On the Road Again

April 17, 2015

We've finally done it...we've left Bend. After 3 months, the place started to feel like home. It felt so much like home that we probably could have stayed for another 3 months and felt pretty good about it. Since my only real goal of being in Bend was to ski a bunch, it seems that we got quite a bit of other stuff accomplished while we were there. We spent time with old friends, we've made some great new friends, we hiked, we climbed, we explored the region, and yes, we did ski a bunch. According to Mt. Bachelor, we spent 38 days with skis strapped on our feet and skied a total of 415,886 vertical feet...not too shabby. It was the best winter that either of us can ever remember having and we are seriously thinking that we will be back next winter for more of the same. But alas, it's time to move on. There is too much out there to see and do for us to stay put any longer.

Speaking of things to see and do, in just a few hours south of Bend, we came across what is claimed to be the worlds largest logging museum. Any time that there is a claim of the worlds largest, the worlds best, or the worlds worst, it's a must see in my book. So we went to see the worlds largest logging museum...and it was pretty cool. There was lots of old timey rusty junk hanging around and some pretty interesting loggers cabins that have been dismantled and moved from their original homestead locations and then brought to the museum and reassembled so we could peep in their windows. It was a pretty fun place to spend a little bit of time and a great spot to get out of the car and stretch our legs.

Speaking of must sees...there is the best restaurant in the world in Crescent Oregon. The food is actually terrible but it is truly a must see if you are driving down highway 97 and just happen to pass through Crescent. It's the Mohawk Restaurant and they have a bottle and animal collection for your viewing pleasure as you eat. Yes, an animal collection...a huge stuffed animal collection. You can stare at stuffed roadkill lining the walls as you eat and wonder where the meat that you are eating actually came from. It's really a creepy place, but again, it is a must see...and the milkshakes are actually pretty good.

Yesterday I stood on the summit of one of Central Oregon's finest peaks with skis strapped to my feet. As I looked over the edge at the nearly 3,000 vertical feet of knee deep powder that was calling my name, it was a balmy 14 degrees outside...and I wasn't cold at all. I had finally gotten acclimated to the winter cold weather. What a difference a day makes. Today at Shasta Lake it's a whopping 86 degrees. If you haven't guessed it...that's a lot hotter than 14...it's 72 hotter to be excact. It's almost unbearable. Especially for this ski bum who has just finally gotten used to cold weather. And tomorrow it's supposed to be pushing into the low 90's...ugh! Luckily for us, we are at a beautiful lake, we have our paddle boards, and we know how to swim.

So today we are camped out next to Shasta Lake in northern California. We have our home on wheels at a pretty incredible spot that not too long ago was about 20 feet under water and home to some fish. Since California is having a huge drought, the water level in the lake is about 100 feet low which has opened up what could be the best camping spot in all of California. It only took some creative redneck style 4 wheel driving to drag our home on wheels to this spot, but it was totally worth it. There is no one around but us and the bears...we are back to being in the boonies and it's great.

It looks like we are going to hang out here for a day or two so we can work on refreshing our tans, we'll practice our swimming strokes, and we'll explore the lake on our paddle boards. After that, we'll keep working our way south to Yosemite National Park. We'll fill you in on our progress as progress happens.

Here are a few photos of our home-for-now and some pictures of our last days in Bend which includes some shots of a 10k race that Brenda, Gigi, and Susan participated in. “Team Powderpuff” trained hard for 2 weeks and then kicked some serious butt (the training included 4 runs in those 2 weeks which I'm told were strenuous, but knowing these 3 girls, the training probably consisted of lots of giggling, talking about how great their husbands are, and beers...and not necessarily in that order). Out of about 12 million runners (I think there were actually about 500), Brenda placed 3^rd in her class, Gigi took 4^th, and Susan stole the gold with a solid 1^st place (I actually don't know what place Susan got, but since this was her first time running 10k's, and she finished with a smile on her face, I'm calling her the winner. If you are wondering how far a 10k is, it's one more than a 9k...which any way you look at it is a long way to run). Nice job Team Powderpuff!