Top photo: Old Mill District on the Deschutes River.
"Home again... Chilling in Bend. Of all the places we've been, it always feels like coming home when we pull into Bend!"
Update: This post was first published on August 15th, when we arrived in Bend for our summer visit. We returned on November 1st for the winter.
"A short drive from our last campground is this state park that's located south of Reedsport that we wanted to checkout. It tucked in the woods on Eel Lake and Eel Creek."
We fired up the coach and hit the road, but before we made it to Highway 101, we decided to visit a park we enjoyed last year. So north we went, and here we are.
It's like "déjà vu all over again"... Same campground, same site, just about a year later. Mooch checking the campground after a short drive day.
A glimpse of the historic Coquille Lighthouse behind piles of driftwood on the beach.
Top Photo: Tillicum Beach Campground offers sites with fantastic views!
"Thirty-one miles driving day. Landed at a Forest Service campground that we wanted to check out for a couple of years and scored a fantastic site overlooking the Ocean."
A beautiful beach in Harbor Vista County Park near the North Jetty is within easy walking distance from the campground.
Armitage Park is a pleasant campground offering spacious sites; some pleasantly tucked away in the trees.
We enjoy hiking, and Bend offers plenty of options. We will add our hikes to this section and will first start with the South Sister hike.
South Sister Trail
Friday's hike (Sept. 16th) was a tad more challenging, to say the least, if not just downright difficult. But we did cover the twelve-mile...
Sixty-nine miles. Now that's my kind of driving day. We found a well cared for state park not too far from John Day, OR. There are a few things we want to check out in John Day.
We were hesitant to move on a Friday without reservations. But sometimes you just gotta... "Spread your arms and hold your breath and always trust your cape" - Guy Clark.
We're definitely no longer in the mountains with its tall pine & fir trees. We found a state park on the Snake River that will do for a short visit.
Top photo: Nearby Blue Lake.
Our goal for today was to escape from the smoke that was being created by the Pioneer Fire. Sadly, we had to keep moving through some absolutely beautiful areas & nice campgrounds.
The 1st campground we stopped at was a dust bowl. We thought about spending the night but decided to push on. The next one down the road was a winner — paved road & sites. Nice!
"The decision to leave a day early from our previous campground was a wise move. We came up with a very spacious & private campsite at Scout Mountain just south of Pocatello, ID."
We're not crazy about this campground — it has a ridden hard & put up wet feel. We paid for two nights, but think we'll cut our losses & move on in the morning.
Our sort of day, only 55 miles of driving in which we moved from the desert floor up to the trees again. We're tucked in on a spacious site amongst the aspens and lodgepole pines.
Playing tourist, we did a little campground reconnaissance & found this site – very spacious with a knock-out view through the Ponderosa pines. We just had to take it.
We went from hot to hot and traded spectacular views for a nice spot on the Green River. The folks next site over said it cools down pretty good at night. Hopefully, they're right.
What a difference 145 miles can make. This morning we left our campsite at 9,500' elevation in the fir/aspen trees & traveled to one at 5,818' surrounded by beautiful canyons & vistas.
