Nice weather and a spring garden

Nice weather and a beautiful spring garden have drawn many guests to our spot on the McKenzie river these first five Months. January and February gave us many sunny day's to bridge the change of seasons from winter into spring. After the first week May was warm and gave us the stunning view on the blooming Azalea's, Camellia's and Rhododendrons.

We are very content with having so many returning guests. Some are coming back every year, others several times a year and other guests return after they stayed with us at the McKenzie River Inn years ago. The connection and contacts we have with our guests is for us unique and is one of the reasons we appreciate being in the hospitality industry. It also means we can rely on a strong following even if this industry is hit hard by the economic decline and accommodation reports are showing 50 to 54% less bookings. So, thank you all for coming back to our spot in the Cascade mountains, it means a lot to us and are always looking forward to your stay with us.

This year we welcome back the Weinberg/Reppert family who have their biannual reunion week in July. We are all excited to see you playing Bacchi ball again in our orchard and having fun going down the river rafting with us. We love to show you the improvements we have made to our facilities and above all the new paint-job.

In the meantime we prepare for our annual BBQ and wine tasting. This year Bert will perform acoustic songs along side with Rachel Barton-Russell on cello and vocals and the latest news is that Hubertina's and Ellie's brother Alphonse will do the honor of introducing a variety of wines. Alphonse is a winemaker for over twenty years and recently opened his own winery with partner David Verwolf on Bainbridge Island called "Rolling Bay Winery". His dedication has lead him to several award winning wines over the last four years. He still follow

classes in wine making to achieve that edge that is needed to make outstanding wines. For guests at the McKenzie River Inn having a taste of the several kinds of fermented grapes is complementary on the days we are having wine tasting and till so far we received raving comments about the Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris.

Alphonse told me the other day that his blend of Pinot Gris and Chardonnay left him with quite some satisfied customers and the "Pinonnay", as I call it, sold out pretty quick. I'm looking forward to our tenth annual BBQ and to see colleagues, guests, friends and family again.

The river levels are dropping as we speak and this will tremendously improve the (fly-) fishing over the coming weeks. So wade out to cast out a line, or climb in my boat and start fishing. Life is good!

Summerfun

Early this morning swarms of Mayflies above the grapes danced their way into reproduction. At the waterfront guests sipping their coffee at one of the picnic tables while enjoying the river view. I walk around with my point and shoot camera trying to capture the new paint job on the lodge and cabins. After all I like to show off the results on this blog. Hubertina did a fabulous job putting the color combination together and the feedback from guests has been great so far. So has been the quality and flexibility of our paint contractor who went the extra mile adding trim pieces and doing shingle repair. Thanks Virgil (www.OpusInc.us)), also for being creative with the shop doors and your help putting up gutters! It really shows!
After yesterdays hot weather we are in for a new one. Over a hundred degrees! Last time I wrote a posting about our annual BBQ party I reported something similar. Today we experience a nice breeze though, making it more bearable.
I'm making my way into the orchard. A sweet fruity smell welcomes me. I disturb a black tail deer, munching on apples that lay on the ground. We make eye contact and she takes of into the forest. It's going to be later than last year, but we are going to have a huge harvest, the fruit tree's are loaded. Ellie told me a few day's ago she's on her last jar of plum jam for our guests breakfast, reminding me at the same time that we lost two plum tree's this year. Hopefully pressing for apple cider won't be at the same time as the wine crush on Bainbridge island. You have to keep them separated!
I walk past the canopy and take a peek at my drift boat. There is some wear and tear on the chines, but the hull let the under layer of green paint shine and make this old timer look great. This summer I started guiding for myself and James, our web master (www.bigapplewebdesign.net) did a great job putting a web site together for my guide service (check out: www.bertsguideservice.com). In June there was some big water in the McKenzie and it was tough getting that nymph to the bottom. I have been enjoying it tremendously and always look forward to the next trip. Alright, with this hot weather we are calling it the "dog days" for a reason, making the fishing really slow, but we also know this weather won't last and can go out and hook a few!
I'm making it back to the drive way and follow the path to the river front. After a two hundred feet I stand in front of the lodge. The darker green paint on the shingles gives it a more distinguished look especially with the white trim, ..I like it, ....one more picture!

Back country on the DeSchutes river

Early Friday morning on September the 14th we left the McKenzie River Inn for a three day private float on the DeSchutes. After seeing our first sign of wildlife, a (blond) black bear, just before Olallie Campground we ate breakfast at my favorite restaurant "The Gallery" in the little town of Sisters. We enjoyed breakfast and met with Ken, son of Don Hill the boat-builder from Springfield, who would join us for our adventure.
Cody was still a sleep in my Subaru when we headed out for the Bitter Brush Ranch 25 miles east from Sisters. Darrell, the owner, ensured us to do the turn around, since we had to cover 43 (river-) miles from Mecca Flat to the take out in Maupin. After showing us around on his 17.000 or so acres of high desert land with a drop dead cliff and gorgeous river frontage around Frog Spring, we headed back to Mecca Flat for take off.
Everything went smooth. William did an excellent job for putting this together, thanks Bill!
With two rafts, a fourteen feet NRS with paddle-assist and being the cargo-boat and a sixteen feet cataraft and a total of six passengers we made our journey to our first camp for an overnight sensation at Whiskey Dick (see picture above). William cooked us a wonderful meal and after the clean up we all gathered together to evaluate the first day's drift. Although non of us came to it, the fishing looked pretty good that evening. After more socializing we went to bed early. I shared the tent with Joe who, compared to the rest of the crew, was fairly new to river travel.
When I opened the tent the next morning I saw the full glory of the high desert mountain-range (see picture above), Joe and William were already preparing breakfast. One of the highlights (after a great breakfast) that day would be negotiating White Horse, a class IV rapid. From a scouting rock we received instructions from William ("this is a five stroke rapid") and saw several vessels going through this impressive water-mass. Ron left no doubt that he was here before and in a classic formula maneuver brought the sixteen foot cataraft to an inch from the first can opener (a sharp rock just above the water surface). All enjoyed the excitement and felt the adrenaline and made ourselves up for an other great day on the DeSchutes.
Camp for the second night was made at Rainbow Bend. It gave us an opportunity to fish and relax and to go over the ins and outs of being a river guide and floating a river like the DeSchutes. William and I caught some trout, but as always, ...the big one got away!
A strong wind made it extremely difficult to keep a straight line on the third day, but the weather couldn't have been better. Some excitement was there when Ron parked his cataraft on the twin rocks in the tail end of Boxcar Rapids. Professionally and without panic and with a little help from gravity we were able to slide between the rocks, we smiled ...and made our exit.
It was at the take out in Maupin when rain made it's entry and for all of us that was okay, we had three day's of learning and expanding our skills, to hang out together as a group and above all ......having fun! It was a great (long) weekend for all of us,
Thanks to all of you guy's and especially William to make this trip a success!