2020 in a Road Trip

     After packing the food, camping gear, and gathering our maps, Oceane and I left late Sunday morning for our week away from society. Two hours into our drive we got pulled over for speeding, luckily the officer let us off with a warning and we were back on our trip in no time. We spent the rest of the day driving down US 97 until we made it to Bend. Stopping in Bend for gas and food we enjoyed Panda Express for dinner. 

     From there we continued on to our first campsite in Newberry Volcanic Monument in Deschutes National Forest. I was nervous about camping there because we did not make any reservations. A sign at the entrance of the monument announced that as of this year, all but one campsite in the monument will be reservations only. The only campground that had walk-ups available was the furthest one on the East Lake called Cinder Hill Campground. Before looking for a campsite we drove up to Paulina's peek on a very narrow and very steep dirt road. The view from the top was worth it, but I recommend making the hike over the drive. 

    We ended our day by looking for a campsite in a very full campground. After finding one and setting up we went for a swim in the lake. The volcanic lake was refreshing and thanks to the thermal vents it was as warm as any outdoor pool with a beach made of pebbles that sparkles from all the obsidian pieces in it.

      Our first night ended with s'mores and drinks around a campfire, followed by an unsuccessful comet search and a successful obsidian hunt.

     The second morning was filled with exploring the rest of Newberry Monument. A mile-long loop on the obsidian flow gave both Oceane and I some great tan lines. Our tan lines, or rather burn lines, were deepened with a three-mile-long hike along Paulina lake to some thermal hot springs. The hot springs are holes dug out into the beach along the lake. The water was too hot to get into, but if you sit in the lake around the shore, some of the thermal vents keep the shoreline warm. For lunch, we made sandwiches on the hood of our car in the parking lot. 

     We filled up on gas at a little station just outside La Pine and made our way down the Oregon Outback Scenic Byway. For our first stop, we went to Fort Rock. Just a quick drive-by on our way to Derrick's Cave. Unfortunately, the road to Derrick's Cave was closed, so we were not able to go explore the cave. We continued on our journey to Crack in the

Ground. 

     The Eastern Oregon travel book I borrowed from my dad said that the walk in the crack
would eventually be filled with boulders and that we would be unable to continue on. We may not have reached the point the book was talking about, but we did reach a point that also could have been the mentioned boulders. We, however, found a way through. 

     The next point we came to in the crack was a part that came back up to the surface. We walked back along the ridge of the crack back towards the car. We continued along on the dirt road as we made our way towards the sand dunes.

     We were almost 7 miles away from the paved road when disaster struck. Not one, but two flat tires. We felt the back one hit something as we were driving so we pulled over, unloaded the back, and got ready to put on the spare. Just before I pulled out the jack, I noticed that the front tire was also flat. With two flats and one spare, we had no other option... but to call our parents and ask for help. From Pendleton, my dad helped me find the nearest tow truck and nearest Les Schwab. From there we had an almost two-hour wait for the truck. 

     While we waited we played cards and ate cereal. A few cars passed by us and offered us help, but we ensured them that we were okay. The tow truck took us back to La Pine in about three hours, the driver dropped the car off at the Les Schwab and took us to a cheap motel.

     The motel we stayed at was right next to a gas station-- with the same owner-- and the teenager that was working the front desk that night also worked at a restaurant in town and was able to get us burgers and cider at 11 o'clock at night. 

     The next morning we went to Les Schwab. The mechanic replaced the front tire with a new one and put our spare on the back wheel. He also warned us that another tire was not going to last long and that we should avoid dirt roads for the rest of our trip. With no spare and another tire that wouldn't last long, we decided to cut our trip short and go home. 

     We drove back up to Bend and took US 20 to Burns. From there we took the curvy US 395 through John Day, all the way back home.