August 14, 2016 - Klamath Falls & Chiloquin, OR

Edith was up very early at 6 am, was not ready to shower and get dressed. She just lie down on the sofa catching up on emails and Facebook posts. Erwin got up more than hour and half later.

Erwin wanted to eat cereal instead of eating out at Peak to Peak restaurant inside the casino because the fruits he liked to put on his cereal started to get dried up and he wanted to use them up.

Edith wanted to visit Klamath Falls, OR and the Upper Klamath Lake, so we went out at 9:30 am. We stopped at Crater Lake Junction Travel Center within the casino area to get gas fill-up for the Jeep.  $2.39 per gal and Erwin filled it up to little more than 10 gallons.  We get $5 free slot play when we show the gas receipt to the casino tonight.

From the casino we turned left on 97 then right to get on Highway 62. Less than quarter of a mile before we needed to turn to get on Weed Road we noticed there were several hawks perching/flying so we continued on Hwy 62.  

Nice looking barn with the mountains in the background (Crater Lake is over there). We made a U-turn to get on Weed Road. Again, there were many hawks on the telephone poles.  Edith missed a picture of one eagle because it flew away before we got there.  Lots of redwing blackbirds, two great blue herons, lots of barnswallows or swifts. A Birders’ paradise!

Belted Cow nursing her calf 

Then to Sevenmile Road to go south.  Nice drive along the way. 

We turned left to get on Hwy 140, missed Upper Klamath National Wildlife Refuge that Edith wanted to visit.  We saw 2 bucks and a doe in the field. 

We continued driving until we arrived at one boat launch to stretch our legs.  Erwin tried to build a small cairn.  There were lots of seagulls on Upper Klamath Lake. 

Beautiful farmlands few miles north of Klamath Falls.  Lots of crops and farm animals.  Nice view of the mountains, also.

We drove through Klamath Falls town center, stopped by to see the old locomotive at a park.  The Baldwin- Museum was closed, so was Favell Museum. Today is Sunday, so we expected most attractions not to be open today.  

Mountain Ash Tree

It was noon, we were downtown and Edith checked Tripadvisior.com for recommendations on restaurants.  She thought of going to Rooster’s Steak and Chop House (ranked #8 out of 152), but when we drove by the historic building with vintage sign Edith told Erwin to pull over, so she can get pictures.  As she was scanning the area for best photo spot she noticed there were people eating outside on the patio.  She became curious and told Erwin to go there.  The old creamery was converted into Klamath Basin Brewery Company, which is ranked #5 in the town.  Erwin said “it is brewery not restaurant”.  “Okay, fine I’ll go in and check” Edith replied back. She went inside, was surprised to see interesting decor. The hostess handed her the menu.  Edith looked over and saw so many delicious meals.  “Not just brewery, but has foods”, Edith talked to herself.  

Klamath Basin Brewery Company (Restaurant)

Edith went outside, called Erwin to come in.  He was surprised and gracefully accepted that his assumption was incorrect.  The special of the day was Honey BBQ Brisket Sandwich with choice of potatoes and Erwin wanted that.  Edith wanted something light, went with Huckleberry Spinach Salad.  Everything was delicious!  Erwin gave Edith a good piece of brisket and she agreed that it was so tender and tasty.  The service was excellent and friendly.

Brewing Room

There were more medals in the restaurant

Edith's salad

Erwin's brisket sandwich

They even branded the top bun!

Edith was very curious about the old creamery and asked Sue, our waitress, about the history. She explained that there used to be three creameries in town and this former creamery was the last one to close in 1990. We highly recommend that you come to Klamath Basin Brewery Company for your meal when you are visiting Klamath Falls, OR.

There were several murals and vintage signs in the town.  We drove around checking out some historic places.

We went back to Kla-Mo-Ya Casino via Hwy 140 East.  We were supposed to check out of the casino and continue journeying to the coast.  Edith checked the Scenic Byways brochure for information, found the route that we will use on our way.  She suggested that we stay one more night here and leave first thing in the morning, so we won’t miss anything when the nightfall comes.

We showed the gas receipt and received $5 free play for slots.  Edith did not win much, earned only 5 cents!  Erwin played blackjack and lost $20.

We had prime rib dinner ($9.97 for 10 oz or $16 for 20 oz) at Peak to Peak restaurant. Each of us had 10 oz prime rib along with baked potato. Erwin had a bowl of chicken noodle soup (he cannot have salad as he gets a reaction from all kinds of lettuce) and Edith had salad with blue cheese dressing. 

We went back to Highway 62 for sunset pictures, but the sunset did not come out great.

We gambled a bit before retiring for the night. While we enjoyed staying at the casino complex for 3 nights we are anxious to get back on the meandering road tomorrow morning.  We look forward to seeing new places along the way. We hope to visit the Oregon coast tomorrow afternoon.