A little bit of heaven

As promised, we departed the Creekside RV Campground in Sisters on the 16th.  We made our way east, toward Redmond.  Along the way, we stopped at Eagle Crest Resort, which is a well known Mecca for retirees and vacationers.  The main attraction is several golf courses, which I must admit, are beautiful.  We wanted to check out the area as a possible venue for our annual family reunion with the kids and grandkids.  What we saw did not convince us that it was a great place for small children (our grandkids will range from 1- 10 years next summer at reunion time).

We continued on to Redmond, where we stopped to let Lulu have a bathroom break.  Neither of us had been to Redmond prior to this visit.  We just drove through on Hwy 126, but Redmond impressed us as a thriving, lively town. We got one photo while we were there.

We continued up Hwy 97 toward Madras, another thriving town.  Neither of us, I think, was prepared for how modern and up-to-date these towns seem to be.  Passing through Madras, we continued north to the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. There we turned off the highway onto Pelton Dam Road.

 Along the way, we crossed the Crooked River Gorge, where several decades ago

a woman threw her two children off the bridge, because they were getting in the way of her love affair.

Pelton Dam is situated on the Deschutes River and is operated by Portland General Electric (PGE) as a hydroelectric project.  There is a lovely park and campground operated by PGE about a quarter mile upstream from the dam. Our destination, however, was further on at the Lake Simtustus Fish Camp and RV Park.

We wound around on a very narrow, road with spectacular views of the lake. Finally, we came to the park, which is situated on a hillside and is built as a terraced park with 5 levels on which to park RVs.  Each site has electricity, water and sewer, and our site was right on the lake's edge. In fact, it was so close, Jill almost slipped over the edge, when we unloaded the kayak from inside the camper.

We settled in at the extreme east end of the "A" level in site 14.  Between us and the next RV were at least half a dozen campsites as well as the boat launch ramp and the dock where the management rents boats.  It was like having the entire park to ourselves.  The one (or, perhaps, I should say two) negative features were 1) no cell phone service, and 2) no internet service, except at the office.

These negatives turned out to be positives. As if we had slipped back in time 30 years, we found ourselves cut off from civilization...just like people used to do in order to go on vacation. What a concept.  Jill is in the habit of writing letters daily to various family members. So, she wrote her letters in the morning. Then in the afternoon, we walked (or drove one of the golf carts provided by the management) up the hill and sat outside the office to connect and send them by email.

The old blogger spent more time fishing in four days than he has in the past four years. I actually landed a seven pound inch trout!! To be honest, I also hooked a catfish that would have measured on the order of 12 inches, had he not slipped the surly bonds of my clever angling devices (i.e., he spit the hook) and disappeared into the depths of Lake Simtustus.

Not to worry. We had so much fun kayaking, reading, hiking and relaxing (without all those annoying high-tech devices ringing and chiming and freezing up and rebooting) that we barely noticed the lack of seafood in our diets.

The view from our back window.

Yesterday, (our fourth at this heavenly place) we were invaded by a family reunion.  The three spaces immediately to the west of us were filled by three siblings and their spouses in three travel trailers.  The first thing we noticed is that the first contingent to arrive set up a bar that featured, among other things, margarita mix, tequila and a blender.

It all turned out well, though. The folks were friendly and quiet.  One couple had a nice dachshund named Scout.  Lulu had an encounter with Scout, and they got along famously. We were pleased, because we have been concerned that Lulu was never going to get along with other dogs after she was traumatized at a doggy daycare by being put out in the yard with several large dogs.

Today, we moved on, and I am writing this in Dayville, OR.  I will provide details in my next post.