Sisters, Oregon

The view from just outside downtown Sisters

We spent the past few days in and around Sisters, Oregon. It is a cute little town that has had a growth spurt in the past decade, as evidenced by all of the cookie-cutter developments that skirt the small downtown. We can see why people would want to live here. Right in the mountains, Sisters offers tons of recreational opportunities, all accessible right from downtown.  But for our taste, it is a little touristy and too dry. The other side of the mountains, however, is very different.

A waterfall on our way to the hot springs

One rainy day, we drove to the Willamette National Forest on the other side of the mountains. Gone were the sage, bunch grass, and junipers. The forest there was wet, lush, and absolutely beautiful. Pretty green moss covered everything, dripping from every branch. Maybe that's because it rains more often than not there. We thought it might be nice to spend a rainy day in a hot spring pool, where it wouldn't really matter if you were getting wet or not. The first one was flooded with icy cold river water, but the second one was still nice and hot. Every natural hot spring we've visited so far seems to be primarily visited by older men. Some are nice, some are ... well, a little weird.


It may seem as though we are enjoying a luxury life of nothing but hot springs and avocados. But I assure you this isn't true. Sometimes we look for jobs. Sometimes we look for property for sale. And other busy times, we hone our ponderosa pine cone baseball skills.

Colin, as you can tell, has been taking his ponderosa pine cone baseball very seriously.