June 25, Hood River to Bend, OR.

June 25, Day 20 – Hood River to Bend

Said good-bye to the very pleasant Westcliff Inn with a fully charged battery and printed papers for the D.C. home purchase courtesy of the hotel staff.

We went to the local Walmart’s and purchased some food, drink and clothes. We breakfasted at a river front park and then began the climb on route 35 out of the Columbia River Valley. That drained the car battery quickly.  We quickly entered Mount Hood National Forest with still snow-covered Mt Hood (named after a British naval captain who commanded the first European vessel that sailed up the Columbia river in the late 18^th century.) looming on the right. The road was lined with a lush green wall of trees and had numerous trailheads, the most prominent of which was the Pacific Crest Trail that crossed the road at the 4,157 ft., high Barlow Pass. At Government Camp, we turned south on route 26. Sadly, we had to pass on hiking or visiting Mt. Hood and touring Timberline Lodge. We drove through Madras, which next month would become a popular site to view the total solar eclipse, but frustrated many viewers with forest fires, and turned south on to route 97 to take us to Cove Palisades State Park. After many turns we descended into the crowded state park.

The park is centered around Lake Billy Chinook reservoir created by Round Butte Dam. There are three visually interesting canyons that have been formed by the Deschutes, Crooked and Metolius Rives that meet in the Park.

Lots of families and groups out picnicking and barbequing. There were many boats out on the water.  We had lunch under the shade at a picnic table. I went for a long swim after gingerly crossing the small pebble beach. After those activities, we took a drive around the reservoir across the dam and up to the mesa formed by the canyons.  

After we left the park late in the afternoon it took about an hour to drive to Bend. We stayed at the Cascade Lodge. An older place, large room and very affordable. Tootsie rolls at check -in. Owner gave us a room where he said we could charge up the car, but as in Alturas’ Red Rock Motel, the electrical system from the room was not up to it. I parked next to the soda vending machine and that electrical outlet could charge the car.

We made the short drive to downtown Bend for dinner. My spouse had a desire for pizza, so we went to Pizza Mondo, a cozy spot with NY style pizza. A sort of counter culture place it had good pizza and nice brownies for dessert.  I took a swim before going to sleep