California Redwoods

California Redwoods

The Redwood Forests are really amazing! While we almost expected to see a monkey in the jungles of Oregon, a dinosaur walking among the Redwoods would have seemed perfectly natural!

California Dudes and a Good Samaritan

California Dudes and a Good Samaritan

From OR we headed to the Redwood Forests of CA. After our first day of touring the redwoods, as we were driving back to the campsite, we saw a couple of guys on the side of the road. They looked to be about 19 or 20, and they looked like they needed help. Lloyd pulled over and asked if we could help them and they said they lost their car keys and needed to call AAA. Lloyd pulls over and I hop out with my phone so they could make their call. Two of their other friends come walking up from the trail, wrapped in towels and shivering. It was about 60 degrees out and these guys had obviously been in the water. As the four of them are arguing and trying to call AAA, as well as someone’s dad, I got the whole story. They had decided to go whitewater rafting down the redwood river on floats they bought at CVS! I am not making this up!!! It was all I could do to not burst out laughing!

They continued to pass the phone around, trying to call a parent, and one of the kids in frustration said the “f” word. His buddy slapped him on the back and said “Dude! You shouldn’t say that in front of a … Good Samaritan” The whole thing was just very comical!

After a few minutes, when they couldn’t reach anyone by phone, they decided to walk back towards town and I got back in my car and left. A few minutes later, one of the parents called my number and I told them where we left the boys.

Crater Lake National Park, OR

The ultimate floating lake!

At one time this lake was actually a volcano. It erupted and collapsed into itself creating a caldera that eventually filled with rainwater and melted snow. The lake is now five miles wide and surrounded by cliffs almost 2,000 feet high. The lake is 1,943 feet deep and it’s the deepest lake in the US, and one of the deepest in the world.

One of the most amazing things about this lake is the color! I have never seen anything so blue! And it was also interesting to see a lake so contained by cliffs… no houses, no shops, no docks, no anything. Just a lake!

There isn’t even a way to hike down to the lake. Most of the area hikes are just around the rim. There is one boat, from the national park resort, that tours the lake several times a day. It seemed funny to see a tiny little boat tooling around on that great big lake.

Here we are at Sears in front of the Crater Lake backdrop.

Just kidding! After Portland we headed to the Rogue River State Park. This was a nice state park and there were lots of other campers so G and N had lots of other kids to play with. From here we took a day trip to Crater Lake.

Japanese Garden Photos

Portland, OR

From beer and doughnuts to roses and zen, Portland really does have a little bit of everything!

Our second day in Portland was spent in Washington Park. This is a big downtown park with everything from gorgeous public gardens, to the Portland Zoo, to soccer fields and tennis courts. I think I was originally the only one excited about seeing the rose garden. It is the largest test garden for roses in the US, and it really is beautiful. I thought it would be fun for us to each find our “favorite” rose. Nicholas found a beautiful peach/orange rose called “Strike it rich”, Lloyd found a purple rose that smelled really nice, and I was surprised that it was a pure, sparkling white rose that got my attention. My favorite was called the Maria Shriver (which worked out well, because I really like her) and not only was it a beautiful white, but it smelled really nice. That was one of my requirements, the rose had to be beautiful and smell great! I tried to press Garrett to “pick a favorite” but he just wouldn’t. Something about “not being into roses”…

After the rose garden we hiked up to the Japanese Garden. I read that this is one of the most authentic Japanese Gardens in the US. We were all very impressed with this one! The garden is divided in to areas by time period with an emphasis on natural elements, stone and water, and an occasional metal sculpture, like a crane, to represent long life. Many of the elements are arranged in groups of five for the five directions… north, south, east, west and centered. Oh, and what’s the difference between a rock and a stone? A stone is simply an intentionally placed rock. That’s what the tour guide told us!

There were two areas designed as large Zen gardens that were filled with small pebbles, a few large rocks (stones) and several swirl designs made with a special rake. Nicholas asked if we could turn our backyard into a Zen Garden. Lloyd told him we could but he wouldn’t be able to play out there anymore. He thought about it and then said that would be ok. He could just play guns at his friend Jake’s house. A peaceful, meditative garden / gun play…. At least he understands yin and yang.

Garrett also really enjoyed the Japanese garden. I think he liked the design so much that he may have even offered to help Lloyd make our yard a little more Zen like!

The Magic is the Hole

The Magic is in the Hole!

We love Portland! Martha got us to the Voodoo Doughnut Shop without a problem! This was our first downtown stop after dropping the camper at the Portland RV Park.

The Voodoo Doughnut Shop is a total hole in the wall kind of place, which attracts a real mix of tourist and locals. The line to get in, at 3:00 in the afternoon, was down the street and around the corner. This place is most famous for the “Voodoo” doughnut- a chocolate covered, raspberry jelly filled doughnut, shaped like a voodoo doll which comes with a little pretzel stick so you can poke it like a real voodoo doll. I had read about this place a couple of years ago and it just sounded crazy! I knew I would have to check it out when we got here.

I don’t think Lloyd was nearly as impressed with the creative doughnuts as I was. He basically handed me a $20 and left the kids and I in line while he went and wandered around a bit. The choices once we got in the store were amazing! Garrett went with a rather disgusting looking “oreo” doughnut, Nicholas had the classic voodoo, I had an orange “tang” (yes, it was covered with real orange tang dust), and I couldn’t help but get Lloyd the “maple-bacon” which, just like it sounds, was a maple glazed doughnut with strips of bacon on it. There were lots and lots of crazy/disgusting choices, so it was really hard to choose!

After we ate doughnuts we walked around the arts district for a bit and then stopped in a pub to try one of the many locally brewed beers. Our first afternoon in Portland was spent eating doughnuts and drinking beer… a good big city kind of day!

The Magic is in the Hole… This is the logo for the doughnut shop. I picked up a bumper sticker for the camper with this design on it. We have been collecting stickers from the various parks and places. The other voodoo bumper sticker I wanted read “I got VD in Portland!” I thought this was hilarious, Lloyd… not so much.