During our stay at Sisters, OR, we visited many of our old haunts and enjoyed the memories we have made in the area. I can remember one time, when the kids were little, we decided to go camping for the weekend near Bend. We had a VW bus at the time. We made beds for the four little kids in the bus and packed a small pup tent for Russ and I to sleep in.
When we got to the campground, it was late and the youngest wouldn’t stop fussing. He cried and cried and I could not comfort him. It was when I was putting PJs on him that I noticed the red spots just beginning to pop out on his tummy – CHICKEN POX!! Still, it was too late to go home, so we figured we would get some sleep and head home in the morning. Russ started to set up the tent when he discovered – no tent poles. So we got the kids bedded down in the bus and we crawled into the tent with our sleeping bags and pulled the top over us like a blanket! And that’s how we spent a very miserable night.
This is not from that ill-fated trip – just a gratuitous photo from a central Oregon back-packing trip I wanted to share (feeling nostalgic!)
Things have changed a lot since then. We graduated to a larger tent, a larger vehicle, then several travel trailers over the years. As the kids grew up and became independent, we still loved the high desert of Central Oregon. At one time we had a 30’ Royal Voyager travel trailer which we kept at Cold Springs Resort in Camp Sherman. We used to sit and watch the river and listen to the geese that flew overhead. Deer would visit every evening and sometimes during the day as well. The air smelled so fresh under the forest of Ponderosa and Lodge pole pine. We revisited that resort and found it is now mostly all owner occupied cabins.
We used to pay $150 per month to keep the trailer there all year. One of these park model cabins was for sale for $130,000 and the monthly rent was listed at over $450 per month. WOW…things sure change. There is a huge lawn beyond the cabins that is right on the Metolius river. Can’t even see it now for all the cabins…SIGH!
This is about all that is left now for overnight RV space. There are water and electric hookups and a dump station. There is also another RV park that is not on the river, Camp Sherman Resort. The “resort” part is a stretch!!
This resort is located in the small community of Camp Sherman. Camp Sherman started in the early 1900s when the wheat farmers of Sherman County would come here to escape the summer heat. Mostly it was women and children here for the summer and the men would follow after the harvest. Many of the historic cabins are still in use today.
There are also several forest service campgrounds along the river between the Camp Sherman store and Wizard Falls fish hatchery. They are all primitive, with pit toilets and piped water but no hookups. Many spaces are large enough for mid-sized rigs and many are pull-throughs. They spots are right on or very close to the river.
We camped here once and our Norwegian Elkhound dog, Sheba, jumped into the river, not realizing the bank was steep. She couldn’t get a grip to get back out but thankfully she had her leash on. I managed to get hold of her harness and drag her out – none the worse for wear.
We always like to visit the iconic Camp Sherman store. I don’t know how old it is but its wooden floors have been around longer than I have. Unfortunately it was not yet open for the season when we were there. It is worth a stop is you are ever in the area. They used to sell popcorn to feed to the huge trout that lay in the river under the bridge right outside the store. This is a nice spot to rest and just watch the river too.
Those are more modern cabins that you see across the river. There are all sorts of cabins here, some modern, some older but all enjoyable. There is also a seasonal restaurant, a two room school, a fire station, and a church. When we had our trailer here, we went by the church one time just as it was letting out. We asked the preacher what kind of church it was. He smiled and said, “Vanilla!” We attended this little Chapel in the Pines several times when we were there on a weekend. It certainly is a little chapel under those towering trees.
There is also lots of dispersed camping in this area. Forest service roads criss cross a mostly flat forest floor. There is not the thick underbrush that you might see in western Oregon, making it fairly easy to find a place to camp.
When we left Sisters City Park to head home, it was almost deserted again. We enjoy this park but they have raised their prices to $30 for a 30 amp hookup – and that’s with a senior discount. That’s pretty steep for a park that doesn’t even have internet. Next time we may try the Garden RV Park, about 5 miles east of Sisters. We drove through and it appeared to be a clean, well-maintained park. It is a bit more expensive than the city park but it has lots of amenities, including WiFi!!
Just a picture of the beautiful drive through the forests of central Oregon.
And one of my favorite peaks in the Oregon Cascades, Three Fingered Jack.
And so ends this particular trip in Therapy. There will be more…
