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20050601 Bend OR 40/60 Cool, partly cloudy. Picture Link
We scurried out of Klamath Falls and the ANG base and headed up US-97 for Bend. We passed Klamath Lake (huge reservoir and source for most of the irrigation around here) and headed up into the high desert. Quite a few log trucks up here and not much else, until you get to Bend (pop. 65,000).
We turned in at the Goodyear dealer and arranged for them to put four new feet on the little house and to put the best of the old tires onto the spares. We went to lunch at Kayo's Sports Bar & Grill while that was being done (not bad food).
Then we went to the campground (Crown Villa) and set up the trailer. We called Art Harasek (husband of cousin who died two years ago) and his daughter Luann and told them we are around. Art asked us to lunch tomorrow at the facility in which he lives.
The campground told us someone had been here looking for us. We surmised this would be Bob Hunt and Judy Wilhelm, who we first met in Saint Ignace MI, then in Manassas VA, and then in Delta CO. We exchange notes periodically.
We hopped onto the wifi (wireless internet connection) and did all sorts of things one can do with a fast connection (bring the finances up to date, move money, get the email, look at forums you wouldn't usually spend time on).
Then we had pork chops, pasta, and salad in the little house for dinner. Then we continued the internet playing (and a little reading) until bed-time. Zonk.
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20050602 Bend OR 40/60 Cool, partly cloudy.
We got up late after staying up late. Ate a small bite, then got ready to have the trailer-cleaners come and get the bugs off the trailer.
They showed up at 10am. Then Bob & Judy called and we agreed we'd see them back at the little house at 1:30pm after lunch with Art.
We found Art's place and Art and went to his apartment by way of the pool and garden that is totally surrounded by the building. Art showed us the female mallard and her ducklings, some of which were cavorting in the pond and allowing themselves to be swept down the waterfall. Cute.
Art introduced us to his usual tablemates as we were being seated. Looks like a nice group. Some or all are bridge players as is Art and as was Helen.
The special of the day was a good-looking pizza and caesar salad. I had that, Dolores had soup and sandwich. Everything was top notch and the atmosphere really friendly. Good place.
We ducked out at 1pm and went to Hertz to arrange a car rental. This office had none to rent (big doings this weekend in the next town) but checked with another office - they did. We talked with them by phone and arranged the car.
Shortly after we arrived at the trailer, Bob & Judy pulled in. We sat outside around a little table that comes with the site and chatted until 4pm. Then Bob & Judy headed back for Sisters, where their rig is located today, saying they'd see us tomorrow when they move to the same campground we're now in. Judy invited us to dinner - something not to be missed. They dropped me off at the Hertz office on their way out of town.
We got disconnected with Art somehow - we were going to take him to dinner but it didn't work out. So we went back to his place and talked for a while and agreed to meet tomorrow and take a ride around Bend so he can show us things.
Later, we took the funny little Malibu into downtown Bend and had dinner at High Tide Seafood. Very good. Dolores even had to bring a crab cake back to the little house. My fish & chips were great.
So we're settling in to read and off to bed at an appropriate hour, not as late as last night.
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20050603 Bend OR 37/66 Clear, cool Picture Link
We ate breakfast, then picked up Art for a ride. We decided to go northeast through Prineville to one of the subsets of John Day National Monument - the Painted Hills.
We got out there in fine fashion. We stopped at the observation point over Prineville and took pictures of the town - a picturesque place in a valley. We continued to the Painted Hills.
This is a very interesting formation of hills that carry layers of volcanic sediment and ash that were formed 33 million years ago. The erosion since has left hills several hundred feet apart that have the same markings.
John Day, sez a placard at the info center, was a fur trapper/trader who was robbed by some indians along a river now called the John Day river. So many people talked about the place where he was robbed that the name of the river changed to John Day River. He was rescued in 1812 in Astoria, Oregon. He never came within 100 miles of this place.
We returned to Prineville and took a road to the Prineville Reservoir Recreation Area. We got to a junction and picked one of the roads. It went to a Recreation Area. We returned to the junction and took the other road. It also went to a Recreation Area. We talked with some young ladies who told us there was no way out. We returned to Prineville.
Then we went through Prineville and took Oregon 27 south. We went through the Crooked River valley, absolutely beautiful, and eventually came out at the dam that holds back the Prineville Reservoir. We crossed the top of the dam and kept going south, ignoring a small road that appeared to curve back on itself to the north. Later, Bob & Judy said this was the paved route back to Bend.
We continued south on OR-27. After a bit, we came to a "End of Pavement" sign and the end of the pavement. We continued down the good gravel road at about 45, raising one hell of a dust cloud. The road narrowed and we got worried. The road widened and we got more confident. The road narrowed, but power lines appeared, so we got more confident. The road ran away from the power lines, but there was US-20.
We turned onto US-20 westbound and after a bit, we turned into Conners and returned Art to Whispering Winds. Total by odometer was 260 miles, by analysis using Microsoft Streets & Trips showed 250 miles.
Then we returned to the campground. Bob & Judy had arrived and pulled in several pads down from ours. We took some wine down, and we chatted for a bit. Then Judy served this wonderful Italian concoction of asparagus, chicken, and cheese in fillo pastry, with potatoes and a nice salad of cheese, tomato and spinach leaves. It was great.
We ate and talked and ate and drank. When it started to cool, we went into their Discovery motorhome. There, we chatted some more. When sundown came at 8:30, we finally left to come home.
The wifi had been restored, so we used it, and we also printed a couple of pictures of the day's happenings.
Tomorrow, we're taking Art to Luann's resort for lunch and whatever. Then we'll come back here for whatever we get into.
A great day.
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20050604 Bend OR 38/65Cool, partly cloudy Picture Link
We arose in a leisurely manner but met Art at his facility at 10. We drove to Twin Lakes Resort (Luann's resort on South Twin Lake) and met Luann and Galyn.
We chatted and had lunch. Luann and all three daughters (Morgan, Galyn, Erin) are going to be hiking in a 5k walk supporting cancer research (if I have that right) tomorrow morning. Then we'll all gather at Art's place for lunch around noon and see what happens from there.
We drove around Mount Bachelor on the Cascade Lakes Trail (nice road, great scenery) to get back to Bend, where we refilled the rental car (400 miles on 13 gallons - not too bad). We ran around downtown briefly, then dropped Art at his place.
We returned downtown, wandered thru the Saturday Market and then camped in the Bend Library (nice place) until time for church. After church, we headed for the campground and picked up Bob & Judy.
They knew of a place called the Pines Tavern on the Deschutes River off Bond Street, so we went there. Dinner was very nice and chatting was fun. Bob brought up some writings of Mark Twain about the breeze at Virginia City that had us laughing out loud. He also knew of a Twain story on how he (Twain) obtained his talent for over-reaching humor that was wonderful.
We returned to their motorhome and looked at pictures of their new winter abode in Marana, AZ. It looks very nice. We chatted some more until we just had to get back to our little house.
They'll head over toward the coast in the morning - we'll miss them. But it will be our turn to get underway Monday.
To bed.
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20050605 Bend OR 42/55Cool, damn near cold. Partly cloudy. Picture Link
We got up fairly early and greeted Bob & Judy as they headed over toward the coast - they have a big family wedding in the offing. Then we had a big breakfast and cleaned a little.
Art called and said Luann & Morgan would be there soon, so we said we'd get right over there - and we did.
We met Luann & Morgan as they were watching the duck and ducklings in the center of the complex. The duck is now down to nine ducklings.
We had a great lunch at Art's Whispering Winds facility and chatted all through it. Luann said she saw snow flurries at the resort this morning, but nothing stuck to the ground.
The four ladies did their hike this morning in honor of their mother, my cousin Helen. They said $80,000 was raised for research, and that they were both touched and impressed by the event and the people who showed up to participate.
Morgan appears to be in charge of her world at U of Idaho. She's home for the weekend but must return tomorrow to continue summer school. She's doing that to get back in sync after changing majors.
It's payday at Luann's resort, so she had to get back out there. Morgan had plans, too, so they went one way while we went another (back to the little house to do laundry). So we said our good-byes to Art and told him we'd see him in another couple years. He said he'd watch our activities via these notes.
We returned, did laundry (found six bucks in the dryer, but it was probably Dolores's to start with), and returned the rental car to Hertz. We'd put nearly 500 miles on the little Malibu during the four days for only $89 plus gas.
So now we're taking it easy and will pick up something very informal for dinner.
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