Exploring Oregon – Part I – Central Oregon

It’s hard to believe we’ve been on the road two weeks already. With all that’s been going on I haven’t been able to get on a regular blogging schedule yet (although we have posted some photos to Facebook and Instagram). So here we go… let me use this post to catch you up on where we’ve been.

For starters it has been a gray, cloudy, and cold two weeks.

I can hear you screaming: “Of course it is gray, cloudy, and cold – it’s Oregon in January! ”

Yeah, we know it’s not the ideal way to start an RV trip – being complete rookies and having to worry about snow, ice, and mountains… but that’s the way things unfolded for us. We had to pick up our RV in Pendleton, Oregon – so that’s where our trip began.

PENDLETON, OR

Honestly we probably wouldn’t have gone to Pendleton at all if we didn’t have to pick up our RV there. But we found ourselves parked at the KOA RV Campground for our first two nights… so between getting used to the RV and shopping for supplies we found time to explore Pendleton’s main attraction – a tour of the world-famous Pendleton Mill (famous for their wool shirts & blankets). Also the Pendleton rodeo grounds are host to many events – including the famous “Pendleton Roundup” – but this was not the season.

Obviously sensible travelers would have hit the road south and gotten to warmer climates right away. But not us, oh, nooo! We have this thought that when our travels are done we might end up settling in Oregon, so we have planned on giving the state a thorough exploration to look at potential communities. This is the reconnaissance segment of our trip!

RT 84 & the Columbia River

On the way to and from getting our RV we drove across the top of the state along RT 84… which mostly parallels the mighty Columbia River. Even on cloudy, sometimes rainy, days it was a beautiful sight.

“I’ve never see a river so big in my life!” – Alex

And then there was Rufus…

We may have hit the smallest town on our trip on the very first try. Rufus lists a population of 259 and has a restaurant, market, a post office and, mercifully, an RV park. We got a later start than expected leaving Pendleton, so we needed a quick place to spend the night… googling while we drove led us to pull into Rufus RV Park after dark and they kindly took us in. We had some trouble hooking up for the first ever time by ourselves, but a kind soul who was also staying there helped us with parking and our water hookup (Thanks Doug!). Since we were only spending the night we did not unhitch from the truck – just connected to their water and power for the night. BTW, the header of this post with Cynthia and Peaches was at the Rufus RV Park.

POGONIP

The next morning we faced a drive south on RT 97, which is mostly ranch land, but has some elevation – and we had there might be fog and ice. We were wary about driving our rig south in those conditions, but true to form we were late getting out and by the time we got going the roads were clear. We encountered a new (to us) form of weather – freezing fog called “Pogonip” – It was foggy, temps were in the high 20s… and everything (except the road) was covered in ICE! It was absolutely beautiful!

There is no snow in this photo – everything is covered in ICE!

REDMOND, BEND, SISTERS and FRIENDS!

We landed at a friend’s house in Redmond, OR, just north of Bend. Diane and Rene were kind enough to let up park on their property for several days. We got to enjoy their hospitality, great food and conversation… including fresh eggs from their chickens, a zip line for Alex to ride, and Peaches had 2 dog friends to play with!

Diane gave us a tour of Redmond and Bend, and we got to do some exploration on our own too. It’s a beautiful community with a TON of outdoor activities – hiking, kayaking, bicycling, fishing, and skiing all nearby. Everyone we spoke with raved about the region, the schools, colleges, and how wonderful it all was. Copious materials were gathered for later study.

We also got to spend an afternoon with friends in nearby Sisters, OR. Hayley and Valeo gave us a tour of Sisters and we got the low-down on the schools and community there as well. They moved here a few years ago, but Alex and their son used to go to school together in LA, so it was a good day for the boys to reconnect as well. (We forgot to get a picture together – sorry guys!)

So we’ve had some good visits, learned a lot about the area, and we’re ready to continue the trip… But the morning we planned to depart, IT SNOWED! Honestly, it wasn’t that bad – only an inch or so – beautiful, serene, and it was Peaches first time in snow – plus it was melting pretty quickly. We still had to clear the snow off the roof of our trailer’s slide before we hitched up the trailer (It turns out that climbing up on the roof in the snow is actually why we brought a 14 year old along!)

The snow was sort of a treat for us. Coming from Los Angeles the major thing that we are all enamored with in Oregon so far is THE WATER! Here they have rivers, streams, creeks, lakes, rain, fog and snow… the trees are green, the rivers have water in them… it’s completely different than the drought existence we’ve been experiencing in the San Fernando Valley for so many years.

Alex is excited about fishing in those rivers and lakes. We’ve been deflecting citing it is too cold… but we know we’ll have to indulge this passion sooner or later. (But boy-o-boy does he not have the right parents for fishing!)

“This town should be a Hallmark town” – Alex

After clearing the snow and re-hitching to the truck we had to back up the whole rig for the first time. Reverse is very tricky – the trailer goes the opposite way from what you think. Working out hand signals, watching the mirror… all skills we had to quickly develop. Plus there were a few rocks and tree branches to avoid.