Leaving Bremerton

   

Our stay in Bremerton met our expectations.  We saw doctors and dentists and many of you, our friends. We enjoyed visiting with all of you. Special thanks to those who dropped by the RV. How fun!

 

 

The Elks RV Park turned out to be an enjoyable place to stay. A large expanse of grass was visible out the front window against a background of NW forest. A deer wandered through from time to time. Only 4-5 rigs used the park during our 3 weeks there.  Several came for a few days and left.  Serenity surrounded us most of the time. The Elks rents out a covered kitchen area each Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  I enjoyed seeing the various events celebrated. Curfew hours keep the noise level to a minimum.

 

The Wednesday we drove by the Sizzler Restaurant and saw the “We are closed” sign surprised us. Derrille and the lunch bunch had been there on Monday and no one mentioned they were closing.  The lunch bunch gathers once a week to enjoy lunch and each other’s company.  The tradition is about 35 years old, and 31 of those years occurred at this Sizzler.  The group met at the West Side Pizza Hut the following Monday, but haven’t really decided on a replacement for the Sizzler.  Very few restaurants offer a salad bar, and definitely not a Sizzler salad bar, which the guys really like.

 

While in town we took advantage of the Father’s Day sale at Macy’s and purchased a new recliner with footstool for Derrille. The salesperson said it would be in-store either late July or August.  However it arrived on June 21^st.  This is our day to leave Bremerton and head to the Washington coast for 17 days.  We were told pick up time was after 2 pm. So we had a leisurely morning.  Derrille walked his four miles. Then we loaded up and went to get propane…..it’s probably going to be cold for at least part of our beach stay. Next we went to the Fairgrounds to dump our tanks.  The first part of our beach stay is a Thousand Trails park, Oceana.  Never having been there, we weren’t sure what to expect.

 

 

 

 

Next we went to Macy’s parking lot to wait.  It was just before one o’clock, but Derrille went to check on the chair.  WOW! It’s here!  The warehouse worker helped Derrille get the chair into the RV and put together. In the meantime, Nancy (my sister) and Roger arrived to haul off our old chair to Goodwill.  The new chair looks great!  Nancy and Roger left.  We pulled in the slide and headed for the beach.

 

The first freeway ramp exits to Newberry Hills. About there, I realized that Ashley may not be with us. So we pulled to the shoulder and checked her usual haunts.  NO ASHLEY!

 

We’d both seen her head for the bedroom, later I saw her come back to the front. With everyone checking out the new chair, the screen door was left open. Ashley can be a bit sneaky about zipping out the door unseen.  In the last few years because of resort rules, Ashley goes outside on a leash. However, if the door is open, she may take advantage of the opportunity for a little adventure. No leash, no human....a little freedom to do what she pleases.

So we drove to the Chico exit two exits down to turn around and return to Macy’s.  We pulled up to where we had parked before. The parking lot looked empty. 

But behind the Lazy-boy store next door, Ashley was seriously investigating a dumpster.  She sniffed about at a leisure pace...looking much like this photo of her on her leash.  A couple of employees saw her, but couldn’t catch her.  Derrille just walked over and picked her up. She may have figured we'd be back to get her eventually.

This is Ashley’s second adventure this year. Fortunately she is a campin’ cat and doesn’t tend to go far.  Derrille deposited her to her traveling paper bag on my recliner and now we are off to the beach for real!

 

 

McKenzie River to Sweet Home

On Friday of Memorial Weekend a lens fell out of Derrille's regular glasses. We didn't know how to repair the frames with a string-like plastic lower edge. Derrille watch sports, sleeps, eats, reads, and reads and reads.  No glasses = no reading = an uncomfortable weekend  So we decided Road Trip!

Most opticians were closed so we went to Wal-Mart. The glasses repair took a matters of seconds, then we shopped.

I've always wanted to see Sweet Home. We were halfway there, so we drove north.

As we turned off toward Brownsville and  Sweet Home, the sign read "Over the River and Through the Wood" Oregon Scenic Byway.










 A large sign boasted "Linn County the Grass Seed Capital of the World". True to their claim we passed field after field of grasses.  Some field held labels. 

Some grew ryegrass.









Other field grew flax that gave off a blue cast. 











Several fields had white flowers. I don't know the name of that plant.

Sheep grazed in some pastures.

Pygmy goats lounged in another pasture.

We stopped to photograph these long horned cows. Several fields housed herds of cattle.

My paternal grandmother crossed the United States in 1883, at age 3, via wagon train. Her family settled in Sweet Home.  Today Sweet Home looks like a typical small American town.

What a surprise to see a still fully operational A&W busy with lunch time customers. The RIO theater sign also reminded us of a time long before the Cineplex came along.

We stopped at the East Linn Museum. I was curious to see if they had anything with my grandmother's name. A friendly docent looked through several historical record, but found nothing. She did tell me that the area was filled with Rice families. (My maiden name for those who don't know, was Rice) We looked for marriage records too but found nothing. When I have more information, maybe I'll return and look again.

Historical Museums always remind me of how "old" I am. How can some of those things that I recognize and/or still use, be "antiques"? The Girl Scout uniform on display showed an exact replica of my uniform. I worked hard to fill my sash with badges.  You could have heard me say "Oh, I had a hat just like that....and that" as I peered into a display case of 1970 chapeaus.



 


 
 

From Sweet Home we continued east on highway 20. A river rippled beside the road.  More moss covered trees stood in the forests.

 

Several covered bridges cross the rivers and streams in the area. Streams with names like, Scott Creek, Lost Creek, and Miner Creek feed the McKenzie River.

Snow appeared as we began to climb into the foothills. Check out the snow measurement poles!


At the junction of Hwy. 20 and Hwy 126  we rounded the bend and head west toward the RV park.

We concluded our stay in the McKenzie area with dinner at Takota's, next to and owned by the Harvick's Country Store.  Harvick's own two Takota restaurants, a golf course, the gas station, the country store and a nice motel.  The restaurant offered good food, T-shirts, kid books and toys, jewelry, paintings, metal sculpture, those tiny books with thoughtful entries, and decorative plaques.  I enjoyed looking around at everything.

The next day we packed up and headed for Vancouver WA.   Even with rain and storm we enjoyed our stay here.                       

McKenzie River up to Sisters

Before driving further into the Cascade Mountains we stopped at Harbick's for gas. The current customers represented life here along the river. A biker camper from British Columbia filled up his bike. A local mower needed refueling. Pick-up trucks provide transportation for  many residents. Then there was the horse trailer of Whitney Richey, Rodeo Queen 2013 in Sisters.

Our next outing took us further east along highway 126 bypassing the turnoff to scenic Hwy 242 .

 

We parked at the Sahalie Falls parking lot and walked down to the falls. A set of three spectacular falls move the McKenzie River at this point. Sahalie Falls drops 120 feet and were formed by a second lava flow 3000 years ago. The falls push 452 cubic feet of water per second.

The sign to Clear Lake took us down a steep narrow road. The lake took on a spectacular green color near the lodge end of the lake. Several small rental cabins supplied lodging for the fisher people who come here.

To our surprise we passed a large stretch of lava beds. These look just like the ones around California's Lassen National Park and the ones in New Mexico's El Malpais National Park.

As we rose in elevation, snow reappeared. We noticed the remains of a forest fire.

Evidence of the reforestation showed up in some sections.  A fire kiosk told the story. We were looking at the largest forest fire in Deschutes history. At one point it burned 10,000 acres a day. Eventually it consumed 90,000 acres of private, state, National Forest and tribal land. It deployed 2400 firefighters, cost $38,000 to suppress, used up enough timber for 30,000 homes and killed most of the trees on half the area burned.

The Hoo-Doo ski resort sat atop a snow covered mountain. The McKenzie River Rec Area attracts people for both winter and summer activities.  Several sno-parks are available for winter visitors.

 

I found it interesting to learn that the historic fire patterns differ depending on which side of the mountains you inhabit.  On the eastern side, the Ponderosa pine reigns as the dominant tree. The fires there occur at short intervals of 5-25 years. The fire burns as low intensity surface fires where few mature trees are burned. After the fire large open park like stands remain.  On the west side of the Cascades, the Douglas fir ranks as the dominant tree. Fires only happen at long intervals, 100-250 years.  The fires burn at high intensity on the surface and in the tree crowns. Fire kills most of the trees including the mature ones. A new forest stands starts after a fire.

 

For years foresters tried to suppress fires. Now they know the forest needs fire to clean out the underbrush, and to make some species like the sequoia and Lodgepole pine sustain themselves. Fire patterns have changed because the amount of fuel has increased. This increase of fuel has also created uncharacteristically intense wildfires.  The fuel increase because of the foresters efforts to suppress fire, thus allowing for more underbrush, poor harvesting methods including taking out all the mature trees, and inadequate thinning which causes tree to become susceptible to disease, insects and fire.
Forestry has changed. Thinning the forests helps maintain a healthier forest. I had a before thinning photo off the reader board too, but it wouldn't insert itself into the blog.

Santiam Pass summit sits at an elevation of 4817 feet. Also in this area are signs for the Pacific Crest Trail.  You go hikers! I wouldn't want to be walking through these woods.

Next stop Suttle Lake

 The resort featured a large beautiful lodge with cabins.

 A couple of big houses were also on the grounds. Really large Canadian Geese roamed the lawns looking for food.

We had spotted sailboats from the highway and  drove into the resort to check them out. We hadn't thought of using this size sailboat on a lake, but the lake is big and had white caps the day we visited. Entering or exiting the resort required passage on a one lane bridge. When a little truck barreled down the hill and didn't look like it was going to stop, we paused on the bridge and held our breath.

Sisters Oregon, population about 2,000 proved to be an interesting little town. The whole town maintains a western frontier town motif.  Everything looks fresh and inviting.

This store that carries wind toys caught my attention, as did the bronze horse at the east entrance to town. If I were a shopper, Sisters offers lots of interesting shops to explore. I think Sisters would be a great destination for a little holiday.

We lunched at the Old-Fashioned Sno-Cap Drive In, which wasn't really a drive-in now. This small establishment featured 6 tables for inside diners and more tables outside. The aisle between the booths and the counter had enough room for 1 1/2 people. Streams of people continually came in the front door, ordered, and went out the exit-only the back door.  We enjoyed their burgers, and also tasted their homemade ice cream. While dining, a busload of kids returning home from a four day outdoor education event stopped by and got ice cream for everyone. One lady paid the tab. The restrooms were porta-potties located out the back door.

Headed west going home on this Friday afternoon the line of traffic into Sisters or going on to Bend stayed bumper to bumper for miles down the highway. What a lot of traffic.

We traveled back down the tree lined highway,  passing the Carmen Diversion Reservoir.

We stopped at a pull out along the river and learned of the  26-mile McKenzie River Trail, of which 10 miles is accessible year round.

Then we returned home pleased with today's adventures.