Oregon (Redmond) Travel tips, sites to see, shops for Prog!

[Don Arnold]

Greetings fellow PE'ers

My family (me, my wife, 6 & 4 yr old plus my wife's parents) will be in Oregon for October 11 to 20. We'll be travelling from Victoria, BC, leaving Oct 10, possibly staying one night in Portland and spending a day at the zoo, then the remainder of our vacation at Eagle Crest in Redmond.

So...to my learned PE Oregon sages, any suggestions on activities, outings and places to see, specifically while staying at Eagle Crest? Also, any must-visit music stores for the starved Prog fan, either in Portland, or near Redmond?

Thanks in advance - we're looking forward to coming down! (especially since the grandparents are footing the bill! ).

[Don Arnold]

Hey all,

Thought I'd try one more time before we leave for Redmond if anyone has any travel/site seeing suggestions, good places to buy Prog, or even happen to know of a concert in the area we'll be in during the above dates. And, just to emphasize, I'm looking for help, not offering it!

[Baribrotzer]

Let's see....

For music, try Music Millennium in Portland. It's a medium-sized indie record shop, whose owner is a major-league psych nut. And unlike many such, his interests extend to prog. It's not half the size of (SF's) Amoeba, doesn't have the huge stock of obscurities to be found in (NYC's) Downtown Music Gallery, but is still a pretty good store.

Sight-seeing depends on the weather - but, living in the Pacific NW, you'd already know that. On the way over or back, you might want a look at Timberline Lodge - a classic WPA project from the Thirties, where some of the exteriors from The Shining were filmed. Try Smith Rocks State Park for an interesting medium-length hike, or any of half-a-dozen other small state parks in the area. Lava River Caves offers lava tubes to explore. If the snow hasn't settled in yet, the Paulina Lake area can be interesting, as can the Cascade Lakes Byway. You could also head up toward Santiam Pass - although that will probably be snowed in and hard to really venture beyond the main road.

[Poisoned Youth]

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g...Vacations.html

[Don Arnold]

Let's see....

For music, try Music Millennium in Portland.

Thanks Baribrotzer! This is the sort of potential nugget I'm hoping to mine here. I realize I can google search things like "music stores in Oregon", etc. but it's anecdotal recommendations from fellow Proggers that will tell me the shops that may be worth stopping at.

Timberline Lodge / Try Smith Rocks State Park / Lava River Caves offers lava tubes to explore. Paulina Lake area / Cascade Lakes Byway. You could also head up toward Santiam Pass

Thanks - I'll make note of these on my trip bucket list!

[Don Arnold]

Just a quick report on my trip, for any that are interested. First time in Central Oregon and really quite loved it. Never seen so many juniper trees in my life before! We did the Smith Rocks State park (thanks Baribrotzer) and it was very picturesque. Quite a scene driving in towards the parking area, then walking along the beginning of the trail to discover you not only look way up (along the high cliffs) but down (to the river below)! With a 4 and 6 year old, we were limited in how far we could venture - this trip. I'll be back!

Also really enjoyed a walkabout through Sisters. Quaint small town with plenty of cool shops. Great coffee and goodies at the Sisters Coffee Shop. Thirty minutes down hwy 20 was Bend, which we took a couple drives into, including a date with me wife while the grandparents took care of the kids back at Eagle Crest Resort. Lovely park (I think it was called Pioneer Park) with a path bordering the Deschutes River. The tree fall colours were vibrant reds, yellows, and oranges certainly bettering what we get here on the west coast. We strolled along Wall and Bond streets, did a bit of gift shopping, then had a superb dinner at Deschutes Brewery & Public House.

As for all things lava, we planned to do the lava lands visitor centre but it was closed due to your federal gov't shutdown. Still got to climb up a lava hill and the kids grabbed a piece of lava rock as a souvenir. Next time we'll do the Lava Caves / Newberry Crater areas - sounds great. Also went up to view Tumulo Falls, though had a heck of a time finding the place. Little to no signage which we found surprising. Anyway, the falls were worth the effort.

Weather was excellent, with cool crisp evenings and sunny days that gradually warmed during the week of our visit.

As I've stated - we'll definitely be back!

As for all things Prog, I took 10 minutes to investigate the cd/record shop on Wall street in Bend but came away empty handed. I did manage to pick up a new copy of Dream Theater's latest, and....no taxes - thank you Oregon!