Sisters

We're at the Sisters/Bend Garden RV Resort in Sisters Oregon and we love it here.    This campground used to be a KOA but has been completely redone, the sites are large with lots of lush grass and the entire grounds are landscaped with beautiful flowers and trees.

Beluga and our yet to be licensed new Jeep in site 90

We have a pond across from our site and enjoy visits from the resident ducks and two adult Canada Geese with their brood of adolescent goslings.   The grounds people tolerate them and once a day walk around the pond and pick up what the geese and ducks leave behind!

shhhhhh

We arrived on Sunday afternoon after a relatively short but tiring drive from John Day along rt. 26.   The road is in fine shape, but it is narrow and winding.  That, coupled with strong winds made Dave very happy to finally shut Beluga down in site 90 and relax for the rest of the evening.

Monday we had dinner at Jesse's sister-in-law's parent's lovely home in nearby Redmond.      We really enjoyed getting to know these new members of our extended family.

Sisters is a small town of about 2000 people west of Redmond and north of Bend.   It is very picturesque with tall pine forests, the rushing Metolius River and constant and incredible views of the Three Sisters, three volcanic peaks in the Cascade Volcanic Arc.  North Sister is extinct, Middle Sister is dormant but South Sister last erupted only 2000 years ago and could erupt yet again.

Today we went out for a late breakfast.....or was it an early lunch.....and then went in search of an easy hike along the river.

We stopped at the headwaters of the Metolius River at Metolius Springs and enjoyed a short walk on a paved trail to the springs that bubble up from a crevice,  becoming the beginning of the rushing, tumbling river.    We heard many birds in the tops of the tall pines and encountered lots of extremely social chipmunk types along the walk.

We didn't feed them but evidently people do.  They would race right up to our shoes then stand on their tiny hind legs and look into our eyes, a ruse that must work because they all did exactly the same thing.    We had fun with them for awhile before we continued on.

Later we turned down a Forest Service road that led to the Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery.   What a lovely quiet  place this was, completely surrounded by the Deschutes National Forest.   We took a self guided tour around the beautiful, park like grounds, looking at all the various ages of fish being incubated and reared in this impressive Hatchery.    It was built in 1947 and raises Rainbow Trout, Atlantic Salmon, Brook Trout and Kokanee.

As we strolled we were watched by many birds.   Some we could see flitting along in the underbrush next to us and some were out in the open.   Fish and birds, pine trees and water, sunshine and piney fragrance.....pretty nice.

We walked back out the road to a bridge over the Metolius River, crossed it and followed a soft trail along the river for a couple miles, stopping to enjoy the tiny wild flowers in sunny clearings, mossy tree trunks, listening to bird song and the sounds of the river racing by.

The river was such an incredible shade of blue,
it almost looked lit from below

tender spring growth

Rain in John Day

Wednesday evening we stayed overnight at the Caldwell, Idaho Elks Lodge and Thursday made our way west and into Oregon to start our summer's travels.

green green Oregon

We arrived at the first come, first served Clyde Holliday State Recreation site (just west of John Day, Oregon)  in the early afternoon.    I was surprised to find it almost completely filled.   While Dave and Beluga used the dump station I walked around the camping loop looking for an empty site.    There were only two left, one of which was too short for Beluga.    I staked my claim on site 23 by plunking myself on the picnic table and waiting for Dave to realize I wasn't coming back and come looking for me.    I couldn't leave my spot or my claim would be jumped by the man pulling a trailer around the loop also looking for a suitable place.     Sheesh!    We've never tried first come, first served parks before and I have to say I don't really like the cutthroat atmosphere. 

That being said, this is a lovely, green park with water and electric for only $24 a night.   The blacktop driveways are beautifully level and the sitting areas are large and well spaced, teeming with birds.   We get great Verizon coverage but the PBS channels are the only ones we get over the air on our TVs.   Not so bad....

windshield view

our large grassy side sitting area

Sasha is loving the soft green grass and there is a nice nature path along the rushing John Day river just a few sites away.

We're still dealing with annoying details regarding the registration and licensing of our sweet little Jeep, so this morning was taken up with those tasks.    Rain was forecast for this afternoon and for the rest of our time here so after we'd done all we could by phone we packed lunch and headed west to try and see at least a bit of the wonderful John Day Fossil National Monument.   I had originally planned in more than a week to immerse ourselves in this interesting and unusual National Monument, but plans change and two days is all we have here.

entering Picture Gorge

We turned north off rt. 26, through the great cut that is Picture Gorge onto rt. 19 and into the Sheep Rock Unit of the National Monument.   After a brief stop at the Visitor's Center to view a movie about the formation and history of the area and pick up a map,  we set out to take a few short hikes.    Weather was closing in.

We found a lovely stop for lunch along the John Day river on our way to one of the trail heads

lunch view

.

The sky opened as we approached the Blue Basin area so we had to forgo the Island in Time Trail.    It was one I wanted to do, but not in a cold, driving rain.

Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate, but we did manage to get out of the Jeep and explore the Foree area just a bit and had to be happy to be able to do that.   

These colorful landscapes showcase 40 million years of history.  Among the three units - Sheep Rock, Painted Hills and Clarno - we can see evidence of volcanic activity, dramatic environmental changes and an abundance of ancient plant and animal fossils.   We'll certainly return to experience all this area has to offer.            

work continues even in the rain

We took a longer route home and stopped a few times to admire and walk along the banks of the John Day River.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Tuesday on the Moon!

You know what they say about "best laid plans"......we'd planned on spending a few days exploring the Crater's of the Moon National Monument and perhaps play a round of golf here at the Jerome Elks Lodge.    The Jeep purchase in Provo retarded our plans and a broken diamond ring caused our day at Crater's to start even later than scheduled.

Late last week I was getting ready to go (somewhere) and as I put my ring on I heard a snap and a tinkle.....the snap was the side setting breaking and the tinkle was the sound of three small pave diamonds hitting Beluga's floor.    Luckily I heard the tinkle and dropped to my knees to search for them.    I was able to pick them up and quickly called our jeweler.   He sent an insured FedEx label so I could return the ring and errant stones to him for repair.     So, before we packed up our lunch and headed north to Crater's of the Moon, we had to find an authorized FedEx shipper and get that ring on its way to Rochester, I feel absolutely naked without it!

The area around Twin Falls is pretty, I wish we had more time to check it out.  We did stop at a "scenic viewpoint" and were rewarded with a beautiful look at the Snake River below the I B Perinne bridge over route 93.

By the time we were done it was almost noon....not the way I'd planned our day.  Also, I didn't figure how far our destination actually was from Jerome.   I didn't think it was very far, but it turned out to be a distance of about 80 miles one way.

   We stopped at a Wildlife Refuge along our route to eat our lunch and watch the birds.   It was pleasant and on the way.

this yellow headed blackbird was showing off for the ladies

Once at Crater's of the Moon, we made a quick stop at the visitor's center, watched a short movie, decided what we could see within our allotted time and set off on the 7 mile scenic loop road thorough the park.

We had a wonderful time and were so sorry we couldn't spend more time.   We've been to Lava flows in Hawaii and scrambled around the lava fields near Sister's Oregon so we expected to have a similar experience.    While Hawaii's were, of course, still living and breathing this Monument's relatively recent lava beds were extremely interesting to us.   The most recent additions were only 2000 years old.   In the scheme of the earth, mere babes.
  
Here are some random pictures, it was a cloudy and gray day so I'm not happy with any of my pictures.   The reality was sooooo much more impressive.   You'll have to see for yourselves.

These tiny and perfectly spaced plants are dwarf buckwheat.   Their roots can spread out 4 feet to gather water in this harsh landscape and their white leaves reflect the sizzling summer sunshine.

aren't they pretty?

Clark's Nutcracker

Pretty much everything we saw was some variation of gray.   It was that kind of day.

Dave climbs side of the Inferno cinder cone

two nearby splatter cones

a look inside one of the snow and ice filled splatter cones
(it looked like a scoop of chocolate chip ice cream!)

Dave enters a huge lava tube called Indian Tunnel

Dave passes a rubble field inside Indian Tunnel
There are side tunnels leading in many directions.....

To enter any of the lava tubes or caves one has to have a permit.   They are free but necessary to try and stop the spread of white nose disease that is running rampant among bat populations.      In all caves but the Indian Tunnel, flashlights are required as they are pitch black, often with icy or wet floors.    This cave had two "sky lights" in its roof so extra light is not required for entry and exploration.
A good thing and a bad thing.   It was almost impossible for me to get a decent photo inside because of the very dark areas and the very very bright spots caused by the sky lights.    My little point and shoot couldn't decide where to focus so threw its hands up in frustration......

interesting details on ceilings and walls

Timing is everything.....

We had the National Monument to ourselves today.   Perhaps because it was a Monday, perhaps because it looked like rain all day.    For whatever reason, we enjoyed our solitude in this otherworldly landscape.    Only when we came up out of the Indian Tunnel lava tube, heading back to the Jeep,  did we see a huge group of school children approaching us.    Our experience there would have been entirely different if we had to share it with 30 or 40 other people.    Timing is everything!

Sasha and Lewis have enjoyed their time here.  Sasha's only challenge was getting over the landscape timbers to reach the grass for her walks.   She did a yeoman's job by the way.

Lewis enjoyed playing ball below the driving range when he could talk someone into throwing it for him. And in the evening he found a great seat to watch television and keep an eye on what was going on at the Lodge.

Tomorrow we pack up and continue our westward progress.