Road Trip - Leavenworth 08-21-2013

We visited Yakima Valley wineries in Yakima Valley in the morning.

Yakima Valley gets more than 300 days of sunshine a year and has more than 60 wineries.  We went to two wineries in Rattlesnake Hills. Wine tasting is an interesting experience. 

From Yakima Valley, we took Freeway 82 and changed to Highway 97.  On Highway 97, we passed Wenatchee National Forest.  The Forest has 2.2 million acres and 135 miles of Cascade Range. Wildlife is abundant such as elk, deer, black bear, mountain goats, as well as other species.  However, we did not see any.

Driving on Highway 97, we suddenly saw a burning truck which packed with hay.  We were so scared.

On Highway 97 near Ellensburg, we saw another surprised – wind turbines.  We really did not expect to see wind turbines again after we passed the Columbia River in Oregon.  But … we saw wind turbines again.  We have to … stop … to … take pictures.   There are 149 wind turbines in Ellensburg and provide energy to about 70,000 homes in the Puget Sound region.

From Highway 97, we changed to Highway 2 to Leavenworth.

Leavenworth is a small "German Village" with population of 1970.  The market square area is about 4 - 5 blocks long and a couple of blocks wide with lots of parking. It offers many interesting shops such as clothing, wood, arts, and tourist trinkets. Don’t forget pastry, bakeries, restaurants, and beers. Oh! Please do not leave Leavenworth without having Pork Hock and German beer!!  It is … delicious!

Today was our last day of the Road Trip.  We are heading home tomorrow.

Bye! Hopefully, I will see you on my travel blog again.  Thanks for reading my blog.

Road Trip - Yakima 08-20-2013

We left Bend, OR in the morning; we drove on Highway 97, Highway 239, and finally Highway 218 to Clarno Unit John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.  On Highway 239, we saw a deer family about 7~8 deer on the roadside.  We stopped and took some pictures of them.

The Clarno Unit John Day Fossil was formed 44 million years ago by a series of volcanic mudflows, swept up and preserved a diverse assortment of plants and animals that inhabited a near-tropical forest.

After visited Clarno Unit, we continued on Highway 97.  It was a hot and long drive. My friend and I were getting really tired on the road.  Suddenly, we saw something really interesting … wind turbines.  Unknown to us, most of the wind power projects are in rural Eastern Oregon and near the Columbia River Gorge. We took a road next to Highway 97 and went in the wind farm.  It is a very interesting and very “powerful” site.

We stopped at Biggs for lunch. Biggs is the city where before we were crossing the Columbia River and leaving Oregon.

We reached Yakima around 3:30 pm.  After we checked in the hotel, we first stopped at Yakima Valley Visitor Center to get some information.  Then, we went to the fruit farms and wanted to pick peaches.  Unfortunately, most peaches have been picked already.  So, we just “U-Pick” peaches from fruit stands.  The peaches were so big and sweet!  Yum! 

Oh, I forgot to mention, we saw a dog in a fruit farm and her name is "Peach".  Nice dog! 

Tomorrow, we will visit a winery before we are heading to Leavenworth.  It will be a nice day!

Road Trip - Bend 08-19-2013

We planned to visit Crater Lake, and we took Highway 62 North to Crater Lake. 

On Highway 62, we first passed through Rogue River – Siskiyou National Forest. The forest covers almost 1.8 million acres; portions of the Applegate and Illinois River drainage's extend into northern California. The Rogue River drains over 75 percent of the Forest's land area.  I enjoyed the drive because the trees along the highway are so beautiful.

We had 4 stops before reached Crater Lake: TouVelle State Park, Lost Creek Lake, Natural Bridge Viewpoint, and Rouge Rogue River Gorge Viewpoint.

TouVelle State Park is a recreation park located on the bank of the Rogue River.  The visitors can fish, swim, hike, and watch wildlife.  The park also has a boat ramp which the visitors can launch the boat into the Rogue River.

Lost Creek Lake is a reservoir located on the Rogue River.  The lake is impounded by William L. Jess Dam which was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1977 for flood control. 

Natural Bridge Viewpoint and Rogue River Gorge Viewpoint, we saw ancient lava tubes, waterfalls, and many other interesting features

Crater Lake National Park is established in 1902 and is the fifth oldest national park in the United States.  The lake water was so blue like the color of blue diamonds.  It was so beautiful.

We took Highway 97 to Bend, OR after we visited Crater Lake National Park.

We drove on the Highway 97 and passed through Deschutes National Forest.  The 1.6 million-acre Deschutes National Forest is located in parts of four Oregon counties: Deschutes, Klamath, Lake, and Jefferson counties. The forest has more than 150 lakes, 500 miles of streams, and 100 miles of the Cascade Range.  The forest contains alpine forests and meadows, mountain lakes, caves, desert areas, and volcanic attractions.

Our last stop before Bend was Lava Butt.  Lava Butt is part of Newberry Crater National Monument.  Lava Butt is a picturesque cinder cone known formed nearly 7,000 years ago.  It was a very interesting place to visit.

Finally, we reached Bend, Oregon.  Bend is largest city in Central Oregon with population of 76,693 at the time of the 2010 US Census.  Bend is located on the edge of the Cascade Range along the Deschutes River.  We took a walk along the river and saw people enjoy many different types of water activities on the river such as canoeing, kayaking, paddle boarding, or floating.  It is a nice city to visit.