Cove Palisades State Park (Part Four)

Central Oregon Road Trip

Monday, May 23, 2022

The Cove Palisades State Park (Crooked River Campground)

Sunny and warm

I took a lot of photos on our final day at this campground, so I'm dividing the day into two posts. 

After lunch we took a drive over to the Deschutes Campground on the other side of the park. There's a wonderful beach with lots of picnic tables, but after driving around the campground, we decided we liked Crooked River Campground better. It has more grass, trees, and space between sites.

Before heading back to camp, we drove up to the viewpoint on the mesa where we discovered we had a great cell signal. We spent a little time relaxing with some ice cream as we caught up on our emails and the news.

Beach area on Deschutes River

We were the only ones around,

 but I bet it's crowded in the summer.

From The Cove Rattler:

The amazing basalt boulder is called the Crooked River Petroglyph, and used to reside on the western flank of the Crooked River, not far from the northern tip of The Island. The 18-ton rock was nearly covered by water as Lake Billy Chinook filled in 1964, but was rescued and put on display.

The carvings, called petroglyphs (whereas paintings are known as pictographs), are at least 2,000 years old but reflect a style of carving that is nearly 6,000 years old. People often ask what’s pictured on the rock, but the truth is, we don’t know. Some of these carvings were done by participants during profound spiritual ceremonies; other carvings were designed to warn of particular danger, or to represent an entity protecting the area. 

Ship Rock

Crooked River

Happy campers!

Looking Back - The Long Goodbye

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler

Fiction

1953 First Vintage Crime

Finished on May 8, 2001

Rating: 3/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Down-and-out drunk Terry Lennox has a problem: his millionaire wife is dead and he needs to get out of LA fast. So he turns to the only friend he can trust: private investigator Philip Marlowe. Marlowe is willing to help a man down on his luck, but later Lennox commits suicide in Mexico and things start to turn nasty. Marlowe is drawn into a sordid crowd of adulterers and alcoholics in LA's Idle Valley, where the rich are suffering one big suntanned hangover. Marlowe is sure Lennox didn't kill his wife, but how many stiffs will turn up before he gets to the truth?

My Original Thoughts (2001):

Easy to get into. Can picture it as an old black & white movie with Bogart. Classic murder mystery. Complicated story. Lots of cops & bad guys. Hard to tell who's honest. Got boring after a while. Wouldn't have finished if it weren't a book group choice (or a classic). 

My Current Thoughts:

I don't remember anything about this book and never went on to try any others by Chandler.

Cove Palisades State Park (Part Three)

Central Oregon Road Trip

Monday, May 23, 2022

The Cove Palisades State Park (Crooked River Campground)

Sunny and warm

I took a lot of photos on our final day at this campground, so I'm dividing the day into two posts. 

It was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine and comfortable temps. After breakfast, we enjoyed a walk around the wetland loop, and later spotted an osprey on top of a power pole by our campsite.

Not sure if this is a salamander or a skink.

I wasn't about to pick it up for a closer look!

Northern Harrier

I watched this osprey for

 at least 15 minutes. So cool!

I guess he was watching me, too.

All photos were shot with my new Canon EOS and Canon RF100-400mm F5.6-8 telephoto lens. It's exactly what I wanted for wildlife photography!

Bend, Oregon

Central Oregon Road Trip

Sunday, May 22, 2022 

Bend, Oregon

64 degrees and sunny!

We needed to pick up a few groceries, so we drove south to Fred Meyers in Redmond then headed down to Bend (45 minutes south of our campsite in Culver) to do some exploring. First stop, coffee! Bend has over a dozen coffee shops and we decided on Thump Coffee since it's near a couple of bookstores we wanted to visit. Thump has a relaxed, artsy vibe, reminding us of The Mill in Lincoln (NE). I had a Spicy Mayan Mocha and a Nutella cream cheese type of croissant. Rod had the same pastry and a latte. Delicious! My mocha was true to its name; much spicier than the Mexican Mocha that I previously had in Sunriver, but still very good.

Fueled with caffeine and sugar, we headed out to explore downtown Bend. Our first stop was at Pegasus Books. It's a funky little store with a large selection of comic books, graphic novels, anime & manga, role playing games, sports cards, toys, as well as fiction and nonfiction books. It's a small store with narrow aisles and there were several people browsing, so we decided to move on. 

Our next stop was Dudley's Bookshop, which we both immediately loved. Spacious and well-lit, we wandered around perusing the shelves and displays. The second floor is large and inviting, perfect for relaxing with a stack of books and a coffee or listening to an author's reading. I enjoyed chatting with one of the booksellers about my current read, as well as Rod's upcoming book release. We already had our fill of coffee and danish, but we'll be sure to sample their treats next time we're in town. 

My kind of bookstore!

I would apply for a job if I lived closer.

We wandered around town and started to think about getting lunch. Bend Brewing Co. looked promising, especially with their large outdoor patio overlooking a grassy picnic area and Mirror Pond. A Steely Dan tribute band was performing, and we got to listen as we enjoyed our beers & lunch.

Rod had the Korean pork belly bowl, and I had a fabulous chicken caprese sandwich with the most delicious peach and tomato chutney. I know where I want to get lunch next time we're in town!

As we walked back to the RV, we spotted this pretty little garden. The irises were stunning. It was a fun outing and we're already looking forward to another visit to Bend.