Central Oregon rock trip day 1

 Around a month ago we took a trip to Central Oregon!  To know why we were taking this trip we're going to have to go back over six months ago to Christmas.  You see, one of the gifts our parents gave us kids was a rockhounding in Oregon book (I am very interested in rockhounding).  They said that with their help, we could choose a place from the book to go to!  After a little bit of deciding we chose to go to the Bend/Sisters area in Central Oregon.  We had all gone to Central Oregon together only once and we didn't get to see nearly all of the things there. 

So, on a Sunday in late June, we packed up the van and were off.  My Mom decided to stop by Mt. Hood first, since it was on the way.

After an hour or two of driving Mt. Hood was in sight.

It was like a different world on the mountain!  Everyone was dressed differently and there were a lot of skiers even though there was not a lot of snow.

Eating lunch in the ski center.

After lunch we went to see Timberline Lodge which was also on the mountain.  Timberline Lodge was built during the Great Depression so that people could get money by building it.  

This big fireplace was in the lobby.  The iron that Gemma is
sitting between is actually train rails.

In front of the lodge.

After a quick tour of the lodge, we took a little walk.

Gemma loves to pose!  She thought she could climb to the top.

Exploring a creek. Can you see us?

This picture's for you Grandma!

After exploring around Mt. Hood, we had to hurry to Richardson's Rock Ranch, the place we had chosen to rock hunt at.  It closed at 5pm but you had to check in by 3pm if you wanted to rock hunt (for thunder eggs!).

Very suddenly, the landscape went from tall firs and ferns to
pines and sagebrush.

There was a thin layer of basalt on the plateaus
(as it said in a book Mom was reading to us about
geology in Central Oregon).

The basalt columns had pretty formations.  Below the columns
is volcanic ash from 20-30 million years ago.

The Deschutes river.

After an hour and a half of driving, we finally made it to the
Ranch with only ten minuets to spare.

We got inside the gift-shop/check-in and found out that the digging pits were 30min. away.  Now, it was 102 degrees outside and with that far to drive, we wouldn't get to spend more than an hour digging and we definitely would not get to check out the cool gift shop.  So after a few minutes we decided just to check out all the things in and out of the gift-shop.  

The Ranch had lots of cool birds including peacocks, chickens, Guinea
fowl, and emus (as seen in this picture).

There were all SORTS of rocks outside the shop.  Piles and piles
and piles of local and non local rocks. 

Sedric had fun chasing the rooster through the piles.

James is standing next to the assorted rocks pile.  We found a lot
really cool rocks in the pile.

Choosing rocks to buy.

Lots of pretty jewelry.

My Mom found some Polka dot agate in the assorted pile.
It's from the next rockhounding place over.

After the Rock Ranch, we went to the hotel/lodge/motel we were staying at then out to eat in Sisters.

It was fun to see all of the different plants grown in Central Oregon.

For dinner we went to a Texas/Mexican kind of place.
The food was very good.

Celeste liked the food!

After dinner we went back to the hotel/lodge/motel, got our bathing suits on, and went swimming in the pool there.

Sedric liked the hot tub.

Celeste got to go in the pool with us and she LOVED it!

All in all we had a very fun day!

Stay tuned for day two!