Ordered by most used:
people love barelysarcasm amanda indieandyy feel time little buildings yeah photo night cancer guys movement okay hope donation wanna damageJ$ is more used than me!? Oh.. I see how it is.
Whatever, at least you’re even IN there!
I can’t help it if my faux son pays more attention to me than my own kids :-(
The chipmunks at LaPine State Park. I fed them so many nuts, the poor things cheeks were about to burst!
Just realized the Bend pics were missing!
Sunday and homeward bound.
We visited the Mount St Helens Visitor Center (it was too overcast to view the MT itself).. but it’s a pretty cool place.
The drive home was painful.. the usual stop and go through Tacoma then again through Seattle.. we knew the vacation was almost over.
Saw the back of an RV with duck and shotgun blast decals. Only in WA.
Saturday to Portland and Mount St Helens
Reluctantly left Tillicum Beach State Park this morning… but the clouds looked like they were on the way from the north. We did wake up to sunshine though!
Long drive from there into Portland but were happy to get a short visit and a great lunch with Mark, Adrienne and Kellen! Took the group pic on auto-timer and seems it focused on something in the foreground… but wanted to include it as proof we were there! Also a pic of Kellen who is so adorable and sweet… :-)
Now at the Seaquest Campground which is the noisiest campground so far on the trip.
We’ll be taking off early and I’m excited to get home and see Satch and the kitties! I’m sure they think we’ve abandoned them.
*Note to self: I want a golden-doodle… (there was one at the campground next to us and he was adorable).
We did find out that Yachats is pronounced “Ya Hots”! Good to know :-)
Friday Beach time!
It was close to 80 most of the day and we packed in a lot of stuff!
Well, first thing in the morning was hitting the laundromat (much needed) and its free wifi.. which was awesome.
Then hit the beach: Made a beach jar with some clean sand and sea water and a couple of shells in a mason jar. I plan to unscrew it every time I get the blues this winter and inhale deeply.
Since the central Oregon Coast is famous for kite flying, Dan dug out the kite we bought in 2007 and had put up on the top bunk when we got the trailer (for ‘just in case’ we needed a kite). Needless to say, try as he might, he couldn’t get the poor thing airborne.. even though he ran up the beach so far I thought he was headed home! Some locals and experienced kite people took pity on him and came over to inspect the problem. Seems it was missing a crossbar (that was long gone). Not to be beaten by a 2 yr old, $5 kite Dan returned to the campsite and whittled a crossbar out of some firewood kindling.. I kid you not.. and lo and behold, damned if the thing didn’t take flight! What a genius!
The rest of the day was spent wandering the beach and watching yet another great sunset *sigh*.
Thursday
We made it to the ocean today, and much to our delight, we brought the great weather with us! At 7pm it was 70 degrees and sunny! We dug our feet in the sand and I waded into the (warm) ocean. It was (and is) so wonderful.. I write this now at 11pm, and through the open window behind me, I hear the waves crashing on the beach. Our campsite is a few feet from the steps down to the sand.
According to our raft guide, the past few nights were the height of the Persaid (?) Meteor shower, and should have peaked last night, but we saw 3 shooting stars tonight in twilight.
So far, this trip has been the most amazing adventure. By pure dumb luck, we have had exceptional weather and Oregon has been quite breathtaking. We have done everything you can posssibly do on vacation and have only traveled 600 miles so far. Desert, mountain and beach… Biking, hiking, rafting, and dipping our toes in the ocean…
Can’t wait to see what the next 3 days has in store for us!!!
Diamond Lake Wednesday
Today was the rafting trip! We left the campsite at 9:00 to make the 45 minute trip down the 138 to the rafting ‘put in’ spot on the North Umpqua. The weather was iffy, but ended up perfect. I am currently a nice tan/burn.
We started off as 2 of 3 people in the pilot boat, where the guide did the majority of the rowing.. Dan and I just assisted where needed… the rapids were all Class 3+ on the first leg. We stopped for lunch and picked up 2 more people that had only signed up for 2 hours. They got our spots on the easy raft and we were put into the 2nd raft, where it was all hands on deck. And the rapids from then on were 3+ and one class 4. With names like the head banger, and Eiffel tower (a big drop), the class 4 was called Pinball and was a crazy paddling logistical nightmare going between boulders and trying not to get sucked under. The scariest one, we thought, was the Eiffel Tower by the shear drop into churning waters it was the one that nearly tossed the lot of us. We did get stuck on a rock for a while, which was interesting…
It was great fun and we’re sore in places we didn’t know we had.
Unfortunately, all the pics on the raft trip are on a disposable waterproof camera and we’ll have to wait for that (and the $50 DVD the rafting outfitters mail us) to share the trip.
We also found out that there is a wildfire burning near here that had the hwy closed until yesterday.. would have been nice to know that!
Tomorrow, we leave at 10am and head to the coast for two days… it will be a new thing to see clouds and 60-ish weather again. It’s been great being in the desert heat!!!
Happy Birthday Alli! I hope you know we’re thinking about you tonight even if we have no services other than the battery power I’m using to make this note tonight.
XOXO. I love you baby bear!
Diamond Lake Tuesday
Today was a free-for all, where everyone just discovered their own thing. Most of the family decided to go horseback riding, but Dan and I opted to rent bikes. They have an 11 mile trail along the lake (we only did 7 miles) and it was about 88 degrees and breezy off the water, so perfect conditions. A little sunburned but tired in a great way.. renewed my bike lust all over again :-)
Unfortunately for the horseback riding group, an incident with a spooked horse ended with Dan’s dad being thrown by his horse, and then adding injury to insult, getting kicked in the face by the horse. He’s okay, but looks awful and will probably be good and sore tomorrow.
We leave at 8am to get to the launch point for rafting. Dan’s dad decided to skip it. We hope the weather is going to stay wonderful, but have seen some clouds coming in from the west.
More tomorrow!
Bend has changed A LOT since I was here… It’s really lovely and very SLO-like downtown. We also stopped at the gorge where Dan Trout’s dog committed suicide…
We won’t have internet available until Thursday (in Eugene), so more pics then!!
The weather is perfect, about 77….
The Dalles and Maryhill State Park
After hunting for Multnomah Falls, we headed up the 84. In a short time, the lush green forest became the yellow hills that signaled we had reached the desert. The sky cleared and the temperature was a wonderful 76. The landscape is covered in vesicular basalt (lava), and the result are some stunning cliff formations.
We wisely chose to stay on the Oregon side of the river, and could see the 14 and the climb those travelers were forced to make while we were on a nice 4 lane hwy.
We stopped at Cascade Lock and bought fresh Salmon from a roadside vendor.. they were from the local reservation and Dan believes that at this time of year, they are the only ones allowed to fish for salmon.
We headed east and stopped at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center. A beautiful building with interactive displays dedicated to Lewis and Clark (naturally) and the history of the area.
We made it to our campground at 4pm. It’s a great spot and we plan to make this a destination next year. The campground is composed of vast lawns and ponderosa pine, with some large shade trees and is right next to the river. The wind here howls and we got to see some windsurfers and para-surfing..
Within the park grounds, at the top of a hill, is Stonehenge. It was built by the original owner of the land, Samuel Hill, for his wife Mary (thus the Maryhill name). I imagine that the locals in 1911 when he finished exclaimed “What in Sam Hill is that thing!!?” May very well be the origin of that saying!
There are also a ton of fruit stands and groves of peach trees! We plan to stop at a stand and grab some fresh peaches before heading south.
Next stop, Bend!
Antique plow at Cascade Locks … under the Bridge of the Gods (real name!)
The Columbia River Adventure
While driving along the 14 on the WA side, we stopped at Beacon Rock. There was a sign that said Multnomah Falls was just on the other side of the river so we took the bridge at Bonneville Dam across and back-tracked to the Historic Hwy on the OR side to see the falls. Apparently we weren’t the only ones with the idea! We were on a tiny, winding road with no place to turn around and nothing even remotely resembling parking for a small car, let alone a trailer. Needless to say, the photo you see of Multnomah Falls is from the 84.
Gorgeous day now further east, warm and a bit windy!
Paradise Point
So Paradise Point is neither Paradise, nor a Point as near as we can tell. For awhile we thought we may be in Nicholsville (for non-WA residents, that a traveling homeless camp named for Seattle Mayor Nichols), some real odd campers in this park and so close to the freeway, we felt right at home. Anyway, we got here about 2:30 on Friday and plan to leave about 10am this morning.
We’ll be traveling on the WA side of the river until White Salmon, then cross to the Oregon side for a bit… I think there’s a lot to see on both side.
Dan says “cheers!”
