I write this during the last week of this stint. Last weekend, we went to one of our favorite places, the Lodge at Suttle Lake, where we have been a few times before, but again the first time during summer. As we approach the lake we are reminded by the massive forest fire that occured here in 2003, burning whole mountains full of trees, including the former lodge. The dead, burned out trees are much more obvious during the summer with the contrasting greenery which is missing during the winter. Thesc charred giants, slowly discintigrate while their little seedlings strive to replace them in covering this glorious scenery with evergreen. Our former pictures of Suttle Lake were made with ice on the lake. These early morning pics give us that "clear as glass" reflection image. The water that runs in the creek away from the lake is crystal clear. Check out this "petunia wagon" near Leavitt's Western Wear in Sisters. After browsing a little in Sisters and snapping a few more pics of the 3 Sisters (mountains) we asked our new Garmin to guide us to Portland so Georgia could catch the plane to Indy Monday morning before I went back to the last week of work. (Feeling much better, but a bit lonely). We were a little surprised when Garmin took us, not up I-5, but through berry country via Oregon City, a delightful "side" trip. The only bummer was that we didn't have any way to handle berrys so we didn't stop, though we were really tempted. Somewhere on the trip, we hit something and I noticed the car shimmied a bit around 60 while driving back to Corvallis. Think I found a trustworthy auto shop. They have our car and have diagnosed a blown strut. I'll let you know later how that works out. One of the "summer" things we didn't get to do was visit "Mary's Peak", a nearby mountain in the coastal range that is the highest point on the coastal range. I decided that since I was going home alone anyway, and the sky was clear, I should trek up there Monday nite. Including filling up with gas, it only took me about an hour to reach the peak after work. Wow. Although it was fantastic, by the time I got up there there were clouds forming over some of the things I wanted to see. Supposedly you can actually see the coast (about 40 miles away), several of the cascade peaks (100 miles) and Mount Hood east of Portland and even Mount Adams and some other peaks in the state of Washington. The most recognizable peak I saw was Mout Jefferson, near Sisters. However the clouds covered it before I coud get a picture. I tried to capture the grandure, but don't think I came close. As I was leaving, people were gathering to watch the sunset... I wasn't up to driving down the twisty-turney in the dark, so came on down. Hard to believe that majestic view is so close to Corvallis.
I write this during the last week of this stint. Last weekend, we went to one of our favorite places, the Lodge at Suttle Lake, where we have been a few times before, but again the first time during summer. As we approach the lake we are reminded by the massive forest fire that occured here in 2003, burning whole mountains full of trees, including the former lodge. The dead, burned out trees are much more obvious during the summer with the contrasting greenery which is missing during the winter. Thesc charred giants, slowly discintigrate while their little seedlings strive to replace them in covering this glorious scenery with evergreen. Our former pictures of Suttle Lake were made with ice on the lake. These early morning pics give us that "clear as glass" reflection image. The water that runs in the creek away from the lake is crystal clear. Check out this "petunia wagon" near Leavitt's Western Wear in Sisters. After browsing a little in Sisters and snapping a few more pics of the 3 Sisters (mountains) we asked our new Garmin to guide us to Portland so Georgia could catch the plane to Indy Monday morning before I went back to the last week of work. (Feeling much better, but a bit lonely). We were a little surprised when Garmin took us, not up I-5, but through berry country via Oregon City, a delightful "side" trip. The only bummer was that we didn't have any way to handle berrys so we didn't stop, though we were really tempted. Somewhere on the trip, we hit something and I noticed the car shimmied a bit around 60 while driving back to Corvallis. Think I found a trustworthy auto shop. They have our car and have diagnosed a blown strut. I'll let you know later how that works out. One of the "summer" things we didn't get to do was visit "Mary's Peak", a nearby mountain in the coastal range that is the highest point on the coastal range. I decided that since I was going home alone anyway, and the sky was clear, I should trek up there Monday nite. Including filling up with gas, it only took me about an hour to reach the peak after work. Wow. Although it was fantastic, by the time I got up there there were clouds forming over some of the things I wanted to see. Supposedly you can actually see the coast (about 40 miles away), several of the cascade peaks (100 miles) and Mount Hood east of Portland and even Mount Adams and some other peaks in the state of Washington. The most recognizable peak I saw was Mout Jefferson, near Sisters. However the clouds covered it before I coud get a picture. I tried to capture the grandure, but don't think I came close. As I was leaving, people were gathering to watch the sunset... I wasn't up to driving down the twisty-turney in the dark, so came on down. Hard to believe that majestic view is so close to Corvallis. 
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