Econo Lodge Bend

We drive alongside the Clackamas River, so beautiful we run out of adjectives as we point out to each other the views we want to share. Driving up towards the Cascades we see Mt. Hood in the distance, alone and majestic. At 4800 feet we drive through Santiam Pass and start the long road down, final destination Bend. We set up camp in Tumalo State Park. It is the weekend, there are so many people in the state parks we pass, we decide to stay two nights right here.

... we took a quick break, then arrived at the fairly rustic Riverhouse Resort for dinner and lodging. They upgraded our room to a "jacuzzi suite (though it wasn't one you'd want to use) and were kind to give us a bottle of champagne to celebrate our 14th anniversary. We took a drink coupon and had a great meal of filet mignon in the restaurant, overlooking the Deschutes River and, somewhat later, the full moon.

Bend, Oregon, United States lisajagmin

We stopped in La Pine and walked.

We stopped in the Volcanic Monument.

We walked on the Lava Fields.

We drove through Bend, Redmond & Madras.

Past Warm Springs, the car overheated and we pulled over.

We waited for the car to cool down.

We, slowly, drove up the mountain to Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood.

We went to the Crook County Museum.

We drove north into the Ochoco's.

We went to the Painted Hills, John Day Fossil Beds.

We drove through Mitchell and failed to find food.

We drove through Dayville and failed to find food.

We had food in Mt. Vernon.

We drove down the S. Fork of the John Day river and slept near Izee.

We drove to Bend.

We drove up Pilot Butte.

We walked around Drake Park and Bend downtown.

We went to a comic shop.

We had tea at Townshend's.

We met my old friends and walked to Old Mill district.

We ate American Chinese food.

We watched a cinema.

We drove back to Prineville.

We had a couple family dinner's.

We walked around Prineville.

We went to the court-house.

We went to the round-up at the park.

We sat in the yard and watched 4th of July fireworks.

We drove up to the Prineville Reservoir and watched deer.

We traveled to Bend intermittently.

... t get to see during our brief stay, please accept our apologies, and use this as an opportunity to get out of the city and meet up with us for some climbing or site-seeing along our next adventure. We'll post our most recent travel itinerary at the end of this post. Our first stop on our rock and road trip was to Smith Rock ...

... in the winter, and mountain biking in the summer. Shane and Julie played hookey the next day to escort us up to the mountain, where we once again strapped on some skis to try out the Oregon winter sport scene. After an afternoon of skiing we headed back to town to collect our westy, say our goodbye's and head once again for the Oregon coast to continue our path north.

... verifying the guests had checked out was to go outside and peer in room to room. (At least that is what we think he was doing! Did I mention how glad I was to have my Dad there?) We drove up I-5 until we crossed into Oregon, at which point we took Hwy 97 all the way to Bend. I had never driven this portion of the highway that wound through high-desert forests, farmland and Klamath Lake. Along the way I spied ...

... the area in the morning to see if there was another campground we would like better a little bit further down the road. We decided to stay where we are for tonight and Saturday night also. Next we drove into Bend filled the truck with diesel, bought beer and vanilla ice cream as I decided I would bake Frank peach cobbler to celebrate his birthday today and we had to have vanilla ice cream to go with ...