High Desert Museum - near Bend, OR

     Barb and I stopped at the High Desert Museum a few miles south of Bend off Highway 97, on our way to Crater Lake. Founded by Donald Kerr, a young biology student from Portland, it is both an interactive teaching museum and a home for rescued raptors and other high desert animals. 
     We were introduced to this gyrfalcon, who is actually a transplant from a breeding facility in Pennsylvania. She is currently being trained as an aide for educational talks. This curious female pecked and nipped at her handler looking for goodies, but it's her feet not her beak, one must treat warily. The claws are a falcon's most dangerous weapon, so they must be controlled at all times. You'll see that the handler has a very secure grip on those talons!
     This lovely lady-bird remained on a tight leash at our inside presentation, but during the summer she may show off her flying ability. Then, visitors can watch falconry demonstrations in the museum's outside arena.
    As always in a museum, we managed to while away a few hours, meandering through the grounds, visiting other birds of prey, a working scale model of a sawmill (Bend's major industry until logging declined and micro-breweries took over :-), sleeping otters, and the Leapers and Creepers exhibit that included the beautiful sulcata tortoise.

Yachats Beach

Nature's art appears beneath my feet.

A pause on our morning walk revealed gorgeous patterns of sand and water alongside a misplaced river rock.

Not long after that brief stop, Barb and I encountered a man wearing a Taos Hockey baseball cap. Turns out Tom Dahaney (?) used to live on Upper Ranchitos Road in Taos, next door to Vanda, a friend with whom I sometimes ski!

Small world, eh?

 We went to see Crater Lake, but it was (mostly) closed!












Janet, Crater Lake B&B's gracious owner, was very generous with travel suggestions. Following her guidance, we drove up the hill and parked beside a ten-foot high snowbank at the entry to a plowed driveway. A short walk across the snow was all we needed to digi-capture the view. For anything beyond a quick look, we'd have needed lots more time and snowshoes or cross-country skis.


After a good look, we headed west to Union Creek, where Beckie's serves homemade pie and simple supper. I don't usually start off with dessert, but deep study of the menu led me to believe that pecan pie and red wine were my best option. I thoroughly enjoyed practicing the dictum that "Life is short, eat dessert first." Those nuts, sugar, and fermented fruit-sugar were not just best part of the meal - they're the only part I want to remember.


Neither Barb nor I would make a special trip to eat anything from Beckie's menu, and for sure, not the hum-drum apple pie! But we both agreed that Crater Lake could be worth a return visit when rim roads are open and we can take a boat ride across its spectacular blue.

Bend, OR

Cascades view from Riverwalk

Evoked a moment of envy - an active, lively downtown filled with micro-breweries and smell-good eateries just a block from this walk along the river to Drake Park. It's got everything from reasonably polite geese to Shakespeare: doggone nice - and lots of dogs walking through think so, too!

Mill Inn, Bend, OR #2

Does your chewing gum lose its flavor on the bedpost overnight?

Maybe you noticed the bedboards on the fence behind the Statue of Liberty in Barb's photo....if not, here's your chance to get a closer look. Yep, when you don't know how to give some pizzazz to a parking lot fence, just add a headboard or two or half a dozen. 

The Mill Inn offers visual delight in every corner, wall, fence, and cranny. In fact, at one point, I looked up to find an artificial owl perched overhead. My favorite room was the second floor front right - the ski room with an old-fashioned toboggan on the wall serving as a coat or towel rack. (You get to choose.)

I slept in the golf room - adorned with antique golf clubs, golf photos, golf mementos; if it had to do with golf, you'd find it somewhere in room 5.

Mom - you'd have felt right at home here :-)

Mill Inn, Bend, OR

Lady Liberty Transplanted?

The Mill Inn, a landmark B&B in Bend, OR, reflects the Brooklyn upbringing of its late owner. Whenever you ask about this statue, the locals in Bend have learned the appropriate response:,"Fuh-gett-about-it!!!" Though the building is owned by an educational institution, its gracious and cheerful manager, Dave, provided a breakfast to die for - starting with bowls of coffee, fresh fruit and drop scones, oj in a frozen carafe, Belgian waffles with cinnamon-dusted bananas — and it didn't end there. Quiche with avocados atop AND he insisted on sending us on the road with more scones. Dave is Bend-born and proud of it:  speaking readily on its behalf in a Seattle Times article about the many breweries on its Ale Trail

Filoli Daffodil Daydreams

Sunday visit to Filoli: Mom's smile beams out of the fuzzy image - guess I was more focused on the bloomin' trees in the background!

 

Daffodils strewn under fruit trees add gaiety to an orchard not yet in full bloom. Look closely in the background and you'll see the unusual U-shaped chimneys - three of them!  Not as imposing as Downton Abbey (aka Highclere), but not half shabby for the country estate of a successful '49-er-gold-miner. Want to know more about Filoli, check out impressions from a pro, who like me, isn't overly fond of formal gardens.

Neither Mom nor I knew for sure what this sweet plant might be, but  sure enough, stand long enough and passersby will share their knowledge: "What a lovely flowering quince!" As if to confirm these casual observations, a close look under the lowest branches reveals golden leavings from last year's yield. 

Quince — not an easy fruit to convert into dessert or preserves but lovely in a floral arrangement. In fact, the following day, Mom and I immediately identified this very plant in an artful arrangement standing outside an apartment at the Forum. 

Mom's favorite daffodil - a gift idea for next fall!?! Look closely to see the  tiny orange cup in the center of bright yellow petals. 

From a volunteer of the American Daffodil Society, we learned about how the twelve categories of daffodils are assigned, among a myriad of other daffo-facts I never knew I wanted to know. My favorite group is Division twelve. The Daffodil Society may call them "miscellaneous," but to me they are the bulb-world's most interesting misfit-oddballs. 

Daffodils planted in rolling drifts attracted Mom's attention. 

An amazing tulip variety - it was way too cold for tulips in the ground, but those forced in pots were absolutely gorgeous, especially when the pots encircled a tree in the walled garden.

A longer-than-essential stop in the garden gift shop gave us a chance to warm up after being out in unseasonably chilly air. A volunteer docent admitted that she was a solid block of ice after spending four hours on "practice duty" near the unheated swimming pool. We allowed that she could be a practice docent if we could be practice visitors. The pool was lovely to look at, but on this February afternoon, neither docent nor visitor expressed any desire to sneak an unauthorized dip.

Outside the gift shop's south door, these gorgeous blooms forced us to stop. How could we not admire such unusual blossoms. I'd never seen a daffodil of such delicate color and extraordinary petal configuration. This stunning pot of blooms well-deserved its special location.

A garden tag in the pot indicated the variety — uncertain about its true nature, growers allow it to bear two names: narcissus AND daffodil. Narcissus replete, struck me as understatement, given its astonishing color and double petal arrangement.

Altogether lovely afternoon, despite cold and grey. 

Filoli gets my vote for regular return visits as changing weather brings new blooms

 to color the house and fill garden plots.