Smith Rock and Crooked River

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

  

Happy Birthday, Laurie.  Seems like only yesterday you were a baby and then that sometimes cranky teenager.  Where have the years gone?  Love you and am very proud of the woman you have become.

Our venture out today really was not very exciting.  We drove north to the Crooked River Ranch which looked like it would be a very nice golf course, housing area, etc. from the write up we saw.  What a disappointment.  It is located down in a valley (see pictures below) and like the area near Redmond, high desert, very dry and not too pretty.  We also never saw the Crooked River.

Saw a sign for Steelhead Falls and followed GPS directions right and left and finally down a dirt road to the trailhead.  While it said it was a half mile to the overlook which would have been okay with us, what wasn’t is that most of it was a steep downhill walk which meant a walk back up that steep hill.   Needless to say, we decided to skip it.  We looked up pictures of the Falls on Google and while it looked rather nice, the walk was not something we really wanted to tackle.  So onward to the next sightseeing adventure or not.

We returned to the town of Terrebonne (an unincorporated community 6 miles north of Redmond) and went to Smith Rock State Park which is a rock formation of majestic rock spires that rise above the Crooked River.  The rock became famous in the mid-1980’s as a rock climbing destination.  We decided that climbing the rock was just “a bit beyond our climbing level” (hee, hee), so took a picture and departed back to Redmond.

Ron stopped in downtown Redmond for me to enjoy a large Antique Mall with lots of interesting things to see.    I found a small object (a wooden rooster) to add to my collection which I put on top of two shade valances n the RV.  It has to be small and even then sometimes it is difficult to find some place anything in so limited a space. 

We leave here tomorrow for Stevenson, WA, the sights along the Columbia River and a visit with my college roommate Julie and her family.  I haven’t seen her for 11 years so it will be great to catch up.

A Museum and an Old School

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

As we drove through Bend toward Redmond on Saturday, we noticed the sign for the High Desert Museum and Ron remarked that it seemed a strange name for a museum in this part of the country; however, this part of Oregon really is high desert and reminds me very much of the area east of Albuquerque near Edgewood and Moriarty.

Today we return to Bend stopping first at the Visitor Center for more information about what to see and a recommendation for a place for dinner later in the day.  Bend is located on the eastern edge of the Cascade Mountains and along the Deschutes River.   Here the climate goes from Ponderosa pines to the high desert with junipers, sagebrush and bitter brush.  It began in the early 1900s starting as a logging town but is now a gateway to many outdoor sports, summer and winter.

We drive around town for a bit stumbling on this Park located along the river.  Here there is a small falls and people kayaking down the rapids and just generally enjoying the outdoors.  All along the river we saw people rafting, swimming and just enjoying being outside.

We also take a drive around town looking for old homes.  Since the town began in the early part of 1900’s they are  not as old as many we have seen elsewhere in our travels and  most are surrounded by lots of trees making it just about impossible to take pictures.  Homes have wood sidings and colors tend to make them blend with the trees and surroundings.   Many are built on the side of the hills.

Driving further south we arrive at the High Desert Museum which opened in 1982 and tells the stories of diverse people and places through changing exhibitions and permanent ones.  It sits on 135 acres and includes multiple galleries, winding paths and an expansive pine forest.

It includes both indoor and outdoor exhibits, wildlife in natural-like habitats and living history demonstrations which help children to understand life in another time including playing games of the time. Outdoors are a number of beautiful sculptures adorning the grounds.

After parking the car, we walk along a forested path with small critter scampering about as we near

the building where we walk around inside observing some of the  displays which include this horny lizard, Gila monster, turtle and owl and an old Model T and Forest Service Truck.

From here we proceed outside to the otter exhibit but are disappointed that the otters are not playing in the water exhibit so walk on among the trees to the display of buildings depicting life in the late 1900’s

with docents in costume to answer questions and explain what times were like.  One is a doctor who truly stays in character and shows me a display of various products used to ease pain in that time including Paregoric, Laudanum, among others.  

Homestead House

Small Cabin

Root Cellar and Food Storage

In the barn is a teacher who is visiting the farm from the school five miles down the road.  She is teaching several children on her one day at the farm.  Again very in character.

Teacher with classroom in barn

Further on is a sawmill and a couple of large items used in logging as well as information about logging here. 

Sawmill

Further down the path is the Birds of Prey display with several displays of birds for us to observe.

Back inside the main building we walk through several displays.  One is the story of the area from the times of the Indians, emigrants coming to the area, trappers, miners and the development of a city.

Another room is a display about World War II and how it affected this area.  Both exhibits are very well done and very interesting.  A nice place to spend several hours.

Returning to downtown we drive along the Old Mill District which is where many of the old logging buildings were located but today are shops and restaurants.  The Visitor Center recommended we check out the old St. Francis School which today is a Brew Pub and Hotel among other things.

Recognize the guy in the far back of the picture?

This old parochial school was open from 1936 until 2000 when the school moved to another location in town.  It was purchased by a local buyer and made into a small hotel with 41 rooms, brewery, theater and spa.  It is a pleasant afternoon and the front patio outside is shaded with many trees so we decide to sit outdoors to enjoy our dinner.   We share a unique turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread with a filling of fresh turkey, tomato, lettuce, a savory cranberry relish and a secret sauce which has among other things a hint of horseradish, fresh cut fries and topped off with a delicious dessert of raspberry cobbler with a cake like crust and a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.  All this is washed down with a glass of brewery beer for Ron and a glass of wine for me.  Yummy!  Yummy!

A nice day with great weather and about 13 (Ron counted them) large rain drops which fall on our car.  

Redmond, Prineville and Sisters

Monday, June 26, 2017

  

We had a nice drive from Chiloquin to Redmond on Saturday.  It is great to have our car working as it should once again.  Highway 97 is a great road even though it is two lane most of the way.  Nice wide shoulders and lots of passing lane areas.  It becomes like a freeway when you go through some of the large cities with four lanes.  All along the way we saw these beautiful purple flowers close to the highway.

Our campground here in Redmond is the Expo Center RV Park is next to the county fairgrounds.  A beautiful Park with asphalt drive, concrete pads for the RV and car and gravel area for your utilities and picnic table.  Nice building for office, restrooms, showers and laundry as well as space for groups meetings.  Price is a bit higher than most fairgrounds but certainly far nicer than any fairgrounds we have stayed at so far.  Spaces are wide and most are pull through with an area for tenters as well.  We are close to town and have spectacular views of the snow capped Three Sisters mountains as well as several others including Three Fingered Jack, Black Butte and Mt. Jefferson to the north.  

After getting oriented and finding the local Walmart (of course), we drove yesterday to Prineville (established in 1868 and the oldest community in central Oregon) about 20 miles east through a couple of small towns and very rural but green countryside.  The only building worth photographing was this old courthouse built in 1909 at a cost of $48,590 and remodeled in the early 1990’s. We did stop at an overview of the city which was quite lovely.

Two large reservoirs are located within a 20 mile radius of Prineville and we found them being well used.  Lots of boats, picnic tables set in grassy and shaded areas and people sitting near the water enjoying swimming and other water sports.  A great place to be today as the temperature in Redmond is 100 degrees though a bit cooler here near the water.

Today (Monday) we drove from Redmond west to the cute community of Sisters where every quilter I met last winter said I needed to be sure to go.  Sisters is known for its July Saturday Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show which will be coming up in a couple of weeks.  Quilts are hung all over town and available for sale with demonstrations, etc.  Other textile arts like weaving, basketry, fabric dying and more  also take place during the following week. 

In the 1970’s Sisters was a quiet town and a major east-west interstate highway from Eugene to Redmond.  It was home to loggers and their families and a large working cattle ranch that was being transformed into a destination resort.  The developers wanted the resort to be quiet living in nature but with needed shopping available.  The long and short is the development company offered local businesses a $5,000 grant to build false storefronts of a Western theme and if they kept the business for 10 years, the loan would be forgiven.  The rest is history as evidenced by the pictures below.  All new construction must still adhere to this theme.  Today it is a very prosperous tourist and resort community and still a very busy interstate highway thoroughfare. 

There are many types of shops available from the usual town stores like groceries, hardware, but also tourist clothing stores for every day wear to outfitting for hiking, etc., antique stores, gift shops, bike rental shops, restaurants and a very lovely quilt and yarn shop where I purchased material to make a wall hanging with a Pacific Northwest theme. 

A drive west from town along Highway 242 (a very narrow and windy two lane road)  called McKenzie Pass-Santiam Pass Scenic Byway ( no vehicles or trailers longer than 35 feet)

 took us to McKenzie Pass (elevation just a bit over 5,000 feet) with a gorgeous view of Mt. McKenzie,

extensive high lava flow beds (snow still filling some crevices) ,

and beautiful and lush Douglas fir, red cedar and lodgepole pine forests.   Along the way we observed a controlled burn in the forest (interesting to observe).

 Sitting atop the windswept Pass (and it was very, very windy) is Dee Wright Observatory offering a sweeping view of the Cascades and lava flows which dominate this area.

Continuing on this Scenic Byway

would have brought us to Highway 126  and Highway 20 to either return to Sisters or turn west to Eugene.  We returned the same way we came as it was too late in the day to make the circle trip of roughly 4 – 5 hours. 

Tomorrow we will see what the town of Bend and the surrounding area have to offer.