Deschutes

As I've mentioned, we went camping over Memorial Day weekend with a large group of friends and had a great time. We chose the Deschutes River State Recreation Area because the weather promised to be warmer and dryer than we would find in Western Oregon. It turned out to be an excellent choice. While Portland was cold and soggy, we headed for warm sunshine. Our campsite backed up to the river, which talked to us as we arranged our site, prepared our meals, visited with our friends in neighboring sites, toasted marshmallows over the campfire, fell asleep at night and woke again in the mornings.

We were greeted by this sign. Yikes!

After setting up camp on Saturday afternoon we went for a walk along the river path.

We sat on a bench.

We watched the river.

Later, Ryan waded out into the river behind our campsite.

Our first meal was chicken kebabs with saffron rice and grilled green onions picked up at the Farmer's Market before we left Portland that morning. It was delicious!

Sunset, over the camp.

This sizable family patrolled the length of the campground all day. Each morning, they stopped outside our tent, but we never heard them. Very considerate...

On Sunday morning, after a breakfast of tea and sausage and eggs and coffee cake (all prepared over the campfire. Why does food made over a campfire taste so good?) we took our bikes for a ride. The bike path is situated in an old railroad bed and offered gorgeous views of the river below and the hills beyond.

Later that day, we visited the nearby scale model of Stonehenge. I love the windmills on the hills in the distance.

The views from Stonehenge were just amazing.

My attempt to roast popcorn over the fire after dinner wasn't entirely successful.

The s'mores worked out great, though. I make the gluten-free graham crackers from this mix, by a local company. They're really yummy. I like them better than the regular kind. My s'mores are without chocolate; because for some mysterious reason, I've completely lost my taste for it.

Rain finally caught up with us on our last night. We fell asleep listening to the first drops and woke up to the sound of drizzle accompanying the rush of the river. We had planned another bike ride, but instead decided to spend a little longer in our warm sleeping bag.