FMCA Tour Information

Cascade Mountain Magic

Convention Tour Schedule
August 16-19, 2004

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DESCHUTES BREWERY

The Pacific Northwest is well-known for its microbreweries, and Deschutes Brewery is one of the best. The folks there will tell you there are four main ingredients involved in the creation of beer: water, hops, malt, and yeast. But they'll also tell you a great brew only comes alive when consumed! Your visit includes a guided tour of the brew house and cellars and an opportunity to taste-test the brewery's most popular beers. Following your visit to the brewhouse, you'll enjoy a sampling of Northwest cuisine at a private reception in Deschutes Brewery's spectacular Mountain Room. Experience amazing views of the Cascade Mountain Range as you partake in an assortment of smoked meats, including venison, and house-made sausage, crusty Mediterranean bread with olive tapenade and baby mozzarella, domestic and imported cheeses with house-made crackers, and seasonal fresh vegetables with Oregon blue cheese dipping sauce. And, of course, more than just a taste of your favorite Deschutes Brewery Ale! Then it's on to the Old Mill District where you can browse through charming galleries and top-quality shops. You'll have approximately an hour and a half to wander on your own before the bus returns to Deschutes County Fair and Expo.

Price per person: $48. (Includes all transportation/transfers, guided brewery tour, taste testing, and a one-hour private reception including two beers.)
Minimum: 40 passengers each tour
Tour duration: 5 hours
Tour #1 Monday, August 16 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Tour #2 Tuesday, August 17 10:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.

THE DIAMOND “B” CHUCK WAGON &
WESTERN DINNER SHOW

The chuck wagon is one of the Old West’s most time-honored folk traditions. Originally a mobile mess hall tent, social center, and supply chest, the chuck wagon accompanied cowboys on their annual cattle drives to railheads hundreds of miles from home. The Booher family’s Diamond “B” Chuck Wagon celebrates this unique tradition with a joyful, musical, foot-stompin' afternoon of delicious cowboy dining and old-time music from gospel to swing, and cowboy ballads to yodeling. The menu includes sirloin roast with barbecue sauce, homemade biscuits, baked potato with sour cream, old-fashioned apple sauce, beans slow-cooked the cowboy way, Texas sheet cake, and coffee or lemonade.

Price per person: $42. (Includes transportation, dinner, and entertainment.)
Minimum: 80 passengers each tour (for private event)
Tour duration: 4 hours
Tour #3 Monday, August 16 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Tour #4 Wednesday, August 18 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

HIGH DESERT MUSEUM

Get face-to-face with a golden eagle, an otter, or a porcupine. Take a stroll through life-size dioramas of western settlements as they would have appeared in the 1800s. Visit a 1950s reservation home and schoolhouse. The High Desert Museum offers an opportunity not only view the arid intermountain West, but to experience it firsthand. Your tour begins with a brief orientation given by one of the museum's docents. You'll then have plenty of time to explore on your own. The museum has nearly 53,000 square feet of exhibits and amenities in the main building with outdoor trails winding through acres of exhibits and animal habitats. Live animal and living history demonstrations are presented regularly, making the High Desert Museum one of Oregon's star attractions. The museum store, Silver Sage Trading, offers one-of-a-kind gifts, handmade jewelry and baskets, as well as an amazing collection of history and nature books. Lunch cost is on your own.

Price per person: $33. (Includes transportation and admittance to the museum.)
Minimum: 40 passengers Tour duration: 4 hours
Tour #5 Monday, August 16 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

MOUNT BACHELOR ADVENTURE

Just because it's summer doesn't mean you can't experience the magnificence of central Oregon's Mount Bachelor. World-renowned as one of the premier winter ski destinations in North America, Mount Bachelor also offers great summertime activities. Your Mount Bachelor Adventure tour starts with a leisurely one-hour ride to the base of the mountain where you'll embark on the Pine Marten Express Ski Lift*. The ride up the mountain takes about 15 minutes, giving you plenty of time to soak in the amazing scenery before arriving mid-mountain. After disembarking the lift, you'll meet outside the Pine Marten Lodge where you'll learn more about the mountain during a brief informative talk delivered by a Forest Service naturalist. Next, it's up to the third level of the lodge where photo opportunities abound from the wrap-around decks. Here you'll enjoy a picnic lunch featuring barbecued chicken sandwiches, hamburgers, potato salad, baked beans, chips, and a beverage (choice of soda, juice, or water). Then it's back down the mountain on the Pine Marten Express and onto your bus for the return trip to the fairground. This Mount Bachelor Adventure will be a feast for your eyes as well as your palate.

*The Pine Marten Express lift is an open-chair ski lift that can accommodate four people at one time. Getting in and out of the chair is relatively easy. It stops for embarkation and disembarkation and moves slowly on its ascent and descent. The ride is non-threatening even for those who don't ski.

Price per person: $45. (Includes transportation, lift tickets, naturalist talk, and picnic lunch.)
Minimum: 40 passengers each tour
Tour duration: 5 hours
Tour #6 Tuesday, August 17 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Tour #7 Thursday, August 19 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

NEWBERRY MONUMENT & VOLCANO

Your guide for this scenic tour is a U.S. Forest Ranger and member of the interpretive guide team with the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District of the Deschutes National Forest. The guide will share information on the natural and cultural history of the area throughout the tour, making this a journey to be remembered. You will discover why, for many years, archaeologists and geologists have been fascinated by Newberry Crater for reasons far different than scenery or recreation. The crater contains evidence of human activity that dates back thousands of years, and it also holds one of the most remarkable and accessible obsidian flows in the nation. The native people living in the area visited Newberry Crater for at least 10,000 years. They came for many of the same reasons people come today, and also to quarry obsidian glass, an important material used to craft tools and projectile points. When the tour bus arrives at the Newberry Caldera, you'll actually be standing in the bottom of a volcano! The first stop will be the Visitor's Center where you can learn more about this spectacular area as well as take advantage of the facilities. Next, it's on to a spectacular view of plunging Paulina Falls as it spills out of Paulina Lake. At 6,300 feet, you'll visit a mountain of black glass and learn how Native Americans traded this valuable obsidian around the continent. Then, you'll travel to the shores of sparkling Paulina Lake and the East Lake Resort where you can purchase snacks and beverages before your final stop, an old-growth hemlock forest. Keep your cameras close at hand.

Price per person: $33. (Includes transportation, entrance to Newberry Monument, and guide service.)
Minimum: 40 passengers
Tour duration: 4.5 hours
Tour #8 Thursday, August 19 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

THE MUSEUM AT WARM SPRINGS & SALMON BAKE

The mission of the Museum at Warm Springs is to "preserve, advance, and share the knowledge of the cultural, traditional, and artistic heritage of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs." Your tour to Warm Springs starts with a visit to this award-winning museum and your adventure into the culture and traditions of the Tribes of Warm Springs begins. You'll have approximately 1.5 hours to explore the various educational exhibits that represent the largest collection of Indian artifacts still in Indian hands. After your museum visit, you'll join the group on the banks of the Shitake Creek located behind the museum. This area has been designated as part of the Central Oregon Birding Trail and more than 40 different varieties of songbirds can be seen as well as eagles, hawks, ducks, and herons. Your private salmon bake picnic will begin at 2:30 p.m. and will feature fresh salmon filets skewered on cedar sticks and baked over alder-wood coals by tribal members. As you dine, the sights and sounds of the traditional Indian dancing styles of the Warm Springs people will entertain you. Your dinner buffet also will include fresh green salad, boiled potatoes, watermelon, corn on the cob, Indian fry bread with huckleberry jam, cake, and fruit punch or spring water.

Price per person: $63. (Includes transportation, entrance to the museum, salmon bake, Native American entertainment, and all gratuities.)
Minimum: 80 passengers each tour (for private event)
Tour duration: 5.5 hours
Tour #9 Tuesday, August 17 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Tour #10 Thursday, August 19 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

THE CROOKED RIVER MYSTERY TRAIN

Central Oregon's top year-round attraction, the Crooked River Dinner Train, is truly an adventure in dining. During your journey aboard an 1800s Western theme train, you'll enjoy a great meal, plus travel back in time when trains were robbed and adventure was the way of the wild, wild West. The Mystery Show begins with the cast of characters serving libations from a no-host bar. During this casual hour, they will get to know you and find who wants to participate in the show and who doesn't. Minutes before the train departs a crime is committed, screams ring out, and the journey proceeds as you try to figure out just who among the dubious cast is the culprit. Drama, music, good food--you're sure to have a bang-up great time! Your lunch features a choice of entrée: prime rib with garlic mashed potatoes, chicken cordon bleu with rice pilaf, or vegetarian lasagna, all served with hot rolls, vegetables, and dessert.

Price per person: $71. (Includes transportation, train ride, four-course luncheon, and entertainment.)
Minimum: 45 passengers
Tour duration: 3.5 hours
Tour #11 Tuesday, August 17 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

THE CROOKED RIVER JESSE JAMES GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY

Put on your boots and feast on the Crooked River Dinner Train's scrumptious luncheon served as the train makes its way through the spectacular high desert scenery of the Crooked River Valley. But keep your wallets close at hand, because Jesse James and his band of ne'er-do-wells are on the loose and could appear on horseback alongside the train when you least expect it. They might even board the train in search of the loot…so keep your cameras handy. Your lunch features a choice of entree: pot roast with vegetables, chicken and dumplings, or vegetarian lasagna, all served with hot rolls, vegetables, and dessert.

Price per person: $67. (Includes transportation, train ride, four-course luncheon, and entertainment.)
Minimum: 45 passengers
Tour duration: 3 hours
Tour #12 Wednesday, August 18 11:45 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.

SCENIC CASCADE LAKES HIGHWAY

The Cascade Lakes Highway traverses 93 miles of forests and meadows in the Deschutes National Forest and provides year-round access to the Cascade Mountains in central Oregon. The route provides outstanding views of volcanic peaks, and offers access to eight resorts, dozens of lakes, and the largest ski resort in the Northwest. Your guide for today's tour is a U.S. Forest Ranger and member of the interpretive guide team with the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District of the Deschutes National Forest. Your scenic bus tour will take you on a leisurely journey, highlighting several of the lakes as well as some magnificent vistas. The bus will make a number of stops, including Elk Lake Resort where you can purchase snacks and beverages, and photo opportunities will abound. In order to fully appreciate some of the vistas, you will have to walk a short distance over easy terrain. Your ranger guide will share information on the natural and cultural history of the area throughout the tour, making this a journey you will long remember.

Price per person: $31. (Includes transportation and guide service.)
Minimum: 40 passengers
Tour duration: 4.5 hours
Tour #13 Wednesday, August 18 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.