Central Oregon

May 26- May 28 Memorial Weekend

May 26, the day of water falls

We left our home in Kirkland about 9:00. Arrived the historical Columnbia Highway around 12:00. View at the Portland Woman's Forum and the Crown Point were breathtaking.

Columbia Gorge

Nature presents us so many waterfalls in one day. Among them are the famous Multnomah water fall, Wahkeena Waterfalls, Fairy Waterfall, Bridal Veil Water fall, Horsetail Waterfall.

Multnomah Fall

We continue our drive till "the Dalles", a small quiet town along Columnbia River, where we stayed in a small motel for the night.


May 27, the day of Volcanic scenes
We drove to Mt. Hood first in the morning. It was cold and people are still skiing. I took a few pictures while the peak appears out of flying clouds.

Mt. Hood

We saw a flyer about the painted hills while registering in the hotel in the Dalles the day before and decided to have a visit. It's a long but beautiful drive to the John Day painted hill unit. The tender red, yellow colors on the hills were absolutely amazing. It's hard to imagine that years and years ago that sub-tropical plants grew here. It lets me rethinking the global warming.

Painted Hills

After that, we drive to Bend, a booming town for tourists and retirees. We visisted the Newberry National Volcanic Monument.

Newberry National Volcanic Monument

After that, we drive to Mt. Bachelor. Unfortunately, it was a bit cloudy so I could not take good pictures.

Mt. Bachelor under Clouds

We stayed in EcoLodge in Bend. The food in a fancy Chinese restaurant was disappointing. We should stay away from small town Chinese restaurant.

May 28, the day of snow capped mountains
In the morning, we drive a long way to "three sisters creek". The lake and mountain were so quiet. It would be great if we had time to have some hiking there.

Three Sisters Creek

After that, we drove back. Along the way, we saw so many snow-capped mountains: broken top, three sisters, Mt. Washington, Mt. Jefferson.

Three Sisters

At Salem, we bought a Acer notebook for $500. We did more shopping at the Woodburn company store.

Overall, it's a nice trip. A little bit too much driving (more than 1000 miles) in three days. Bend, Oregon is a nice place for vacation.