Bill and Eileen's Travels: 06/01/2014

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

John Day Fossil Beds (6/22 - 6/23)

From Bend we went northeast across Oregon to John Day, Oregon. We all though we would go over the Cascade Mountain Range and it would be flat. This was not the case. We went up, then down, then up, then down once again, and the further East we went the road got narrower. It was quite a ride but we finally arrived. After riding around the back streets we finally located the Campground which was on the edge of the County Fairgrounds.

The next day we backtracked about 39 miles to go to the Sheep Rock Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds. We went to the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center and Museum. The volcanic activity in the nearby Cascades over millions of years and the changing weather and erosion have created an area that has preserved fossils from a period of forty million years spanning the Age of Mammals.

The brochure says that there is nowhere else in the Western Hemisphere where the evolutionary story is preserved for this period of time. The Condon Center tells the story well. How everything was preserved and the museum has many examples of the fossils that have been uncovered. Very interesting.

We drove up the valley where the fossils have been unearthed and viewed the many unusual colors that are a result of the volcanic ash from millions of years mixed with various chemicals and eroded in different ways. It's also a very pretty valley.

It was a long way to drive for this, but we did get to see a very remote but beautiful area of Oregon. The next day we headed back the same road to Mt Hood Village Resort. The road was a little easier going West. It was probably easier because we knew what to expect. Including the sneaker tree. We are heading for one night near Mt Hood.

Life is good!

Preparation Lab!

Sheep Rock in the background. This is an old sheep farm that
was bought out by the Government. It is on the John Day Fossil Beds!

Sheep Rock. You need a lot of imagination!

On the ride up the valley!

John Day River near Kimberly Oregon!

Cutting Hay!

NSA Satellite.

The Famous Sneaker Tree. Rt. 26 (Nowhere Oregon)!

Click on the picture!

Bend Oregon (6/19 - 6/21)

Even before we got to Crown Villa RV we had a lot of excitement on our trip. The GPS sent us down a street, close to the park, that had a 12' 10" clearance. My bus is supposed to be only 12' 7" but I wasn't going to give it a try. Mark's coach is over 12" 10" so there was no question that he wouldn't make it. Apparently a cattle truck hit this bridge two days before we arrived and it killed four of the cows. Needless to say both of us had to unhook the cars and turn around. This was the first time in eight years that we had to unhook. Everything turned out fine and the RV park turned out to be very nice. It is a small resort and the sites are about 25X80. You could almost park a small cruise ship on these sites. I neglected to take a picture but this was probably the nicest park we have been in yet this trip.

The day we arrived we went to the Pilot Butt for the 360 degree view of the city and the surrounding area. The next day we went back south to Lava Butte which is part of the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. We watched the movie about all the Volcanic activity in this area then we when up on the Butt for a view of the Lava Flow Fields from the Newberry Volcanic eruption about 7000 years ago. This is an amazing thing to see. The fields around the welcome center are just cinders with very little growing on them even after 7000 plus years. From the Butt you can see many Lava Cones in the area. We did read that Mt Hood, just north of here, will probably be the next Volcano to do something along the Cascade Mountain Range. It might be another 10,000 years or longer though so we weren't worried about going there.

After our visit to Lava Butte we went to the High Desert Museum which had animals and a lot of information about the geology of the area. We were late in the day so most of the animals were not very active. It was also a little difficult for Eileen because it required a lot of walking.

Day three we headed out to a little town called Sisters which is Northwest of Bend and near the base of the Three Sisters Mountains. This was a neat little town with many interesting shops. After lunch we headed over to Smith Rocks SP with a stop on Old Route 97 at the Peter Skene Ogden Scenic Viewpoint. You look straight down about 300 feet into the Crooked River Basin.

Smith Rocks is a pretty location where the volcanic formations stand straight up and much of the land has been eroded away. From our viewpoint in the parking lot we could see the crowd that had walked to the top of the mountain. We think they might have been doing yoga or dancing on top of the mountain. We also saw many climbers on the cliffs across form where we were. Another pretty place.

We really enjoyed our time in Bend, which included a nice dinner at the Brew House downtown. Mark and Kathie sure enjoyed their nostalgic return.

Next morning we headed north and east to the John Day Fossil Beds. Sorry to leave such a great campground but all good things must end. Goodbye Bend we enjoyed our time here.

CLICK ON THE PICTURES AND SCROLL ACROSS THE BOTTOM!

12' 10" Just isn't tall enough!

This answers the question as to where the restrooms are!

Lava Butt!

The view from Lava Butt!

Another View!

Mark and Kathie on Lava Butt!

Crooked River Scenic Overlook!

Climber at Smith Rocks!

Another! Click on it.

Smith Rocks!

The Yoga class is over. Does this look real?
Click on it!

Smith Rocks from the parking lock!

More climbers!

Friday, June 20, 2014

Yosemite, San Fran, Crater Lake (6/10 - 6-18)

Today is Thursday 6/19/2014. We are in Bend Or. at the Crown Villa RV Resort. It has been a very active week and a half. We left Visalia, Ca. and moved on to the Yosemite-Mariposa RV Park which is about 30 miles south of Yosemite National Park. Mark and Kathie moved on to California because there RV was to big for this Park. We met Jen, Magnus, Seb, and Sofia here for a couple of days. We would visit Yosemite and enjoy the park.

After a nice dinner and an interesting night in the RV we piled into the Volvo and off to Yosemite we went. Soon after we entered the park we stopped at the first waterfalls (Bridalveil Falls). The park has very high granite cliffs with beautiful waterfalls. On the way back to the car my bride fell off the asphalt path and landed directly on her right foot. She also had a bad cut and scrapes on her left knee. We took her to the Medical facility at the park and as luck would have it the PA on duty trained with a friend of ours from NC. Needless to say we received excellent service from Brian Burt but the news was not good when we got the X-Ray. The fall fractured the fifth metatarsal on her foot. We were told to see a Orthopedic doctor this week (after the swelling subsided) to determine what to do next. We have an appointment tomorrow morning here in Bend. The open toe sandal is really quite attractive but the crutches proved to be a pain.

In spite of the injuries we had a great couple of days, mostly at the campground with the Ekman family. What a joy to be with them. Sebastian and Sofia are growing up too fast, both are at a great age. We barbequed, swam in the pool, got ice cream, went for pizza, and just enjoyed each other. A great couple of days.

On Friday we were off to SF Motor Coach Resort in Pacifia, Ca. Saturday we went with Mark and Kathie to Jen's house. The girls went for manicures while Mark and I did errands. We had a great dinner at Jen's house. Sunday we joined Magnus for Fathers day and went to see Seb at Soccer. He is a key person on the (Little Kickers) team they just don't know it yet. This is his first year and I see a star in the making. We had a barbecue in the afternoon. Sadie Graham and cousin Emerson joined us for the meal. We had a great time and were able to catch up on all the SF news.

We had a great time with The Ekman's we sure wish we lived closer so we could have visits more often.

On Monday we were off to Oregon with a one night stay in a nice campground in Redding Ca. We arrived in Diamond Lake RV just a few miles from the Crater Lake North entrance on Tuesday afternoon. The campground was difficult to find but well worth the travel. We were able to have our first campfire of the trip that night. Most of the places we have been are in the middle of a three year drought. It has been super dry ever since Colorado. This campground is in the Conifers, the sites were very nice, and the people working there were very friendly.

Wednesday morning we headed up to Crater Lake NP. What a beautiful place. There is still a lot of snow, in fact it snowed the night before we got there. There is a road that goes around the crater with various overlooks. We were only able to go about 40% of the way because the rest is closed due to snow on the roads. We were also delayed for about 30 minutes while a crew working on the cliffs, above the road sent the loosened rocks down onto the roadway. Fortunately while we waited we had the opportunity to view the beautiful lake. After touring the gift shop and a nice lunch at the lodge we headed back to enjoy the campground. This was one of the highlights so far. Just pure beauty.

Today we boogied to Bend. Mark and Kathie lived here in the late 70's. we toured the town and went up to Pilot Butt, a cinder cone that gives you a 360 degree view of the town and the surrounding mountains. Another gorgeous view. We are here for two more days. Life is Good!

Yosemite!!!!!!!!!!