We got a little bit of a late start at just after 10am after enjoying a breakfast sandwich at the Subway behind our motel. The Chik Filet cow enjoyed it.
Our first dam for the day, Crescent, was just about 30 miles away and it was a nice warm ride up to it. We first ended up on the resort side of the dam and snapped a photo. I seem to have this thing about getting pictures from both sides of dams where possible.
I then found the way around to boat launch and took the documentary photo.
I then took a few other pictures.of the lake. The water is so clear and you can see the rocks in the bottom in the first picture.
There's a really nice campground by the dam that would be worth coming back to stay at.
We then headed north to near Redmond to enjoy a nice lunch. Along the way a "wannabe suicidal" squirrel darted out, Angela closed her eyes, I steered straight ahead, and in my rear view mirror I saw that the squirrel completed a 180 turn to avoid becoming road kill.
The AHI Tuna fish tacos were among the best I've ever had.
The cook took a liking to our bike and came out to chat with us. I also took a picture of his nice '80 BMW that had been restored. He's the original owner.
Soon we were on our way west on OR126 which would take us tall the way to Florence, OR on the Pacific Ocean (some 200 miles to the west from Redmond). At Sisters I decided to take the recommendation of a friend and ride OR 242 (the Old McKenzie Road). What a treat this was!! It's a road that's limited to vehicles and combinations 35 feet or shorter. Up we climbed and soon were in some giant lava fields that were created from volcanic eruptions of the Sisters and other smaller craters. At the summit of the road this is this very cool observatory that has peep holes that are aligned with the respective peak or lava source. What I found particularly special was that I could look out on the lava flows and see which mountain they came from.
This observatory, named Dee Wright Observatory after the Forest Service foreman who supervised its construction back in the 1930's. Here's a few pictures. Again, there are more in the Smugmug photo gallery.
The chipmunks up there were definitely well treated and would come up expecting a treat. This photo was taken at my feet.
Leaving the observvatory, we then rode the very twisty route west down the mountain and passed 4 bicyclists. Soon we re-connected with OR 126 and followed it west to Florence with a gas stop in Springfield, OR (lots of traffic). The section of OR 126 west of Springfield was especially nice and twisty to ride.and we finally saw our first Oregon State Trooper just outside of Florence with a paying customer. For the first time in many days we were riding at altitudes lower than 5,000 feet and temperatures below 60f.
At Florence we headed south on US101 to tag our last and final dam at 8pm on 8/19/2010: Tahkenitch which is located right alongside of US101 and only 24 feet above sea level. We documented the dam with some pictures and then headed back to Florence to get a motel for the night.
We ended up with a room at the Villa West because it was next to a Thai Restaurant (Best Thai Cuisine). Because they were closing at 9pm, we ordered our meal to go and enjoyed it in our room.
Tomorrow we'll head north along the ocean and spend a couple of nights with some friends in the Portland, Oregon before returning home on Sunday via White Salmon and Mt. St. Helens.
Trip Statistics:
Daily Mileage: 327 miles
Game Spotted: Several deer, many chipmunks, and one wannabe suicidal squirrel
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