(gentle music) - Today, on "All Across Oregon," we're visiting the town that has been voted The Happiest Town in the state of Oregon, the town of Sisters.

We start our day with a bakery that covers everything from A to Z.

We'll see the town's boutique shops, it's outdoor activities, from hiking to cycling, and meet some of Oregon's top artists.

Sisters, here we come.

(gentle upbeat music) (gentle upbeat music continues) Funding for "All Across Oregon" was provided in part by John A. Warekois, CPA, Travel Curry Coast, Travel Southern Oregon, Oregon's Adventure Coast, and Travel Southern Oregon Coast.

Nestled at the base of the Cascade Mountains, Sisters, Oregon, is a small town with a rich history and a big personality.

Originally inhabited by the Northern Paiute and Wasco tribes, this region became a hub for settlers in the late 19th century.

The town gets its name from the iconic Three Sisters Mountains, Faith, Hope, and Charity, that rise dramatically to the west.

What began as a modest ranching and logging community blossomed into a vibrant destination for outdoor enthusiasts, artists, and dreamers.

By the mid-1900s, Sisters reinvented itself with a charming Old West aesthetic drawing visitors from far and wide.

Today, it's known for its world-class festivals, local crafts, and deep connection to nature.

Sisters seamlessly blends its pioneer roots with modern creativity, making it a special place that captures the heart of anyone who visits.

Okay, so it's been a couple weeks since we've been over to Sisters, and so here we are, we're gonna tell you a little bit more about it.

So you're probably wondering what this is.

Well, this is what a couple of weeks looks like after being super cold here in Southern Oregon recently.

But if you're gonna head to the town of Sisters, which is an absolute must, it is beautiful, I need to give you a little education.

Do you know the difference between a highway and a parkway?

I'm gonna read you the definition of a highway, "A main road, especially one connecting major towns or cities."

That's a highway, simple enough.

What about a parkway?

"A parkway is a landscaped thoroughfare.

The term is particularly used for a roadway in a park or connecting a park from which trucks and other heavy vehicles are excluded."

So if you don't know the difference between a highway and a parkway and you're traveling through the town of Bend, you will get one of these here.

It's rough, but I got one.

So it changes speed very rapidly from a highway to a parkway.

So here we go.

We got the ticket out of the way, and now we're on our way to the beautiful, beautiful city of Sisters, Oregon.

(bright upbeat music) So here we are, Sisters Bakery.

I want you to meet my new friends.

I think I'll take one, one, one, one, one, one.

Did you guys see all this?

Did everybody get all this stuff here?

What?

I'm not kidding, I'm gonna be like, I'm gonna be having a shopping bag on the way out.

I wanna see what happens behind the scenes and how it gets out here.

- Yeah, I'll take you back there.

- What do you think?

Take off my jacket and get back there?

- Yep, let's get ready.

- Okay, let's do it.

(gentle bright music) Hello, everybody, good morning, everybody!

Good morning, good morning, good morning!

Oh, we're going way back here?

- [Spencer] Hey, everybody, this is Vinny.

- Hey, everybody, look at everybody.

This is a solid crew!

My goodness.

Oh, my, look at that.

Is this your doing here, Maggie?

- [Maggie] That's our marionberry pie.

- Look at these beautiful things.

Show me how it's done.

- All right, we're gonna roll out a top here for one of these guys.

Get a little flour on my table.

Get my dough pressed out, and I'm just gonna roll out my top here.

- Okay.

- We make a lot of these for Thanksgiving.

- Oh, so we're finishing these then?

We're rolling out a top for 'em.

- We're finishing these, yeah, we're gonna top 'em off.

Then we're gonna give it our classic look on top with a couple of slits here to let out the steam.

- Yeah, oh, so you did the slits before you put it on there?

- [Maggie] Yeah, it makes for a more even cut.

- Ah, who likes even?

(Maggie laughs) - [Maggie] Throw that baby right on top, stick it down.

Then we're gonna go and fold the outside, keep all that goodness in there.

- So you're not even pinching hard.

You're just like folding it over.

- Just folding it over.

- We're good to go.

- [Maggie] Yeah, you wanna crimp this one?

- You mean crimp another one?

You're crimping that one, or you want me to crimp it?

You want me to give a pie crust.

- We're gonna make it pretty.

- Yeah, I'll crimp it.

- Perfect, so you're gonna take three fingers, put your finger down, and just come in right next to it.

Just like that.

- I like it.

I like to go like this all the way around.

But you don't want me to do that.

You want me to do old school like that?

- [Maggie] We want the fluted edge.

- Look at this, look at this though.

Don't worry, I'll pay for this one if I mess it up.

Look, see, that's the way I do it.

- That is very unique.

- See?

(Maggie laughing) But that's not good enough?

I'll do it your way, here.

Okay, so let's compare.

Okay?

- Okay.

- And I'm not a competitive person at all.

We changed up Sisters Bakery pie today, we went ahead and did an Italian crimp, and now I'm gonna try it their way, okay.

(gentle pleasant music) Now we're gonna do it your way and I'm gonna roll this out.

- Oh yeah.

- Thank you for letting me play in your kitchen.

- Of course.

- Thank you so much, oh, wait, wait, wait.

- Yep.

- It's okay.

- Most important part.

- We got one, two.

- Three.

- Three.

- Gorgeous.

- Okay.

Now we're going to get this on here.

This one's not as pretty as hers and it's not as round as hers.

Oh, I blew it on this one.

You're gonna have to salvage it.

- We can fix it.

- Yeah?

We can totally fix it, it's dough.

Maggie, would you fire me already?

- Ah, I'd give you an extra training day.

- My goodness.

Okay, so now I'm gonna do it your way.

I'm gonna go.

- There you go.

- You want me to do this?

- Yes.

- Three fingers.

Now we're gonna get to our problem-child section.

So I'm gonna go kind of like that on there.

Oh no, I lost it!

I lost it!

- We can just fix it up a little bit.

- Yeah.

- There you go, can't even tell.

- Thank you for teaching me a new way to do a crust.

- Of course.

- I have never done it like that.

- Yeah, you wanna do the finishing touches?

- I don't know, do you want me to touch it?

- We're gonna give it a little egg wash here.

- Okay.

- So it'll come out of the oven nice and golden brown.

- Okay.

- And then, you give it a little sparkle sugar to finish, just to make it pretty.

- It's beautiful.

Okay, I'll do this one.

If you end up with this one, it's my bad, it's not on the bakery.

Give it a little paint all the way around.

Get the crust too, right?

- Yes.

- Oh my goodness, who did this crust?

This is probably one of the nicest crusts I have ever seen.

Oh, I did this one, didn't I?

- Oh, you did?

Yeah.

- Did I do that one?

Yeah.

- I'm not taking credit for that one.

- Okay.

Ah, that sounded... (chuckles) That didn't sound very nice, Maggie.

- Beautiful.

- Okay.

- [Maggie] Gorgeous finish.

(gentle pleasant music) We can roll up a butter croissant or two.

- [Vinny] All right.

Okay, this looks even harder now, (sighs) I got this.

- Oh, this one's not too bad.

All right, so we're gonna take a triangle, give it a nice, gentle stretch, which Kelly did there for you already.

- She already did.

(gentle pleasant music) - All right, and then we're gonna start at our thick end.

- I'm gonna get right next to you, I'm gonna give it a stretch.

- Yep, and we're gonna gently roll it up.

I just give it one little tuck, and then just push it forward.

- Okay.

- Oh, yours is even better than mine.

You've got it nice and centered.

There we go, that way we're preserving all of our beautiful layers in there.

See those layers and lamination?

- Mhmm, oh yes!

Look at that!

(Maggie laughs) (upbeat music) I'm gonna get to make a donut for the first time.

Like, really make the donut.

So check it out.

- You want to crank and just move it while you're cranking.

Just do a few of them.

(upbeat music) - Oh, I feel the pressure.

All right, I'm done.

So I think I see what I did wrong.

I was going too fast and I was coming around, I was hitting the same ones.

So then at what?

At one minute we flip it?

Oh, even mine, this is not too bad.

The one that got messed up right there.

(upbeat music) So I'm gonna turn one, turn that one, turn that one.

I feel like I have to go really fast, right?

'Cause we need that even timing.

Did you see those chopstick skills?

I'm just saying.

(upbeat music) There I got doubled up.

(upbeat music) Now we're gonna share the croissant, right?

(upbeat music) For you, oh, there it is, man.

- Yeah.

- Oh, good, good croissant!

(upbeat music) Not bad for my first time.

Not bad.

Would you guys like to try one of my donuts that I made today?

- Go for it.

- Yeah.

- Would you?

All right.

They wanna try one of my donuts.

Is that the one that we did?

(upbeat music) I hope you like it.

(upbeat music) I'm a natural baker.

(upbeat music) - Nailed it.

- What?

Okay, thank you, guys.

Man, I was like, "Come on, guys."

(everyone laughs) So I got to make some croissants, and I got to make some donuts, and I got to help put the topping on the pie, the top piece, and paint it.

And those croissants were so light, and they were fluffy, and they were tasty.

And that donut was rich and chocolatey, and I ate it right out of the fryer.

And now it's time for some of their coffee.

Not just coffee, Sisters Bakery coffee.

Happy dance.

Good job, everybody!

Good job, everybody!

Excellent!

Excellent!

I'm your new baker and you just missed what I did in the back, and nobody cares, nobody's looking, but that's okay, that's fine, that's fine.

Nobody cares about the new employee, that's fine.

- [Macon] They'll warm up to you.

- All right, will they?

That's a tough crowd.

- All right, we're gonna make a pumpkin spice latte.

- Okay.

- It's pumpkin spice season, we make our own pumpkin spice syrup here in-house.

- I can still taste that donut.

I can still taste the donut that I made.

(upbeat music) - Yeah, so we use Sisters Coffee coffee beans here.

- [Vinny] I love that about this town.

Everyone's using everybody's stuff here.

- [Macon] Yep, and, you know, we've got a lot of people doing quality things in this town.

(upbeat music) That's our pumpkin spice latte.

- Oh, look at you.

Artwork too, huh?

- Little bit.

(laughs) - Okay, I'm like in love with the coffee in this town.

- It's good, right?

- It's not good, it's off the chart.

Oh, it's so bold and creamy, and I can't believe, like I said, the crema on top and it's- - Yeah.

- Just from the coffee itself.

- Yep, we love Sisters Coffee coffee, and they use our bread in their menu.

(upbeat music) - It is a great way to start the morning.

If I lived here, I'd be here every morning.

So I don't know if you got to see the sourdoughs on the rack behind us, but next time, on the next episode, we get to visit their production facility and see it being done firsthand, and I get to help.

Now, as we mentioned, Sisters is known for its outdoor activities and its beauty and diversity.

We are heading to Blazin Saddles Bike Shop where we're gonna meet up with our local guide, Judy, and pick up a super cool loaner bike.

Judy's gonna show us one of Sisters' beautiful trails, not only for walking and hiking, but for mountain biking as well.

- And the bike shop has graciously donated this bike to us for a little bit, so you can give our trails a ride.

- Oh, for a little bit.

- Yeah.

- I wish you would've said they donated this bike.

(Judy laughs) Thank you, everybody.

Thank you, I'll be back.

(gentle upbeat music) - [Judy] So thanks for coming to Sisters, Vinny.

- Of course.

- This is our Peterson Ridge Trail.

It's a 20-mile long trail, and there is several different ways that you can use this trail.

You can cycle on it, you can hike on it, and there are expert parts of the trail, and there's easy parts of the trail.

And so it's really great for someone who has a myriad of skills from beginner all the way to experts.

And we have a map that shows you where the expert trails are, and they're all in red.

And then, the green trails are easy.

And then, the yellow is for medium skill set.

So it's been great project for the community.

- But we're on the PRT.

- Yes.

- Okay.

- The Peterson Ridge Trail.

That's the PRT.

We started this trail over 20 years ago.

We got a trail committee together, we created a trail plan, and we sought the funding for it.

And our Sisters Trail Alliance has since taken that over, and they do a great job maintaining the trail.

And it's great, people come out here with their families, with their kids, expert cyclists who are training for an event.

- Oh, this is gorgeous.

- So it's a myriad.

There's great hiking up here, and that's not all we have, Vinny.

We have great food here as well.

- Well, I'm looking forward to that.

- So I'm gonna show you some of those places when we get back to town.

- Ooh, I found a hiking stick!

- Yes, perfect.

- Maybe it's not that strong enough.

We'll find another one.

We'll find another one.

What a fantastic trail.

And what a cool bike shop.

But, then again, that's one of the things Sisters is known for, its boutique shops.

And today we visited just a few, like the quilt shop, the art shop, the Western Wear, unique gift shops full of local artisans' creations, jewelry shops, wind spinners, whirligigs, ha ha.

We could've spent a whole weekend alone just shopping.

There was so much cool stuff!

There's no big chain stores here.

It's all mom-and-pop businesses featuring local-made products, and they all work together, and they all support each other.

You really feel the sense of community here in Sisters.

And what's really extra cool is the Western aesthetic woven through the whole town.

This is cool stuff.

You guys got some great stores in this town.

You were right.

(mellow Western music) I love this store, this is super cool.

- Yeah, welcome on in.

Yeah, and we got hats right upstairs here.

- Everyone needs a cowboy hat.

- Yeah, you can come in, we can get you fitted.

It doesn't usually take too long.

We just tell everybody, "Start putting a hat on until you find one that fits you."

- Really?

Well, you guys are serious.

This is serious stuff here.

You guys got travel bags for hats?

- Yep, a lot of people come in that are tourists and they usually need some way to transport 'em.

So we've got the transporting backpacks, we've got the cases here, so we've pretty much got a solution for any scenario that they're gonna come in with.

- Come on, man, serious, this is insane.

So these are like the...

Some guys just aren't made for hats.

Are you supposed to feel the top of your head here?

- Ideally, no.

- Oh, no?

- You wanna have a little bit of room at the point- - Oh, you do?

Okay.

- Yeah.

- All right, well see, that's an education.

- It looks good on you though.

- Yeah, buddy.

- It's all about the feel too.

If it feels good, it is good.

- I'd be into it, I'd be digging that one.

- Yeah, or ones that, you know, they're not gonna take too big of a beating.

You know, maybe they're more fashion forward, less functionality as far as, you know, being around the farm.

- You know, my roping days are over.

- (laughs) So all you gotta worry about is looking good.

- Actually I'm a ball cap guy.

(Conor laughs) (mellow Western music) - Yeah, so as far as home goods go, I mean, you can come in here and decorate your whole home if you wanted.

We just got all of these cowhides in.

- Are these real cowhides?

- Oh yeah.

Yep.

- Really?

- Yeah, so we have people that call us from, like, around the country that'll want 'em shipped over to 'em.

We'll send 'em photos, FaceTime 'em.

- (sniffs) And what are we doing with these?

Oh, for the floor?

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- These are beautiful.

- [Conor] It's a nondiscriminatory comb.

(mellow Western music) - Oh.

(Conor laughs) (Vinny grunting) (Conor laughing) (upbeat mellow music) - This is Makin' it Local in Downtown Sisters.

We feature Central Oregon and Oregon artists.

That is our primary emphasis.

- Okay.

- Mostly print market, open editions, as well as sculpture, pottery, and glass, and jewelry, and a variety of different Central Oregon and Oregon artists.

- Okay, just educate me real quick.

When you say print art, that means they're copies of an original print art?

Or what does print art mean?

- Yeah, they're fine art reproductions.

We, in fact, work with the artist to reproduce their work, and then we fine art print them, meaning they're giclee prints on fine art paper and archival inks.

It's a fantastic print market.

It's a way for the artist to be able to get a lot of their work out at a very affordable price for our collectors and our customers.

And it allows the artist to be able to have success with a lot of different images.

- Cool, so now I know that's what this means here when we say print art that you have here, okay.

- Yeah, absolutely, this is Kathy Deggendorfer.

She is a very well-known watercolorist of Central Oregon.

And, once again, these are open-edition prints.

In fact, this particular piece right here captures the recent changes in the Klamath Basin, the opening of the dams, removing of the five dams.

Kathy and her foundation have worked very closely with the tribes of that area, and their effort to work with the youth of the tribes and have them kayak from the beginning of the Klamath all the way into California, and that's the process of that process.

- Wow.

- Susie Luckey Higdon is also a very well-known pastel and oil painter.

This is her work.

She is the founding member of Tumalo Art Co. in the Old Mill and Bend.

And we've worked with her and known her for a number of years, and these are new releases by her as well.

Lindsay Gilmore, Central Oregon icon, classical beautiful skies and iconic mountain scenes.

And, once again, she's a well-known, actually has a national following, but here locally in Bend.

She moved to Central Oregon about six, seven years ago, and we've known her ever since she moved here.

We started printing for her and working with her for a number of years.

James Parsons.

- Oh my goodness!

- Photographer.

- Photography.

- He goes by the name of Extreme Oregon.

- Where is that?

- That's Scott Lakes up in the Wilderness area.

This is Sparks Lake, an iconic image of Central Oregon.

Sheila Dunn's work, Sheila is also a Central Oregon artist.

These are fine art prints from her original oil.

Sheila paints in almost a geometric style.

- It's very different and very- - She's very well collected.

A lot of landscapes and, of course, animals, and fish, and things of that nature.

- Man, big ol' apex predator, the wolf.

It's said that art has a powerful emotional influence on people, and we felt that way while we were there.

And we just were inspired and we had to meet a couple of these local artists.

So here they are.

- Being a native Oregonian, I don't know that I really understood the diversity of the landscape in Oregon until I moved to Central Oregon, which is the High Desert.

And there I found that we have this incredible subtlety of color that is so different from Western Oregon.

The dryness of the landscape lends itself to, you know, the purples, and oranges, and ochers of the grasses, and all of those things that I just love.

Started painting because I really wanted to start working out of my right brain and paint intuitively, and throw paint around just for joy, which is what I've been doing for the last 30 years or so.

I layer paints, and rub out, and scratch in, and do anything I can to try to get what I'm seeing around me onto a canvas or a board so that others can also appreciate what I'm seeing.

I feel that I honor the landscape this way, and that's really important to me.

And I hope that people that see it, and appreciate it, and enjoy it in their homes, because of that, are also encouraged to preserve and protect what we have in Oregon, and that's the most important part.

- I have been a painter here in Central Oregon for 15 years.

One thing that really drew me to this state and keeps me here is the diversity of landscape.

I think that's incredibly unique in Oregon.

Being in an area where within a few hours I can drive and get inspiration for my paintings on the coast or the lush forest, I can drive east and be in the Playa, so that's a very magically unique part of this state.

As you can see, I do a lot of both landscape work and figure.

This one is of the Deschutes River Canyon, which is actually quite close to our studio right here, and it's a place I spend a lot of time.

And my work tends to be really focused on color, texture, and movement.

I also partner with local and statewide organizations to do conservation work.

So I will paint a particular landscape, area, or an animal, and then partner with various organizations who are working to protect those species or places, which has also been a really neat part about living here.

(upbeat music) - Man, what a busy day that was.

Now we're heading over to the FivePine Lodge.

Surrounded by towering Ponderosa Pines, this tranquil retreat feels like a world away, yet it's just minutes from the vibrant town of Sisters.

This place was rated one of the top hotels in the whole state of Oregon.

This place is truly unique and one of a kind here in Central Oregon.

It really is a romantic destination, and it's so much more than just a hotel.

And what's super cool is look what you see when you open your back door.

We just scratched the surface here on our first day in Sisters.

I can't wait to show you next time the people we meet.

(gentle music) What an amazing first day we had here in Sisters!

From hiking and cycling its beautiful trails to an incredible bakery.

We went shopping at the town's charming boutiques and met a couple of the artists behind the beautiful art.

And we finished our day at one of the most beautiful resorts I've ever been to.

Until next time, my friends, we'll see you as we go "All Across Oregon."

(gentle upbeat music) Funding for "All Across Oregon" was provided in part by John A. Warekois, CPA, Travel Curry Coast, Travel Southern Oregon, Oregon's Adventure Coast, and Travel Southern Oregon Coast.

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