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Revisit an old friend: The Upper Deschutes

The Deschutes River rolls through Bend, as dependable as an old  friend.

I pass over it on the Colorado Street Bridge every morning and then again after work. I see it on the way to the post office, the mall and the library.

 It's an integral part of Bend and Central Oregon, a constant contributor to the quality and flavor of the region. But with Bend's Upper Deschutes virtually underfoot, it's easy to give it short shrift in favor of more distant riverine destinations. That would be a  mistake.

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There are two ways to approach the desert.

You can blaze through it on your way to Burns, Ontario, Boise and points east, noticing little but a whole lot of empty and the staccato yellow lines blurring into one never-ending strip from here to Idaho.

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Easter Events End Anthony Lakes Skiing

        Anthony Lakes Resort celebrates Easter weekend and the close of the current ski season with a series of exotic events April 10 & 11. 

 The northeastern Oregon retreat snuggled in the Blue Mountains between La Grande and Baker City is staging its annual Snow Rodeo on Saturday with a barrel race on skis, steer roping, the Cowboy Snow Golf Tournament, Cowboy Downhill Ski Race and a live music hoedown at the Starbottle Saloon in the base lodge.

The golf tourney has a $5 entry fee per person, all other weekend events are free.  The golf competition features five 4-person teams, with no rules as to the instrument a golfer may use for teeing off, with remaining swings on the snow golf course made with a golf club and made while the player is buckled into his or her ski equipment.

The Cowboy Downhill is staged at day’s end when the lifts close at 4 p.m.  Entrants begin without their ski or snowboard equipment and must run 50 feet before buckling into their gear, then race down the mountain any route they choose to the base finish line.

Sunday is dubbed Customer Appreciation Day.  An Easter Sunday service will be held at 7:30 a.m. on  the summit of the mountain, with a free lift ticket available for attendees.  The participants are asked to make food or cash donations to local charities.  Yes, there will be an opportunity to make Easter eggs at the lodge following the service and an Easter Egg Hunt will be staged for children that afternoon.

Snowshoe tour popular alternative to downhill sports   By Ernestine Bousquet --  The Bend Bulletin

After hearing a brief history of snowshoeing Sunday, the eight visitors attending the snowshoe tour at Mount Bachelor Ski Area strapped on the metal and neoprene contraptions and waddled into the forest after their tour guide. 

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Powder Paradise Awaits Skiers in NE Oregon

Sunshine and powder snow are a magic combination for skiers and a common occurrence at Anthony Lakes resort in Oregon’s northeast corner.  Winter arrived early here, enabling a mid-November opening at a playground dubbed “most loveable ski area in America” in a 1969 issue of Life magazine. 

Located 19 miles west of Interstate 84, Anthony Lakes is a venue for all forms of snow play, offering 21 lift-serviced downhill runs, 40 kilometers of groomed Nordic trails, open terrain for snowmobiling and some 2,000 acres of outback steeps, bowls and glades accessed by snowcat tours from the base lodge.

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Seattle to Skagway: Revisiting Adventure, Chapter 3   by Fred Delkin

Chapter 1, Chapter 2

(EDITOR’S NOTE:  the author and his college fraternity companion aboard a 25-foot twin outboard plywood hull left Seattle, motored through Puget Sound into the island-strewn coastline off southern Vancouver Island, crossed the Georgia Strait and wound up the narrow confines of the Inside Passage toward Skagway, Alaska. 

Two weeks were spent (Chapter 2) negotiating predominantly wilderness waters and a crossing of an arm of the North Pacific to reach Skagway in just under  two weeks.  Now the return trip begins)

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Pub Crawling By Bike Newest Tour Offering

Full details and registration are available at rollingpubcrawl.com

The Psychology of Travel

One day, long ago,I made my single, solitary visit to a shrink.  He had me sit in a comfortable chair and asked me what was bothing me.

"I want to go fishing in Mexico," I said.  "But, I'm not sure I should."

"Go," he replied.  "That'll be fifty dollars."

At fifty dollars a minute, I thought, maybe I was in the wrong business.  But, I got up, gave him fifty bucks, walked out of his office and went to Mexico.

It was a glorious trip. 

The first thing I discovered is that there actually is a dead mule in the middle of the road, there.  The second thing I discovered is that men who love to fish make lousy husbands.

When I parked my RV at Bahia de San Carlos, a fellow in a VW camper came over and said that his wife was unhappy because I had blocked their view.  Then he saw my fishing rod.

"Do you have a boat?" he asked.

"Yes," I said.  "A brand new 14 foot Seaswirl.  I bought it on the recommendation of my analyst."

"The wife can walk around your camper and look at the bay," he said.  "Got any room in the boat?"

For three days, we skipped across the Sea of Cortez, dolphins playing in our wake.  We caught yellowtail tuna and Spanish mackerel by the boatload.  Nobody else caught a thing.

On the last day, I made public the reason for our success -- a two dollar largemouth bass (freshwater) spoon.  The owners of the giant private boats began to bid for that bass lure.  When they reached a hundred dollars, I walked over and gave it to the poorest Mexican fisherman.  He grinned at me with a mouth with four teeth, and all the other Mexican fisherman gathered around him to look at the lure.

The moral to this story, which is an absolutely true one, has nothing to do with the forced redistribution of wealth.  Being a conservative, I believe only in the voluntary redistribution of anything.

No, the moral here is as follows.

If you want to go someplace so bad that you feel guilty about it, skip asking your analyst about it and just go.

When you travel like that, adventure will come your way as naturally as gulls to a windy shore.  It is the trip that you hesitate to take (assuming that your hesitation isn't due to the fact that tourists are being killed and eaten there) that will make you discover a new, and rather likeable facet of you. 

(LL)

Oregon’s Premier Attractions: a roster of natural wonders

 The Oregon Tourism Commission cites the following as the state’s top natural wonders.

Oregon Coast  this spectacular region is reached along the 400+ miles of U.S. 101 and includes beachfront state parks every few miles, nine lighthouses and Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area as particular highlights

Mt. Hood  just over an hour from the big city, you can drive up a scenic switchback to historic Timberline Lodge with no shortage of amenities and March marks the opening 
of lift-accessed spring sking & snowboarding

Columbia River Scenic Highway  one of the world’s highway engineering marvels, this drive parallels Interstate 84,  accessing one spectacular view after another for many miles east of Portland, including a string of waterfalls

Silver Falls State Park  worthy of national park status, this deeply forested wonderland
is a few minutes east of Interstate 5 just north of Salem

McKenzie River Highway follows this rushing water fishing and rafting paradise east of 
Eugene, while this month snow will halt your climb into the Cascade range heights

Crater Lake  Oregon’s only National Park, accessible year ‘round, though snow lines its
banks until late spring or early summer

Oregon Caves highway 199 southwest of Grants Pass leads to access of this national monument with an outstanding underground tour

Mt. Bachelor has achieved world-class status among snow recreation areas and abuts the Three Sisters Wilderness Area just west of Bend in central Oregon

Smith Rock State Park another central Oregon highlight off highway 97, these cliffs bordered by river have achieved a lofty status world wide among rock climbers

John Day Fossil Beds  highway 26 east of Prineville in central Oregon reaches this national monument treasure trove of the ancient past

Hells Canyon National Recreation Area  as far east as you can travel in Oregon, with a Grand Canyon-like gash viewed from above on a drive northeast from Joseph

A Coastal Escape
Without Tourist Throngs

Bird Species at Cannon Beach   (OMED: This is a link to a local page about birding spots.  Taking up this hobby makes a trip to the coast a brand new adventure.)

Adventure Travel: Oregon 

Tourism Treasure Our nation’s 10th largest state bows only to Alaska among the 50 in providing a natural playground for adventurers. 

A sight you'll never see    Before the falls were submerged, I used to love watching the aboriginal people fishing with long-handled nets from platforms attached to the bare stone river bank.

The Coastal Cottage Industry  Taking a break, near home, in this beautiful state, is just the ticket for many would-be tropical snowbirds.

Taking the Ultimate Hike: …a true walk on the wild side with a Lake Oswego Litigator  Nepal will not come to you, so you must go to Nepal.

Rooms with a river view

Silver Falls: Underrated Treasure

Oregon’s Finest Sunshine & Powder Worth the Drive

Travel Archives

When a color decides to show off, it's a spectacle that demands to
be seen.

Blending from sage to hunter and kelly to pine, the color green displays itself in the Ochoco National Forest in a way rarely seen east of the Cascades. Thrown lavishly across the landscape, there are more hues of this single color than could possibly be named, and all within a relatively small area.

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Oregon Outback Beckons Urban Escapees

By Fred Delkin

As we head into spring, consider an automobile expedition to Oregon’s outback...best epitomized by Lake County, over 8,000 square miles of stark vistas, geographical contrasts and a population of only 7,500.  This is the state’s third largest county, bordering on California and reaching into the center of central Oregon...and well worth an escape from urbanization.

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Speaking of travel:
Inter-world life transport argued
Two new studies claim life could spread quickly throughout space, from one solar system to another.

Headline links to article.

Thrills pay the bills 
Despite some seasonal slowdowns, adventure market steadily climbs 
by JODI HELMER  --  The Portland Tribune 

Anne Stewart-Miller and her mother, Phyllis Stewart, had the adventure of a  lifetime last Saturday morning as they soared high above Oregon's wine country in a Vista hot-air balloon.

"You could see for miles," says Stewart-Miller, who booked the ride to celebrate her mother's 80th birthday. "It was so quiet and beautiful."   It was the first balloon ride for both women, but both vow it won't be their last. "I would do it again in a second," Stewart-Miller says. "We didn't want it to end."

Roger Anderson who, with his wife, Catherine Driver, owns Vista Balloon Adventures Inc. of Newberg, says he "started ballooning expressly to make a business of it." And a good business it has been. His profits, like his balloons, are soaring, he says.

Headline links to article.

BBC 'proves' Nessie does not exist

The most extensive sonar survey of Loch Ness ever undertaken shows no sign of the legendary monster.

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Tourism Industry Balks At State Funding Help   By Fred Delkin

 Oregon ranks a lowly 46th in state-funded tourism promotion, yet a recently introduced legislative bill proposing to double the existing Oregon Tourism Commission annual budget is generating tourism industry opposition.  The bill seeks to create a statewide 1% tax on all lodging in Oregon, with the take, estimated at $7 million a year, going into Commission coffers to market the state’s attractions. 

(Postscript to linked piece -- the bill passed and Kulongoski went to Europe.)

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How to see shells on the sea floor

In the sea, most of us are half-blind - but the Moken are king. This Southeast Asian tribe of sea gypsies can see twice as clearly underwater as Europeans, researchers have found.  The semi-nomadic Moken, who have settled on Thailand's Surin Islands, use their superior visual skills to dive for food on the ocean floor. It's not known whether the ability is learned or genetic. 

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 A pair of fascinating and instructive tours of aerial history await in a single day’s
drive in northwest Oregon.  Drive south from Portland on highway 99W out of Tigard, through Newberg and Dundee, take the highway 18 exit and keep eyes open for the Evergreen Aviation Museum on the left just before McMinnville.  This huge complex includes housing for the Spruce Goose, the late Howard Hughes’ mammoth statement for aerial history.

(Click here for world's biggest goose.)

After touring the exhibits, drive into McMinnville and historic 3rd Street, where a restored Hotel Oregon offers food, beverages and lodging (don’t miss the rooftop bar offering a view over Yamhill county wine country). 

Leave McMinnville southward, back to highway 18, go coastward and just prior to reaching Lincoln City, turn north on highway 101.  You pass a lovely coastal vista from above on Cascade Head, descend to the beach at Neskowin and swing inland past the Pacific City exit (though you may enjoy a brief side trip to the scenic Pacific City beach at Cape Kiwanda, enhanced by food and drink at the Pelican Pub that fronts the coast’s most popular surfboard site). 

Proceeding some 20 miles north toward Tillamook, you reach the site of the Tillamook Air Museum, housed in a huge vaulted hangar that was built to house the Navy’s submarine searching blimps during WWII.  The exhibits here include historical military and civilian aircraft.  From the center of Tillamook, highway 6 wends its way through the wilds of the Coast range, returning to Portland.

Visit Covered Bridges,
A True Oregon Treasure

Deadwood Bridge in Lane County

Covered bridges are a preservation focus in Oregon’s outback communities.

  No less than 51 of these timbered spans currently are on our backroads, second only to Pennsylvania’s 71 in number among the nation’s states.

The ready availablility of structural timber, predominantly Douglas Fir, inspired these structures’ creation, with most built in the early  20th century.  The obvious purpose of enclosing bridges was to protect them from weather’s ravages.  Today, 12 Oregon counties, led by Lane’s total of 19, maintain their wooden spans for your wonderment.

Covered bridge totals for other counties include Linn (8), Douglas (6), Lincoln (4), Jackson (4), Marion (2) and one apiece in Coos, Deschutes, Josephine, Multnomah and Polk.  The neighboring communities of Stayton and Scio, just east of Interstate 5, boast a covered bridge monopoly, with a total of five.

A guide to all of Oregon’s covered spans can be linked via a search engine by seeking “oregon covered bridges.”

Looking forward to summer showers, what better place to shelter from them than a covered bridge?

Covered bridges, historic CCC structures, good fishing spots, hiking.  A delicious part of the state. (Click on the photo)

Taking a trip back in time

 by Kathy Lenius - The Cannon Beach Gazette

From Cannon Beach’s first hotel to a visiting  future president eating blackberry pie to beach patrols during World War II, the second phase of Cannon Beach Historical Society’s permanent exhibit chronicles the highlights and everyday trends of life in Cannon Beach from 1911 to the early 1940s.

The interpretive exhibit which opened in mid-August is the second of three phases in the museum’s permanent exhibit titled “Cannon Beach: A Place by the Sea.” The exhibit takes its name from a history of Cannon Beach written by Terence O’Donnell and published in 1996.

Headline links to article.

Palm-tops to guide  tourists

"This project could completely transform the way tourists enjoy European holidays," says Peter Walters, a spokesman for UK Information Society Help, the organization overseeing Britain's involvement in the project.

OMED: This is from Nature magazine.  It has to do with GPS, the system by which satellites interact with hand-held locater devices. 

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US tightens passport security

The document now features a digitised image 

The United States has tightened passport  security in the wake of the attacks last  September in New York and Washington.

Headline links to story

Swimming the redwoods
Underwater photographers explore California's kelp forests
The anticipation is palpable as the last of 38 divers wheel their bags full of gear up the ramp to the 88-foot Vision, which is moored at the pier in front of Truth Aquatics in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Also see: Diving the Kona Coast
 

Treatment Center for       alcohol  and other drug              dependencies   Oregon only 1-800-826-9285        National 1-800-543-9905

  Before you buy or refinance.  It's
  easy, it's quick and it's private.
  Just click on the graphic above.
 

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