one night stay. I could easily have stayed another night, especially with TCM.

In the frigid clear December morning I drove down the highway to the edge of town and found the Starbucks, where I put in some work on the day job.

I was surprised to find a Starbucks in a place like Prineville. It's somewhat on a touristy route, and not far from Bend, which is a resort center and ski town with all the amenities of life at this point, so I guess it makes sense.

Still I couldn't help be thankful that it was there, and that I could pursue my normal work routine, even out in the middle of the desert in a cowboy town. All of this seems like somewhat of a miracle to me still.


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Prineville is one of those places that I could not have imagined living in, in my wildest dreams, back in the old days. I would have felt completely cut off from civilization. After all, I enjoy being connected to civilization. But the ubiquity of the Internet---and essentially we have arrived at that point---has changed everything, as much as the coming of the railroad and the telegraph did. In fact, it may be more a revolution in that although those previous innovations brought a connection to civilization, the Internet has practically leveled the entire experience.  

Certainly the young hipsters of Portland would still find Prineville deadly boring, but I've long since passed the phase of needed such a multitude of fun urban experiences, day in and day out. That being said, I still prefer Portland for now.

Yet it makes me wonder about the future of such places as Prineville. We have gotten to used to the idea that these places are drying up and blowing away, as the agriculture of these areas becomes more mechanized and the family farms disappear. But maybe that's not what is going to happen at all. Maybe at some point folks will decide that these towns, being now so connected to the world, are a perfect place to live, given the lifestyle one can now have there. I could see that happening. But who knows?

And Prineville certainly has its advantages too, things you can't find in Portland (including this place where I stopped for a visit).

After working for a while at Starbucks, I gassed up the car and headed out of town, into the high desert plateau, away from all traces of civilizations, taking a short cut towards U.S. Highway 20.

About twenty miles down a lonely side road, under an awesome winter blue sky, I found myself constantly craning my neck to absorb the stark beauty of the rugged snow-covered Three Sisters to the west.

It was a shame not to stop, I thought, so at the top of a small pass I parked the Bimmer and got out to stand by the guard rail, looking out in bliss towards the Cascades. There was not a sign of civilization around me, and no sound but the near-silent rusting of the breeze across the snow.

I checked my cell phone---no coverage bars at all. Just the way I wanted it.