How do you Escape the Gloom and Doom of a Northwest Fall and Upcoming Winter? Our Solution was to Take a Road trip to Sunnier Climes

We mostly embrace the cold, wet, and sometimes dreary weather of a typical Pacific Northwest fall and winter, such as this past week’s surprisingly strong storm. We still try to bike, hike, walk, play golf and do other outside activities, but we also enjoy a nice a road trip to escape the oncoming gloom and doom. Indeed, to prepare for the “Dark Ages” of November, December, January and February, we recently packed up our little SUV and sped down to Oregon and California, visiting some iconic spots, while reconnecting with some old friends.

For many Bainbridge Islanders and North Kitsap County residents, Bend and Central Oregon are great destinations practically any time of the year. We love it there in the fall, because the leaves are turning color, and the air is fresh and crisp. The Bend area has some incredible scenery with spectacular mountains in almost every direction: Mount Bachelor, the Three Sisters, Broken Top, Black Butte, Three-Fingered Jack and Mount Jefferson to the West, and the incomparable Smith Rock State Park to the East. The latter is a rock-climbing Mecca, for those so inclined.

Greater Bend (including Redmond, OR.) features some of the finest mountain biking in the country, along with exceptional road biking on stretches of payment that in many places have nary a car in sight. The hiking is both challenging and relaxing, depending on your ability and mood. We took a couple of easy strolls along the Deschutes River – a first-class fly-fishing stream in the high season – and the Metolius, another great fishing river, located just north of the nearby city of Sisters.

The region has dozens of championship caliber golf courses, and in the winter, fabulous downhill skiing at Mount Bachelor or Hoodoo, near the Santiam Pass, just off of scenic Highway 20, west of Sisters. Of course, Bend has great restaurants and Brewpubs and a lively entertainment and music scene year-round. There’s even an REI store in the Old Mill District. You really can’t go wrong hanging out there for a week or even a month, but after four days, we said goodbye to our friends and drove south to beautiful Lake Tahoe.

The “Only Great Lake,” as some locals call it, is the jewel of the Sierra Neveda. It’s the highest alpine lake in North America and one of the highest in the world. Mark Twain, who spent a number of years galivanting around nearby Virginia City and the Silver mining towns of the Sierra, called Tahoe “the fairest sight the whole world affords!”

We can attest to that. We lived there back in the late 1970s and early 1980s when the average guy or gal could afford to ski on the slopes in winter and when the shoulder seasons – in the late spring and early fall – were almost devoid of tourists. We practically had the lake -and all its wonderful restaurants and outside activities – to ourselves. It was magical!

Of course, today, Tahoe is an international destination for celebrities and jetsetters as well as weekend warriors who trudge up from the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento to ski in the winter and hike, bike, and hangout in the summer months. Looking back now, we realize how lucky we were to be living there when we were young, and it was somewhat reasonably priced. We remember days, when you could literally downhill ski in the morning and play golf or beach volleyball in the afternoon. Back then, too, you could saunter into a casino on the Neveda side – perhaps after a night of partying with friends – and get a $1.99 breakfast or a $5 buffet. Unfortunately, those days are long gone.

Lake Tahoe is still a fun place to spend time no matter how old you are. When we visited earlier this month – staying in a timeshare in Zephre Cove, NV., near South Lake Tahoe, CA. – it was cold and clear, and it even snowed on a few occasions. But the weather didn’t stop us from doing several bike rides on a number of well-marked bike trails in both north and south Tahoe. We also managed a few hikes on nearby beaches, and at not-so-busy tourist attractions like Sand Harbor, NV., where a very cool Shakespeare Festival takes place each summer.

One of the best ways to enjoy the lake, especially in the off-season, is to drive around its shoreline and visit some of its natural and man-made attractions, such as Emerald Bay, Vikingsholm, Camp Richardson, Eagle Rock, Paige Meadows, Squaw Valley (now called Palisades), Dollar Point, Brockway Summit and Mt. Rose, among many others. The small, little hamlets, bays and cities are equally cool. You can’t drive through Tahoma, a wisp of a place on the West Shore, without stopping at the famed Tahoma Market, where you can buy a sandwich, with any ingredients you can think of, that’s as big as a loaf of bread and as tasty as a homemade apple crisp.

Keep on driving into Tahoe City, where Rosie’s Cafe is worth a stop, then onto Carnelian Bay, where the Old Post Office Restaurant serves up delicious breakfasts and where a sign reads, “Turn off your Phones. Pretend it’s the 1990s!”. Move on down the road to Kings Beach, home to Soule Domain, a cozy, little restaurant holed up in an old log cabin. If it was snowing outside, it would be the perfect place to hang out and drink spiced wine, while warming up near their fireplace. Continue driving north through Crystal Bay, where the old Tahoe Biltmore casino is about to be transformed into a Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Nearby is the Cal/Neva Casino, on the border of California and Nevada, where Frank Sinatra once crooned to audience’s delight.

Down the road is Incline Village, NV., previously home to the Ponderosa Ranch, where in the 1960s television series “Bonanza” was filmed, featuring the beloved characters, “Pa, Hoss and Little Joe.” Today, Incline is the Beverly Hills of Tahoe, with sprawling multi-million-dollar mansions dotting the waterfront on Lakeshore Blvd and a place where you may spy a celebrity or two ducking in an out of local shopping centers and watering holes.

Like Bend, Lake Tahoe is another place where you could spend a week or a lifetime getting to know all its many nuances. But after six or seven days, we trekked south to another beautiful spot – Yosemite National Park. We’ve visited this cherished landmark – preserved by naturalist John Muir and celebrated by the inimitable photography of Ansel Adams – at least seven or eight times over the past 40 years. It never gets old.

Yosemite is a sprawling park, but its main attraction is Yosemite Valley, carved out by the Merced River and featuring some of the most iconic mountains and water features in the world. We’re talking about Half Dome and El Capitan, among many others, along with breathtaking waterfalls such as Bridal Vail, Nevada and the park’s namesake, Yosemite.

We roughed it a bit in the park, staying in a one-room cabin with no bathroom. That might not sound so bad until you take into account that the nighttime temperatures during our visit dipped into the high 20s and 30s. It was a bit nippy outside. Our timing was pretty darn good. We hit the fall colors at peak season. The Valley’s Aspen groves were a golden hue and created a beautiful palette against the soaring mountains and shimmering falls.

We enjoyed biking and hiking in the Valley, even climbing to the top of Nevada Falls one day, a nearly an eight-mile round trip assent and descent, with an elevation gain of 1,500 feet. It was steep, really steep.

The Valley also has some very cool places to hang out, eat and take in the park’s history, such a Curry Village, the Ansel Adams Gallery and the old Cemetary. One of our favorite restaurants is located in the historic Ahwahnee Hotel, which was originally built in 1927 and has been refurbished on several occasions since then.

The dining room has the look and feel of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. The hall is a half a football field long, with floor to ceiling glass windows at one end and a vaulted ceiling soaring to 37 feet, with beams cut from Yosemite timber. Chandeliers hang down from the cross beams, while a huge fireplace envelopes the entryway. You get the sense that the room is man’s best attempt to somehow emulate the natural beauty that surrounds the place.

Road trips can sometimes be long and laborious, but this one – for us – was fun and adventurous, filled with great beauty and numerous surprises. If you get a chance, we encourage you to pack up your vehicle of choice and head on down the road. We guarantee you that you won’t be disappointed!

Photos By Kevin Dwyer, except for Ahwahnee Hotel 

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