It was an easy drive from Prospect up to Bend and we were excited to see all of the things our new friend Jim from Crater Lake RV told us to go see. We found a beautiful RV Park on the outskirts of Bend which was a little above budget, but super nice. We got a site in the back corner with grass all around a perfect place for chuck it with Calcite.
Our first stop was the High Desert Museum which was fantastic. Lots of live animals, really more a zoo than a museum. We watched a presentation on raptors which was really great and we got to see two Bald Eagles (which spoke to us), a Golden Eagle, a Great Horned Owl and a Barn Owl along with lots of snakes, lizards, turtles and fish. A rattlesnake took a liking to Peg and slithered over to the glass to try to smell her, it was eerie. The next day was a little bit of a bust; we did drive the Cascade Lakes Scenic byway which was gorgeous with views of Mt Bachelor and the tons - and I do mean tons of lava fields. We then went to the Lava Lands Visitor center to find it closed for the season along with the Lava River cave which was one of the reasons we came to Bend darn it. We thought we would end the day with a beautiful Bend "baptismal" hike to Tumalo Falls, a 97' waterfall surrounded by forests and cliffs. But the road was closed for construction! We headed home for cocktails which went according to plan.
The next day we started at the Bend Visitor center to get our Bend Ale Trail maps and passports and we found out that we could still get into the Lava Lands at Lava Butte, but not the caves. So Peg missed Oregon's longest lava tube. Lava Butte was fantastic! They had information all along a 1+ mile hike through the actual lava field. Amazing doesn't quite cut it. "Hey Bair, how much lava comes out of one cinder cone?" This one had 8 miles covered with up to 100ft of lava! This is enough basalt rock to pave a four-lane highway around the earth six times! Did I say Amazing? We then took a short hike up to Benham falls which was created from the lava butte eruption when it hit the Deschutes river. This was Zoe's first hike in almost two months! Then it was time to hit the Bend Ale Trail. We only made it to four of the 9 breweries: Deschutes, Silver Moon, Old St; Francis and Bend Brewing Co. The beers were delicious and the breweries were all very different and fun. The bartender at the Deschutes brewery told us about an Obsidian field in Newberry National park that we decided we couldn't miss so we extended our stay by one more day. This was another huge lava field from another cinder cone from the same volcano only it was different chemical composition (73% silicon dioxide) so the field was made up of Obsidian (black lava glass), and pumice. Obsidian is very rare because it only forms when the hot lava cools almost immediately forming the glass. Thanks Bair for the science lesson. We then went to Volcano vineyards for a wine tasting! Very fun and delicious.
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Lava Butte and Basalt Lava Field   |
It is getting colder and colder every day. Not sure how far North we are going to make it.
Coming soon...
Eugene, Willamette Valley Wine Country and the Washington Coast.
Love the updates! Jealous about the breweries! Glad to see you having a great time!
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