Hi all,
Well, I am back. It was a fabulous trip. The weather was a steamy 105 degrees on and off. Long story short, we left Columbia Rovers around 2PM on Thursday. What a great shop and location they have there.
Peter, Sabrina, Amy and I convoyed to Salem. We refueled there and then headed east on Oregon 22 to Riverside Campground, just east of Idanha, OR.
The next morning, we got up and headed east on Oregon 22. We were about 10 miles out of the campsite when POOOOF! Peter loses an ATF line. So, we pull over and analyze the situation. Amy and I head west on 22 to Idanha and Detroit, OR to buy up all the ATF we could find at any shop that sold it.
We drive back to where Peter and Sabrina were. We got his ATF line back on his truck, fill up the ATFF (no Sp) and continue east up and over the pass until we get to McKenzie-Santium Pass Scenic Byway. Awesome drive.
We get into Sisters, OR and get Peter some extra transmission hose and a new gas cap. As Oregon has stolen two of his gas caps so far due to not allowing self-pumping of gas. 
On to Bend, where we had a great lunch at Deschutes Brewery.
We then headed to Fred Myer in Bend for supplies and make our way south on hiway 97. We turned off on SR 31 (Oregon Outback Scenic Byway) and then headed to County Road 5-10. Our destination was Green Mountain.
With a little GPS and map exercise, we finally got to our destination, Green Mountain with a delightful empty camp for us to own for the night.
We weren't allowed a camp fire, but the full moon was good enough. We spent the night chasing satellites and watching for shooting stars. Man the SNPA's were good that night
The next morning, we got up, had breakfast and headed north on County Road 610-9C for Derrick Cave. We spent about an hour there, such an amazing place. Saw a few UFO's and then headed southwest to Fort Rock.
We had lunch at Fort Rock, where Sabrina taught us every possible version of "Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes", by replacing all the words with, well whatever you want. Good times.
After lunch, we went back into the town of Fort Rock and replenished my quickly melting ice.
We met some nice folks who offered up their place in LaPine on the river if we chose to bail from our trip. (Thanks Brian!)
But, we decided to navigate some uncharted waters (dirt roads) and headed north on Cabin Lake Rd. which turns into County Rd. 5-11 and eventually China Hat Rd. Our destination, Paulina Lake!
We found some great dirt and paved roads that got us into the East - Paulina Lake area. We visited the Big Obsidian Flow. We setup camp in the Paulina Lake Campground. Had a great campfire and had the obligatory Chihuly Beer-Bottle sculpting session that night as well.
We got up this morning, did some minor D110 repairs and headed out. Peter and Sabrina headed to Crater lake and Amy and I headed home.
I'm glad we chose this trip because of it's familiarity and incredible volcanic natural beauty.
I recommend it to everyone.
Peter took all the pictures, so you will have to wait for his return.
Thanks to Todd for the maps and GPS and Scott from Columbia Rovers for the AC service upon departure.
Dan |