We are at Newberry National Volcanic Monument near LaPine OR and I am glad to be here now, not then!  There has been some serious volcanic activity along all of the Cascade Range but especially right here.  The final eruption of the Newbery Volcano left a caldera more than 5 miles across.  It is a beautiful rugged place.

Two clear deep lakes spread across the floor of the caldera. Cinder domes jut out of the pine covered landscape around and within the basin. Paulina Creek bubbles across the smooth and the jagged including an 80 foot drop in a graceful waterfall.

We walked on glass.   A mere 1300 years ago molten obsidian found a path to the surface.  On its journey from below some mixed with gases and ash, some entrained bubbles and some remained pure; all flowed at a snail’s pace across the earth cooling all the while.  The result, rock was twisted, bent, folded and fractured.  I know the science of material properties and the affects of heat but it is amazing to see it on this scale.

Even after over 1000 years it is a pretty inhospitable place. I marvel at the plants that call this place home.

The best feature, the meandering Deschutes River.  Its claim to fame is “The Big Pine” a Ponderosa Pine with a diameter of nearly 10 ft.  It’s the biggest ponderosa in Oregon.  Like so much of the Northwest, not much virgin timber remains.

At the start we share rugged narrow valleys with the rivers that sculpt then, first the Okanagan then the Columbia.  Towns hug the river banks and orchards splash up the valley hillsides on amazingly steep slopes owing their existence to the ever present irrigation.  Gray-brown slopes reach to the valley tops above the reach of sprinklers.

The valleys open up and grazing land is interspersed with orchards. Ever wider orchards all but disappear as wheat the hayfields stretch out across the valley now some 100 miles from mountain range to mountain range.  Snowcapped Rainier, St Helens, Hood, Adams, Jefferson and more peek at us along the horizon through a thin veil of smoke from scattered grass fires.  They don’t irrigate on this plateau and weeks without rain have left it, a fire waiting to happen.

Down, down from the high plateau. We are in a piedmont-like area now.  Rolling hills and lots more trees.  It’s rocky too as we near the area of ancient volcanic activity here in the middle of the state.  That is our destination for today, Newberry National Volcanic Monument.

According to the locals, the Pendleton Oregon Rodeo is the third largest in North America right behind Calgary and Cheyenne.  It was a bit off our path so we skipped it this trip.  I think I’d like to check out one of the big rodeos sometime but I’m not sure I will be able to deal with how they treat the animals.  We will see.

It won’t take the place of cheese and pepperoni

A café in the Public Market in Wenatchee WA creates a pizza for the fruit in season.  Peaches are just finishing up so this month it’s bacon and peach with a drizzle of honey.  It was quite tasty.

Just beyond Wenatchee is Cashmere, home of Liberty Orchards that makes candy based on local fruits.  (sort of like Summerland Sweets in BC but a bit more down home).  Their signature candy is a fruit jelly with walnuts added; one based on apples (Aplets) and one apricots (Coplets). We toured their little factory.  Its all pretty manual but they still manage to make 2,000,000 pounds of candy a year.  We sampled of course which led to a bit of buying.  I love factory tours.

A stop at Orondo Orchards for fresh apple cider and cider cake donuts.

We spent the night just across the state line into Oregon at a great little campground at the Sherman County Fairgrounds.  It is well kept, has all the amenities, and a local hostess who filled us in on all the area happenings so we wouldn’t miss anything.

Benton Lake NWR doesn’t have much lake …it is 15,000 or so acres of short grass prairie.  It must be perfect Meadow Lark habitat.  Their song floated through the breeze at every turn.

We are in Great Falls MT where there are five dams in just a few miles.  It is still a pretty impressive river despite all of mans’ work to contain it and harness it.

A Montana Carousel.  Beautifully carved bear, wolves, otter, big horn sheep, buffalo, pronghorn, fish and lots of other Montana native wildlife were just irresistible.  I took a spin upon the mighty Big Horned Sheep.  Overhead panels are intricately carved and each one frames a Montana scene created by local stained glass artists.  The workmanship is awesome and includes some of the best carousel pieces we have seen.  The ride was a wonderful, brief skip into childhood.  If they had just had a player organ it would have been perfect.

The carousel just happened to be in an ice cream parlor that served some delicious Montana made ice cream… my huckleberry was pretty good but Kent’s was the best, peach cobbler.

We peeked into the Cathedral of St. Helena built in 1908.  The building is exceptionally ornate and immaculately maintained.  Marble and stained glass enveloped us from the moment we swung open the heavy wooden door.  Bit of trivia, the limestone came from Bedford, Indiana.

A place to check out next time, Martin’s Wines on Last Gulch Blvd.  They have a fairly small wine inventory but the real appeal is the proprietors.  One is a photographer, he actually snagged us off the street with a reference to photography spurred by him sighting Kent’s camera.  The walls of the shop are lined with his photography.  What a slick maneuver but he was so charming it didn’t really feel like we were being played.   I didn’t buy; we cross into Canada in two days and are already at our limit.  Next time though…I hope their shop succeeds!