Time Off in Oregon!

So my two weeks in Oregon was far from all work and no play!  Since we had no weekend duties, I had an entire weekend in the middle of the rotation to explore!  I opted to rent a car to get out of Corvallis and see some sights and started out on Saturday morning with an 8 mile hike at Silver Falls State Park outside of Salem, Oregon.  It was a great loop hike that went past (and behind) a series of gorgeous waterfalls. 

The first of the waterfalls that I came to

Hanging out behind the waterfall... The trail went directly behind the falls in a few cases, which was just really cool!

Behind the falls!

 After leaving Silver Falls, I drove east towards Bend, my destination for the night.  It was a pretty spectacular drive through mountains and past lakes.  On the way, I stopped for gas in Detroit and was able to get a picture of the lake.  The rest of the drive, I had to decide between taking pictures and staying on the road, and unfortunately from a souvenir standpoint, I opted for safety.

The lake outside Detroit

 After getting through the mountain pass, I arrived in the valley.  After driving through Sisters, Oregon, an adorable little touristy town, I pulled off on the side of the road to get these shots of the fire that was burning outside of town.  At that point, I didn't really know what was going on, just that the sky all of a sudden got very dark and some clouds seemed to be rolling in.  After pulling over and hopping out of the car, I could see that the sun had been almost completely obscured by the smoke!

That night, I stayed with an old friend I had met when I was living in DC; Meryl and her husband, Mac, had moved to Bend a few months earlier and were gracious enough to host me and to show me around!  Since it was evening when I got there, we headed out for pizza and beer at one of the fabulous Oregon breweries.  We drank a lot, and ate one of the best mushroom pizzas I have ever eaten.  When we finished, we stopped at the Platapus Pub on the way home for more beer!  Needless to say, we were a little inebriated by the end of the night, hence the terrible, terrible photos!

Meryl and Mac with our friend the platypus

Hanging out at the Platypus Pub!

 The next morning, after coffee and breakfast with Meryl and Mac, I headed out to do some more hiking and exploring of the area around Bend, this time to check out the volcano parks nearby.  I was pretty sore from my hike the day before, so only did about 5 miles total and in much shorter jaunts :)

Little chipmunk friend!  These guys were all over the lava field

Just amazing how far these lava fields go, and how difficult it is for trees to grow...

Another really cool lava field- this one was a lot further out from the highway, so it took 20 minutes on a dirt road to get there.  It was totally worth it though!

Just loved this question mark tree :)

 After hiking most of the day, I started my drive back to Corvallis.  I was pretty exhausted by this point, but determined to stop once or twice along the way for some pictures!  The next few shots are all from the pass through the mountains where a forest fire devastated the area a few years ago.
It's pretty cool seeing the different stages of growth in these regions, and just amazing to see how far these forest fires can spread.