Month: April 2018

This morning we drove out to the Bachelor Mountain Ski area in the Deschutes National Forest. It appeared to be a very nice ski area that is surprisingly RV friendly. Had I known in advance I might have planned some time to ski a day or two. My guess is the snow was really icy since the temperature there today was in the mid-40’s.

After our forest drive we ended up back at the 10-Barrel Brewery. We sat outside in beautiful weather. The food was good, beer pretty good, but we wished for aspects of the other breweries we have visited. We wish we could combine them all.

We got back to the coach pretty early and Donna did laundry while I cleaned the front of the coach and the wheels. We also had plenty of time to relax outside in the nice weather.

Today we chose Cline Falls as our destination. We really like waterfalls if you haven’t guessed. We went to the Cline Falls State Park only to discover the falls were actually ½ mile downstream. We drove back out of the park to the Highway and parked to shorten our hike somewhat. The hike itself was very easy, about 1/3 miles and perfectly flat except for getting down the highway embankment. The falls were quite pretty and Maverick enjoyed the off-leash run. The nice thing here was the close proximity to Sisters and Redmond. After the falls we went to Crux Fermentation Project (brewery) for lunch. I almost backed out based on the outside but I’m glad I didn’t. The lunch was excellent (especially the pretzel and cheese appetizer) and the beer was the best yet. As before I got the 6 sample taste flight.
After lunch we wen to the Old Mill District and walked Maverick to the dog park. It was really windy making it pretty chilly but was still lots of fun. Donna and I then went to see the movie Ready Player One in the nearby cinema.

We headed East out of Sisters on Hwy 20/126 to the Williamette National Forest. After a 30 minute drive we arrived at the Sahalie and Koosah Falls. Wow, really spectacular falls! There are two big falls (named) but the McKenzie River continuously steps down until it reaches the Carmen Reservoir. The flow and immense power reminded us of the upper falls at Yellowstone. Other that two other small groups we had the falls and trails to ourselves. The hike from parking to the lower Koosah falls is about ½ mile with a beautiful, easy trail that follows the roaring river within a few feet nearly the whole way. Again Maverick got a nice off-leash hike and even more snow play. We did have light rain on and off but were prepared and it really didn’t impact our enjoyment. Maverick was soaked and didn’t seem to mind at all. We really enjoyed these falls.

Today we set out for Tumalo Falls in the Deschutes National Forest. The falls can be viewed from the parking lot but the best views are up a ¼ mile trail and provide up close views of this beautiful falls. The trail was Maverick friendly and he enjoyed a romp in the snow. Well worth a visit if you are in the area.

In keeping with the Bend Brewery Tour, today we hit the Deschutes Brewery in downtown Bend. Again I had a tasting flight of six beers. Better today. The food was ok and we really enjoyed the pretzel and cheese appetizer. A nice cozy restaurant with fireside dining.

Oh, by the way.  Studying the weather it looks like our original plan to leave Thursday looks ill advised.  We have to travel through mountain passes to get to about any other destination.  In particular our plan is to go East to the Oregon coast.  All of the passes East, North, or South are showing snow and tire chains required.   It wouldn’t be a problem in the Jeep but I don’t feel like taking any chances in the big rig.  Today I added to our stay here at the Bend Sisters RV Resort and we now plan on leaving Monday.

This morning we went to Lowes to get pop rivet tool and rivets to fix loose screen door screen. It has pop-riveted clips that had broken causing the screen to rattle badly while driving. After that we drove through downtown Bend and then to the Old Mill District. We then went to Bend River Brewery. I had a 6-taste flight of beer that was fair and Donna and I shared a great burger. The restaurant has a nice view of the Bend river. It snowed like crazy while we were in there.  As a matter of fact, we had intermittent snow showers the rest of the day. After lunch we drove by Flyte Camp. Flyte Camp is the company featured in the TV show Flippin RV’s.

We then found a RV supply place that had a no-kink hose and a Tow Defender I was planning on buying online. A Tow Defender is a rock guard that goes between the coach and the car. We then went to the High Desert Museum. The museum was nicely done and focused on the early settlers and Indian history. They had a few live animal exhibits including Porcupine, Bob-Cat, River Otters, Birds of Prey, and reptiles. A good part of the museum was outside and a pretty forest setting.

Today was forecast to rain all day and I decided I was stay around the coach and play on the computer and Donna went to Bend for retail therapy. In the afternoon we seemed to have a water delivery problem. The water pressure had been low and I discovered we had used all of our 60 gallons of internal fresh water since arriving. I checked out outside and came to the conclusion that our external water filter was clogged.

At dinner time we went the short drive into Sisters to go to Sisters Saloon. It was a nice place and we shared a very good steak. After dinner we drove about 14 miles to Redmond to go to Walmart and buy a new water filter. When we returned I assembled the filter and hooked it up. During the process I discovered the real problem was a kinked hose. After messing with the hose for a while I came to the conclusion it was trash and I needed a new hose.

This morning we got up and got the coach ready for the trip to Bend OR. The weather was clear and warmer and we debated about going back and trying to see Crater Lake again. I checked with the RV Park manager Nancy and she said late checkout would be no problem.  Nancy checked the Lake webcam for me and the view on the webcam showed clear weather and views so off we went. The weather up at the rim was still cold but this time we were treated to beautiful views of the lake. Wow, this is really a cool place. The actual rim of the crater is only 20-50 yards from the parking lot so just about everyone can get to a good viewing location. We were so happy we made the 2 hour round trip to see it. If you ever get this way I encourage you to go.  Maverick gave the off-leash snow romp an excellent 4-paws rating.

The trip to Bend was a fairly short 2 ½ hour drive, pretty level and straight. We left about 1pm after a quick lunch and arrived at the Bend/Sisters RV Resort about 3:30. Another really nice park. Lots of trees, lots of space between sites and nicely paved roads and sites. We parked nose in at a site looking at the pond 50 yards away. Very nice. After setup we ran into Sisters and had Mexican Food at Los Agave. We got fajitas and they tasted ok but didn’t have much chicken and what was there was very small pieces.

Today we were extra lazy getting around. We knew Crater Lake National Park was experiencing snow and poor visibility. The website said the road to the Rim Village was temporarily closed until 1 or 2pm to clear heavy snows received last night. So we drug our feet, drove to Klamath Falls and I bought snow chains at O’Reilly’s Auto Parts. Didn’t think I would need them but our Journey is likely to take us all the way to Alaska kind of early in the season so it seems prudent. We did a quick Wal Mart run and then ate lunch at the Klamath Basin Brewing Company. We had a super tasty BBQ Burger but the micro brew I thought was only fair.
About 2pm we headed for Crater Lake NP. The park was a little less than an hour drive. While it was fairly warm and partly cloudy in Klamath, halfway to the park it was low clouds and intermittent rain. The temperature kept dropping until it was about 32F at the park visitor center. The visitor center had drifts about 6 feet and the building entrance was through the snow tunnel. Crater has a nice visitor center with a well done video to watch. We watched most of the video and headed to Rim Village where you might be able to see the lake. At the Rim the drifts were at least 8 feet thick. The road to the Rim had been cleared so the drive was easy. We found an out of the way parking area to let Maverick run off leash. Boy, did he have a great time. The snow where we let him off was about 2ft and he jumped, ran, and burrowed with glee. We found a spot to access the Rim viewing trail. Again the snow was about 2ft but only a 10-20 yard slog to the viewing trail. No luck on viewing the lake for us. There were probably 6-10 people wishing to catch a glimpse but only one family claimed to even have seen the water. We enjoyed the snow covered forest and steep slope we assume ended at the lake. After a little bit we slogged back to the car and drove back to the coach. As I write this I checked the Crater Lake web cam again and low and behold you could see the lake in its entirety for the first time today. We missed it by an hour or two. Bummer. Oh well, that the way it goes. Tomorrow we head for Bend Oregon. We’ve heard quite a lot of positive reviews of Bend so we are going to spend 4 nights there.

The drive North from our RV park was really scenic. We didn’t realize that only a couple of miles North on I5 was a spectacular view of Shasta Lake set against the mountains. We would have visited that portion of the lake while at the park had we known. The drive was interrupted with short spurts of rain or snow. The temperature when we got to Chiloquin was 36F. Burr. We chose this park because its about ½ way to Bend Oregon and it is also a good place to visit Crater Lake National Park. Like Lassen, most of the Crater Lake park is closed for winter conditions, however the road to the visitor center is open. If the weather cooperates you can see the Lake from there. Unfortunately, the lake is only visible about 50% of the time due to fog so its going to random luck. The weather is predicted to be warmer and more clear tomorrow so we can hope. It took us about 3 ½ hours to get here to the RV park and the Crater Lake visitor center is about a 40 mile drive from here. The RV park is nearly empty and our spot looks straight out at a river only 50 yards away. Super nice.

This morning we had breakfast at the Benton Airport Cafe instead of our usual in-coach breakfast. The cafe food was pretty good and it was neat to see some of the local general aviation flavor. There is a dog park right next to the cafe where we let Maverick run wild for a bit.

After the dog park we headed out for Lassen Volcanic National Park. We knew there wasn’t much open in the park but though it might be a scenic drive. The drive was a really scenic 1 ½ hour each way. We took the back road to get there and the more major road coming back. The weather went from about 60F in Redding to about 36F at the visitor center. The forest near the visitor center is really pretty and at the visitor center the snow next to the road was about 4-5 feet high. The visitor center was pretty standard for the parks. There were people hiking the mountain at the visitor center and skiing down. We let Maverick play in the packed snow for 10 or so minutes. He was disappointed the snow wasn’t soft but had a blast.