Mount Bachelor, Oregon

Due to the hot day that was predicted, Dave and I went for our bike ride early in the morning again today.  The first two days we were in Redmond we rode around the fairgrounds.  Yesterday we drove to Eagle Crest Resort to ride, and today we drove to a bike path in Redmond called Dry Canyon.  Today's ride was 10 miles.  We always feel good when we've accomplished what we set out to do.

After returning to the motorhome, taking naps(!), then eating lunch, we were revived enough to leave for our day's excursion to Mount Bachelor.  We drove south to Bend, then west and south on the Cascade Lakes Scenic Highway.

Mount Bachelor

Mount Bachelor offers a summer sightseeing ride on the ski lifts to the top of the mountain.  We paid our $16 each, and hopped on the ski lift. 

When we arrived at the top of the ski lift, we got off to look at the scenery.  We got a close up view of the mountain.  We saw good views of the Three Sisters Mountains, too.

Proof that I was there...

...and so was Dave!

On the way back down the ski lift my phone camera refused to take any more pictures after this one.

The price of the ticket allowed us to ride as many times as we liked.  At the top of the mountain, a restaurant was open.  We were surprised to see a disc golf course at the top, too.  Players ride up and then work their way back down playing the disc golf course.

It was another fun, scenic day in the Redmond, Oregon area!

Evergreen Aviation Museum, McMinnville, OR

We are staying at Olde Stone Village RV Park in McMinnville, Oregon for the last few days.  The RV park is reasonably priced at less than $30/ day with a Good Sam discount.  The park has nice paved sites with full hookups including 50 amp and good free Wifi and cable TV.  There's a playground, a sports court where we played pickleball, and a pool.  For garbage, the park has a trash compactor, which we've never seen at an RV park. 

The best part about this RV park, however, is its proximity to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum.  There's a path leading from the park to the museum, which we took this morning when we went on an all-day visit to the museum. 

The museum admission price is a bit steep at $27 per adult, which includes admission to the aviation museum, the space museum, and one IMAX movie.  With our AAA discount, though, we only paid $20 per person for the two of us.  

This museum houses the Howard Hughes' infamous Spruce Goose seaplane  which flew only once.  Sometime in the early 1980s, Dave and I visited the Spruce Goose at its old home in Long Beach, California, next to the Queen Mary luxury liner.

We moved from California to Washington in January, 1993, and during 1993 the Spruce Goose made its way by barge from Long Beach, CA to Astoria, OR, then up the Columbia River, and up the Willamette River until it finally arrived by truck in McMinnville.  The Spruce Goose was reassembled, painted, and installed at its new home at the newly-built Evergreen Aviation Museum. 

This was our first visit to this fine museum.  We chose to watch the noon showing of the 3-D IMAX movie about the Hubble Space Telescope.  Dave and I always enjoy IMAX movies, and this one was definitely worth seeing!

The newest addition to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum is an indoor waterpark called Wings and Waves.  The waterpark opened yesterday and looks to be a hit with anyone liking water slides and wave pools.  The difference between this and any other waterpark, is that the slides in this park originate in a 747 jet on top of the roof of the waterpark.  The waterpark admission charge is $30 per adult and $25 per child. 

  The water slides come out of the 747.

An actual piece of the Berlin Wall

 

Rhododendrons outside the museum

Cashmere, WA

My pictures are of the historic Pioneer Village Museum in Cashmere, a town on Highway 2 between Leavenworth and Wenatchee.  For a small town, there are several places to visit there.  The Cider Mill Tasting Room is located just south of town, the Aplets and Cotlets factory tour is right in town and has a gift shop featuring all their goodies, and Pioneer Village is located at the east end of town.   Dogs are not permitted inside the grounds of the pionner village, but RV parking is available.  Admission was $5.50 which included the fairly large museum plus the outdoor grounds which contained all the cabin buildings.

The museum housed a wide variety of displays.

Tomorrow morning we head back home.  We've had a enjoyable time visiting the Wenatchee area!  Thanks for following along!

Leavenworth, WA

Today was my birthday and I got to pick our destination.  I chose Leavenworth, a quaint Bavarian village located in an alpine setting along Washington's Highway 2.   In 1962, after the Great North Railroad relocated from Leavenworth to Wenatchee, the town's economy became sluggish.  After visiting the Danish-themed town of Solvang in California, a committee suggested that Leavenworth could be remade into a Bavarian village.  The idea caught on, and today Leavenworth is a year-round thriving tourist village.  Arrive early, because it's hard to park!

The snow-capped mountains add to the charm of Leavenworth

We didn't buy any souvenirs, but Dave and I had a good time window shopping and taking pictures.  After brunch at Cafe Verona, we walked all around the town and then walked downhill to the path along the Wenatchee River.  Suddenly we were away from the mobs of tourists and enjoying the beauty of nature, along with the company of a few other nature-lovers. 

From the path along the Wenatchee River

After spending a few hours in the Leavenworth area, we drove back to our motorhome.  We are parked at the Chelan County Expo Center in Cashmere, a few miles east of Leavenworth and a few miles west of Wenatchee.  One other motorhome came into this park yesterday, and our two rigs have the place to ourselves.  Sunday afternoon we will return to Wenatchee Confluence State Park for a few more days. 

Since we ate brunch in Leavenworth, we decided to eat dinner in Cashmere.  It's my birthday, you know, so I can't cook today!  We stumbled onto a non-fancy, but oh so tasty barbecue place called Country Boy's.  Yummy, yummy food--we highly recommend it if you're in the area and like southern-style BBQ.

Oink, oink--you'll get a lot to eat at Country Boy's

We rounded out the day by watching a DVD of The King's Speech.  It was a great movie, and I can see why it won so many awards.  Now my birthday is almost over and I can relax until next year, when I face the big 6-0 birthday!

Thanks for indulging me today, Dave!