April 23, 2011---Sisters, Oregon

Saturday we went to Sisters, Oregon which is located in the mountains to the east of Salem. We met at Karen and Mark's home at 8 a.m. and then Mark took the driver's seat. We headed east and drove about 1 hour and then we stopped at a roadside restaurant for breakfast. They were not busy but they had good food and a view of  a mountain stream passing past the deck. We also had a wonderful view of humming birds drinking from feeders hung just outside the windows.

After a good breakfast we traveled to the a few miles from Sisters and stopped to check out a special spot in the forest to check if we could find any mushrooms. Mark and Karen belong to a group who search for mushrooms all over the area. We were in an area which had burned a few years ago but we did not find any on this stop. We found out later that it had been 21 degrees that morning in this area.

Our next stop was the head of the Metolius River in the Deschutes National Forest, which is a full size river that starts in this area. One person in the area said that Metolius meant "stinky river" in the Indian language. It did not stink!!!!

Our next stop was Camp Sister and then onto Sisters. It is a town which survives on tourism. We spent some time in this area in 2006 when we came back from Alaska. Karen and I spent some time in the town doing some shopping and visiting the quilt shop. Karen learned what it takes to find coordinating fabric for projects and how their are all different styles of quilt patterns. She was a big help in finding just the right piece of fabric.

While we shopped the men checked out some more burn areas, but did not have any luck. We were just to early to find mushrooms. When we met again at about 3:30 we had lunch at a restaurant which Karen and Mark had been to in the past. We shared a meal with our spouses and then began our trip back to Salem.

We were away from home for about 12 hours and Bart was glad to see us. He did real well with no accidents. He did enjoy some play time since we had been gone for 4 long days this week.

View of the forest as we drove to Sisters. Walt was sitting in the front passenger seat so he was official photographer for the day. Note the snow.

View of Mt. Jefferson--I think that is right.

Next sight was the Deschutes National Forest and Metolius River---A full size river which flows ice cold from huge springs. The springs appear to originate from beneath Black Butte. However, geologists say this is misleading and believe the springs have their origin in the Cascade Mountains to the West. The unusual fault which created Green Ridge is thought to have brought the springs to the surface thus releasing the beautiful Metolius River.

The river as it flows away from the origin point

Camp Sister--store and cabins

The burnt forest

Forest plants returning

Another Mountain--don't know the name

Poor view of the Sisters Mountains--there are 3 in a row

We stopped at the Catholic Church in Sisters and the stations are done in small quilts.

The church has wooden pillars which hold up the roof--they have been carved with the images of saints

A stained glass in the garden next to the church--This garden has many different pieces of art to stimulate your meditations. This church has  huge collection of art that I cannot show due to time constraints.