Oregon - 2014

6-8-14

I left Eureka at 5:30 AM. The drive up the coast was very relaxing. I was alone on the road most of the time. There was a light fog over the water. North of Orick five male Elks were crossing the highway in front of the motorhome.

Near Crescent City I had a beautiful view of the ocean and the city.

I set up the motorhome at the Elks Lodge in Grants Pass, Oregon. Early afternoon I drove to Wilderville and visited Emmi and Bert, friends from Chicago and San Diego.

On the way home I stopped at the Restaurant where the Hellgate Jet Boats take off. They go up the Rogue River. I did this a few years ago and it was a lot of fun. 

That bear caught a lot of salmon.

6-9-14

I arrived at the KLA MO YA Casino, near Chiloquin, Oregon at 8:00 AM.

Ted and Austin were here already. They came yesterday. The rest of the group came early afternoon.

Since we are at an altitude of about 4,000 feet it did not get too hot. With a little breeze it was very pleasant.

6-10-14

This was a fantastic day. Most members of the group went to Crater Lake National Park.

We all brought jackets, but the weather could not have been any better. I wore only a sweat shirt. Most visitors are amazed by the deep blue color of the water in the lake.

Wizard Island is one of the volcanoes in the volcano. Before there was Crater Lake, there was Mount

Mazama. Thick lava oozed from vents on the mountain. 7,700 years ago a violent eruption occurred. As the magma chamber emptied the mountain could not support its own weight anymore and collapsed, forming a deep caldera. The deep basin filled with snow and rain water over centuries. No streams run into the lake, and there is no pollution. The lake is the deepest lake in the United States and one of the purest.

There is still snow near the lake and Rim Village. The area gets about 44 feet of snow a year. No wonder this sign warns people not to walk on the roof. 

The West Rim Drive was open. The mountain with the fire lookout tower had still snow.

The lake was easier to see from the West Rim Drive. There were no trees.

We ate our lunch at one of the lake overlooks. At one side was the lake and on the other side a winter wonderland. 

We also visited the lodge. When I was there, some years ago, the lodge was falling apart. The park service did a good job bringing it back to its old splendor. 

On the way home we stopped at an outlook where we could see a waterfall in the distance and pinnacles. 

6-11-14

Most of us went today to the Collier State Park Logging Museum.

The museum has a lot old logging equipment. The industry started with horses and oxsen.

Then came steam powered machinery. 

Caterpillar built the Cat 60 which revolutionized logging. 

The river flows through the park. 

The museum brought log cabins from all over Oregon to this site. 

Life in the logging camps was not easy. 

Today we learned something about where the wood, we use for building houses and furniture, comes from and how it is shaped. 

The marketing manager from the casino came to our meeting and thanked us for staying at their parking lot. The parking is free but some of our members will leave some money in the casino. I spent my $ 10.00 the first day in five minutes.The machine gave me two dollars and then took everything. The casino gave each of us two water bottles, playing cards and a fancy badge holder.
My second try at the casino was not better. The casino gave me five dollars for buying $ 100.00 worth of gasoline and two dollars for being an RVer. The $ 7.00 were gone in three minutes. I did not put any of my own money in the machine.

6-12-14

I left Chiloquin at 5:15 AM and arrived at Wanoga Snow Park, near Bend, at 7:30 AM. When I left US highway 97, most of the time I did not know where I was. The small roads were not marked. I just followed the GPS. When the GPS indicated that I had reached my destination I was near a dirt road. I would not dare to go into such a narrow road with the motorhome. I called Phil and told him where about I was. He could not help me. I kept on driving and the GPS reset itself and showed that I had to drive 2.5 miles more, and that is where the park was .  Some members of the group drove the dirt road.

I set up the motorhome and drove down the mountain to Bend. I did some shopping and checked my E mail.

When I came back to Wanoga Snow Park the weather had changed. It is windy and cold now. The park has a large parking lot and is used in the winter for snow mobiles and skiers. This time of the year people come here with mountain bikes, or use the hiking trails. 

6-13-14

It must have rained all night. It did when I went to bed and also when I woke up. This was a good day to work around the house, in my case around the motorhome. I finally took time to replace a missing button on my raincoat.

During the day it rained periodically. I drove the fifteen miles to Bend and did my computer work and picked up some material from the Visitor Center.

Most members of the group went at 3:00 PM on a brewery tour. Bend has several of them.

I left at 5:00 PM and headed for the Elks Lodge in Bend. Unfortunately I took the address for the lodge out of my old camping book. When I arrived at that address I could not find the lodge. There were modern business buildings. After driving up and down the street several times and not seeing a flag and an elk, I parked the car and checked out the neighborhood on foot. At a dentist office I found out that the lodge had sold their building on that prime location and had moved out of town.

They have now a beautiful, big lodge.

I had bratwurst, mashed potatoes, and sauerkraut for dinner. At 6:00 PM the dance lessons started. They needed one more man. I finished my meal and participated with the lessons.

Phil and Diana arrived and Phil helped my dance partner and Diana helped me. Later more WINs arrived and the dancing started at 7:00 PM. The music was good. It was a one man band.

6-14-14

This morning it was 31 degrees F in the motorhome. I got up, turned on the catalytic heater and went back to bed for 30 minutes.

The parking lot we are staying on is in the middle of a forest.

 

I walked at least two miles this morning on snowmobile trails. The trails are well marked.

At 10:30 AM we left for the Rhubarb Festival in La Pine. 

There were two band stands and four bands rotated playing fiddler music, and dance music.

A Model A car club showed off their vehicles.

Those are the plants which get the whole town involved. People do not only make rhubarb pies, they also make wine, beer and other items. 

Pies were sold by the slice or as a whole pie. The pies came in many combinations. I bought a piece of plain rhubarb pie, and it was very good. 

There were also food stands which sold chili and there was a pork luau. People were tearing the pork meat apart. The line was long for the pork dish. 

People were sitting wherever they found a spot. 

Animals were on display. Those two were very cute. 

The owl was very serious looking. 

This lady was selling raffle tickets. 

Most members of our group ate lunch at the festival. I did not feel like standing in line. The piece of pie and some kettle corn held me over until I came back to the motorhome.

6-15-14

Today was Fathers Day. The Elks Lodge had a BBQ for that occasion. Fathers paid only five dollars for the meal. Mothers and others had to pay ten dollars. The food was good and there were some special desserts. The fruit salad was outstanding, with a lot of blueberries and other fruits.

After lunch we headed in different directions. I met some of the group at the Old Mill District, the big shopping mall. The mall is located at the side of the Deschutes River. Two large lumber mills were here during the logging heydays. I went only in one store. REI has a large store in Bend, which is natural since a lot of recreational facilities are in this region. 

A teenage couple came in a noisy machine. It consisted of a big engine and a rusty body. 

At 3:00 PM the weather changed. A nasty, cold wind came up where we are camping. Down in Bend it is a little warmer.

6-16-14

Today we drove to the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. In the monument is the caldera of the Cascades largest volcano. Unfortunately we did not have good weather. The sun never came out.

Our first stop was Paulina Falls, named after an Indian Chief.

Then we went to the Big Obsidian Flow. Native Americans who lived here had what is steel in our time. They had material to make tools and weapons. Obsidian is a natural volcanic glass, remarkable similar to the glass in windows. Unlike most rocks, obsidian is formed with minimum crystal growth and has a disordered internal structure similar to water.

The obsidian stones were valuable and could be traded for other goods. They are shiny, very hard and beautiful.

We hiked up the trail where we encountered snow flurries, instead of viewing Paulina Lake and East Lake.

We drove to Paulina Lake and ate our lunch there. The beautiful lake was dark like the sky. After lunch we hiked the Lava River Cave.

It was a one mile hike in and one mile back. Diana had told us yesterday to bring a good flashlight. I just was in another world and did not do it. I had to use the small one I have in the car. I followed people who had rented large lanterns and later Karen who could light up the cave with her light. I was happy when I saw this sign. I was even more happy when I saw daylight again.

We drove back to the visitor center and got permits to drive up Lava Butte. Every thirty minutes the rangers let ten cars go up the butte.

On top is a crater. The cinders in the crater are red. When the volcano blew up the cinders came in contact with oxygen and the iron oxide became visible. 

For miles around the crater the lava rocks are black. 

On top of the butte is an active fire lookout tower. 

When we came back to the motorhome it was time for hot chocolate. We just made it to the 5:00 PM circle meeting. It looked like a meeting of Eskimos. Most people were bundled up and wore heavy coats. A cold front is coming through this region.

6-17-14

The cold front has arrived. It was 29 degrees F. in the motorhome at 5:00 AM. I turned on the heater and went back to bed. At 6:30 AM I finally dared to get up. It was 51 degrees F by then.

Surprisingly a lot of WINs showed up for Hugs and Mugs. We had snow flurries. They show up as little white spots on the pictures.

Gene and Donna decided to clean the log building and build a fire in the stove. 

Some people went four wheeling today. I went to town where it was a little warmer. When I came back, at 1:30 PM, the sun was shining and it had warmed up. I wish we had some sun yesterday.

At 4:00 PM we met at the warm building. Gene was resting after all the work he had done.

People started playing games. 

Tom and Mary Jane had brought nachos. Tom is testing his culinary creation. 

Eating and playing games at the same time was more fun. 

We are staying a quarter of a mile from this building. We have the same building there, but it is locked. It is used in the winter only, and there is no overnight camping allowed, only day use.

6-18-14

This was a glorious day. The cold wave is receding, and we had blue skies with large white clouds.

We did a ninety mile roundtrip on the Cascade Lakes National Scenic Byway and other roads.

We stopped at several lakes. The first stop was at Sparks Lake.

Two water snakes came out of the water.

The scenery was breathtaking. Mt. Bachelor has still a lot of snow at the higher altitudes.

Two employees of the fish hatchery were stocking the lake with large trout. The fish were in large tanks on a truck. They were retrieved from the tanks with nets.

At the next lake we ate our lunch. It was windy there and we had to wear our jackets.

Most of the time Mt. Bachelor was visible. On our tour we were able to see the mountain from three sides.

6-19-14

This was another fine day. One group went kayaking and they had a good time. Another group went hiking, they also enjoyed their day.

I drove into town and had the propane bottle filled. Then I went to the library. On the way home I stopped at a trail head and walked toward the river. The trail meandered through the pine forest for two miles.

I saw flowers which appeared to be Indian Paint Brushes. I believe that is not possible to have them in Oregon.

When I arrived at the Deschute River I was warm. I should have worn shorts, but it is difficult to know in the morning what to wear. 

On the side of the roads in Oregon bloom those pretty blue flowers. A lady in a nursery told me that they are weeds. They certainly are pretty weeds if she is right. 

6-20-14

This was a busy, wonderful day. In the morning we went to the Tumalo Falls. The first fall was the best.

The view downstream was beautiful too. 

Signs tell the story and history of the area.

The second waterfall, which was one mile upstream, was not so exciting, but the hike was worth it. 

Going back, I went ahead and ate my lunch at the parking lot, and then drove to the east side of Bend and went up Pilot Butte. From that vantage point one has a view all over the city and the countryside. Unfortunately the snow covered mountains can hardly be seen because of the white clouds.

In the evening thirteen of us went to the Elks for dinner and Dancing. I had cooked dinner and ate at home. This way I could participate in the dance lessons, before the actual dance. Maxine, a local lady, was without a partner again and we tried to learn the fancy moves of the West Coast Swing. Actually I was the one who had to learn.

The WINs danced almost every dance.

6-21-14

Here at Wanoga Snow Park we have new neighbors. About 80 horse trailers and motorhomes are here for the weekend. Some of the people have big trailers which accommodate horses and humans.

Today they had 20, 50, and 100 mile endurance races. The 100 mile race has to be completed in 24 hours. Along the trails are light strips for when it is dark. The Arabian horses are raised for endurance.

At 10:00 AM I went to Bend to visit several of the parks along the Deschutes River. There are comfortable houses across from the park. 

The homes along the river are even larger. 

A woman and her son were coming down the river on a paddle board. 

Mt. Bachelor is visible from most places in Bend.

I walked into the neighborhood and there are all kinds of stores and sidewalk cafes. 

Benches are located all along the river. 

People in this house have stored a lot of wood on their porch. 

I made a fast stop at the library and from the second story window I could see what was going on at the market across the street. 

I continued my little park excursion with going to the park across the river from the Old Mill District. Here were a lot of people in kayaks and on paddle boards. 

There were also people with dogs on their paddle board. 

The parks are well kept and beautiful. 

Several statues are placed near bridges. 

Some of the group went again kayaking. Other people went to the Tumalo Falls. They could not go yesterday because a mobile RV repairman was at our camping area and took care of some of the problems members of the group had. One lady needed a new furnace.
6-22-14

This is our last day in Bend, and it is a summer day. I wore shorts all day.

We went to the Lava Island trailhead and walked along the Deschutes River.

On the other side of the river are large lava formations.

The group is taking a little rest. 

People were fishing from the bank of the river. 

We were lucky to see two rafts coming downstream.

One of the rafts is in the rapid. 

They threw one person on the raft overboard. I think it was no fun being in that cold water. 

Part of the way I had a beautiful view. 

We all liked our outing in Bend. The city and surroundings are ideal for all kinds of recreation. I was not able to take a picture of people having boards with wheels on their feet and propelling themselves forward with poles like skiers use. It is almost like cross country skiing. I saw them coming up the hill but there was no room for parking the car.

Where ever the WINs go people notice us because most WINs have kayaks on top of their cars. In Bend a lot of people drive around with kayaks on top of their vehicles, especially on weekends.