Award-winning television journalist Grant McOmie of KGW is known to Northwest viewers for his strong, distinctive voice, storytelling skill and a talent for bringing out the best in the people he interviews.

Still, McOmie, who was at Hot Lake Springs this weekend to record a segment for his show “Grant’s Getaways,” is a writer first.

A writer who strives to be unobtrusive while creating narratives for his segments.

“I try not to let the words get in the way of the pictures,” McOmie said. “Pictures outweigh words. You can’t compete with pictures, particularly with high definition TV.”

Nevertheless, there is no denying that words have a critical impact on any piece. So much so that McOmie is thinking almost exclusively about what he will write from the time he begins any assignment.

This was the case Saturday and Sunday at Hot Lake where he spent hours touring the building and grounds and talking with its owners, David and Lee Manuel. McOmie was there with camera man Jeff Kastner to learn about and share the remarkable story of how the Manuels have transformed the Hot Lake facility from a deteriorating structure that appeared near total ruin a decade ago, into a place that is becoming a destination for tavelers.

Today, Hot Lake is a site featuring a two-floor American History Center museum, a bed and breakfast, a full service spa, a bronze casting facility, a restaurant with banquet facilities, an art gallery, a gift shop and more.

McOmie said he has immense respect for what the Manuels have accomplished and the courage it took to take on Hot Lake, built more than a century ago.

“There is a sense of pioneer spirit. This shows you don’t have to have come out on the Oregon Trail to embark on adventure. The Manuels had a vision for a new and different life.”

McOmie describes himself as spellbound by what the couple has done. So much so that the television reporter said that the biggest challenge he faces is trying to capture the magnitude of what the Manuels have accomplished at Hot Lake within the time constraints of his segment.

“It is such a big story on so many levels,” McOmie said

Segments of two lengths, 2.5 minutes and 5-7 minutes, are produced for “Grant’s Getaways.” The shorter segments are shown during newscasts and the longer ones on the half-hour “Grant’s Getaways” program aired each Saturday evening on KGW.

McOmie’s report on Hot Lake will first be shown Thursday during KGW’s noon newscast.

McOmie has been doing his program for KGW since 2008. He joined KGW after a 22-year career as KATU’s outdoor reporter.

McOmie covers a wide range of sites in Oregon for people to visit on his program. In the past two months, “Grant’s Getaways” has featured segments on snow inner tubing in Mt. Hood National Forest, sturgeon fishing on the Willamette River, the Cape Lookout Trail on the Oregon Coast, a man who creates trails accessible to people with disabilities and more.

The veteran reporter finds it easy to talk to people he has never met. He said all one has to do is express an interest in what they hold close to their heart.

“You are talking to people about what they love to do,” said McOmie, who has won several Emmy awards for his work.

Kastner said that McOmie has an easy time connecting because he knows so many people in every part of the state. Often people he meets for the first time have shared acquaintances, the videographer noted.

“Grant’s Getaways” is a cooperative venture involving KGW, Travel Oregon, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the State Marine Board and the State of Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.

He said that the partnership between public agencies and a private company is an unusual one and one that is working well. He noted that it often makes it easy for him to get important information quickly.

McOmie noted that earlier he wanted to know when snow geese would arrive at Summer Lake in Lake County. He contacted the ODFW and quickly learned that snow geese come to Summer Lake like clockwork in March.

Lee Manuel described McOmie and his photographer, who arrived around 3 p.m. Saturday, as kind and thorough.

“They were literally working around the clock. They were filming at midnight and before daylight (Sunday morning),” Lee Manuel said.

McOmie’s report on Hot Lake will first be shown on Thursday during KGW’s noon newscast. This segment will be 2.5 minutes. A 5- to 7-minute version will be broadcast Saturday as part of the half-hour “Grant’s Getaways” program on KGW.

The piece on Hot Lake will also be broadcast numerous times over the next several weeks on the Northwest Cable News Channel. McOmie said the segment will be seen by a total of about a half a million people.

KGW and the Northwest Cable News Channel are both available in La Grande via Charter cable. KGW also can be received here via the Blue Mountain Translator District.