Oregon; you're beginning to look a lot like Christmas

We're not in San Diego any more

Since before we left California and came over the stateline to Oregon we have seen nothing but pine trees. As far as the eye can see they seem to fill a large part of the landscape.  Add a string of fairy lights and it would seem like Christmas all year round.  To add to that "Christmas in August" feeling, why not add a winter wonderland scene. Yes this is what happened after we parked and unhitched the Airstream last week.  We popped out in the truck for groceries and on our way back found ourselves in a hail storm.  Blimey Charlie we were glad not to be towing at the time, 1. because we would have been scared, and 2. those hail stones may have taken a toll on our shiny home. 

The Deschutes winds through LaPine State Park

All this freaky weather happened in a town called LaPine about 22 miles outside of Bend, Oregon.  We stayed at the LaPine State Park, a pretty park and campground about 5 miles out of town. The park has a number of trails, some along the impossibly pretty Deschutes river. The other claim to fame for the park is that Oregon's largest Ponderosa Pine tree is there. After going to see it Iain and I came over all poetic again and indulged in our annoying new pastime writing limericks!!

In La Pine you'll find a big tree

That folks from all round come to see

It's big and it's round

And shoots up from the ground

Like a rocket from Cape Kennedy

We managed to snag three nights at the campground but were stuck without a reservation for Saturday.  Trying to find a camping spot on a Saturday in August in Oregon is not easy, so we spent Friday driving in the local area to look at the first come, first serve grounds. Most of them were not really RV friendly, either too small or too rough a road to reach, but Iain got talking to the camp host at LaPine SP and thanks to them we got an emergency spot in the park that is non-reservable.

Hiking the Big Obsidian Flow

During our stay we also hiked at the Newberry Volcanic National Monument. There is a cool trail over the Big Obsidian Flow that represents Oregon most recent eruption, occurring just around 1300 years ago. The whole area is filled with black shiny glass-like obsidian which in areas are over 150 feet deep. It's how I would imagine it's like walking on another planet.

So after experiencing hail, thunder and lovely warm sunshine in the space of three days in LaPine, we move on to Bend. There we are spending a relaxing couple of weeks at a swanky RV resort and hoping for at least a few more weeks of summer before we experience winter conditions again.