More From Our Vacation

We decided to spend Friday doing "city" things and headed north to Bend. We stopped at the High Desert Museum on our way and were treated to seeing many animals native to high desert landscapes. 

This was the bobcat. We also saw a lynx, but it was sleeping.

We also caught a predatory birds lecture and learned all about screech owls. This is William the screech owl.

I saw this vintage Caterpillar and took some photos. 

After the museum we went to a chocolate factory, ate a gross lunch and then did some rock climbing at the Bend Rock Gym. When we headed back to Sunriver we saw this gorgeous sunset that got more intense as each moment passed. 

This is just a picture of my cuties laying in bed watching cartoons....something they don't get to do at home.

On Saturday we decided to try to hike up as much of South Sister as possible. We knew that the road we needed to drive on is sometimes closed due to snow, but there was hardly any snow so we assumed it would be open. Guess what....it wasn't. Apparently they don't even attempt to clear it, they just close it. 


This is just a look out our front window as we drove towards the mountains. The big one is Mt. Bachelor and is a huge ski resort.

Disappointed we turned around in the Mt. Bachelor ski parking lot and tried to figure out plan B. We had seen some snow parks but were doubtful there would be enough snow to ski. At the very least we figured we could hike. 


We set off on a snow shoe trail and pulled the girls behind us in these sleds. In these pictures Kevin is pulling both girls but don't let that fool you - I pulled Kayleigh most of the way.

The trail through the forest was beautiful. We did have snow most of they way, but it didn't require snow shoes.

We were hoping to get all the way to the "shelter". We didn't quite make it, so we set up our own little camp and ate our lunch, drank some hot chocolate and warmed ourselves by a fire.

Syd got to hang out in her hammock again....and then we headed back.

This is what Kayleigh's hair looked like when we took her hat off!

We returned to the house, showered, put on fancy clothes and headed into Bend for dinner. So much fun and so many good memories!


All too soon it was time to head home. We got up early and set off to find a good place for breakfast. We ended up in Sisters, OR as we were hoping to go home a different way. As soon as we started west we saw signs that said chains were required on all cars. Putting chains on the tires is messy and puts Kevin in a bad mood very quickly so we nixed that idea. We could see the storm clouds hanging over the Cascades and we  opted for the longest, but safest route home. 


As we drove through the Columbia River Gorge we saw signs of fresh snow everywhere. It was quite pretty.

We arrived home to find all our pets were still alive ~ although Narnia looks sicker than ever. 


And that's the end of this Foley Family Adventure.