It's Not Paris, But ...

I began the week with a photo similar to this one. I like to think of it as my 'fake' Eiffel Tower shot:) I promised I'd tell you more about it, so today is another detour, this time to central Oregon.

I count myself very lucky because even though I can't live in France, a country that I obsessively love, I do LOVE where I am. 

I LOVE the Pacific Northwest. Nature here feeds my soul .....

In the state of Oregon, there is so much variety in the terrain. It is incredible. And sometimes, quite often in fact for someone like myself who has issues with heights, it's quite scary. It's awe-inspiring and anxiety producing all at the same time! 

Case in point. My 'fake' Eiffel Tower is actually a close-up of a vintage railroad bridge going across Crooked River near Bend, Oregon. The  river canyon is 300 feet deep. Signs warn tourists to keep their animals in the car because many pets have fallen to their death:(

Do click to open this photo in a new window so you see it big and detailed. The rocks tell the story of the great upheaval and cataclysmic events that shaped this part of the country.

The railroad bridge is one of three bridges crossing this gorge.

 

Tourists walk across the second one, a retired two-lane bridge. I kept right in the center, on the middle yellow line -- when I wasn't holding on to my husband's shirt tale! (I told my husband that now he knows what a scaredy cat I am when it comes to heights, he will appreciate all the more how I can muster up enough courage to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower:)

The third bridge is the modern-day 4-lane crossing. It is a tad higher than the other two bridges and as you zoom by at 70 mph, the railroad bridge boldly underlines the row of snow-capped mountains in the background. That's what caught my eye and made us turn around to begin with. From the second bridge, however, you can't capture that scene. The mountain peaks are lower. We figured that if I sat on my husband's shoulders, it would put me high enough to get the pic I wanted....but ... I didn't want it that badly.

Another one of our stops was the Lava Cast Forest.

Here is an example of the lava cast or tree mold where the tree was upright as the lava enveloped it.

But this is an example of one that had already fallen. Still, it was so huge and massive...as you can see, it wasn't quite as wide as I am tall, but almost.....

But even among this lunar-looking heap of destruction,

 we found such beauty as the Big Berry Manzanita Bush

 and ponderosa pine trees with awesome cinnamon-red bark and huge darker crevasses.

At Lava Butte, we got another bird's eye view of the volcanic activity that occured 6-7,000 years ago. Our view wasn't quite as dramatic as this, but thanks to Q Myers and Wikipedia for this stunning shot of the butte, which I don't know why they call it a butte because it's a cinder cone, but .... 

This was our view, looking down into the defunct volcano.

And looking out on the horizon, always a row of snow-capped peaks .... Broken Top, Mount Bachelor, The Three Sisters, Jefferson......

And looking down over the edge of the cone, here's a view of  the lava flow....

At the edge of the forest, there is a visitor's center. I particularly appreciated this sign posted and its forthrightness in admitting that the "white settlers" basically stripped the land. Unbridled capitalism and consumerism isn't all it's cracked up to be:)

Another sign at the visitor's center:

Central Oregon is more than just lava flows, though. Within minutes, you can go from the barren volocano area to lushness, the likes of Paulina Lake.

Unfortunately, the road to East Lakes wasn't plowed yet and we couldn't get to the massive Obsidian Flow. And there's still the lava tubes in the river cave to explore. So that will be another trip.....

Yesterday I got a package with four rolls of washi tape. So now, I'm off to see what I can do with it and beaucoup de carte postales......


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