Around the BEND

It was time to see some of the area around Bend, Oregon so we all hopped in the truck and headed out.  Our first stop was Pilot Butte.

Pilot Butte is an extinct cinder cone volcano which rises nearly 500 feet above the surrounding plains. Bend is one of four cities in the United States to have a volcano within its boundaries. The land was given to the state in 1927 in memory of Terrence Hardington Foley, by his Bend business associates. Additional tracts were purchased in 1941. A prominent topographic feature, Pilot Butte was a landmark that guided wagon train immigrants who sought a safe crossing of the Deschutes River.
I didn't get a picture of the volcano from a distance so I borrowed this one from Wikipedia -

 There are trails up but since we aren't hiking this year we drove up and then spent time enjoying the views.  I am not sure who this young lady was but I liked her pose.

Lou, Vivian and Kirby

From Pilot Butte we headed up towards Mount Bachelor.  There is a large ski resort there but it was closed for the summer.  The drive was gorgeous and our destination was water.  We stopped at each lake we could find.  We should have planned ahead and brought a picnic but we didn't think of it.

Since we didn't think to bring a picnic we sort of stumbled upon Cascade Lakes Brewing and had a great lunch there - with a brew of course!

What a fun day it was!

"Jake, I Promise You Will Have Grass Soon"

All winter long and into the spring and summer in Yuma I have promised Jake nice green grass.  He was beginning to not even believe me anymore.  But yesterday I finally produced.  We reached Oregon and GREEN!

It is not the greenest green but it is not gray gravel either.  Jake is happy.  His mommy is happy!  We sat outside amid green grass and tall green trees and I was in heaven!  It caused me to have what I call my Happy Bubbles.  I haven't had them in so, so long.  Between breaking my foot last February and not being able to walk or bike and then the hot, hot desert days, I was feeling pretty low.  But by golly, I am back and it feels good.  All I needed was some outdoor time!  Yea!  I plan on having a couple more weeks of it!

So, yesterday we landed in Burns, Oregon after about four hours of travel from Winnemucca.  Burns is a small town in eastern Oregon.  It is right where the green and the trees seem to begin as you go west.  It is a sweet little town with the friendliest people.  Everyone seems to want to talk.  Or maybe it is me - now that I have my Happy Bubbles back.  Whatever, it is a nice place.

I did my research and I knew there was a small brewery here in town.  That was part of the reason for stopping here.  Well, wouldn't you know - they were closed yesterday and today.  I was quite upset!  I had brew plans!  Well, the Beer Gods were on our side.  As we drove down the highway after getting some fuel, lo and behold what did appear but a Growler Station at a country store!  I couldn't believe my eyes!  Kirby made a quick U-turn and we parked and headed in to explore.  They had 10 or 12 different local taps and about three different IPA's, which is our favorite.  The nice friendly owner of the store let us sample all that we wanted and we selected an IPA from Terminal Gravity and got ourselves a half a growler (a jug of beer).  We took that back to the RV park, sat out in the grass under the trees and enjoyed a nice glass each.  Now tell me, who wouldn't have Happy Bubbles with a life like that!

We (meaning Jake, really) made friends with our neighbors who are from Washington state.  They had two dogs and a little girl - all for Jake!

If you are familiar with Jake, you will notice that he has filled out a bit.  That is what 5 months of no walks will do to a dog - and his mommy!

These two pictures are what we saw on our drive yesterday.  It was another barren day but it was beautiful in it's own way.  The highway was not busy, had frequent pull-outs and life is good!

Heading North August 2016

Our summer was all messed up and we had too many difficulties that kept us stuck in Yuma for the first part of the summer.  But we finally are on our way and have headed north.  And just in time as I was about to scream for the hot weather.  Soon we will be north enough that the days will be a bit cooler and the nights down right chilly and then I will probably be complaining about the cold.

We timed our departure to travel through Las Vegas early on Sunday morning when the traffic was light.  So our first stop was back at Canyon Trail RV Park in Boulder City.  It is not their fault that it was hot and miserable when we were there.  It actually is a very nice RV park with pull through sites, large spaces, a new pool, off leash areas for dogs and nice showers.  We had been there before and like it.  But by the time we got there it was 100 degrees or more and our RV was HOT.  It took hours for it to cool down but when it did, we slept really really well.  We love the bed in our camper.

Jake is getting older and he doesn't travel quite as well as he used to.  He gets really tired.  He has his own sofa in the camper and this year we got him a cooling pad that he does not like but since I told him to use it he does.  He is a good boy and does what mommy says.

It was over 90 degrees in the camper when we first got set up and Jake was very uncomfortable.  So glad it cooled when the sun went down.

Today we are in Tonopah, NV heading north to Oregon.  Both travel days have been without incident and easy.  The countryside is barren and lonely looking.

We did see some wild burros which was a thrill for me!  I have never seen them before and was not ready with my camera so this is all you get!

And of course - this is Nevada folks -

I almost forgot the best part.  When we went for fuel this afternoon we just happened upon a local Brewery!!  We sat outside with Jake and had a great double IPA at Tonopah Brewing.  What a way to begin a holiday that is centered on good brews!

Missouri Headwaters State Park

The Missouri River runs right behind this ridge of mountains that were formed over 75 million years ago by a volcano eruption.

We are further south in Montana now and heading back toward Arizona – but it will take us a while – at least 4 weeks, maybe more.  We don’t want to get there when it is still terribly hot or my body will go into shock.  This morning it is 50 degrees out, we ran the heater and I have on sweats!

We left Fort Benton for a quick trip to Great Falls and some shopping.  We hadn’t seen a Sam’s Club in quite a while and we needed some staples.  Of course I always look for microbreweries wherever we are and we were in luck.  We found Bowser Brewing not too far from where we were staying.  We settled in with our brews (which were excellent!) and a tin of dominos to play some Mexican Train.  Didn’t work!  We should have counted the doms before we began.  Doubles of some of them and others were just plain missing.  You can’t play a real game that way!  Should have brought along our own but we didn’t know what to expect.  At least the ales were really good and we did have fun!

We are going to miss this nice spot at Missouri Headwaters State Park.

We are now at the Missouri Headwaters State Park not too far from Three Forks, MT.  It is a very quiet little park with not too many people and we have a fantastic site with a yard for Jake.  He is going to be pretty upset later today when we move on.  (if the weather will allow – heavy skies and it rained all night)

There is a great paved trail that runs right by the park and goes into Three Forks.  We got our bikes down and headed out.  Through bribery Kirby was able to get me to ride all the way into Three Forks – lunch was the reward.  We ate on the patio at Three Forks Café.  Can’t say it was the greatest meal ever but it sure was fun.  And I can now say that I can ride 10 miles.  Of course there were NO hills and very little wind so it was an easy ride.

 There are a few trails around the park and we have enjoyed those.  We also had a fire in the firepit yesterday morning.  It was cool and crisp out and the fire was perfect.  Sure wouldn’t work today as everything is soaked with rain. 

The Madison River flowing north to meet up with the Gallatin and the Jefferson.  These three rivers become the Missouri River.  I think it should be called the Montana River since it originates here but of course there was no Montana when the Missouri was discovered.

If we can get the rain to stop we will hitch up and got to Three Forks Campground for a few days.  We stayed there last year and know that we like it. (We will have full hook-ups and laundry there.)  Then we don’t know where we are going but it will be south!

The Wild West - Buffalo, Wyoming

We finally pulled ourselves away from South Dakota and had a short drive to Buffalo, Wyoming. The roads in Wyoming so far are about the best we have had but the day was cloudy, wet and cold.  By the time we arrived at our campground in Buffalo it had pretty much cleared up but was still chilly.

 

 When we were checking in the host told us about the Occidental Hotel and Saloon downtown so of course we had to go check it out.  We were not disappointed!

Do you see "Founded 1880"?  It really was and has the same bar that was installed in 1908.  People like Butch Cassidy, Buffalo Bill, Teddy Roosevelt and Calamity Jane drank at the same bar that we did yesterday. 

Both Kirby and I enjoyed a local brew and a visit with the barkeeper who pointed out some of the bullet holes to us.

The barkeeper let us look down into the cellar and said that they still use it for storage.  In looking at some old photos, I am not sure it was there in the beginning.  I may have been added in the 40's or 50's.  The top is copper.  The floor looks the same as in the old photos but I can't be certain it wasn't replaced.  There is not much information available.

 

The hotel itself has also been preserved and is incredible.  If you ever find yourself in need of accommodations in this area, I am sure you would enjoy your stay here!  Check out the hotel website HERE.  They have a lot of the history in their site. And HERE is an interesting piece about a young ghost who resides there.

It was a fun trip and the brews were good!

Rapid City, South Dakota

We didn't travel very far yesterday, maybe 70 miles so we still had the afternoon free after we got all unhitched here at Heartland RV Park in Hermosa, SD.  Since we hadn't seen a Wells Fargo in miles and miles and miles we thought it prudent to go into Rapid City to get some green.

I love our new little GPS - she just takes us wherever we want to go.  Of course Rapid City is not very big so getting to the bank and then downtown was not too difficult.  Neither was it difficult to find parking downtown after visiting the bank.

With our pockets full of cash we thought we should spend some of it so we visited the local brewery for a cold one.  Firehouse Brewing really is in an old firehouse and they have done a fantastic job making it special.  They also have done a fantastic job of brewing.  Both Kirby and I loved what we chose to drink.  And the clientele was so friendly.  There was a really good looking young man sitting next to me having lunch and a brew.  He was from Knoxville, TN, and is sort of a storm chaser.  He and his cousin go around the country  making repairs to cars after hail storms.  He was loving the travel and getting to see new places.  After lunch they were off to Denver by way of Mount Rushmore.

This is just a few of the sculptures that are on all the corners of the streets in Rapid City. I believe that each one of our presidents is there somewhere.

This was on the way into Rapid City from the east on I-90.  They love billboards up here!

Asheville, NC

We took a short trip into Asheville in search of another good brew.  I actually forgot my camera in the truck and didn't want to go back for it so I missed the first part of our outing and our lunch at the Bier Garden.  Food and brews were just OK.  I think Kirby is done with his search because he has not been able to find anything to compare with Coast Brewing Hop Art or Sierra Nevada Hoptimum, which are his two favorites. 

After our walk around we stopped by the truck and picked up my camera so I did get some pictures for you.  Wandering around in Asheville is just so much fun!  You never know what you are going to find around the next corner.

This Coffee Shop was the first thing we saw as we rounded the corner from the parking lot.

Tie Dye is well and alive in a hippy-ish town like Asheville.

Mast General Store has to be on any visitor's "must see" list.

I wanted this chair but it wouldn't fit in our camper!

The store is just like you remember from your childhood with a grand staircase in the middle of the store leading to the lower level and more shopping.

Another fun street view.  Should we be thinking about our Halloween costumes so soon?

And then we happened upon Bruisin' Ales on Broadway.  This place made Kirby so happy as they had his favorite, Optimum!  Yes, we took some home with us.