I know many of us feel like 2020 has been full of challenges with the restaurant industry having more than most. We love to support businesses who are making the best of a tough situation and figuring out ways to still serve the community. Our latest taste of the town was the Brown Owl in the Box Factory above the Old Mill. 

Despite a strict order to not allow indoor dining, The Brown Owl has managed to create several intimate outdoor spaces that provide for proper social distancing and spacing around a wonderful center fire pit that keeps the whole space toasty despite temperatures being in the 30's. We were on the hunt for a quick bite and a drink and The Brown Owl absolutely delivered. 

For beverages, we went for the classic Hot Toddy which featured wonderful honey and lemon flavors that were on point for a cold winter day and we also tried their featured "Snow Fall"...

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Chush Falls is a Stunning Central Oregon Waterfall

We have heard about Chush Falls, located off the Three Creeks Lake road outside of Sisters, Oregon, for many years, but had never hiked it until last Saturday. Since it was the middle of December, but snowfall had been somewhat light, we believed we would be fine hiking in the 2 plus miles into the waterfall. We got a late start so that it would be warmer, but experienced a lot of ice on the trail the first mile. Although we had trekking poles, ice spikes for our shoes would have been very helpful and that first mile was walked fairly slowly. 

The first portion of the hike is through the burned trees of the 2017 Milli fire. But despite the burned trees, there has been a lot of regrowth with manzanita and young trees and the views of North and Middle Sister were beautiful. However, one issue which we found throughout the trail was the multiple fallen trees which had to be navigated in order to continue with the hike.

After crossing a couple of small creeks, getting lost due to a large fallen tree blocking the path, we climbed roughly 800 feet in elevation until we reached the overlook for Chush Falls. Trees blocked most of the view from the overlook, so we climbed down the steep hillside, dodging tree limbs and walking around boulders to reach Whychus Creek and walked up the stream until we reached the base of Chush Falls. It was truly a winter wonderland with ice and snow creating a stunning sight. 

Bend Oregon New Home Prices Expected to Rise

The demand for Bend Oregon housing over the past year has broken records. With less than a month supply of single family homes for sale, builders have been working hard to bring new product onto the market. However, the demand has not kept up with the supply and more and more buyers are not able to purchase a home they can afford.

Besides the changes that great demand has made to Bend new home prices, there is another important issue connected with housing affordability - the price of lumber. Since the beginning of the pandemic in March when lumber prices dropped initially, the price of lumber has climbed at a tremendous rate, reaching a high of almost $1000 per thousand board feet in September before prices dropped in October. However, with decent weather and great demand, builders continue to build into the late fall and lumber prices are rising again. Traditionally lumber pri...

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Lake Billy Chinook Area Offers Interesting Things to See

Many Central Oregonians will spend time during the summer at Lake Billy Chinook enjoying the houseboats and recreational opportunities available at The Cove Palisades State Park. However, hiking during the summer can be very uncomfortable with high temperatures in the area the norm. But in mid December, the cool temperatures can make for a nice hiking experience when a lot of exertion is needed.

Balancing Rocks is a Geological Formation to View Overlooking the Metolius Arm of Lake Billy Chinook

Not really a hike (1/2 a mile round trip), the Balancing Rocks (called hoodoos) can be located by driving all the way through the park past the airport toward the Perry South Campground. When forest service road 64 turns into a dirt road, travel just a short distance until you find the parking lot for the short walk to Balancing Rocks. The rocks were formed when a layer of harder volcanic rock flowed over a softer layer of volcanic rock.  Over many thousands of years, the underlying softer rock has eroded at a faster rate than the overlying harder rock, thus forming the balancing rocks we see today. This is worth the extra drive to see such an unusual geological formation.

Tam-a-lau Trailhead is at the Day Use Area of the Cove Palisades State Park 

The trail to the top of the plateau between the Deschutes and Crooked River arms of Lake Billy Chinook has a very steep 800 foot elevation gain the first mile. Wooden stairs are built into some tough sections, but we found other areas to be slippery and later muddy as the frozen ground melted once the temperature rose above freezing later in the day. After reaching the top of the plateau, the level 4.5 mile loop around the hilltop provides for wonderful views of the lake and we were fortunate to see a soaring red-tailed hawk during this trek.  In certain sections, the trail goes very close to the edge of the plateau and we recommend staying a safe distance from the edge as the drop is very steep and dangerous in some areas.

We have read that the Tam-a-lau trail can be very hot and uncomfortable during the summer and is best done either very early or late in the day when the temperatures are cooler. For our hike mid December, layers were best with us getting quite warm in the first mile, but cooling off a lot during the loop hike at the top of the plateau. We saw just a few people during the entire hike.

Tis the season for heavy cream, cookies, and other tasty dishes but don’t forget to be kind to your body and give it a healthy treat every once in a while. With Salud re-opening for the first time in months, our office had to take the opportunity to try out this oldie but goodie. We were not disappointed. This gem of a restaurant is tucked back off the main street but you will see their sign right in their lawn from Franklin Avenue whenever they are open. 

From wontons to tacos to juices, this menu had a bit of everything. We began our flavor journey today with the wontons. This expertly crafted dish was so colorful from the moment we opened the box that we could not wait to dig in. Made with coconut wonton paper, cashew cream cheese, bell pepper, purple cabbage, carrot, cilantro, and chili lime dipping sauce, these small bites were packed with so much...

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