We looked forward to Bend's food and hiking culture. At the end of May, hiking was opening up as the snow was melting. Hard to believe coming from Florida that there would be snow in low mountains on Memorial Day. But we found out, the hard way.
 |
| BEND!!! |
 |
| Mcmenamins converted school - now a complex with whisky bar! |
 |
| Resident Alien |
 |
| fancy coffee, croissant |
 |
| seen at farmers market |
 |
| ancient Guinness at brewery |
 |
delish breakfast sandy
|
The hike to Tumalo Falls opened THAT MORNING! Trails werent yet cleared from winter and snow prevented hiking further than the 3rd falls. We found this out when we encountered an early hiker making her way back down. She said, just keep going because its worth it, and is hikeable to the 3rd falls. Otherwise, we'd stopped much sooner
 |
| heading to Tumalo Falls |
.
 |
| Tumalo Falls |
 |
| snows! |
 |
| Falls #2 |
 |
| buttes around Bend |
 |
| watcher of water |
 |
| Mt Hood |
We drove over to Sisters OR, a cowboyish town. Good eatin'! Beautiful scenery! Best almond croissant on the trip.
 |
| scenery along the drive |
 |
| great food truck park |
 |
| delish brisket |
 |
| Imposing Barbershop - no walkins allowed! |
 |
| Dino- mascot with Turk's glasses |
 |
| the town of Sisters |
South from Bend, we headed to the Volcano Scenic Highway. First park was Newberry Volcanic Monument. Newberry volcano, the largest in the Cascades. Started erupting 500,000 years ago, massive lava flows over 1200 sq miles with over 400 cinder cones. The last eruption was 1300 years ago. I LOVE volcanoes!
 |
| up to Lava Butte |
 |
| erupted 7000 yrs ago, 9 sq mi lava flow below |
 |
| looking into the cinder cone |
 |
| lava flow! |
Then we headed south into northern CA to Lava Beds National Monument near Tule Lake (sounds familiar because Tule Lake is the site of a Japanese Internment Camp from WWII).
 |
| Lava formed volcanic vents, underwhich are caves and lava tubes |
 |
| stairs down to lava tube |
 |
| inside a lava tube |
Have you ever been stuck in the snow, in a remote-no cell service-area, as the day is wrapping up? Well, the Turk and I can answer YES!
I didn't get the clues that our googlemap road was isolated. It was paved, so... we didn't think the snow patch was a big deal, and we had an SUV, sooo. Ends up, this SUV is no higher than a sedan. And, the locals know the road is closed into mid June.
Thank goodness I finally got a 911 connection. While waiting the hour and half for
sheriff, a nice German couple drove up in their RV and tried to help us dig the car out, with sticks. No success, but they made us nice hot tea and coffee.
Finally Modoc county Sheriff Jason Ferris arrived, surveyed the situation and proclaimed we had a problem. He did try digging out snow with his shovel, and we got to play with his K9 german Shepard, but car didn't budge. Seems we'd wedged the frame with packed snow and ice. The wheels didn't even touch the ground !
Officer Ferris called the tow truck guy. Hour and half later, a bear of a guy driving a flashing monster of a truck appears, surveys the situation and says, I've got this. And he did.
I sat in the SUV driver's seat, ready to slam on brakes when we got free, so I wouldn't hit the truck. The car fought any movement. I thought-youve got to be kidding! Then, pow! -we broke free, I hit the brake once we were out of the snow patch. And, $700 later, we were on the road...the right road, in the dark with a full moon lighting our way.
 |
| Turks realizes this is complicated |
 |
| Sheriff, and dog, arrive to help |
 |
| Sheriff Ferris works like heck, but no progress |
 |
| cavalry arrives! |
 |
| Big truck and Big Guy |
 |
| Ready with the winch!! And we got outta there! |
