Lake Billy Chinook and the Crooked River

This has been another hot day, but right now, at 6 pm, we are getting rain, thunder, and lightning.  Maybe the weather will cool down a bit.

Due to the heat, we went for another early morning bike ride.  We rode at Dry Canyon again, but this time we only rode eight miles.  Once the ride is accomplished, we feel like we've gotten our exercise for the day.

Lake Billy Chinook

We packed a picnic lunch and headed north and west on Highway 97 to Lake Billy Chinook and Cove Palisades State Parks.  The lake was a busy place today, but we snagged a picnic table near the swimming area.  We didn't swim, but I waded in the water for a little while.  The water was cold, but not as cold as I expected.  Lots of people were swimming and floating on rafts.   

Lake Billy Chinook State Park rents boats, included patio boats and houseboats. 

Houseboats awaiting rentalA large houseboat tied up at the dock 

Views of Lake Billy Chinook from above the marina 

A fine view of Mt. Jefferson from the lake

Cove Palisades State Park contains two campgrounds.  We visited Crooked River Park and found it to be a very nice oasis of green near Lake Billy Chinook.  The park is open year-round and contains 91 sites with water and electric hookups.  Deschutes Campground, which we didn't visit, is open only in the summer and has 82 full hookup sites.

After leaving the lake, we drove back to Redmond on Highway 97 and stopped at the Peter Skene Ogden Rest Area, which besides being a rest area, has a good view of the vertical basalt cliffs that are on each side of Crooked River.  As you can see in the pictures below, there wasn't much water in the river.

Peter Skene Ogden, born in 1790, was a fur trapper and explorer of the western USA and Canada.  Many places have been named after him, including the city of Ogden, Utah.

Portrait of Peter Skene Ogden 

Crooked River is part of the Columbia River basin, being a tributary of the Deschutes River, which is tributary to the Columbia River.  It, along with some other tributaries, helped form Lake Billy Chinook (and Prineville Reservoir, which we visited last Friday).

The Crooked River High Bridge is a steel arch bridge that was completed in 1926. The bridge was eventually unable to keep up with the growing traffic demands of U.S. Highway 97 and a new bridge was built.   The old bridge is open to pedestrians.

In the other direction, a railroad bridge crosses the river.

We ended our adventure with a drive to Crooked River Ranch, checked out the two RV parks there, and admired the green (and the greens) at the golf course there.  The Ranch properties have a scenic view of the Crooked River Gorge.

'Twas another fine day in hot Central Oregon!

Prineville and Meeting A Blogging Friend

No, we didn't meet our blogging friend in Prineville.  Dave and I went to Prineville yesterday and this afternoon at the RV park, we enjoyed meeting and visiting with Loree (Life With Luci & Loree) and her dachshund, Luci.  Loree doesn't live too far from the fairgrounds RV park where we are staying.  Luci is a very well-behaved dog that likes to keep her "mom" nearby. 

Loree with Luci in her arms

The visit flew by and before we knew it, it was time for Luci to be taken home to eat her dinner.  Loree, we hope to visit in person with you again, and until then, we'll keep on reading your blog!

In the midst of Loree's visit, Dave was dealing with a problem with the motorhome's transfer switch.  Earlier we had smelled an electrical odor--never a good thing.  A mobile RV repairman came to our site and fixed us up temporarily until a new transfer switch can be ordered.  You can read all about it on Dave's blog.

Yesterday, Dave and I drove to Prineville.  We had a picnic lunch in the shade of an outdoor pavilion (I would have called it a band shelter) at a city park.  The weather was too hot for working outside, but it was nice sitting in the shade.

A bird's eye look at Prineville from Ochoco Viewpoint

Crook County Courthouse in Prineville, Oregon

Even though we've made several visits to the Bend area, we never happened to visit Prineville.  It's a decent-sized town and seems like a nice place to live.  Prineville is the headquarters of our favorite tire store, Les Schwab.

The Les Schwab warehouse complex

After lunch, we headed out of town for another seventeen or so miles and visited Prineville Reservoir.  This lake is formed from Bowman Dam and Crooked River.  Yesterday the weather was just right for boating, water skiing, and tubes pulled by boats.  The fishing is supposed to be good there, too.  There's a state park campground here, with a few full-hookup sites, and quite a few partial hookup sites.  The sites didn't look quite as inviting for big rigs, but some sites were suitable, and other, smaller rigs were enjoying the park and it was full. 

One section of Prineville Reservoir

After visiting the state park, we drove another bunch of twisty miles and reached the private Prineville Resort RV Park.  It had quite a few small sites located next to the water, but other than that it was a dusty place and not much of a "resort". 

The state park swimming area

We headed back to Redmond and enjoyed a pizza and salad dinner at one of our old haunts from our years in Riverside, California--Straw Hat Pizza. 

Turkeys and Other Friends

As Dave posted yesterday, we made a day trip to Lopez Lake, a reservoir in Arroyo Grande.  This park charged us $9 for day use which was rather steep and, as you might expect, the park was almost empty.  The summer is their high season for camping, fishing, and the water slide.

The park was very quiet except for the sounds of the ducks and birds.

We were surprised to see a flock of turkeys in the park.

Near the turkeys, we also saw a group of deer.

The park contained many camping sites and a nice lakeview playground for children.

I always like to look at the trees.

Lopez Lake has a small marina.

I am continuing to learn how to work my new e-reader, the Nook Color.  It also has a web browser, Pandora for music, and a few games, and a spot for pictures, all for no monthly fee.  The main reason that I chose to buy a Nook is so that I can download library books for free.  We've figured that part out, with a little help from a post on the technical forum. 

This afternoon we bought our first e-book, the One Year Bible.  Dave had to call technical support for help, but we finally got it downloaded.  I hope future purchases will work a little more easily. 

Oso Flaco Lake and the Dunes

After a refreshing overnight rain, the sky was still a bit overcast this afternoon as Dave and I drove about 20 minutes south of Pismo Beach on Highway 1 to Oso Flaco Lake, northwest of the small town of Guadalupe. 

This is part of the state park system, so we paid the senior day use fee of $4 to park.  The first part of the nature trail was an ordinary trail through a riparian area  containing creekside vegetation. 

Then comes the interesting park--a bridge walkway over the lake.  I forgot to take a picture of the bridge over the (non-troubled) water because I was so busy taking pictures of the lake itself.

I am sorry to report that dogs are not allowed on this trail, but it's a good place for strollers and wheelchairs and people like us who don't like to walk on water or in sand!

After crossing the lake, the bridge turned into a boardwalk through the coastal dune scrub area.

A panoramic view of the end of the boardwalk amid the dunes.

And, finally, our reward, a magnificent view of the Pacific Ocean!

I'll share just a few bits of cultural history that I found interesting about this area:

1.  Chumash Indians resided in the area, making their huts out of the willow branches, covered with tule reeds.

2.  In 1769, Spanish explorer Portola landed in the area.  While hunting for meat, his men shot a bear at a fresh water lake and named the lake, "Oso Flaco" which means "Skinny Bear".

3.  In 1923, the film "The Ten Commandments" was filmed on the dunes. 

4.  From the 1930s to the 1980s, The Dunites, a group of artists, mystics, and hermits resided in the dunes. 

A Bridge, a Park, and a Lake

Today I was a golf widow, so I took my friend, Dennis, on a short road trip.  Dennis Prager, that is, and on my iPod, not in person.  He keeps me company when I go on road trips, and keeps my mind busy while my eyes are busy taking in the scenery. 

Don’t worry, I am VERY CAREFUL when I snap pictures while I am driving! Here I am driving east on US Highway 20 west of Sweet Home, Oregon. After leaving Mallard Creek RV and Golf Resort, I drove about 25 miles and then came to Linn County’s most eastern covered bridge, Short Bridge. Short Bridge, built in 1945, is the sole survivor of the covered bridges which crossed the south fork of the Santiam River.  It’s one of the few remaining in the county to have a wooden shingle roof.   When the bridge was built, it was known as the Whiskey Butte Bridge but was renamed for a long-time resident, Gordon Short.

The view from each side of  Short Bridge.

Cascadia State Park is located just a couple of miles east of Short Bridge.   I explored the park and walked on the Soda Springs Trail.

The view of the Santiam River from the Cascadia State Park bridge.

From Cascadia, I headed back to Lebanon after stopping to admire Foster Lake.