Grant's Getaways: Oregon Treasure in the Dirt

If you're like me, you're bound to be curious when traveling the wide-open spaces of Oregon. I need to know everything I can. That's how it was when we headed south on US 97 searching for the forty million years of geologic history found in the Oregon state rock called "Thundereggs." I cherished these magical, mysterious golf ball size rocks as a child for their drab exterior, but their oh-so-creamy and colorful agate interiors that continue to be trophy prizes for young and old rock hounds alike. Technically a thunderegg is not a rock; it's a nodule or a geode that forms inside other rocks. But if you were to judge by the throngs of visitors who stream through the Richardson's Recreational Ranch just off US 97 near Madras, thundereggs are without question the most popular rock in Oregon. The expansive seventeen-thousand-acre ranch allows rock hounds the opportunity to dig and discover countless secrets in the soil. On a recent visit to the ranch, Casey Richardson, co-manager of the expansive operation, led us across seven miles of bumpy back road to a mother lode akin to thunderegg heaven on Earth.