So hard saying our goodbyes to Katie after spending time with her in northern California, but our 39th state was calling us, so we moved our little home to Oregon. The 3 1/2 hour drive was stunning with hills (several 7% grades), thick trees (including redwoods), and lots of curves.
Two cliff-lined areas were a bit nerve-wracking with steep drop-offs, narrow lanes, and (thankfully) guardrails. At the beginning of the trip, I don't think Jim could've managed this portion of the drive, but with all of his experience driving uncharted territories this year, he pushed through... with sweaty palms & "Courageous" by Casting Crowns blasting in the background for extra encouragement:)
(The heights were enough of a worry, but to add to it... more RV issues. Whenever on an incline, our "check engine, low coolant level" light illuminates. Another repair facility is in our near future!)
We safely arrived to Medford for just a two night stay on our way north. Without veering far from our highway route, it was a perfect place to camp while we visited Crater Lake, which was still a 1 1/2 hour Jeep ride. We left our Medford home at 76 degrees and as we approached the Lake, snow along the roadsides increased and temps decreased. Only 50 degrees when we arrived!
Winter brings some of the heaviest snowfall in the country to Crater Lake (as seen by the photo of the visitor center below). With an average of 533" per year, spring often holds 10-15' of snow on the ground. Last winter, the park received the equivalent to 1.8" every day for 365 days! The snow removal process here is quite a feat in itself! This National Park is home to the deepest lake (nearly 1,900 feet deep and 5 miles wide) in North America, and the site of the sixth-oldest National Park in the U.S. And an interesting fact that caught our attention... It was a Kansas native who had the most impact on preserving the park! In 1870, fifteen-year-old William Gladstone Steel read an article that was wrapped around his lunch about the pristine waters of Crater Lake and he vowed to visit it one day. Fifteen years later, he made it there and with years of persistence, it became a national park in 1902.
Much of Rim Drive was still closed due to snow, but we were able to make it to a spectacular view of the star attraction...
"I knew when I gazed upon Crater Lake that even though the West was filled with undiscovered wonders, Crater Lake would hold its own." ~John Wesley Hillman
And though we've been thrilled to mostly avoid snow this year, we took the opportunity to play at this winter wonderland:)
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| Deep! |
Another 3 hour journey north to our new home in Eugene, OR. Though it didn't compare to coastal views, we loved the small pond out our window and at a closer look, Alayna discovered it was full of little salamanders.
She loved swiping them with her net as they squirmed up for air:)
She ended up keeping 3 three-day pets: Sally, Sammy & Samantha
About an hour drive to the coast from our home, we stopped at a hike along the way: Sweet Creek Falls Trail. Only about three miles, our walk brought us alongside 11 beautiful waterfalls and so much lush greenery surrounding us, I felt like we were walking through a terrarium.
Our first day along the coast ended with dinner in Old Town Florence.
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| Alayna's all time favorite meal... crab! |
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| And Natalie's all time favorite... dessert! |
We explored along the gorgeous, rocky coast finding mussels, green anenomes, urchins, tiny fish, a variety of sea weed, and beautiful orange and dark red sea stars.
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| Limpet trails: By rippling the muscle of their foot, limpets move, scraping algae from the ground as they go. |
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| Sea stars use hundreds of tiny tube feet to move slowly along the sea bed. To eat, they push their stomach out through their mouth, liquify & digest the food, and use muscle contractions to eject inedible objects like shells or spines. |
The girls had fun exploring the sea caves that lined the beach, too.
Next stop: "Worlds Largest" Sea Cave! The Sea Lion Caves are home to the only known wild Steller sea lions on the North American mainland. Discovered by Captain William Cox in 1880, the cavern has a two acre floor and rock dome 125 feet high.
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| Sea lions rest here outside of the cave when the weather is calm or during mating season. |
An elevator brought us down 200 feet to the cave entrance where the dry portion is now set up as a museum with information on Steller sea lions, videos, close-up live footage, sea lion skeletons, and a viewing platform looking into their portion of the cave:)
Continuing 25 miles north, we visited the super charming town of Newport and viewed the Yaquina Bay Bridge,
It is said that Captain James Cook made landfall here in 1778 and that it was the news of his voyage to the Pacific Northwest that stimulated American interests (as well as that of Thomas Jefferson) in the area and led to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, followed by the dispatch of the Lewis and Clark expedition.
Just up the road was the much more picturesque Yaquina Headlight that overlooked one of the coolest beaches we've ever seen...er, "heard"!
Cobble Beach was made up of perfectly smooth red-potato-sized black stones. As the water rushed onto shore, it tossed the cobblestones, creating a most unusual sound for a beach! Like a soft rumble, reminding us of the sound of crackling fireworks. Super cool.
We took time to admire the crabbing/fishing boats across from the fresh seafood restaurant I'd found great reviews on.
Local Ocean Seafood sat right on the bay overlooking the fishing boats, but we enjoyed watching the chefs prepare the fresh seafood as our seats looked right into the kitchen:) And holy cow, was it delish!
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| Roasted garlic dungeness crab soup with parmesan cheese |
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| Black cod over butternut squash, swiss chard, white beans and oyster mushrooms |
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| Panko crusted rockfish sandwich with salami, pepperoni, pepperoncinis and mozzerella |
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| Grilled rockfish taco with chili-garlic marinade, fennel slaw and avocado salsa verde |
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| Challah bread french toast topped with berry compote and vanilla custard Biscuits and gravy |
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| Eggs benedict: ham, spinach, poached egg and white gravy |
Just a 2 hour drive to our next home in Wilsonville, OR near the Portland area. While we girls spent one full day on schoolwork, Jim went on an -unfortunately unsuccessful- salmon fishing excursion.
We spent a morning visiting Fort Clatsop. Eighteen months after their departure from St. Louis the 33 members of the Corps of Discovery, led by Lewis & Clark, reached the Pacific Ocean. Unable to begin their journey home with the miserable winter of 1805-1806 approaching, the crew built shelter here for protection in the upcoming months. Their four rainy months here not only protected them and their supplies, but strengthened the United State's claim to the northwest and paved the way for the first American settlement, established at the mouth of the Columbia River by John Jacob Astor in 1811.
The reconstructed fort was built at the original site in Astoria and is modeled after journal descriptions and floor plans drawn by William Clark.
They remained quite busy during their winter stay, not losing sight of their mission. They compiled their scientific observations, traded and communicated with local natives like the Clatsop & Chinook, and made preparations for their journey home, like distilling & storing salt from the ocean.
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| Replica salt works were built nearby in Seaside, OR in the 1950's in a location orally passed through the years. |
Members of the expedition camped here in January & February of 1806. By boiling water day and night, they were able to tediously extract 4 bushels of salt needed for curing meat on the return journey.
Wanting to examine another tide pool, we visited Haystack Rock- a 235 foot sea stack in Cannon Beach, OR (shown in the opening scene of Goonies). At high tide, no access is available to the Rock, though at low tide, the beach and tide pools surrounding the rock are accessible for exploring. And what a popular spot it was! Crowds gathered looking for ocean creatures and park naturalists were on hand to answer any questions.
Coming from Salina Cruz, Mexico, the Peter Iredale was bound for Portland, OR in 1906 when a thick mist, rising tide and wind caused the ship to run ashore before entering the mouth of the Columbia River. Here (in Fort Stevens State Park) it still sits, rusted and covered in barnacles, just waiting for photographs to be taken:)
The 125 foot Astoria Column, which marks the first permanent American settlement west of the Rockies, sits on a point overlooking the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Columbia River to the north. The outside has a beautiful, ornate mural depicting 14 significant events in Oregon's early history. Inside, a 164-step spiral staircase leads to the observation deck allowing for spectacular views.
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| Looking down on Jim, who decided not to take the climb:( |
Across the bridge was Cape Disappointment- the farthest point westward reached by Lewis and Clark.
Our time in Oregon overlapped with Mother's Day in which we celebrated by spending a full day together (not much different than every other day this year!) and dinner at Drina Daisy for Bosnian food.
And of course sweet gifts... a lovely painting from Alayna, gorgeous flowers from Jim, and a fun coupon book from Natalie with special offers for a 45 minute massage (from her!), one week of doing all the dishes, her making dinner for the family one night, and more:)
It was a joyous day, celebrating the gift of being a mom to two amazing daughters, but also a sad one... knowing we were missing little Emery's first birthday:(
Only a couple more months of being her flat, on-screen, skype family!
With our warning lights still illuminating every time we climb a hill, we needed to get in for repair. We dropped off our home at a facility in Portland and, while waiting, drove our Jeep to the Timberline Lodge located at 6,000 feet on Mt. Hood...and filmed as the exterior of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining.
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| With average snowfalls here around 21 feet per year, piles of snow remained all around the lodge. |
From our last Oregon home in Baker City, we took a day trip to the 10-mile wide Hells Canyon. At 7,993 feet, it is North America's deepest river gorge and borders Oregon, Washington & Idaho.
The drive in itself was amazing and once there, we stopped for a picnic to take in the breathtaking views.
We were in Baker City solely to visit the Oregon Trail Museum, but had to stop by the local bank to see the town's pride and joy... the Armstrong Nugget. The 80.4 ounce nugget was found in 1913 by George Armstrong and is now on display in the town bank's lobby- even accompanied by a self-start CD player with an informative recording. Look at the pure excitement on the girl's faces! (Or maybe that's embarrassment)
The true gem in this town was the 23,000 square foot Oregon Trail Interpretive Center- by far one of our favorite museums this year. It was full of beautiful, realistic displays depicting the reality the pioneers faced as they braved the rugged 2,000 mile journey west.
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| Among the items on display was this personal journal from 1863 |
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| The girls calculated the number of steps it would've taken them along the trail: Alayna- 4,800,000 and Natalie-5,600,000 |
The interpretive center atop Flagstaff Hill overlooks 7 miles of Oregon Trail wagon ruts, with a hiking path to them as well as to an old mineshaft.
Nearly 300 miles of the 2,170 miles of Oregon Trail still remain. What a cool experience getting to walk the very trail as those brave pioneers.
When asked my favorite state, I've always been quick to answer "Maine", mostly due to it's gorgeous coastline (and super cheap lobster!)... but after visiting Oregon, I believe I've found a close contender. Beautiful, beautiful state. But it's time to head north to Washington!
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A) Medford
B) Crater Lake
C) Eugene
D) Florence
E) Cape Perpetua
F) Newport
G) Wilsonville
H) Fort Clatsop
I) Cannon Beach
J) Peter Iredale Shipwreck
K) Timberline Lodge/ Mt. Hood
L) Baker City
M) Hells Canyon
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