Explorers

Somebody once told me a joke about Chris Columbus.  It went something along the lines of "He didn't know where he was going, where he was when he got there and couldn't tell anyone where he'd been when he got back."  His whole problem, I believe, was that he did not use Google Maps before he started.  Neither did we when we left the house headed for Tumalo Falls yesterday.  

 That's them, Tumalo Falls, and we wanted to see them and feel the mist on our faces.  So, we loaded the Guzzler Deluxe with some snack food, the dog, waterproof jackets and were on our way.  The only rather small problem we had was that I had never been to Tumalo Falls, and really had no idea where they were.  I thought I knew, because everybody knows Tumalo Falls should be somewhere close to Tumalo, and Tumalo is a teeny-tiny village about five miles north of Bend.  When I say "teeny-tiny" it means, in this instance, anyone at all can find anything at all, if it's in Tumalo, within six minutes.  On foot.  Don't even need roller skates to speed the search.  It's like, ya know, a small place.

We drove around for much more than  six minutes, and the closest thing we found to "Tumalo Falls" was a sign that read "Tumalo State Park."  We took the turn, drove four miles until we crossed the Deschutes River and turned at the sign.  Here we found an RV and tent campground on one side of the road and on the other was a nice picnic area along the bank of the river.  Never ones to let a wrong turn make us go nuts, we got out, leash and doggie poop bags in hand, and wandered around awhile.  The sound of swiftly flowing water has always had a soothing effect on both of us, and today was no exception to that fact of our lives.  This is a picture that appeared in the Bend Bulletin of  the Deschutes as it runs above the picnic area, and the rapids that are shown are as loud as they look.  The river is also a lot bigger than it looks in this photo.  Those rocks in the foreground are BOULDERS. 

A little farther downstream of this area the river widens and becomes much more placid.  We spent a wonderful afternoon walking, resting and watching Muffy chase things that were too small for us to detect.  No telling what they were, but they were fast and made sharp turns.  The place was deserted, which surprised me, but that allowed Muffy to be off the leash.  He loved it as much as we did.  It started to get a little chilly as the sun dropped below the Cascades so we trudged back to the car and headed for home.

To our amazement we came upon a sign that said "Clines Fall Road" after we passed back through Tumalo.  We know where that road leads!  It goes right by another of our favorite Oregon places and it's probably a lot shorter way home than the way we came.  That's the way we went.  We stopped along the river again on the way home, this time at Clines Falls which had not yet been cast in the shadow of the mountains.  We climbed our favorite rock, listened to the water and then headed home.

Now some folks might claim we were lost all day.  I'd like to think we were more like 'ol Chris.  We discovered a new world.  Any fool can get lost, but it take a champion to turn bewilderment into a memory.  Tumelo Falls will wait for the next road trip.