Cascades revisited

It's another weekend. No emergency duty, no duty period. Yes, this retirement life can grow on you. Since our last weekend trip to the coast, the passes in the Cascades have opened. Remembering the beautiful, but trying nite that we crossed the Cascades 2 weeks ago, we decided to go back to see what it looks like in daylight. Our destination was Sisters. (You may have to go back a few posts for the lowdown on that place, but you can just google sisters oregon and find out about it... if you don't already know.) Sisters is about 2 hours from Corvallis when the Santiam pass is open. We went the long way around 2 weeks ago because it wasn't. For short, it's named for the 3 mountain peaks; Faith, Hope, and Charity. Every time we came around a corner one of us (me) would say, maybe those are the sisters. I do believe we saw them, but didn't get pictures. Will try again today.

The further we went, the cooler (not colder, cooler) it got and the more snow we saw. We stopped by this gurgling stream (video at the end). I was overwhelmed by the moss growing on the dead trees. I was nervous about standing still for very long, fearing I too would be covered with moss.

We reached a place called Tombstone where only a week ago, the highw

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camera showed nothing but snow. We also found that where we barely had 2 lanes of road 2 weeks ago, there were 4-5 lanes of road. So here we are at Tombstone, very close to the Santiam pass. We weren't kidding the snow was 10 feet deep. If fact the ski reports claim they have 140 inches of snow pack.

We came to a lake up there (Suttle Lake) with a neet lodge, etc. We are sure they were snowed in 2 weeks ago. We might go back to stay there, the deal is that we passed it up because at that time we weren't sure if we would stay up here or go back to Corvallis for the evening. Oh, here's Suttle Lake: http://www.thelodgeatsuttlelake.com/

Here's where our saga turns to "typical". We had these books to tell us what to do and lots of great people have been feeding us info. We stopped by Black Butte Ranch. A really cool contemprary resort with a fantastic view of, guess what.... Black Butte. We got their info and decided to go on into sisters (Oh, if you want to see about Black Butte, you can google it.) By this time it's too late to go back to Corvallis and we're getting nervous about housing for the nite. A B&B in Sisters looked interesting. This is as good as any place for me to complain about the signage in this area. Seems they think everyone is from here. Although the speed limit signs are huge, the street signs (when you find them) are small and difficult for these old midwestern eyes to decipher. OK that's done, I feel better. We found that the best way to get around is to ask a lot. The people we have run into in Oregon are really friendly, talk like midwesterners and are very helpful. (My problem is that I want to see some signs now and then to assure me that I heard correctly.) Coming over 2 weeks ago, several people we ran into at rest stops advised us to go 20 to Corvallis, just as Mapquest had directed us. We stopped in Sisters at a Subway, and this little lady, said, "Oh no! You have to go 22 to Salem because 20 is closed. About 10 miles down the road we came across a policeman in the snow who confirmed that in another 8 miles or so we would see the split and needed to take 22. So here we are 2 weeks later back in Sisters (are you following this????) The B&B in the book is on Camp Pope Road just north of Sisters. We stop into the Subway, and, Yep, she's working.. (safe at last) She doesn't know the B&B, but does know the road. She directs us and when we got to the end of her directions we come to the road which only goes left from there. We drive and drive and can't find the B&B. Finally after driving about 10 miles, we come across a set of buildings that look very much like the description. But it was supposed to be only 1/4 mile from Sisters. The place is empty and in disrepair (we find that the book was published in 2005.) so we drive on another 1/4 mile and.... you guessed it, there is the sign "Welcome to Sisters". The really sad thing is that we drive another 1/4 mile and look across the street and see...... The Subway shop.. I glanced quickly to my left and to my surprise, there is a street sign.... "Locust Street"... I rest my case. We thought we should go over and let her know what we discovered, but then we were getting more nervous about housing and ... the B&B wasn't there anyway. Plan B the Blue Spruce Inn in Sisters. We found it, but there was a note on the door to call this number. We called and got no immediate response, so beat it for Bend, hoping for success. As we were messing around at the Blue Spruce, these guys were prowling around the neighbor's trailer.

OK, now we're really getting nervous. and the sun is sinking. Pretty, but sinking. Not wanting to stay just anywhere, but wanting to stay somewhere, we decided to give it one last shot before pulling into the local motel 6, or something akin. Georgia found in her book... Oh, I forgot to give you the title; "Places to Kiss in the Pacific Northwest, Romantic venues (paraphrased) Yes, Valentine's day extended. So now our quarry is the Pine Ridge Inn in Bend. We pulled into Bend and the first stationary person we found became our guide. He didn't know the Pine Ridge Inn, but did know where Century Avenue was. We followed his directions onto the parkway and off, but when we got to the end of his directions we found no Century Avenue. During this time, Georgia's prayer generator kicked in... "Lord, please help us to find a clean and nice place to stay for the night." was the essence. What to do now. Look, there's a Subway... Went to the door to find al long line of people wanting what they were selling food... Hey, there's a McDonalds with only a few people. (Does this mean Oregonians are healthy eaters???) Went to the counter to ask for help. The manager goes over to the only customers, a nice couple, and asks them. This guy is on it. He points to the round-about outside the window. (Yes, thought we left those in Michigan). Go 3/4 around it and you will come out on Century. Go through the next round-about, then it should be very close on the left. If you get to the 3rd round=about, go around it and come back, because you missed it. His directions were spot on. Next fear comes... do they have a room this late.. Yes they did and overlooking the river, with hot breakfast... and because it's so late we're giving you the corporate rate (30% off). Feeling the hand of GOD on us, I return to the vehicle to tell my bride that we have a room.. Next test.... will it be clean and nice.... Wow! she loved it. Have pictures, but maybe later. Here are a couple of pics from our patio. The river is below through the trees. So now what to eat. The really nice lady at the desk gave us some options, the easiest of which was to walk across the street to the Cascade Lakes Brewing Company. That was really good. A bit noisy with "ski folks" hobnobbing, but the food was really good. and it was easy. While we're sitting there, Georgia checks her phone for missed calls. Seems like she is missing several somehow... So there were 2 messages from the lady at the Blue Spruce Inn, about 10 minutes after we decided to go to Bend. But there was also a message that our oldest son had caught the bug from his family and was really sick. What timeing for us. We had just had some real prayer victories, pulling us out of the depths of dispair to the pinnacle of joy. We were obviouly saddened by this news, but felt confident in our prayers. We trust that he is much better now... If not, we need to know so we can stay on the job.

Today is another day. Back to Sisters to "do the town", then "home" to prepare for another week of work. Oh, these last pictures from our patio were taken this morning.