SubarUs Six: Klamath Falls to Bend

Eric and I have a new hobby, people watching at Walmart in Klamath Falls.  We have a theory that involves the gene pool, and all of the good looking people moving before breeding age.

I have never in my life seen so much camouflage.

I imagine it all makes ideal birthday presents, Christmas presents, anniversary presents...

Two hours into our drive, we got our first glimpse of Mount Bachelor!

We are almost in Deschutes County. 

We have been looking forward to going to Deschutes Brewery ever since we visited the brewery in Portland.  The original location is in Bend, at the brewery about ten minutes away.  We started at Deschutes Public House in downtown Bend for lunch.

The first flight of the trip!

Fig and gorgonzola pizza, my favorite!

Moving on.

We made a reservation weeks ago, thanks to the suggestion of Raya, to do the Deschutes Brewery  tour.  Starting in December of this year the price went from gratis to $5, but it was well worth it.

It comes with two tasters, a general description of how beer is made, as well as the history, and future, of Deschutes Brewery.  

They are in the process of opening up a brewery and Public House in Roanoke, Virginia.

This tap room is in the employee break room.  Every employee gets a pint of beer after work, and a case of beer a month (as well as stock options).

I love that Bend is cold but has a strong bike culture.

When will San Diego get it??

The bear was polar.  

I couldn't have done better myself.

That is nerd gold.  

Deschutes is the eighth largest craft brewery in the US.

Every year they choose an artist as the label for that year's Jubilale (their winter ale), and hang the art in the administration wing of the brewery.  I particularly liked this year's art.

For dinner we went to Sunriver Brewing Company.

(Bend has the highest number of breweries per capita in the US.)

Cheers!

And Happy New Year!!

SubarUs Five: Crater Lake

As we began the hour drive to Crater Lake from Klamath Falls, we could see that it was going to be a glorious day.  We have been so lucky with the weather on this trip.

We started off at the Steel visitor center, the only one open at Crater Lake during winter time.  (The entrance is on the other side of the building.)

There, we watched an interesting video on the formation of the caldera.  Surprisingly, it was formed just 7,700 years ago.  It took millions of years to form the volcano but, after pressure beneath it built up enough to suddenly erupt for days, it took a matter of hours to collapse.  

We drove to Rim Village (which isn't always open during this time of year due to weather).

From there, we started our snow shoe along the rim of the lake, directly above West Rim Drive (a road that is closed this time of year).  It has the most amazing views of the lake.

The lake is the deepest lake in the United States (594 meters), and its water is some of the purest on earth.

Interestingly enough, there are fish in this recently made lake.  They were introduced to the lake starting in the late 1800s.  The two species that remain, and are thriving, prompting the Forest Service to promote unlimited unlicensed fishing, are Rainbow Trout and Kokanee Salmon.

Crater Lake is unbelievable in December, weather permitting.  

There are much less tourists, and hiking with snow shoes is so much fun.

I still cannot believe how lucky we are.

SubarUs Four: Arcata to Klamath Falls

Before continuing on the Pacific Northwest portion of our SubarUs tour we had breakfast with Megan at Cafe Brio in downtown Arcata.

$4.35.  $4.75.  Either way they are pushing the limits for what one can charge for a croissant.  That being said it was incredible.  I had mine heated with a side of cream cheese.

The Jacoby building behind us was built in 1857, supplying necessities to the Klamath Trinity Mining Camp as well as serving as a refuge when there were Native American troubles.  I guess Native Americans don't like their land being destroyed...

Downtown Arcata is super cute.

Before saying goodbye to Megan we had to get a picture of her with her artwork.  She painted this picture for us for Christmas, to commemorate our Moroccan adventure.  It is so well done.  We cannot wait to get home to hang it up!

After debating whether or not to stop at the Trees of Mystery, we decided to go ahead and do it.  It is located right off of the 101, an hour north of Arcata, and boasts being one of the last standing roadside attractions, and is holding on strong after 70 years of attracting.

There is an extensive Native American exhibit, where we read that, in fact, Native Americans don't like their land destroyed...

The Trees of Mystery is located within a redwood forest.  This is the Lightening Bolt tree.  Believe it or not, they claim that many of their trees have been highlighted in Ripley's Believe It or Not.

The main reason for stopping at the Trees of Mystery is the gondola to the top, where drone-less human beings get a bird's eye view of redwood trees.

It was cool, but $18/person cool?  Hmmmm.  Maybe not.  

You can see the ocean from the summit, and there are nice east-facing views as well. 

This would be perfect for kids or those who aren't avid hikers.  You get the rewards of a nice hike without having to do any work.  Which does make you feel a little guilty about spending the money.  That being said, we did all of this in an hour, which otherwise would have taken half a day.

Candelabra Tree.

This really puts these huge trees into perspective, starting in the center ring of the tree, which grew during the Crusades in 1096.

Just 35 minutes north, although not in need of a stopover, we visited the Battery Point Lighthouse in Crescent City, Ca.  Built in 1856, it is still an active lighthouse and houses a permanent resident.  There must be a waiting list for such incredible accommodation.  What do they have to do in return?  Make sure the light is still on?  

Yep.  It's on.

I would be so good at it.

Just below the lighthouse are some of the best tide pools I have ever stomped through.

It took all of our common sense not to stop in for pizza and beer at Seaquake Brewing.  In retrospect, although less than two hours from Arcata, it would have been nice to spend the night here to explore more.  Instead, we drove three and a half hours to Klamath Falls, Oregon, in hopes for a clear view of Crater Lake.