Playing in Bend

We have been playing, eating, drinking and touring in Bend the past few days and we are not done yet.  It has been so much fun that I am glad I take pictures as they are my diary.  We are getting ready to go out for another day so I am going to be brief here and mostly tell you about it with my pictures.

 We went Cider Tasting.  Just like wine tasting but it was hard cider.  There was apricot, cherry, apple, cinnamon pear and a pomegranate.  And a few more that I can't recall.  If that wasn't fun?!  It is much less sweet that regular cider that they sell in the grocery store as it is pure fruit and of course it was "Hard" cider meaning it was alcoholic.  Each couple ordered a flight which was six different ciders to sample.  I think the winner was the apricot.

When we went to the Brewfest our favorite ale was from 10 Barrel Brewing.  So yesterday we headed to the brewery/restaurant to have another glass of our favorite and a great lunch.  It was a gorgeous day so we all sat outside.  I sure was wishing we had brought Jake.  He would have loved it!

Then we found our way to Tumalo Falls which is a 97 foot waterfall just a few miles out of town.  The drive was lovely and the falls were just gorgeous!  I wish we had time to travel to lots and lots of Oregon waterfalls.  Maybe we can find one or two more before we leave.

I miss our hiking days when we would have taken the trail up to the falls and done some exploring.  But we can do this and see a lot of things and we can drink beer so we are good.

That left us a bit parched and I had read that there was a distillery in town so we set off in search of it.

So, Cheers, Everyone!!!  See you after the next adventure!

Sioux Falls Park

We stayed an extra day here in Sioux Falls, South Dakota just to be able to visit the falls.  And all I can say is INCREDIBLE!  I am so glad we took the time!  I have never seen anything quite like it in all my life.  I love the surrounding stone and can imagine the Indians living right here many years ago.  A couple of people told us that we should have seen it a week or so ago after they had big rains.  I can only imagine!  Tomorrow we will head on west to the other end of South Dakota and Mount Rushmore!

There is a tower in the Visitor's Center (with an elevator) so you can see the whole city. 

Twin Falls, Idaho

Originally I planned to go to Twin Falls because I wanted to see Shoshone Falls.  I had read that it is considered the Niagara Falls of the west. Then we added in the wonderful treat of meeting up with our friends Lucy and Ray.  We hadn’t seen them since our New Orleans stop back in early April of this year. (They just finished up a trip to Alaska in their motorhome.) And then, after just a bit of research, I found out how much there really is to see in southern Idaho.  We met up with them at Anderson Camp RV Park near Twin Falls and spent two days playing tourist in the area.

Our first stop was to Minidoka Relocation Center which was used during World War II as an internment camp for the Japanese.  That visit weighed very heavy on our hearts as we read the history of Minidoka and the people who lived there.  It was heart wrenching.  If you want to read about it, a very good novel that I read recently is Hotel On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford.  It is a wonderful, bitter sweet story which really helped me to understand that bit of history.

(CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE IT)

Minidoka Relocation Center

There was not much to take pictures there but this building that is still standing was used to store cold items.  The places where the people lived were much worse.

Then it was on to Shoshone Falls!  This little water fall was on the side of the road.  This was a very dry year for Idaho so I would imagine that in a wet year this would really have been roaring. 

 I couldn’t believe it when we got to Shoshone – almost no water.  Like I said – a dry year.  But the views were magnificent and we enjoyed imagining the water.

This is the Snake River at the bottom of the falls

Shoshone Falls with almost no water flowing.

Just up from the falls was a small lake where we found this young man learning to fish.  He was so proud of his catch.

 And the guys didn’t mind sitting in the sun and waiting for us to wander around taking pictures.

 I didn’t want to miss the Perrine Bridge that crosses the Snake River right on the edge of Twin Falls.  What a wonderful view!  We have continued to cross the Snake River over and over.  We have camped on its banks too!  Definitely my favorite river!

The Snake River as viewed from Perrine Bridge

The next day we headed out again to explore.  We visited Malad Gorge State Park and drove all over marveling at the gorge that seemed to be almost hiding in the brush.

Lucy and Kirby at Malad Gorge State Park

We also were able to visit a State Fish Hatchery.  I wish they had given tours or at least had some information available.  There were tanks and tanks of fish with nothing to tell us about them.  I am wondering if these fish are Golden Trout.  If you know, please leave me a comment!

Our last stop was to see one of the Thousand Springs that are in the area.  The water just flows right out of the wall of the canyon.

Some of the Thousand Springs

Yesterday we arrived in Utah.  We are staying at Willard Bay State Park near Ogden.  Today will be a “just sit and goof off” day.