Spending 5 days around Oregon... (license, parks, visit)

[Nell Plotts]

Absolutely do not miss Timberline Lodge. Mt Hood Recreation | Activities in Oregon | Timberline Lodge

[karlsch]

I'll third the Timberline Lodge recommendation. It's even better if you read up on how it was created.

A couple of videos:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k24CNHcs4jA

............................


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hP5Z47_hMyo

As Larry Caldwell mentioned, it was used for the exterior shots for Stanley Kubrick's “The Shining” and he didn't do things like that by accident.

[Podo944]

We've decided to shoot strait to crater in the morning from Redding vitaking a the 5 to the 97. Spend the afternoon there then go to Bend. then we'll head north to the Hood/columbia river area via the 26 (I think?)

The Timberline lodge was mentioned a few times as a must do... are we talking about a short visit like a look around and drink or meal ,or staying over?

[skiffrace]

Originally Posted by Podo944

We've decided to shoot strait to crater in the morning from Redding vitaking a the 5 to the 97. Spend the afternoon there then go to Bend. then we'll head north to the Hood/columbia river area via the 26 (I think?)

The Timberline lodge was mentioned a few times as a must do... are we talking about a short visit like a look around and drink or meal ,or staying over?

Pay close attention to weather, and make decisions based on it.

Timberline Lodge is a must see in Oregon, in good weather.
While the building itself is interesting, magnificent views of Mt. Hood and the Cascase Mountains are the main attraction. When it rains, you see nothing except low-lying clouds which are enveloping the mountain. I've been to Timberline lodge a few times during rainy weather, and even though coming only from Portland, I considered it a wasted trip.
The exception is if you come to Timberline Lodge to ski (which is not your case I assume)

If you indeed have good weather, you could consider staying at the Lodge overnight. It's not cheap, but the ambiance is spectacular, and you can go for a morning hike like no other.
If the weather is bad, I'd stick to eastern (sunnier)slope of Cascades (like the suggested Bend etc), and maybe go to the Columbia River Gorge, perhaps going as far west as Hood River.

As an alternative, consider the Coast again. It's spectacular in any weather, actually, maybe even more interesting when it's cloudy and stormy.

[Hawk J]

Sometimes it will get foggy/cloudy at Crater Lake this time of year, especially in the morning.

Current Conditions - Crater Lake National Park (U.S. National Park Service) <<<< Webcam


Have a Wonderful Adventure.

Drive Safely...

[Nell Plotts]

To stay overnight at Timberline Lodge would be a special treat but if you can't do that spend a couple hours wandering around the building and eat a meal in their dining room.

[leftcoast49]

Sisters (west of Bend) is a great little western themed tourist town. The downtown core is a must see, IMHO...and the surrounding scenery is like icing on the cake. Great destination but can get crowded during peak season, and don't run over the pedestrians carrying flags...

leftcoast49

[Podo944]

Hi Everybody!

Thanks again for so many recommendations and advice!

Okay, so Oregon is just gorgeous! Period!
We already knew that from the few times driving up on occasion, but aimed to spend more quality time up there this time.

HOWEVER...

We unfortunately had to cut it short cause hubby got sick!

We had a nice visit with my brother in Redding for a couple of days, even floated around Whiskeytown Lake during a hot afternoon.
We left for Crater Lake last Monday, stopped in Weed, Ca. where there was a bad fire to give them our gas and breakfast money, then took the 97 to Crater Lake. Wow! That is one awesome site! We had partly cloudy weather, which made it beautiful and interesting, spent the afternoon making our way slowly around the lake, taking pics etc. Really lovely.

We then drove to Bend in the evening and found a popular Brewery. Hubby ordered a stout and a burger and hardly ate a bite. He said he was "tired". I knew there was more to it than that, because it takes a lot to take away his appetite! Anyway, I don't know what the heck he had, but he had fever, aches, pains chills. That's it. Maybe a nonseasonal flu? I dunno. He had no other symptoms. No coughing, stuffy nose etc. weirdness.

We found a place to spend the night but he was no better in the morning. We were planning on doing some biking and exploring but he was miserable. We were hoping it might be a 24 hour thing and thought of driving up north anyway, but the forecast was rain and more rain and I remembered what Skiffrace said about the visibility up at the Timberline Lodge, so between the weather and Hubby's yuck thing, thought maybe to head for the coast.
BTW, we had gone up the Oregon coast May of '13 and it was glorious, so we had no problem changing our plans.

We did stop in Sisters, but by then Hubs was feeling worse. He insisted I go do my "girly" thing checking out the shops and the quilt store while he slept in the car. Poor thing he was so out of it, I suggested we skip the coast and start heading south. I didn't know if he was going to get worse and in need of a doctor and felt the coast was a little too isolated if we wanted to leave quickly. So, we spent the night in Ashland, and he was up for a little soup. I always wanted to see the town anyway, and we hadn't planned on it this trip so at least we got a little "low level" taste of the town even if we didn't do much. It did start raining the next day and it was beautiful! I took so many pictures of the sky!! Coming from dry dry So. Cal, I nearly forgot how beautiful and interesting the sky looks in the rain!

So anyway, to make an already too long a story shorter, I kept feeding him Tylenol, and he did do some of the driving, but instead of shooting straight down the 5, we took the scenic route on the coast, stopping in Monterrey, driving through Big Sur and checking out Solvang. We'd done all that before so we were a little Meh, cause we would have rather been in Portland or Brookings, even in the rain, but at least it was pleasant. Thankfully however, my sweetie was better by Thursday and had his appetite back. We even had a steak and rode our bikes in Ventura.

So anyway, poor hubs was so frustrated about getting sick on this trip, and yeah, it was a bummer, but we DID get to see Crater Lake!! This was the main goal anyway, now I can check it off the bucket list!

Thanks again everyone, I've made mental notes of what you've told me, and we'll try again next year and give ourselves more time as well. I can already tell, I won't get enough of Oregon!

[delta07]

Originally Posted by Podo944

Hi Everybody!

Thanks again for so many recommendations and advice!

Okay, so Oregon is just gorgeous! Period!
We already knew that from the few times driving up on occasion, but aimed to spend more quality time up there this time.

HOWEVER...

We unfortunately had to cut it short cause hubby got sick!

We had a nice visit with my brother in Redding for a couple of days, even floated around Whiskeytown Lake during a hot afternoon.
We left for Crater Lake last Monday, stopped in Weed, Ca. where there was a bad fire to give them our gas and breakfast money, then took the 97 to Crater Lake. Wow! That is one awesome site! We had partly cloudy weather, which made it beautiful and interesting, spent the afternoon making our way slowly around the lake, taking pics etc. Really lovely.

We then drove to Bend in the evening and found a popular Brewery. Hubby ordered a stout and a burger and hardly ate a bite. He said he was "tired". I knew there was more to it than that, because it takes a lot to take away his appetite! Anyway, I don't know what the heck he had, but he had fever, aches, pains chills. That's it. Maybe a nonseasonal flu? I dunno. He had no other symptoms. No coughing, stuffy nose etc. weirdness.

We found a place to spend the night but he was no better in the morning. We were planning on doing some biking and exploring but he was miserable. We were hoping it might be a 24 hour thing and thought of driving up north anyway, but the forecast was rain and more rain and I remembered what Skiffrace said about the visibility up at the Timberline Lodge, so between the weather and Hubby's yuck thing, thought maybe to head for the coast.
BTW, we had gone up the Oregon coast May of '13 and it was glorious, so we had no problem changing our plans.

We did stop in Sisters, but by then Hubs was feeling worse. He insisted I go do my "girly" thing checking out the shops and the quilt store while he slept in the car. Poor thing he was so out of it, I suggested we skip the coast and start heading south. I didn't know if he was going to get worse and in need of a doctor and felt the coast was a little too isolated if we wanted to leave quickly. So, we spent the night in Ashland, and he was up for a little soup. I always wanted to see the town anyway, and we hadn't planned on it this trip so at least we got a little "low level" taste of the town even if we didn't do much. It did start raining the next day and it was beautiful! I took so many pictures of the sky!! Coming from dry dry So. Cal, I nearly forgot how beautiful and interesting the sky looks in the rain!

So anyway, to make an already too long a story shorter, I kept feeding him Tylenol, and he did do some of the driving, but instead of shooting straight down the 5, we took the scenic route on the coast, stopping in Monterrey, driving through Big Sur and checking out Solvang. We'd done all that before so we were a little Meh, cause we would have rather been in Portland or Brookings, even in the rain, but at least it was pleasant. Thankfully however, my sweetie was better by Thursday and had his appetite back. We even had a steak and rode our bikes in Ventura.

So anyway, poor hubs was so frustrated about getting sick on this trip, and yeah, it was a bummer, but we DID get to see Crater Lake!! This was the main goal anyway, now I can check it off the bucket list!

Thanks again everyone, I've made mental notes of what you've told me, and we'll try again next year and give ourselves more time as well. I can already tell, I won't get enough of Oregon!

Glad you were able to make it to Crater Lake and see a few things you wanted to, despite your husband's illness. Traveling while sick is no fun at all! Thanks for the update and hopefully you'll get a chance to see the other places you want in Oregon the next time you make it up this way.

[Steve Pickering]

Thank You for the follow-up.