We were right! We got very little sleep last night since our camping neighbors stayed up talking until 2:30AM, hence, we were up as well. At the crack of dawn (5AM) we drove to Castle Lake, a small lake 7 miles away and took some beautiful early morning photos. Afterwards we headed to the town of Shasta for breakfast at the Black Bear Café. The food was great! We went back to camp, packed everything up and got on the highway to Oregon. The drive was beautiful with more views of Mt. Shasta, green farm
lands, rolling hills, small lakes and small towns to drive through. We started craving Starbuck’s and finally located one on our GPS at Klamath Falls. There is no way we would have found the place without help from this wonderful device. Once there, we bought groceries at Safeway and started to plan our bike ride. We knew of a 100 mile bike ride in this area that followed an old railroad track but we didn’t know where it was located. Since we didn’t remember the name, the GPS couldn’t help us out this time. So Kevin suggested the bookstore. Once there, I found a book with the trail name and Kevin asked the store clerk if he might know where to find the trail. Amazingly, the trailhead was 2 stores down, around the corner and across a short path..all in all, 100 yards from where we were standing. We found it easily and rode 20 miles of the 100 possible. The first 8 miles are paved and then the trail turns into gravel, but it is well worth the effort. We saw the most gorgeous views, complete with stunning birds, flowers, landscape, and farm animals. . .and no cars to have to worry about. The ride took us an hour and a half and we were exhausted at the end but so glad we did it!
lands, rolling hills, small lakes and small towns to drive through. We started craving Starbuck’s and finally located one on our GPS at Klamath Falls. There is no way we would have found the place without help from this wonderful device. Once there, we bought groceries at Safeway and started to plan our bike ride. We knew of a 100 mile bike ride in this area that followed an old railroad track but we didn’t know where it was located. Since we didn’t remember the name, the GPS couldn’t help us out this time. So Kevin suggested the bookstore. Once there, I found a book with the trail name and Kevin asked the store clerk if he might know where to find the trail. Amazingly, the trailhead was 2 stores down, around the corner and across a short path..all in all, 100 yards from where we were standing. We found it easily and rode 20 miles of the 100 possible. The first 8 miles are paved and then the trail turns into gravel, but it is well worth the effort. We saw the most gorgeous views, complete with stunning birds, flowers, landscape, and farm animals. . .and no cars to have to worry about. The ride took us an hour and a half and we were exhausted at the end but so glad we did it!We cleaned up in the Safeway restrooms, bought a sandwich, and another Starbucks and started driving again. Once again the drive was incredible. We passed Upper Klamath Lake. It was extremely large and looked more like an ocean than a lake. It was a 3 hour drive to Bend and we arrived around 7pm. This time our GPS failed us. It wasn’t able to locate th
e campground we hoped to stay at, but Kevin asked for directions and we found it. Thankfully the camp had a “no vacancy” sign posted. We drove in and found a "Disneyland like" atmosphere packed wall-to-wall with people, barking dogs, and very little room for “getting away from it all”. It looked like you might need to take a number to use the restroom..."Now serving number 203". We had a funny feeling that every resident of Oregon was required to camp there this weekend. Back to Bend we went and checked into a wonderful motel complete with our own private bathroom..no number needed. At first the woman at the check in desk (N
orma) said they only had 2nd floor rooms available, but after pleading with her for a bottom level room (remember the size of my luggage, plus two ice chests, bike equipment, cameras, and Kevin's single bag), she offered us a handicapped room on the 1st floor...which we both jumped at the very second she mentioned it. Kevin even offered to limp in from the car to the room if necessary. We currently are feeling like very happy campers!
A tip saver on Oregon travel: Did you know that it is illegal to pump your own gas in Oregon? They actually have young men ready to pump your gas, wash your windshields, and check your oil...and the gas is still cheaper than California. Tomorrow we head toward eastern Oregon as we make our way to Kevin's sister's house in Idaho.
e campground we hoped to stay at, but Kevin asked for directions and we found it. Thankfully the camp had a “no vacancy” sign posted. We drove in and found a "Disneyland like" atmosphere packed wall-to-wall with people, barking dogs, and very little room for “getting away from it all”. It looked like you might need to take a number to use the restroom..."Now serving number 203". We had a funny feeling that every resident of Oregon was required to camp there this weekend. Back to Bend we went and checked into a wonderful motel complete with our own private bathroom..no number needed. At first the woman at the check in desk (N
orma) said they only had 2nd floor rooms available, but after pleading with her for a bottom level room (remember the size of my luggage, plus two ice chests, bike equipment, cameras, and Kevin's single bag), she offered us a handicapped room on the 1st floor...which we both jumped at the very second she mentioned it. Kevin even offered to limp in from the car to the room if necessary. We currently are feeling like very happy campers!A tip saver on Oregon travel: Did you know that it is illegal to pump your own gas in Oregon? They actually have young men ready to pump your gas, wash your windshields, and check your oil...and the gas is still cheaper than California. Tomorrow we head toward eastern Oregon as we make our way to Kevin's sister's house in Idaho.
1 comment:
soooo glad you guys are blogging along the way! Happy Father's Day, Dad!
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