Oregon, The trip
So we did it. We had many adventures on the road, off the road, in the water…and through lots of smoke. This was the time that southern Oregon was on fire.
As soon as we crossed the border in Oregon, we saw smoke. The roads became shorter and shorter as the it got thicker and thicker. Our first stop was Crater Lake area, camping at Collier Logging Museum campground. We drove in to see Crater Lake, but couldn’t even see the lake when we peered into the crater…to smokey. We saw photos, and it looked like it could be beautiful, but we had to take people’s word for it, as all we saw was a thick haze of smoke. We did enjoy the ranger talks and art projects we did there.
Next we went on to The Cove Palisades State Park on Lake Billy Chinook, where we were meeting friends from Idaho with a boat to play on the lake for a few days. We drove through Bend and finally made it to the lake, deep in a beautiful canyon. It was awesome to drive down down down to lake level and then around to the campground. We stayed there for 2-3 days and played on the lake, kayaking and knee boarding.
After leaving the lake, we drove down to Bend and hung out there. We camped a little south of Bend, at Dechutes along the river. It was a 20-30 min drive south of Bend, so not far. We loved Bend, the grocery stores, the restaurants, the townsfolk hanging out on and around the river. We had an amazing sushi dinner in downtown Bend, it was quite a treat. The smoke was still present, we couldn’t see the surrounding mountains while there, but we heard if we could it would be an amazing view.
We loved our little campsite along the Deschutes, Kyan would get up and fish while we made breakfast. They had a great mountain biking trail that went along the river, it was so beautiful and flat enough so the whole family could enjoy it. We went up north about 20 mins and toured the High Desert Museum, which was amazing! We spent all day there, going to each exhibit and seeing all the animals we could. Watching a badger dig was really cool, they are crazy diggers. Both kids were in heaven.
So we decided to head West, to get out of the smoke and away from the fires. We drove a little south, then headed West to Eugene. Had an amazing breakfast in Eugene, and continued on to Bandon where we had made reservations. Upon arriving at the campground, we were eaten alive by mosquitoes. They were there in swarms, I have never seen so many in one place. We literally ran to the beach trying to get away from them, and only when we were on the sand near the surf did we get some reprieve from the dang flying biters. That night we went to a campfire talk to learn about dogs tracking lost dogs and other pets, and everyone in the family got bit big time, except me (I was bundled up with a hood). Teresa had bites all over her legs and arms, they bit through her socks and thin leggings. Kyan had them all over his legs, as he had no socks or shoes on. We left that place as soon as we could in the morning, it was unbearable and everyone felt itchy. Even the locals we talked to the next day at the farmers market said they have never seen anything like this here before.
Our next destination was Humbug State Park to camp for the night, but we actually drove right by it as we had reservations for a Rogue River Jet Boat Tour (The 80 mile whitewater excursion). This trip was awesome!! The boat was awesome! The boat was a hydro-jet, which draws water in through an intake with an impeller, mounted flush to the bottom of the boat, and then a propeller forces the water out through a nozzle mounted from the transom of the boat. The boat driver would do 360’s every now and then, which was jaw dropping, as the G-force was incredible as he could make really tight turns with the jets. We saw a ton of wildlife, from osprey to black bears and eagles. Once we were back in the whitewater about 40 miles upriver (and it was super shallow, I mean like 8-12 inches of water) it started pouring…I mean really hard. We had the best seat in the house, the front behind the windshield. Because we were going so fast, the rain was repelled by the windshield over our heads, and everyone behind us got soaked….to the bone. We stopped at a little cabin place on the river that served cafeteria style food to all the tours, and is only accessible by boat. There were a lot of residences along the river that were only accessible by boat, all the building materials were brought up by boat, it was amazing. Our ride back was topped off with a sighting of a black bear cub, so amazing. I would recommend this trip to anyone. It was one of our favorite parts of the trip.
We drove back up north about 40 miles and arrived at Humbug State Park just before dark, and in time to go on a guided ranger tour of the beach. It was a great talk, plus we could see lightening off in the distance on the ocean, so cool. Setting up the “Westy Camp” is easy, we take off the kayak and pop the top, roll out the awning and lay the carpet out…love it. We had a great dinner in the Westy, and a good rest after all the excitement from the day. The first thing we did in the morning was go tide pooling at low tide. These tide pools were unlike any we had ever seen before, and we do a ton of tide pooling. There were 20 legged starfish, sea slugs, and all kids of colored starfish (with the 5 arms). We saw hundreds, it was so cool.
From Humbug, we drove south into California, the drive was breath taking. Amazing coastal views, and then bam, right into the redwoods. Stopped in Eureka to have a nice seafood dinner in the old part of town along the wharfs. I grew up visiting this place as a kid, my relatives are all from this area. Drove by the famous Carson Mansion and got a nice shot of the Westy in front of it. We ate and then headed about 40 miles south of Eureka to Albee Creek State Park. This is one of our favorite places to camp in Northern California. It was a first time with a Westy though, and there was only 1 spot left. Since we were only staying a night, it was perfect. We made it to camp by nightfall, and setup camp and made a fire. Told stories and made smores. Slept like babies after a long day on the road. Woke up to black bears, a momma and 2 cubs, eating breakfast in the top of an apple tree. AWESOME! Took some photos and just sat there listening to the munching of apples for breakfast. We waited till they left, then packed up ourselves and started the drive back home. It was a beautiful drive down through the redwoods and then through the wine country and back to the Bay Area. What a wonderful place to come home to.
Below is a little visual of the adventures we had.
Please enjoy, we sure did.
