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| Moon Viewing |
I have to start with a little musing. Dave and I always have a good time when we travel, it’s just how we roll. Sometimes it can be a little challenging, usually due to the weather, but in general we keep on and have fun. This trip was a bit of a struggle for both of us, partly because of the weather and partly because of what the weather represented. There were definitely more moments than usual when we had to do deliberate attitude adjustments, and overall we were very successful, except in one thing: neither of us took very many pictures, because the scenery highlighted the problem – we managed to exactly fit our trip into Bend’s first smoke filled days of summer 2022, and thinking about the fires, and climate change, and climate deniers, and deniers of other things… well, it was a rabbit hole we kept stumbling into. So if you’re wondering why there aren’t many pictures, and why sometimes the tone is a little down, now you know.
Meanwhile…
After a wonderful time at the Moon Viewing on Saturday night,
we left on Sunday the 11th and did not have an uneventful trip. There
had been some smoke in the air in FG for a couple of days, and in Bend as well,
from the Cedar Creek fire, but it was forecasted to get better in the next
24-48 hours, so we figured we’d head on out. On the way down there were some
strange noises and then a THUMP, and when we pulled over to take a look the
rear passenger taillight was hanging by its wires. Dave duct taped it back on,
and we continued on, but not very long after there were more strange noises and
then a thump, and there went the taillight. Fortunately, the truck had two sets
of tail/signal lights on each side, so we could still have signal and brake and
backup lights, but it was not an auspicious beginning. We continued on our
journey and the closer we got to Bend the smokier the skies were, so much that
by the time we got to Sisters we’d already put on our masks. We got to Tumalo
State Park about 3, and got ourselves settled into site Coyote 56, an excellent
site with a rocky hill outside the windows. We relaxed in the trailer for a
while then headed out for dinner at Boxwood Kitchen in the Old Mill District –
very good food, also they were playing the 3rd Indiana Jones movie
which was fun to watch. Back to the trailer and early to bed – travel is
exhausting!
On Monday first thing Dave had to run to the Tumalo general store to get the milk we forgot. The smoke seemed a little better, so we started out on an extended walk around the old mill district – it’s called the Bend 10K loop. We ended up doing out own version of it, about 4 miles. We didn’t quite finish the loop, then discovered that our lunch spot, Sunriver Brewing (Bend location – a favorite) was just past the end of the loop, which would have been a nice thing to do in the middle of our walk. It was fun anyway. During our walk the smoke got worse, so back on with the masks. After lunch we went back to the trailer, and I worked on my knitting – a raglan sleeve sweater in a bulky yarn with size 9 needles – while Dave read and played a little recorder. He wished he’d brought his Windows computer so he could play with his astrophotography. At around 3 we decided to go to the High Desert Museum and spent a nice time looking at their indoor exhibits. Of particular note: burrowing owls yelling, a giant climb on eagle’s nest (sadly, for kids only) and an exhibit tracing the changes in inhabitants of the area from early man to the mid-1900s. We masked up and walked around outside a little. Dinner was a trailer meal – Pasta a la Norma leftovers from home, with bread and a bag’o’salad. Delicious. More reading and knitting and a little duolingo after dinner.
Tuesday dawned cool and… smoky. Bend was really bad, so we drove north a bit to Smith Rock, our favorite escape from smoky Bend. We started out on the 7-mile Burma Road hike, but decided it was too smoky for that much exertion, so we turned around and walked down by the river on the left side across from the big rock, where it was shady and quiet. We were back in Bend in time for lunch at The Cellar, which is supposed to be like an English Pub and succeeds very well. Many delicious low alcohol cask-conditioned beers and the only thing they have on the menu are savory hot water crust pies in about 8 flavors, served with baked beans or mushy peas and a pickled pearl onion. Absolutely delightful and delicious. I had the chicken curry pie and Dave had the sausage and potato pie and I got another chicken curry pie to take home. A new favorite place for me. The smoke was better, so we went back to the campsite to change, then rented kayaks at Tumalo Creek Kayak and enjoyed paddling up the river where we’d walked the day before. It was our first time using sit on (as opposed to sit in) kayaks and we weren’t particularly big fans, but we had fun playing in the tiny rapids and also zooming downstream on the way back. I got a blister on my thumb (nothing on my little finger). Then it was rush-rush-rush back to the campground (fortunately only about 15 minutes away) for showers and back to downtown for dinner at 900 Wall, a restaurant which everyone but me has liked. Turns out I now like it too, even if their wine list no longer has Miller High Life in the sparkling wine section. Dave’s gnudi and my fried green beans and onion soup (separate items) were delicious, and I had a drink with habanero vodka and passion fruit that was both delicious and crazy hot, which was fun. The brownie sundae dessert was also delicious, but too much food.
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| Not our campsite, but it goves you the idea- this is A91 |
Wednesday dawned cool and… smoky, although we thought maybe a little less smoky. We drove up the road a bit to Sawyer Park and did a lovely loop up to Archie Briggs Canyon, on a wide smooth path that went gently up and down. We did a little bonus loop, so we got to walk down the canyon too. I loved this hike, because the path runs along the river between lots of gigantic expensive houses, so it’s very quiet and peaceful and also you get to see all of the huge houses. We masked up on the hike and felt better. We stopped at Worth Brewing for lunch where they had rye bread from Sparrow bakery who have an outlet here in Portland, so eventually I will need to go get some. We stopped at Freddy’s on the way home to get a DVD (we forgot to bring any). We ended up getting the Fantastic Beasts trilogy. Back at the trailer for a rest, then we headed out on the “River Trail”, a trail that takes off from the group camp area and isn’t on any map but goes all the way out to the northern intersection of Highway 20 and OB Riley Rd – about a mile each way. We also walked a bit around the campground, especially enjoying the tent camping loop (A for Alder). A 91 and 92 would be cool places to park the RV and dry camp. Dinner was trailer dinner again, enchiladas from home. We settled in to watch the DVD only to find that it wasn’t a DVD, it was blue-ray, and our player doesn’t do that. We ended up watching a strange British real estate show. The smoke had cleared out a lot, so Dave made a fire and we sat outside and enjoyed it.
Thursday dawned much less smoky, and we thought we might
take another hike, but we both woke up with Go Fever so we packed up and were
on the road by 8:30. We’d cleaned the trailer out pretty well as we packed, so
when we got home we backed the trailer up into the driveway, unloaded, and took
it to the storage place. We had a yummy lunch at Deep Space Brewing and came
home and got everything put away and had a few minutes to relax before Jen and
Diana got here – they’re up visiting with a friend of Diana’s. We chatted a
while before they headed out for dinner at Eem, then Dave did some packing for
his trip to Seattle this weekend.
The End. Bring DVDs.
