Suttle Lake

Suttle Lake

Today we rode the Suttle Tie Trail to the Suttle Lake Loop trail. Although this trail is only 45 minutes from Bend it has a different look than our local trails. We have sagebrush, this one has ferns. And there is a nice restaurant on the loop.

     Jim in the underbrush

 The Suttle Lake Resort & Lodge

 Mount Washington in the background

 Black Butte in the other direction

 For sure this area gets more rain than Bend!

 A long ride off a short pier?

Suttle Lake running into Lake Creek

The reward for our efforts at a famous landmark in Sisters

Crater Lake

First Time Ever!

The Park Service closed the road (except for a few miles) around Crater Lake to cars. Which meant cyclists could enjoy the ride without fear of being run off a narrow winding road by a car or motorhome.

Since this was an opportunity we couldn't pass up we rode it on Saturday since Sunday was predicted (and they were right) to be rainy.

You can read about Crater Lake

Here

This was our first visit and we were very impressed. It's a spectacular place. Hope you enjoy the photos we took of our ride.

The Lake is so clear that the reflections are amazing!

This little guy stuffing his already fat cheeks

Two Bikes, Two Riders, Two Skies

Still quite a bit of snow up there

Phantom Ship

 Wizard Island

Wizard Island

Wizard Island

Vidae Falls

The road..... car-free!

 Dana avoiding the falling rock

In the background: Mount Thielsen (9184ft/2799m) another volcano

Some guy with his bike

Pizza on the Barbie

We have a bit more deck space here so we got this barbeque. Mostly so we could make it in to a pizza oven. Made in Australia no less! So I guess we should call it a "barbie"

Tonight was the maiden pizza voyage...

The BBQ, A Beefeater Discovery

With the way cool shiny red pizza oven hood

pizza toppings

pizza dough

getting hot...579F/300C !

a well used pizza stone

pizzas ready to go in! (ok, so they aren't quite round...anyone have any tips for dough spinning?)

cooking!!

2 finished pizzas and oh, so yummy!

The maiden voyage of the pizza oven was a huge success! 

Pizzas were yummy! Dough was cooked well, and only took a few minutes in there.

 

 

We have tried a few other things on just the BBQ, and all were good!

Corn on the cob!

Corn and Chicken

Corn and fish on a plank

So far our grilling has been a great success. We haven't had to toss anything yet! But we are still learning so if you are are pitmaster please send your suggestions! 

Falls and such

...no, not that kind of fall, though if you know us it would be easy to think that. And yes there was a big fall from a mountain bike last week.

But these falls are waterfalls. Since the weather has turned warmer we have started to 

meander to areas beyond Bend. We went over "the pass" for the first time. Santiam Pass crosses the Cascades from the arid high desert of central Oregon on the East side to the rainy, greener, wetter climate on the West side.

We drove over to take a hike on the McKenzie River Trail on the Sahalie and Koosah Falls. One guidebook described this area as a little slice of New Zealand. Not sure about that, but it was green damp and mossy. 

Fish Lake

Long and winding road...

McKenzie river, spray of falls

Sahalie Falls

Sahalie Falls

McKenzie River

Koosah Falls

Rainbow in the spray

Narrow bridge over the river

Mt Washington

And no blog post is complete until there are some photos of our sweet boy.

tsk and Scruffy, next door neighbor

....and some of the wildlife that we have...

Bunnies and squirrels

lizards!

Quail