Sunday 16th September

It was a bright and crisp morning when the California contingent drove out of Weaverville, CA. We continued to drive north on CA-3 which proved to be an enjoyable twisty route. We had the road almost to ourselves apart from a couple of motorcyclists that we'd met earlier at the motel, and a VW camper van that preceded us (very slowly) up a steep switchback climb, before graciously pulling over to let us pass.

CA-3 is well worth a visit

At the north end of CA-3, we briefly turned south to head into the small California town of Weed, where we had an excellent brunch. Weed is at the south end of OR-97, and lies in the shadow of Mount Shasta.

Mount Shasta from the west

After crossing into Oregon, we drove north on OR-97, stopping briefly at Klamath Falls to pay homage to another classic means of transport...

Klamath Falls by OR-97

The drive north on OR-97 was a bit of a come-down compared to the morning drive on CA-3. To spice it up, Chuck had provided Jerry with a diversion onto more interesting roads (including the Cascade Lakes Highway) for the final 70 miles or so into Bend. Though these roads were indeed more interesting (including a drive by a huge lava field), we managed to get lost a couple of times when our route took us onto dirt roads. However, in the end, we arrived in Bend around 5:30pm and joined the rest of the NWOL group at the Days Inn.

Before dinner, we convoyed together to Pilot Butte to watch the sun set over Bend. Pilot Butte is an extinct volcano that rises nearly 500 feet above the surrounding plain. A road circles it as it climbs to the summit, from where we viewed the sunset.

Smoke in the air from forest fires at the summit of Pilot Butte

From there we proceeded to dinner at a Mexican-Peruvian restaurant recommended by Chuck. The food was amazing (once we finally found the restaurant!), and it proved to be a great kickoff to NWOL.

Kick-off dinner at Hola-Eastern, Bend, Oregon