around the bend
We left Crescent City, CA yesterday morning, headed toward Mt. Bachelor and the Mt. Bachelor Village Resort. Hit the 9th Street beach, watched a while for whales then drove across town to the docks where the sea lions were sunning themselves. A standoffish pair barked at the kids when we approached. The kids barked back.
I was starting to worry that I’d missed Redwood Country in my enthusiasm for catching a glimpse of the whale migration, but Jill (our able navigatrice) put us on the US 199. Redwood Highway. Yummy. We spent most of the 80 miles with our cameras out and ready. Redwood National Forest, a gazillion smaller state forests here and there, twisty-turny two lane roads that went on for hours.
I took us offroad at one point, more or less inadvertently. We bumped along pothole to pothole on a dusty dirt track hoping to find something breathtaking at the other end. We didn’t. Finally found a sign leading us back to the 199, and I took as a victory that we’d only ended up going backward about 6 miles.
Stopped for lunch in Grant’s Pass, OR. Found a pretty little place called Blondie’s Bistro where we had a decadent lunch finished with sweet crepes. Mine was brown sugar, banana, caramel. Grace had something with apples and brandy, the kids both had Nutella. It was great fun. I swear I’m going on a diet when I get home.
Oregon. Didn’t love it until we came to Crater Lake. Unbelievable. We were on another of the twisting mountain roads when we came around the bend and found this vast lake, with forested hills sloping so gently down to it on either side, with a perfectly round island in the middle. It was misting when we found it, the sky was overcast but not dark. It looked like Avalon.
We came another 100 miles (roughly) to Bend. We found the Mt. Bachelor Village Resort, checked into our pretty little house overlooking the Deschutes River. The kids were up late watching CSI and are still sleeping, I’m getting organized and making some plans from the hot tub on the balcony above the rushing river: skiing, horseback riding, spa, lunch, naps.
The fun keeps right on coming.
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