To Lake Simtusus and Back, Vol. 1

Hi, there!  After a year's absence from this blog I'm, once again, intending to update more frequently.  I realize some folks visit here, but not my stamping blog, and vice versa.  I've been negligent, but life is full.  You know how it is.

So...  in June we took Wally and LuLu and ourselves on a most enjoyable vacation to a spot in north central Oregon called Lake Simtusus.  One of the main draws to this RV park is their relaxed attitude toward dogs.  No leashes required.  They trust you to know your dog's character, to keep them under control, and to pick up after them.  It works out beautifully.

We chilled and grilled and visited with other campers.  We walked a lot and the dogs swam a lot.  We drove to other areas for sight seeing, picnicking, and taking lots of pictures.  We putt-putted around the lake on a pontoon boat one afternoon and returned just in time to roll back the awning as a big wind blew in with an all-night thunderstorm.  We watched a movie every night and then drifted off to sleep with a CD in the player.  It was wonderful!

As a point of reference, I'll share a view of our campground location from across the lake.  Please take the time to click for a close up on these pics.  The country is far too grand to be viewed in miniature.

Looks like cowboy country, doesn't it?  In fact, the tops of those mesas are all ranch land and agriculture.  It's nothing like our Oregon coast, which is a tangle of nearly impenetrable green and water everywhere you turn.

Here's some of that chillin' and grillin':

Tired out from the day's activities, but Wally's got his eye on the dinner fixin's:

I mentioned we did a lot of walking, and you can see in the first photo how hilly the terrain is.  Well, the owners kindly provide golf carts on each level of the park in case you'd prefer to ride.  We mostly walked, but I'll tell you, those golf carts were fun, too!

It looks like Rich is thinking of taking the plunge, but I promise he wasn't as precariously close to the edge as it appears in the photo below.  We always checked out each area before letting the dogs out of the car.  They did not get out at this location!

Lake Simtusus is a dammed up area of the Deschutes River.  You can imagine how much deeper the gorge would be without the dam.  See how little traffic there is on this lake.  10 mph, no wake speed limit -- just the way we like it.

I'll have more scenery shots in a subsequent post, but I hope friends of Wally and LuLu will enjoy the next few photos.  It was that perfect "golden hour" when we stopped at the site below and I couldn't resist trying for some calendar and photo book shots.  Wish I'd taken more, but here are a few:

On the drive back to camp we stopped alongside the road so I could photograph some local flora:

And some visiting fauna:

I'll come back later with more scenery and different locations.  Thanks so much for coming along for the ride today!