Enjoying Oregon

We left Hatch, UT around 9:30 AM July 2 and stopped in Beaver, UT for one last chiro adjustment which was much needed. There was a fire that started about 25 miles south of Hatch Sunday afternoon and we had a lot of ash fallout because the wind was from the south, so we were more than glad to leave Monday morning.

Smoke from the fire south of Hatch, UT that started at 3 PM on Sunday July 1, 2012. As we headed west on SR21 we could see a fire and discovered it was east of Ely, NV on a pretty bare hill so it was not threatening anything much.

Looking out the windshield at the fire to our west as we headed to Ely, NV.

The fire near Ely, NV that we could see in UT. We spent the night at Garden Pass, NV along the side of NV 278 about 20 miles north of Eureka, NV. This was a new road for us and it was a very good two lane road with little traffic. We took US 95 north of Winnemucca, NV all the way into OR and then took SR 78 towards Burns. It was a much nicer route than SR 140 and a lot less scary! We stayed at a PA park, Crystal Crane Hot Springs and after 9 PM joined other campers in the hot spring. Very relaxing after two days on the road! Crystal Crane Hot Springs where we relaxed the night before. The water is around 104º but comes out at 165º! We arrived at Cascade Meadows early afternoon on the 4th of July and just took it easy for a few days so Larry could re-adjust to the lower altitude. We didn’t even take the car out of the trailer until Sat! Some neighbors here have a pot belly pig for a pet. They have had her for 15 years. I had a hard time understanding why anyone would want a pig in a motorhome. They said she doesn’t bark and only needs to “go outside” just once a day. She did “squeal” though when she went up or down the entrance ramp.

Sofie, the pot bellied pig. We have been to Bend several times, visiting our favorite places, Costco and Fluid Connectors among others and also ridden the bike to La Pine twice. The weather has been great except for a sudden hail storm one Sunday afternoon. Thankfully it didn’t last long and did no damage even though the hail was pretty big.

Larry had another bone chip that needed removing so we visited the same dentist in La Pine as last year plus he broke a tooth on his lower denture so had that taken car of one afternoon when we were in Bend. It really is nice to have folks we know from before to take care of ‘problems’ that arise! Yesterday we took a drive and traveled over the lower half of the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway. We will do the upper half of the loop some time in Aug. I was totally unaware that there are so many lakes so close to us here in La Pine, OR.

North Twin Lake along the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway.

Wickieup Reservoir.

Davis Lake with the aftermath of a fire in 2003--fire forever changes the landscape. Mt Bachelor in the background.