• South Beach State Park (Newport, OR)
• Tumalo State Park (Bend, OR)
• Prineville Reservoir State Park (Prineville, OR)
• Maryhill State Park (Goldendale, WA)
• Collier State Park (Klamath Falls, OR)
• Whitehorse County Park (Grants Pass, OR)
• Fort Stevens State Park (Astoria, OR)
• Emigrant Lake County Park (Ashland, OR)
• LaPine State Park (Bend, OR)

• Pioneer Ford Campground (Camp Sherman, OR)
• Gorge Campground (Camp Sherman, OR)
• Indian Henry Campground (Estacada, OR)
• Paradise Campground (McKenzie Bridge, OR)

• Ilwaco KOA (Ilwaco, WA)
• Burnaby Cariboo RV Park (Vancouver, BC, Canada)
• Wine Country RV Park (Prosser, WA)
• Peach Beach RV Park (Goldendale, WA)
• RV Resort at Cannon Beach (Cannon Beach, OR)
• Hiouchi Hamlet RV Resort (Crescent City, CA)
• Round Lake RV & Golf Resort (Klamath Falls, OR)
• Portland-Dayton RV Park (Dayton, OR)
• Seven Feathers RV Park (Canyonville, OR)

We've always enjoyed camping in Central Oregon and Camp Sherman is one of the best places to spend a week I know of! There's about a dozen Deschutes NF campgrounds scattered along the Metolius River in this area.  It's dry camping, but quiet & beautiful and the fly fishing is world-renowned!  

A sad footnote: shortly after these pictures were taken a nasty forest fire ran through the area burning 90,000+ acres!  I don't think this particular CG was touched but it was pretty darn close!

Astoria is known for the Astor column which Kris & I try to visit periodically - 164 steps to the top!  Another neat attraction is the Fort Clatsop National Memorial where Lewis & Clark holed up for the winter.  We also found an interesting little winery named Shallon (Latin name for the Salal plant is Gaultheria shallon) that makes a killer chocolate wine!

For our 25th anniversary we spent a week in Burnaby, BC (just East of Vancouver) at Burnaby Cariboo RV Park, one of the nicest I've ever seen! I'm not a big private park guy but this place was amazing: paved sites with brick walks, individual grass lawns, hedges separating you from your neighbor (in a mammoth class A bus most likely), etc.  They had great communal facilities too with an inside pool & spa, workout room, laundry, game room, and a very well-stocked store!  We got one of their special packages which included four days lodging, an all-day tour of Vancouver, transit passes, and dinner at Horizons Restaurant on top of Burnaby Mountain!

Vancouver was fine - glad we took the tour as we never would have seen all that we did.  The tourist areas like Chinatown & Gas Town were ... well ... touristy; but the gardens at Queen Elisabeth Park & Stanley Park made up for it! Grouse Mountain and Capilano Suspension Bridge were also excellent.

• Tefft Cellars - Great Cab-Merlot available in a 4 liter box!
• Wineglass Cellars - One of few who make a Zin, great deal on Cab.
• Snoqualmie Vineyards - Super prices, Owned by a big producer.
• Willow Crest Winery - One of the best stops, Great Syrah & Sangio.
• Apex Cellars -Always a top pick for Syrah & Cab
• Maryhill Winery - In the Columbia Gorge, but uses grapes from all over,  Excellent wines.
• Yakima River Winery - A long-time producer, the Chateau Yakima is good.
• Hyatt Vineyards - On a hilltop with panoramic views, Live music for SBT.
• Silver Lake Winery - Another good view, Used to be Covey Run?
• Maison de Padgett Winery - Awesome landscaping, Best terrace.
• Kestrel Vintners - Attended their Spring Winemaker's Dinner & had some excellent wines.

Always a favorite is South Beach SP on the central Oregon coast. This is pretty big park with over 225 campsites and a bunch of Yurts for those less-equipped. We like it because of the proximity to the City of Newport; which has managed to hold onto it's small-town character pretty well.  On this trip the weather didn't cooperate much with frequent rain & temperatures in the mid-50's.  But we stayed warm & dry inside the Chalet at night and managed to find some indoor activities during the day such as the Oregon Coast Aquarium, Pirate's Plunder Antique Mall, etc.

In late June we camped at Tumalo SP, which is right on the banks of the Deschutes River about five miles outside of Bend. Kristi's brother lives there & her parents in nearby Sisters so we had lots of visitors, but still managed to squeeze in a visit to the High Desert Museum and do some mountain biking along the river towards Mt. Bachelor.  Our nephew works at the Deschutes Brewery and arranged for a private tour - very cool - and we meet Kristi's brother & sis-in-law for dinner at a trendy place for dinner at The Blacksmith Restaurant. Weather was good except for a thunderstorm & rain one day, but temps in the mid-80's dried out everything quickly.

Maryhill Winery has a very nice amphitheater that overlooks the Columbia River near Goldendale, Washington. They offer a nice selection of concerts during the summer so we decided to catch Hootie and The Blowfish in late July. These guys are a near-classic Southern rock band and put on a great show. We had planned on staying at the beautiful Maryhill State Park located about 5 miles from the winery, but they were full (no reservations accepted) probably with other concert attendees!  Fortunately we found space at Peach Beach RV Park right next door, which turned out to be a pretty nice place too. This privately-owned campground is well known to the windsurfers who frequent the area because of the steady winds. The next day we stopped at the nearby Maryhill Museum of Art which I've always wanted to see but invariably was closed when I was in the area before.  Very impressive collection of collections!  We also discovered the tiny Cascade Cliffs Winery a few miles West that makes some great Petite Syrah and a rare Italian varietal named "Nebbiolo" which was delicious.

As mentioned in our 7/03 trip, this area is one of our favorite places to camp in Oregon. This trip was little different was we actually came over to visit with Kristi's father, who was recovering from a serious infection in nearby Sisters.  As such, we really used the Chalet more as a little motel and spent very little time in the campground; which was too bad because we had a great campsite right on the bank of the Metolius River!  The trip will be memorable because of an unusual problem we had with our LP regulator: shortly after setting up the trailer & lighting the hot water heater we heard a loud hiss from the propane tanks.  Closer inspection revealed gas was gushing from the automatic change-over valve - so much it drained our tanks in the time it took for us to react & close the valves!  Great...dry camping with no propane and a fridge full of food.  Fortunately we found a workable replacement in Sisters & got back to normal, but it was pretty disconcerting!

On the advice of Kristi's parents we reserved a site in mid-September at Prineville Reservoir SP in central Oregon, about an hour away from Bend.  They booked one of the excellent deluxe cabins right next door & planned to join us for the weekend; but as luck would have it they weren't able to attend.  Fortunately my Mom was free and thrilled to take over the cabin, which was great since we had to reserve it several months in advance and hated to lose our turn.  The weather was beautiful; typical Oregon Indian summer with clear sunny days & cool nights.  This was our first visit to the park and will definitely return as it was expertly maintained (Our site was even raked clean as a whistle by the camp hosts!) and the roads recently refurbished.

As mentioned above in "Peach Beach RV Park" there's a nice winery (Maryhill) in the Columbia River Gorge on the Washington side near the Hwy 97 crossing. We belong to the winery's Gold Club and decided to attend one of their exclusive barrel tastings in late January.  There are no motels nearby but fortunately this park is just a few miles down the road.

We actually had reservations at this campground about six months earlier, but had to back out at the last minute because of illness.  The two other couples we planned to meet there had a great time without us (hmmm?) and highly recommended the place so we ventured over to the coast in early March.  Fortunately the weather was great during the mild El Niño winter this year so we really enjoyed our pre-Spring getaway weekend!

Besides the fine galleries (we really liked Rhodes Stringfellow) & shopping (found some interesting Chinese Health Balls in Fair Winds and fascinating laser-etched crystal images at Rare Discovery) in this little artist's colony, Cannon Beach has a nice long beach nestled amongst huge rock formations typical of the Northern Oregon coast. Nearby Ecola State Park offers some of the most spectacular views from an elevated bluff North of town.

Hiouchi Hamlet RV Resort (Hiouchi means "high clear water" and was a life sustaining area for the native Yurok and Tolowa Indians) offers sites by the day or week for recreational camping as well as monthly for permanent live-in residents; which appears to be about 25% of the park.  Another 25% or so seem to be fishermen who rent their sites long-term & store their RV's permanently for visits on weekends or vacations.

We were originally slated for a site on the NE end of the park, but when the grandmotherly lady who checked us in saw our Chalet she immediately switched us to a spot across from the only restroom facilities on the other end of the park.  Bless her heart, that would have been an ugly walk in the dark & rain!  Our site was equipped with a nice concrete patio, a picnic table, utilities positioned along a sturdy concrete "Jersey Barrier", and overlooked a grassy common area surrounded by other campsites.  The restroom & showers were top-notch and almost obsessively clean which is certainly to our benefit!

We were really looking forward to this stop and brought our golf clubs & bicycles specifically to enjoy at this "resort".  But when we arrived around 4:30 PM after a fairly tense drive on a twisting mountain road, the shock was palatable as we drove through the park.  I found myself silently hoping it was the wrong address as we slowly motored by one mobile home after another; obviously inhabited by long-term residents as evidenced by the variety of auxiliary structures like decks & storage sheds!  As we got closer to the office/club house there were thankfully a few RV's mixed in - all 5th wheels I think - but they too appeared to have taken root judging by the tall grass surrounding them.

After being directed to a 30-something gal who was apparently managing the golf course as well as the "camping", we showed her our email registration confirmation for the next two nights. "Well, let's see if we can find a place to put you - all our trailer sites are pretty full." were NOT the words we wanted to hear.  So I set out on foot with her and after walking around a bit she decided we could have our pick of four empty sites up near the entrance. "It's kind of a walk to the bathrooms" she said, "but it's the closest I've got!".  Being in no mood to argue (shock?) we agreed & drove over to get settled.

The "sites" are exactly what you'd expect...if you want to erect a mobile home on one.  The electric was pretty standard, but the sewer was about 25' away (about the width of a double-wide, eh?) and the water spigot was buried under an insulated plywood box yet another 20' towards the front of the site.  Since there really wasn't any clear definition of where I was supposed to park (the entire site was covered with weeds and the occasional patch of gravel) I spotted the trailer about halfway between the sewer & electric.  Fortunately I carry a 25' 30-amp extension cord so we were able to plug in; but the sewer was out of reach so I just used our grey water tank. 

The water supply was interesting: after we figured out where it was hidden, I was digging out the gravel from around the spigot when the manager drove up (turns out she lived in the first MH next door). "Is there a problem?" she asked.  I told her I couldn't turn the valve handle because it was buried under about a foot of mud & rocks, but got enough out a few minutes later to spin the valve...and nothing came out!  "I'll get the maintenance man right away!" she blurted and sped off in her truck. Ten minutes later a grizzled handyman drove up in a beat-up golf cart & proceeded to dig away more dirt.  Apparently there was another valve further down only he knew about & soon had water flowing through my hose - which was unfortunately about 10" too short to reach the trailer. Crap! The thing was already jacked & leveled with the awning out and I didn't feel like moving; so I attached the filter to the hose and managed to spray enough water into my water tank filler to use our onboard system! 

We settled down after that (and a few cocktails), BBQ'd some dinner, had some wine and decided we could stick it out for two days.  The darn mosquitoes were pretty fierce though so there was no lounging outside...not like we had a table or fire ring to enjoy anyway! Beside, with all the kids playing in the street & residents watching us we felt like we were intruders or on display.  Most uncomfortable.

The next morning we drove into Klamath Falls for some sightseeing & decided to visit the Collier Logging Museum about 30 miles North of town.  Our original plan was to stop there on the way up to our next stop, but frankly we didn't want to spend any more time in that creepy "resort" than we had too!  As we approached the museum we saw a sign for the Collier State Park campground & decided to check that out first.  As we drove around the camp sites we simultaneously looked at each other after about 5 minutes and both blurted out "we're here!".  We skipped the museum, sped immediately back to Round Lake, tore down & hooked up the trailer in record time (34 min.), and hightailed back to Collier!  Slept like a baby that night!

This campground was a rare find (although my father-in-law told me a couple times it must have just whizzed over my head).  Perhaps it was our recent experience with Round Lake (above) that made it so attractive, but we think this is a really neat little park. Nestled in the high desert pines just North of Klamath Falls, the campsites are cleared for brush but far enough apart so you still have some privacy and the many trees offer good shade during the day.  Restroom facilities were clean & in good repair.  Very level gravel parking slots edged with timbers make for a neat campsite and I'd swear ours looked like it had been freshly raked!   Seems very popular with the retired Class A crowd, so you know it's going to be quiet & under control.  Some skeeters but nothing like the night before so we enjoyed a nice fire & watched the stars come out.

The 1/4 mile walk to the logging museum is well worth the effort & amazingly was free admission!  There's enough vintage logging equipment on display to satisfy the "Tim Taylor" in every man!  We just missed their annual "Living History Day" (held on Father's Day) when they fire up some steam engines & demonstrate how this stuff actually works!  Also period  costumes, food, demonstrations, music, hay rides, etc. We'll definitely put it on the calendar for next year!

Despite this depressing series of discoveries we managed to have a nice little weekend, even scored a decent site without a reservation on Friday about 7 PM!  There's plenty to do in the area too:  Bagby Hot Springs is only a few miles up the road and always worth the hike in!  The Mt. Hood National Forest offers a variety of recreational activities such as climbing and hiking in the summer and skiing during the winter.  And of course, you can always enjoy the whitewater rafting and fishing on the nearby Clackamas River itself.

It turned out to be pretty decent for a county operation and one of eight parks in the area, six of which are on the Rogue River. Fairly close to Grants Pass, it's surrounded by homes & farms but manages to maintain a fairly good sense of "wilderness" so you still feel like you're camping!  (For future reference, we stopped at Indian Mary during a tour and decided this was really the place to stay, but it was booked solid on one day of our trip so we took the advice of the reservations clerk and picked Whitehorse)

Besides the rafting & fishing in the area, we took a nice 4-mile hike to Rainie Falls which offered some spectacular photo ops & a chance to see wild Salmon beginning their migration upstream to spawn.

All the sites have nice concrete parking pads & patios with lawns & a single tree separating you from your neighbor.  Fairly close together, but it was fine for a couple days. Water, sewer, and 20, 30, & 50-amp power is provided along with limited CATV & telephone for full-timer's (about 100 people live there permanently they say).  There's a multipurpose building located up front (why can't they put it in the middle of the park?) with restrooms & showers, pool & spa, laundry facilities, rec room with kitchen & pool table, and an exercise room stocked with several types of machines.  All was in good repair, but the men's room was a little on the messy side - needs a through cleaning & paint job.

After getting settled we headed for Monrovia Growers outside of Dayton where we heard they have an expansive demonstration garden available to help consumers select plants (even though its a wholesale operation and you have to buy at retailers). We're getting ready to finish up our backyard landscaping (only taken 20 years!) and really need some help getting off dead center so we figured this could work nicely.  I took a bazillion pictures of stuff we liked and you should see the office building there - it could easily double as a resort lodge!

That night we had reservations at the Joel Palmer House restaurant for our anniversary dinner; someplace we really wanted to try after hearing glowing reviews about it for several years.  I must admit the Czarnecki's were more than up for the task . . . absolutely delicious food dominated by mushrooms of all kinds. We started out with Heidi's excellent "Three-Mushroom Tart" (which turned out to be more of a slice of mushroom pie!).  This was followed by "Joe's Wild Mushroom Soup", a velvety puree swizzled with a little crème fraiche that we fought over (Kris had the salad - too bad!).  Then I had a perfectly-cooked Filet Mignon with a tasty Pinot Noir sauce accompanied by . . . what else . . . wild mushrooms.  The wife choose the free range chicken which was fine, but hey! . . . you can get that anywhere!  Dessert was a belt-busting Peanut Butter & Chocolate pie which was perfect for the last of the '99 Northstar Merlot we brought down.  Highly recommended, although somewhat pricey:  $130 for two including the $15 corkage & mandatory 18% gratuity.

The next day we had a leisurely breakfast and hit the wineries around noon.  First stop was Cuneo Cellars in Carlton where we shared a tasting ($5 refunded with purchase) and picked up a bottle of their Two-Rivers Bordeaux and a Bricco Italian blend. 

Right next door was the Carlton Winemaker's Studio, which is kind of an prototype co-op for up to ten resident winemakers who share the equipment & cellar space.  Kris tried the Pinot flight & I took on the Mixed reds ($10 tasting fee per flight) - all were excellent - and we left with a bottle each of the Andrew Rich 03 "Cuvee B" Pinot Noir, Dominio IV 03 Tempranillo, Andrew Rich 02 "Coup De Etat" Rhone blend, and a nice Domain Meriwether "Discovery" sparkler.

Since we were right there we stopped next at The Depot, a beautifully-restored decommissioned train station in the center of town which features Tyrus Evan wines (a new label for Ken Wright). There we met Dale West who has worked for Ken for 15 years and is a virtual fountain of Northwest (and elsewhere) wine knowledge.  We each had a complimentary sip of KW Chardonnay as a palate cleaner and then shared one of their generous Claret/Syrah flights ($9). Dale explained how the term Claret, which is an English word for mixed red wine, is now being used to describe Bordeaux-style blends in Oregon without running afoul of the French wine police.  We left the place with a bottle each of the 03 Walla Walla (my pick) & 03 Del Rio Claret (Kris pick) plus one of the those reliable Ken Wright 03 "Celilo" Chardonnays.

Last stop was Domain Drouhin outside of Lafayette, a French-owned 220+ acre vineyard known for their stunning Pinot's.  The view is spectacular and a great way to end the day with some good cheese, dry salami, and of course, dark chocolate! We picked up a couple bottles of their 02 "Classique" Pinot Noir, which is actually their less-expensive wine but I preferred it over their signature "Laurène". BTW, the 03 Chardonnay "Arthur" they poured at first was incredible for an Oregon Chard & going fast.

Also nearby in McMinnville is the Evergreen Aviation Museum, home of Howard Hughes' infamous Spruce Goose.  I've been there before and since they are undergoing a major expansion we decided to wait until they're finished before visiting again.

The campground is divided into two sections roughly parallel to the coast with several loops in each : C-J to the North and A, L-O to the South.  (Not sure what happened to K!)  These are separated from the beach by an expansive grassland preserve laced with bike paths and access roads.  There are a series of parking lots running up the coast from the park towards the end of the peninsula created by the mouth of the Columbia River, each with a different perspective or point of interest.

Because of the incredible amount of rain this area has received lately (normally 66 inches annually, this year 24" in the last month alone!) and the chilly temperature (mid-40's) we used the campground primarily as a "cheap motel" while visiting nearby Astoria.  The town has apparently undergone a cultural renaissance since our last visit in 2003 (see Ilwaco KOA).  Lots of trendy new art galleries (Valley Bronze, Lunar Boy) and shops.  We stumbled across the tavern attached to the Silver Salmon Grille which sports a beautiful 120 year old antique bar constructed of Scottish Cherry wood that was shipped around Cape Horn in the 1880's!  As luck would have it they also have tastings of their house wine, specially bottled by our old friends Maryhill up the Columbia Gorge.  Our server (who was excellent BTW) claims they have a special crush just for them, but it sure tasted familiar...time will tell. That didn't stop us from picking up a half-case each though as the wine was very good for the price! After that we discovered the Cellar on 10th - probably one of the finest wine shops I've seen.  The selection was top-notch and they were tasting some excellent Bergevin Lane wines that day (too bad we blew our budget at SSG but these were quite a bit more expensive - like double!).  Gary Bergevin was a founding partner of Canoe Ridge Vineyard in Walla Walla (one of our favorites in that area) so we picked up a bottle of their Cab. Sauvignon.

We were invited to join some friends at the Greatest of The Grape in Southern Oregon this spring.  Amazing we've never heard of this event considering it's been going on for 36 years!  (I suppose we're just typical urban snobs who think Oregon consists of the Portland metropolitan area surrounded by barren desolation!) 

On the way we stopped at Abacela Vineyards where we're members of their Llaneros wine club ("Ya-nAIR-o" is Spanish for Ranger - not sure what that has to do with wine!) to taste the latest releases.  Always a good stop and we picked up half a dozen bottles since we don't make it down this way too often

The GOTG was a very swanky affair and has been held at the Seven Feathers Convention Center for the past dozen years; so we thought it prudent to stay at their adjacent RV park. It's a fairly small campground tucked in next to the convention center and seems targeted to the retired Class A set (who apparently carry lots of cash in those big storage compartments).  We were the smallest rig by far but nobody looked down on us and in fact we met some very MH people in the spa the next day.  Nicely laid out sites with level concrete pads plus an adjacent parking space for your tow vehicle or toad, depending on your configuration. 

We really appreciated the classy pool, spa, & sauna in the chilly weather; but the long walk to use the restrooms got pretty old - thank God for that Porta-Potti at night!  We finally started using the free shuttle that ran every 15 min or so all day & night; which seemed like cheating at first but when it's 27° outside we soon changed our tune!  The only other drawback I could see (or more accurately: hear) was the constant noise from Interstate about 1,000 ft, away. The relatively thin walls of the Chalet did little to block out the down-shifting trucks & exhaust brakes serenading us all night!

If you're on a budget you can stay for free at the dry camping area just down the hill from us.  No resort privileges but the shuttles do run down there.  It filled up completely on Sat for the GOTG, was empty by noon the next day, then full again that night for the mid-week crowd.  Amazing turnover!

The weather was clear & crisp on Sunday so we drove over to nearby Winston to visit Wildlife Safari, a 600-acre drive-thru animal park that I've never had a chance to see.  Interesting concept - sort of like driving through a zoo where the people are in the cages & the animals watch us!  Not too many lions & bears wandering around yet, but it's still early for the carnivores I guess.

We have some good friends who frequently make the 275 mile drive down to Ashland for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and discovered this almost-new campground last year.  They raved about how nice it was so we jumped at the chance when invited to tag along this year!  As advertised, it was one of the nicest facilities we've stayed in and barely broken in - amazing for a county park that gets a lot of use during the summer months! In addition to "The RV Park" where we stayed, the 800-acre Emigrant Lake complex offers tent & group campgrounds, several picnic areas, boat launches, even a waterslide!

We arrived on a sunny Friday afternoon, took our time setting up, and then enjoyed some nice wine with a late supper. The stars were incredible - with no clouds & very little ambient light we could see 'em all...even the Milky Way!  Unfortunately it's becoming harder & harder to experience that kind of view in the Portland area: a million+ people tend to generate a lot of light which washes out the night sky.

The next morning we headed into Ashland to check out the play situation. As luck would have it no tickets to any of the performances were available (unless you want to buy from a scalper) so we decided to some touring instead and headed North to the Rogue Creamery to pick up the Rogue River Blue cheese we both pre-ordered.  This stuff is so good it's sold-out before they even make it so for last couple years we've been ordering some for the next year when we pick up our current portion.

Frequent visitors of this site probably know we can't resist visiting a winery or two when traveling so we stopped at Paschal Winery & I picked up a couple bottles of 2003 Skipper’s Cuvée Pinot Noir (from second label Dobbes Family Estate).  It was quite different from the PN we see in the Willamette Valley near Portland & I really liked it.  After that we sampled the wares at RoxyAnn Winery where all were good, but they seemed a little too interested in mass marketing for our tastes.  I did manage to score some of their 2004 Claret before we beat a hasty retreat though.

Our friends are big Margarita fans so we stopped at the beautifully-restored Ashland Springs Hotel bar for cocktails before dinner.  The two guys working behind the bar were very friendly & entertaining (and make pretty darn good drinks too) so we all had a great time.  Then it was a short walk down Main St. to Pasta Piatti, a busy Italian place serving some great, reasonably-priced food.  Unfortunately the cold Kristi had been fighting off the past few days was finally winning so we cut it short and brought most of our meals home so she could get some rest.  I've got to compliment our server on the excellent job of boxing the meals so the food could be enjoyed at it's best from home (and was).

But alas...our night was pretty much ruined when we discovered a group of at least three families had moved into a vacant trailer site behind us earlier in the day. They were all staying in tents and apparently figured the flat, clean campsite with electricity & running water was worth the extra $6; plus it was a lot less crowded than the tent campground.  We didn't think too much about it when we returned around 8 PM, but the blaring music kept getting louder and the laughter & whooping more frequent as the alcohol consumption increased.  We gritted it out with our friends until almost 10 & finally decided listening to the A/C in our respective trailers was preferable even though the stars were beautiful.  Kristi, already in bed with her cold medication, of course slept through it all!  The next day we heard from others around us the party was still going strong past midnight - so much for the "Night Security on Duty" they advertised!

We actually had reservations at this campground last year at this time but had to cancel due to forest fires in the immediate vicinity!  Glad we made it this year as it's a very nice place to spend a few days in the Chalet!

LaPine is about 20 miles South of Bend and right on the edge of the 50,000+ acre Newberry National Volcanic Monument, a spectacular region of lakes, lava flows, and volcanic geologic features.  The campground is located along the banks of the Deschutes River and is quiet & isolated because it's located several miles off the highway at the dead end of an access road.  It's showing it's age a bit, but the sites are large & surrounded by fragrant Pine & Juniper.

On the first full day of our four-day trip we headed to the visitor center and immediately drove to the top of Lava Butte (elev. 5,020 ft.) to take full advantage of the clear skies.  The view was amazing as we walked around the trail encircling the rim of the actual volcanic crater.  Next we moved in a totally different direction - about 100 ft. underground - as we explored the 5400' long Lava River Cave a couple miles down the road.  Pretty chilly with year around temperature of 40º and it was DARK!  We walked as far as we could without bending over, which was pretty close to the end I think.

The weather was not so good on day two, so we spent most of the time indoors visiting with Kristi's parents in nearby Sisters.  We also met up with her sister-in-law who lives in Bend and had a light dinner at the Vino Mercato Bistro and Wine Bar, a trendy new place downtown. Some camping eh?

Day three took us to Sunriver, a well-established resort & residential community just outside of Bend on Hwy 97.  We hadn't been there for 30 years exactly (college fraternity party when we were just 21 - yikes!) and it was interesting to see how they've fended off the ravages of time!  Next we drove South a few miles to another portion of the Newberry Monument to visit Paulina Lake, Paulina Creek Falls, Obsidian Flow, & the 8,000' elev. Paulina Peak.  There's also an interesting old lodge on the lake that's been in operation since 1929 and boasts several state fishing records.  We found several small seasonal USDA campgrounds along the way such as Little Crater & East Lake that we definitely plan to check out in the future!

It was 24° on the morning of our last day and I was amazed the water line didn't freeze!  Since this campground is open all winter I was curious how they deal with the cold Central Oregon temperatures - turns out they simply turn off the water!  It was sunny & warmed quickly so we took our time breaking camp.  Lots of people came in the night before (Fri) so our loop was pretty full & buzzing with people.  It was such a nice day we took the slightly longer Government Camp route on Mt Hood over the Cascades back to the valley.  Hard to find prettier scenery!