Mt. Hood and Hood River

October 17 -

View from Drake Park

Once again we woke up to a beautiful day in Bend. After an early breakfast, we checked out of the Fairfield Inn and headed out to downtown Bend in search of a Post Office in order to mail DS's postcards to his friends. We didnt find a post office there but stopped at Drake Park right next to the Deschutes River in downtown Bend. The park offers stunning views of the surrounding foliage and the faraway Mt. Bachelor.

After getting our fill of fall pictures in the park, we headed out towards Hwy 97 and found a post-office right off the hwy. Our drive towards Mt. Hood took us through some scenic countryside, through the small town of Madras (where we stopped for food) and onto Timberline Lodge - listed as a historic landmark site. We spent some time here admiring the history of the lodge but most of its facilities like the Blue Ox Bar etc were closed. The bar upstairs was open and the view from there is pretty good. We spent some time playing shuffleboard in the game room.

DH in our rental car in front of Mt. Hood at Timberline Lodge

From Timberline Lodge, we drove to Hood River to our hotel for the night - Best Western Plus. The hotel is in a nice location right next to the Hood River bridge. Our room, the Oneanta Suite, is pretty nice too with a view of the Columbia River and the bridge.

After unloading our bags and freshening up, we drove north into Washington and then west on hwy 14 (also known as the Lewis and Clark Hwy) hoping to stop on the way to see the sunset. We started driving around 5pm and stopped at Drano Lake. Then continued on, thinking we would find lookout spots to catch the sunset. Unfortunately, there are no such points. We ended up back on the Oregon side after crossing over the Bridges of Gods past the town of Stevenson. On the Oregon side, we stopped by the river side and got some pics of the sky past sunset. We headed back to our hotel and had dinner at the Riverside Grill which is the restaurant in the Best Western. The restaurant is rated pretty high on Yelp but is nothing to write home about. It has typical American-Italian fare. The tomato soup and house garlic bread are pretty good. We also got a fairly good bottle of 2009 Merlot. But the main entrees were all lackluster.

Sunset sky at Hood River seen from the Oregon side near the Bridge Of Gods

Bend and a trip back to Crater Lake!

October 16 -

Benham Falls trail from the park

Benham Falls

We woke up to a bright, sunny day. No rains in the forecast! yaay! After the included breakfast at Fairfield Inn (MIL went on a long walk by the river park which she thoroughly enjoyed), we headed out south on Hwy 97. We were deciding whether to make the trip to Crater Lake considering the sunny weather forecast. Meanwhile we pulled over towards the Lava Lands National Park. This is the exit I was told to take, to go to Newberry National Monument but the park entrance seemed to be closed. So I continued driving towards Benham Falls state park. The road ends in a small parking lot by the river where a trailhead marks the trail to Benham Falls (~0.5m) and other falls in the area (3-7 miles distance). The walk to Benham falls was very nice - the cooperating weather made it even more enjoyable. The falls itself wasnt really a waterfall ... just the river gushing over an outcropping of rock. Nevertheless we had a good time with the walk and taking pics (of course!)

A road to the clouds... drive around the Crater Lake rim

We walked back to our car and decided to take a chance and drive to Crater Lake. We did the 2 hour drive with a short stop to fill gas before hitting hwy 138 and buying some snacks (there are no real restaurants close to Crater Lake unless you count the snack shop/restaurant at Rim Village). We reached the north entrance to the park close to 1 pm. We decided to go around the lake going from the west towards the east. The weather was clear blue sunny skies! Our first stop at Pumice Point did not disappoint - it offered us breathtaking views of the vista. The lake is all it is made out to be - a deep blue like no other and fantastic panoramic views. Our next stop was at Cleetwood Cove trail. There is no lookout here but the start of a 1m trail that leads to the lake and (in summer) to the boat tours. We went a short distance down but skipped the full hike down. It seemed worth doing but we decided it was better to focus on going around the lake. We then stopped at Cloudcap overlook and Phantom ship overlook - both give different views of the lake. From the Phantom ship overlook, a short drive away from the lake is The Pinnacles. A 7 mile drive takes you to this stop where you can see a view of the volcanic fumaroles.

The Pinnacles

After a short break here and being mesmerized by these volcanic formations, we drove out to the rim road. We continued on the east rim route and intended to stop at Vidae falls. This falls is right next to the rim road on the right. But we took a left turn away from the lake after reading a sign for "Vidae". This happens to be the road to the Vidae picnic area and the entrance to the trailhead for several hikes. These hiking trails were closed at this time but looked pretty tempting for a summer visit. After a confusing roundabout near the picnic area (where we thankfully found restrooms - there are no restrooms at any other point from Pumice Point!!) - we headed out, only to realize the falls was to our right on the rim road itself. The falls was pretty tiny - no snow yet to feed the falls. It looked like it might be pretty spectacular in spring or early summer with all the melting snow. We continued our drive along the east rim road to the Rim Village, where we grabbed a bite to eat ($4 for PB&J, anyone??? yikes!) and had some really good latte and cappuccino. The views from behind the restaurant and gift shop are pretty neat too. DH got some postcards to mail his friends from school at the gift shop. After a couple of more stops at Discovery Point and Watchman Overlook we headed back to Bend. Discovery Point is the location from where the lake was discovered by a mule rider whose mule suddenly stopped at the edge of the crater and surprised his rider. DH wondered how many stops we could possibly take to view the same lake??!! We had spent 4 hours at Crater Lake and the view from every angle is completely worth it if you are a fan of landscapes and the beauty of nature! My camera certainly loved it! :P

A pano view of the lake & Wizard Island

The drive back to Bend was uneventful and took us 2 hours. DH chose a Lebanese/middle eastern cuisine restaurant after our debacle with the Indian one the previous night. Joolz, the restaurant in downtown Bend, turned out to be very nice. The decor is quite impressive and we walked into lively chatter and very welcoming servers/hosts. Our server, Fibia (I think) was fantastic. We had several vegetarian tapas - every one of which was scrumptious! DH had a cod dish which was also very good. The cocktails were excellent and so was the date cake we ordered for dessert. I definitely recommend the place!

An awesome end to an amazing day of visual treats followed by culinary delights! :D

Crater lake

October 15 - 

The next morning our plans to go for a walk/hike up to the nearby waterfalls were squashed by the continuous rains. So instead we got ready and took in the beauty and charm of the resort and the log cabins! We really loved our accommodations and resolved to return in the summer - such is the charm of Oregon!! After a very hearty and heavy breakfast at Beckie's (which is a 85-year old tradition on Hwy 62), we checked out of the resort and decided to see some of the falls nearby.

Natural Bridges Falls

The road to Natural bridge viewpoint is 1 mile south of union creek on Hwy 62 to the right. Drive on the road till you get to the parking lot. A short walk later is a bridge to view the falls. The falls is quite lovely and you can see some amazing "natural bridges" formed from lava tubes. 

After walking around the falls and taking plenty of pics, we headed towards Crater Lake which is about 23 miles from Union Creek resort. Unfortunately for us, the visibility today was extremely poor. We attempted a drive along the west rim road but after stopping at a lookout and being blasted by cold, almost freezing winds - we gave up on seeing Crater Lake! This was a huge disappointment since we made this long detour and drive just to see the lake. It was not to be! So we just started driving towards Bend. In retrospect, we should have checked out some more falls in the area. We didnt stop to think or plan. Drive to Bend was smooth for the most part, except for some traffic congestion along hwy 97. On the way, we stopped at the High Desert Museum. This is definitely worth a short visit but its $15 pp. If you are in the area to do other activities this can be skipped. I certainly enjoyed taking pics of the butterflies in the live butterflies and hummingbird exhibit, the rattlers, owls, eagles etc. We also saw some nice fall colors on the way to Bend as well as in downtown Bend where we stopped for coffee at Looney Bean Roasting Company. This place has good coffee and an even better view of the river. We were staying at the Fairfield Inn, in downtown Bend. Its a nice place - nothing special - but good enough. We decided to have dinner at an Indian restaurant for my in-laws' sake. Dinner at Taj Palace on Wall St. in downtown Bend was probably one of the worst Indian food I have eaten! :(

Its been raining considerably this evening in Bend. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a clearer day so we can enjoy the town.

Note: the Fairfield Inn is next to train tracks. So expect to hear trains going by and hooting at all odd hours of the night! :-/