With Rain, You get Deer (Sunriver, OR)

All our neighbors left earlier this week and it started raining, well more of a drizzle than rain, that lasted for 3-4 days.  Needless to say, the traffic around our loop went down to a couple of vehicles a day.  The cats did not mind the drizzle, so we took them for walks in the rain.

With it being so quiet around our site, the critters started showing up and giving us quite a show.  Big grey squirrels were running around, but my favorite sightings are the twin fawns romping around the site through the woods while Mama deer was munching grass.

They hung around our motorhome for a couple of hours so we got to watch them run full-speed through the trees and kicking up their heels.  So cute!  I took these photos from our window since Mama was very skittish and jumped at every sound.

On another day, Squirrel (B&W cat) let himself out for a walk when he found the door ajar.  Dan found our escapee on the backside of the motorhome having a stare down with this doe.  The deer did not seem as timid as the others.  We were able to get within 10 yards of her.  She disappeared while we were gathered the other cats and their leashes.

Same day...different cat....Across the dirt road in another site, Hitch and I ran into the deer again.  After a brief stare down, Hitch decided he did not like her and trotted back towards our site.  The doe followed us back and started munching while watching our cats.  

Dan took a couple of picture of the cats with the doe nearby.  Hitch just did not know what to think of his new shadow.  The doe, on the other hand, was probably trying to figure out what was up with this strange small critter leading humans around by a string.

Hitch watching the doe

She became so curious that she got within a couple of feet of Dusty.  Dusty started to growl and Dan clapped his hands to scare the doe away.  We were a little worried what would happen if they got into a confrontation.  Especially if Dusty scratched her nose and she decided to stomp him with a hoof.

We have been doing a lot of walking.  Here are a few photos along one trail in the Newberry Volcanic National Monument.  I have more photos that I will upload for the next posting.

I have to admit with all the walking we have been doing, I'm feeling a little tired and I'm ready to just sit for awhile...maybe a little sewing.  I have a feeling I will not be getting a whole lot of that done tonight.

Trail to Benham Falls

yawn...Happy Trails!

Walking Among the Tall Pines (La Pine State Park, OR)

We only had a 3-night stay in the La Pine State Park.  We wish we had booked it for a couple of more days.  We had a very nice time there.  We stayed busy walking the scenic trails among tall Ponderosa Pines along two rivers:  the Deschutes and the Fall River.  The campground is filled with little critters running every where.  The cats preferred to be outdoors stalking the ground squirrels and chipmunks, but we never let them get too close.  Quite often they just had to settle for watching the little guys from the windows.  At least, they stayed entertained while we were out for our walks. 

On the Deschutes River trail, we walked through an area of a recovering burn area.  Even the burned Ponderosa gave a feeling of being grand.

Below are some photos of the Deschutes River.  The trail is a loop that circles three campgrounds and follows the river.  An easy 3 mile walk with hints of rain and earthy-aromas along the way.

This is my favorite view of the Deschutes with the mountain in the background.  This viewpoint is actually on the McGregor Trail at the viewpoint...and what a view!

That is one hairpin turn!  I used my wide-eye lens.  I kept the lens level with the horizon to keep out the distortion, but some of the closer trees are distorted.  It is the only way to get all of the river into one shot without using panorama settings.  Which would mean trying to paste the photos together.

Lots of different wild flowers blooming among the pine trees.

The next day, we walked to the Fall River.  This walk included parts of the Deschutes trail and the McGregor trail which connected to the Fall River trail.  Close to 9 miles of walking and it was worth the walk.  There were very few people on the trails.  So nice not to have loud people shouting to each other or playing music while we are trying to enjoy the silence of the woodland.  So peaceful.

Below is a photo of the Fall River's fall that is only about 10 feet tall, but has a good roar going.  

I can't get over how crystal clear the rivers are here and so blue!  Gorgeous!  I read somewhere that this river is a favorite among the fly fishermen.  I was hoping to see a few of them casting their lines...oh well, maybe another time.

One last photo of lupines growing near the river.

Red, White, and Blue Treasury
With the 4th of July coming up soon, I decided to put together a Treasury with one of my wall hangings.  I still have three left and a few Uncle Sam mug rugs as well.  I can easily make a few more treasury collections.  So many delightful ways to celebrate the 4th of July through Etsy!

Happy Trails!

Not So Wordless Wednesday (La Pine State Park, OR)

I haven't done a Not So Wordless Wednesday in a long time.  On our way to La Pine, we stopped at the P. S. Ogden State Park Rest Area for a quick break and were we in for a big surprise.  Just look at this view!  There are three bridges crossing this deep river gorge.  This is the railroad bridge..

 This is the new Hwy. 97 bridge opened in 2000 that we crossed...

 And surprise!  This one is built by Conde McCullough in 1926 and was finally closed to vehicle traffic.  It is now a pedestrians only bridge so we can view the river gorge and the bridges.  I really admire this man's work.  I first noticed his bridges as we were traveling down Hwy 101 along the Oregon Coast.  We kept crossing bridges with Art Deco designs.  Each one more unique than the last and all of them have the elegant arch design building timeless masterpieces.  McCullough connected Hwy. 101 from the north border all the way to the southern border with his bridges.  Many are still in use as of today.

 The other two bridges were built in the same arched style giving all three a consistent and graceful designs.

framed mountain

 Okay, two more photos of the far side of the river gorge.

Our WiFi signal has been very slow for the last couple of stops.  I'm hoping when we move tomorrow we will finally have a better connection and I will be able to visit blogs again.  It has been very frustrating just to load photos so I haven't been spending much time on the computer.
Happy Trails!

Getting Ready For July (Cove Palisades SP, OR)

We are staying in Cove Palisades State Park near Madras, OR.  An interesting campground in a canyon on a peninsula surrounded by two rivers: the Deschutes River and the Crooked River.  

river splits

The road leading into this area is very narrow with loose gravel on steep slopes on both sides.  Did I mention the logging trucks?  Yea, they were sharing the narrow road along with other boaters and RVs.  Did I also mention it was a little scary at times?  Then, there's the narrow bridge...Dan had to drive down the middle of it.  There was no way we could cross with oncoming traffic.  Lucky for us, the driver across the river saw us and waited while we crossed the bridge.  She was a sweetie to wait!

Narrow bridge and road

Once we were settled, we were quite happy with our new home.  This is a popular summer weekend get-away for the locals.  The campground went from a ghost town to party central on Friday.  It was rather entertaining to watch people quickly setting up their areas.  Talk about rushing to relax!

 We hiked up the side of the canyon yesterday.  One mile and 600 feet elevation later...this was our views of snow capped mountains in the distance and of both rivers (above photos).

 We have only been in this area once before for one night and it was a long time ago.  So, we plan to do some exploring of eastern Oregon for the next month.

Monday, we will move to LaPine, OR just south of Bend.

Hitch wore himself out running from tree to tree and chasing very brave lizards.  He wore me out trying to keep up with him.  I'm a little worried that he is re-energizing for his next outdoor visit....I should rename him - Solar Kat.

Sunshine on my belly.

On The Cutting Board

I finished four 4th of July wall hangings designed by Nancy Halvorsen for my Etsy shop.  This is the first time I have set a goal for myself.  Not only did I meet my goal, I finished and listed two days ahead of my due date!  I'm going to give that goal setting a try again for my next set of Etsy projects.

SOLD!

"Land That I Love"  sold the next day!  Thank you!  I hope to sell the other three before July.

9x9 Let Freedom Ring

I'm making some smaller wall hangings as well.  They were a lot of fun to make, so I might try making some mini wall hangings soon.

9.5x7.5

I did a little tea-dye staining on the backgrounds of the two small wall hangings.  I thought making the primitives look a little aged would add a little more character to them.

9.5x7.5

Happy Quilting!

On the Columbia River (Crescent Bar, WA)

We spent the last four days in Crescent Bar in central Washington.  Below is a view from our campground of the wide, the deep blue....Columbia River.  

We did a lot of driving around with a little reminiscing.  They say you can never go home, but I enjoy seeing how the old town has changed.  Dan grew up in Manson and Wenatchee.  I spent 8 years of my teen life in Wenatchee.  We had a class together in high school, but did not really talk to one another until after Dan graduated.  We dated all through my senior year.  Dan joined the Air Force.  I graduated and we were married within the month.  June 30 will by our 38th anniversary.  How time flies!

We visited the Rocky Reach Dam.  Their grounds are always immaculate and it looks like they have added more art to the grounds.

The horse power mural is still there and just as impressive as the first time I saw it.

One more photo of the grounds.....

We went to Lake Chelan to see how Manson has changed.  The whole area has grown, but there are still fruit orchards along with new wine grape fields scattered throughout the area.  Below is a photo of Lake Chelan. Doesn't the water look inviting?

Flowers blooming everywhere and I did take more photos of them, but for today I will post my favorite one of a huge white poppy.

In Wenatchee, we walked part of the Riverfront Loop.  The loop is a little over 10 miles and crosses the Columbia twice.  Lots of walkers, joggers, and bike riders...busy...busy!

View from the East Wenatchee side

We crossed one of the two pedestrian bridges

A view from the pedestrian bridge.

On our way back, we watched these two dogs retrieve the ball from the water.  Well, one did while the other one watched.

 A long travel day tomorrow - Wednesday.  We are heading south to Oregon.   This means I am getting closer to my visit in Sisters, OR and their quilt show!  WhooHoo!
Happy Trails!

Behind But Not Forgotten (Crescent Bar, WA)

I'm a day behind on posting.  The last two days have been a bear of a day with not much time to sit and think about what I was going to post.  We traveled on Friday.  A short, but very windy trip that left us tired when we arrived in Crescent Bar, WA.  We both went to bed early last night.

Before we left Spokane, we spent one day sitting in a waiting room while our motorhome had some work done on it.  And I mean 'one' full work day from 7 a.m. to after 4 p.m..  My behind can tell you all about the sitting. I did not bring my computer to work on my pending blog post.  Yet, the day was not wasted....I finished the embroidery on this project.  It took 5 hours to complete.  

Except for short walking breaks and lunch, I kept at this just to see how much time it would take to finish.  I actually thought the motorhome would be done long before the embroidery.  Boy, was I wrong!  It is rather nice to know how long it takes me to do this part.  Of course, I still have no idea how long it takes me to collect the fabric, cut and fuse pieces, or to finish it with quilting.  I'm sure it takes me several work days.  But since I enjoy making and don't consider them work, I have no plans to finish timing myself.

Walk This Way

Here's where Dan and I have been spending a lot of our time for the last few weeks.  Fairchild A.F.B. has a very nice running/walking track near their fitness center.  Don't let the photos of empty tracks fool you.  That place is busy no matter what the weather or time of day.

The track has a soft rubber surface that makes it very easy to walk more miles without feeling the mileage.  All the green grass with the hill in the middle is visually appealing and has my mind just a-wandering while we walk.

I like the postpile rocks at the top of the hill.  It has the mysterious European look to it.

The walk up the hill gave us a lovely view of the field and the surrounding area.

According to FitBit, the walk up the hill completes two flights of stairs.  We go up and down...up and down...
Well, that's it for today.  I need to get to work on my last project so I can get it listed real soon.

Happy Trails!