What a beautiful weekend!! All Thanks to our friend family, The LJS team.
The weekend started out with a longish drive. Not to worry, it wasn't because I got lost this time. We head down to a cabin near La Pine, just a bit south of Bend, in the high desert. I love the high desert. On the way we stop for, possibly the worst ever, burritos. Literally only after having traveled about 10 minutes outside of town, as it goes....always... The road is forgiving over the length of the trip however, 4 hours south and east with a stop at a rest area that has one of the most beautiful sights, a 300 foot deep canyon. Arriving at the cabin, an old guard station, just after dark was a little creepy at first. It felt like the forest was watching. For realz. But inside it was super cozy and it warmed right up once I figured out how to get the lights and heater going. Build the boy a PB&J sandwich and wash him up for bed.
Team LJS arrive a little over an hour after we got there and we all settle in. Wine, fireplace, good friends, cozy cabin and relaxing after a long day make a good combo for chilling in and having nice quiet conversation. YAY KIDS SLEEP SOMETIMES!!!!!
A small late night episode, uhm..... I kinda put the propane lantern on low and it set off the CO detector in the little bedroom, so we had to air it out and sleep in the living room instead.... (don't worry nobody died).
Trey woke up early so he and I sat by the fireplace for coffee and water. Breakfast was nice J made some challah french toast and we all got a little exploring in and built a fire in the fire pit and pretty much perfect lazy morning. I helped the boys build a little bit of a fort, which of course means they wanted to do it but I ended up doing all the work and then they were no longer interested. Of Course.
The afternoon saw a short (mostly) pleasant stroll, a quick jump in the river off a little bridge (OMG COLD) and then everyone had a nap while I started dinner and collected firewood. I found a great spot where it looks like they recently did a control burn and there was a lot of easily gathered wood. I love low hanging fruit. I made a reasonable chicken noodle soup, from scratch of course, and grill cheese and ham melts for dinner. I really loved the convenience of a full stove. The weather was just about perfect all day. We had a nice evening and night sitting by a big warm fire. Atreyu fell asleep under the stars, by the fire, in my lap. Magical. I did not set off the CO detector a second night.
Day two: Little late start but a big blueberry pancakes and eggs breakfast then clean up and pack up. Hit the road and get turned around going the wrong way to go to the Newberry Volcanic Monument, google it, well worth the side trip if you're in the area, but I wouldn't make this a destination trip. There was a 9 mile bumpy drive each way to the monument, a mile walk on a paved path throughout the lava field with lots of gorgeous vista. I wanted to hit up the "High Desert Museum" but we missed out on that one this time. We stopped in Bend for lunch, everyone was hungry so we made a poor choice...... "The Beach Hut". The food was ok but overpriced. And everything was served on a frisbee and they had surfboards for tables... *reminder* Bend is in the middle of the desert. We parted ways with Team LJS and we went on a small side trip to the town of Sisters. What a cute little town, fun food and shops. We had some strudel and ice cream strolled the harvest fair. Hit the road home, took the road less traveled and safe and sound in the driveway about 8.
My review of the cabin: I really liked the convenience of the cabin, it was much warmer and spacious than a tent, good when its super cold out at night. It had some modern amenities like stove, lights, heat and refrigeration, but lacked running water which was not too bad to deal with (we brought a bunch and boiled some from the river). I think it was a little spendy and I would preferred the outdoor fire pit was closer to the cabin and more like a fireplace with a bbq top on it for the trouble, thats the kind of touch that would have made it an outstanding spot. This particular cabin was right at the head of popular trail and parking area so it was a little busy. The Fall Creek does literally bubble right up out of the ground at the cabin so it was a unique place. Overall I'd give it 3.5 stars. Well worth second try at another cabin. We will be sure to invite LJS to come!!
