Oregon Coast Side Trip: Day Eight

July 14, 2026: I awoke with no trees on top of my van! Hooray for the simple celebrations in life!

I drove to Bend and although Google Maps wanted me to stay on the main highway, I saw a sign for "SCENIC ROUTE" and headed up the Santiam Pass on Highway 242. True to its claim, it was scenic!

The road was smooth as silk, maybe new, no potholes or cracks, like a park road, and the first section was gorgeously, densely wooded. It had plenty of twists and turns and at times was very narrow, but little traffic early in the morning. At the top were lava fields with walls of lava rock on each side of the highway!

At the apex of the mountain was a castle-like observation tower built in the 1930s of these lava rocks. It had these awesome arched windows that framed the various mountains: Three Sisters, Mt. Washington, and Mt. Jefferson with a bronze circular guide to tell you which was which and a rock-carved plaque below each window.

Mt. Washington

Three Sisters

The drive was beautiful especially early in the morning. Well worth the side trip!

I drove through Sisters to Bend. In the morning it was a very pretty town, but later in the afternoon it became congested with tourists. I did errands in Bend. Visited Discount Tires which was not a good experience. I think I'd prefer Les Schwab, but they don't have stores in Arizona!

I attempted to swim at Juniper Pool which is supposedly the best pool in Oregon. It's huge, and the outdoor pool is actually under a removable awning, but the chlorine was so strong I decided against it. (Is it just extra dirty?? Hmmmm....)

I finally found the Old St. Francis "hot springs" but I think it's just a soaking pool and looked more like a beautifully tiled bathtub than a hot springs. Also highly chlorinated. After reading that fact about chlorine, I'll never be the same! By that time the temperatures outside had climbed to 95 degrees so soaking in heat wasn't as appealing. I had an urge to go back to the coolness of the coast!

I stopped just east of Corvallis to park overnight at the Jackson Frazier Wetlands parking lot. It was quite popular with cars in and out going for evening walks or walking their dogs, but once the sunset it became really quiet.