We have been on the road for a week and camping for the past 4 days without electricity. That is not exactly true; we have power when we choose to run the generator which is about 1 hour a day to charge up the batteries. This is camping! We have no services attached to the RV; our neighbors are more than 10 feet away; I read a whole book; there are lots of trees, dirt & dust; and campfires scent the air morning and night! I love it. We are in Sisters Oregon which is only 20 miles away from Bend and very beautiful. We have to move to Bend today so that Paul can again work for a day or two and then we head back toward California. The good news is we are planning to stay in State Parks the rest of the trip so no more electricity – I hope!
Sisters Oregon is beautiful and has so much to see and do or just do nothing and enjoy the fresh air. The landscape is spectacular around Sisters. We took a drive into the Williamette National Forest along the MacKenzie Scenic Pass to Dee Wright Observatory. At the top where the observatory is located you could see forever; to Mt. Washington, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Hood and the Three Sisters Mtns.
A Lava Observatory built in the early 1900's
Mt. Jefferson
Three Sisters (actually only 2!)
3 Sisters (2) thru the view tubes (Lava Tubes) inside the observatory
Thats Paul at it again! Where's Duke?
All the landscape you see is lava. It goes on for miles and gives me a very eerie feeling. It is amazing and reminds me of the desert somehow. But then there are these giant mountain peaks and snow in September. I still like the mountains and forest more. As soon as you crest the pass at the observatory moving down the other side we get right back into the mountains and trees. What a difference. And then there is the MacKenzie River that follows the road with a couple of waterfalls! Yeah.
Koosah Falls
About a 50 foot falls. We walked up the trail about a 1/4 mile where you can get right up to the rushing river.
A mini fall up river
The water is soooo blue!
The river is so powerful. The noise allows you to block out everything else and just relax. Someday I may live near a river like this, I think!
Clear Lake Oregon
And then there is the tranquil lake. Clear Lake is located up river from the falls and is so quiet and clear that there were children in these row boats far away and you could here them laughing while rowing. We even saw a couple of scuba divers that say you can see down about 40 feet and they dive about 50 feet to see lava tubes and such.
I could stay here forever or until the snow comes which today it feels like it might! It was 85 degrees when we got here Thursday and today it was 40 when we got up at 8 am. I sure hope it warms up! The good news is we are heading back to civilization and will have electricity again for a day or two where I can warm up with the heater.