Heading to La Pine

Heading to Central Oregon

Different places fit for different phases of life. What is right today may not be right next year.

Spending time at the ocean was a nice treat. But returning to the mountains is like going home.  Mike grew up in Vermont and Deb in Colorado may have something to do with that. Stopping in Oakridge, OR on our way to La Pine State Park, our campsite overlooked the Salmon Creek. We fell asleep to the sound of the rushing water. 

I took a walk along the creek before we prepared to leave the next morning. A tiny Japanese woman joined me and shared with me her story of her journey to the US. She was so impressed that anyone that wanted to work in the US could get a job even if they were a woman or from another country. She seemed lonely and thanked me for our visit as we parted ways. I assured her that I also enjoyed our visit very much.

We are leery of turning on roads while towing the trailer when we don't know if there is a place to turn around once we've committed ourselves. I had picked out a hike to two waterfalls that I really wanted to take and the GPS showed what looked like a loop to turn around easily. So we took a chance that worked out well. Shew! I was sweating that one a little bit.

Salt Creek Falls was a short walk from the parking lot. But Diamond Creek Falls was another 1 1/2 miles. Once we stepped off the paved walkway, we were all alone, except for the mosquitos, for a lovely walk in the woods.

Our home for the next month

Not having a volunteer position booked for July, we jumped at the chance to spend a month at La Pine State Park near Bend, OR in the Cascade Mountain Range due to a cancellation. Expectations for hosts are as different as each park. Our job in the "historic" (old) section of the campground, in our opinions, is the best. The older section has much more space between sites and quieter at night. The roads are so rough, no speed bumps are required to slow down speeders. Once they round the first corner, they suddenly slow down. Great for small kids on bikes.

We turn the reserve signs each morning and picked up any paper (or unused wood) left behind. Then we wrap fire wood bundles to set out for sale. While around our campsite we answer questions but are free to come and go as we pleased.

The Deschutes River runs through La Pine SP making a great place to mountain bike or walk. The 15 miles of mountain bike trails aren't difficult but have plenty of ups and downs, winding through the trees and by waterfalls to keep us on our toes making it easy to get away without the need to drive for an outing. We come home pretty dusty each day because of the dry high desert climate. 

We have been lucky with cooler than usual temps. 

Newberry National Volcanic Monument

Newberry Volcano in Newberry National Volcanic Monument is the largest volcano in the Cascade Range. We had hiked parts of the monument on our visit three years ago and is less than 10 miles from our campsite to Lake Paulina. 

One early morning, we headed to La Pine's grocery store but took a detour to Newberry when we saw the heavy 4th of July holiday traffic on Highway 97. We hiked along the 7 mile lake trail before the weekenders got up. The trail was getting busy as we were finishing up our walk and we made it home in time to do a few of our tasks.

Paulina Falls

Paulina Lake Trail 

The month is flying by and we sleep well at night. A pretty good place for this phase of our lives.

Sunriver, OR

We have been fortunate to have cool temps while here in Sunriver. This area is called the high desert and we were told that we were going to be hot as we were leaving the cool coast.

 

Sunriver has a network of bike paths and do not allow bikes on the streets.

This eagle's nest houses the parents and two offspring. As we were riding our bikes down the rode, I saw two people sitting along the road with their cameras. I had to see what they were looking for. (Mike calls me the "interrogator") This couple had been watching the family for 9 weeks and showed us some great pictures of the eagles landing . Their cameras on tripods with clickers were much better than mine.

It has been a busy two weeks here in central Oregon. We wanted to get another mountain bike ride in before leaving. Seeing some cross country ski trails that looked like they might be nice, we chose the  going up hill for 3 miles through some sandy single track before leveling out. At one point, I said I might be done. After sitting a bit and having some water, I realized if we turned around, our day would be over in 15 minutes riding downhill and was glad that we didn't turn around.

 

Paulina Lake had some nice chair to enjoy the cold drink we bought at the little store before starting the downhill.

Mike informed me that my front brake had been dragging as he was cleaning up the bikes after we returned home. Maybe, that is the reason I thought about turning around. I always check my brakes before taking off for a ride. I don't want a brake incident. This time I was checking them while he was messing with my odometer and he told me to stop. I may have not noticed the drag during my check but let's put it on him.

 Several people had told us to visit the High Desert Museum and the rainy weekend seemed like the perfect time.

 

Early mobile home

The Works Progressive Administration was a New Deal measure during the Depression that I was not aware.  It was a government attempt to employ a variety of artists, writers, and musicians so that the work they produced could help them make a living and enhance the quality of American life during the Great Depression. The WPA commissioned thousands of artists to observe the American scene; its people, its landscape, and its architecture, and capture through their brushstrokes and lenses, the life they were seeing.



There were many interesting exhibits with lighting and sounds to enhance the experience.