Bend, Oregon (Day 3)

Today I woke up to a message from the horse friends we visited yesterday warning to check the roads before continuing on our way to Crater Lake. They then called and told me that they went in July and it snowed, the mountains are not in great shape and they were worried about us going. After a bit of looking at Trip Check and Googling Bend, I decided we'd go ahead and visit something in Bend then look at the roads again and decide what to do.

I looked at a list of things to do in Bend and decided we would visit Newberry National Volcanic Monument a few miles away. We could tell when we were getting close because there was a HUGE amount of volcanic rock around, so cool! But when we pulled up to the entrance, it was closed for the season. SO disappointing. We drove up the road a little further to Lava River Cave annnddd same story.

We turned around and headed back up the road so we could get some pictures of the lava rock from the side of the road, then pulled into High Desert Museum, another place I'd read about. I checked the roads again and confirmed that we would not be able to make it to Crater Lake because there was packed snow on the final stretch of road we would go on--and we definitely didn't have chains or tires fit for that on our rental car.

I'm not really big on museums, but this one was really well done. It was like a zoo and museum combination with some great immersive exhibits.

We even got to see a short presentation with an eleven-year-old, seven-pound Golden Eagle. The eagle was found as a four-year-old with lead poisoning, which birds can easily get after eating prey that has been shot with lead bullets. The lead levels when he was found were two times what would kill a human, and he has permanent brain damage from it. The facility takes care of him and two other Golden Eagles that have been rescued, along with numerous other birds.

Golden Eagle

Great Horned Owl

After we finished at the museum, we headed out of Bend and toward Salt Creek Falls. The drive was another one that made me nervous, with the temperature quickly dropping as we rose up in the mountains and lots of rain. 

More volcanic rock along the road

We stopped at a viewpoint at Odell Lake and got some pretty pictures and saw some plant that had tons of red berries.

Odell Lake

Odell Lake

Snow along our drive

A few minutes later we made it to Salt Creek Falls and unfortunately the rain/snow had picked back up. We got out and went to see the falls but for maybe only 20 seconds because the rain/wind/cold was too much!

Salt Creek Falls

As we continued on, we were relieved to watch the elevation go down (from 5,000 feet), temperature up, and snow disappear. We got to another pretty area and pulled over at Hardesty Trailhead in Willamette National Forest and took some pictures of the beautiful leaves and valley.

from Hardesty Trailhead

so many leaves!

from Hardesty Trailhead

Mom was fascinated with the moss

Just after dark, we arrived at our destination for the night, Reedsport. We grabbed dinner at a local Chinese restaurant called Ocean Garden then found a place to stay for the night.

Fun fact... at 10 pm we heard a LOT of police sirens, and then several others later on. After some Googling, I found out why--we're staying just off of Highway 101. Hah! From Reedsport.com:

Nov 9th 10:00 Low speed chase reported on Hwy 101 in uptown  Reedsport. Speeds approaching 30mph. PD attempting to block vehicle. OSP and DCSO notified. Vehicle is eluding PD at rates of 12 to 40 MPH in a Ford Taurus. Initial cause for stop was running a stop sign at 22nd and Birch in Reedsport. Driver has failed to signal or obey traffic signals. Driver has driven onto sidewalk to avoid PD vehicles. Spike deployment authorized. Owner of vehicle cannot be determined. Spike deployment failed at 16th and Hwy 101. Vehicle has left Reedsport heading south on Hwy 101. Spikes deployed successfully at Hwy 101 and Reedsport West Rd. Vehicle failing to maintain control near MP 214 at speeds of 10 mph. Report of both driver side tires flat. Taser deployed when PD vehicle struck. Vehicle stopped @ 20:33.