Oregon Coast

Even though we got rained on most of the week, we still really enjoyed the Oregon Coast.  We started with a drive up the coast, and stopped at several overlooks and small beaches.  The Oregon Coast is unique in being all public space.  This combined with the rugged rocks make for some throughly enjoyable wild beaches.

We camped at a central location (Sunset Bay State Park) and did day trips. We've found that when hauling the pop-up camper it is often easier to set up once and then make longer day drives than it is to have to set up camp multiple times. Sunset Bay was a lovely campground with probably the nicest facilities of the entire trip.  However, the weather was terrible - we were basically inside a big cloud for the week.  

One of our favorite days was our trip to Sea Lion Caves and the Oregon Coast Aquarium.  Sea Lion Caves is a natural sea cave where you can see wild seals and sea lions up close.  They are noisy!  At the aquarium we learned a lot about Western Coastal waters - we especially enjoyed the otters.  Watching them roll and play was a highlight of the day.

Just a short drive away from Sunset Bay was Shore Acres State Park and Shell Cove (site of a former mansion).  I took a drive there by myself one drizzly afternoon and enjoyed spending a lot of time looking at all of the beautiful and unusual flowers and plants.

The view from Shell Cove was also amazing, and it was a good place to watch for whales.  We saw quite a few on our trip - all of them very close to the shore.  They're hard to get a picture of though!

That little spurt of water is the whale.

We spent part of a day at Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.  The kids had a great time sliding and rolling on the dunes.  We enjoyed learning how the dunes change and progress.

Of course, we had to stop and see Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach - I don't think you're allowed to visit the Oregon Coast and not go there.

Our final side trip was Fort Clatsop - Lewis and Clark's winter fort before they returned to St. Louis.  We were especially excited about this stop because we had promised to collect information and photos for Lily's history teacher.  We travel because it creates great bonding between us and because we enjoy seeing new things and being on the road.  However, one of the best reasons to travel is because we learn about so much first hand.  I don't think that my kids will ever find U.S. History to be boring and hard to remember because they've been to so many important spots.

We look at summer as a time to enrich their brains and broaden their horizons.   It's our favorite semester.

Getting my Cultural Fill for the Year

I love living in the country, and I love my simple life full of the sometimes mundane, but highly important minutia that make up my daily grind.  However, I also love taking some time apart and heading to places outside of my norm.  I spent the last few days in NYC soaking up the city, enhancing my brain with art, watching high brow films, and reveling in fantastic food and a few good martinis.  So thankful for this time to feed the cultural part of my soul.  

Highlights...

 - Visited The Cloisters - beauty and religion from so long ago.  

  

My gracious hosts 

Stained glass window at The Cloisters

Courtyard Garden at The Cloisters

Chapel with Crucifix and Fresco at The Cloisters

 -  Spent the day enjoying sand and surf at Sandy Hook National Seashore and riding the Seastreak Ferry.

Return Trip on the Ferry

 - Learned a lot more about fashion.

Hot!

 - Walked the High Line and visited the new Whitney Museum of American Art.

Never get tired of viewing O'Keefe

 - Saw several thought provoking films with even better conversation about the cinematography and content after viewing:  Far From the Madding Crowd, The Hundered Foot Journey, Clouds of Sils Maria.

 - Be still my beating heart - the food!  Everything bagels with lox and cream cheese.  Tuna Tartar, Beet Salad with Chevre and Denver Sole in butter sauce from Rue 57.  Paella, Ceviche, and Watermelon Salad with Feta from The Smith.  The perfect Bloody Mary and Cheese Scone with poached egg, smoked trout and hollandaise from Annabel.  Raw Blue Point Oysters on the Half Shell, Stella on draft and Escargot from A.O.C.

Bruch at Annabel

Perfect company.  Perfect food.   Perfect entertainment.  Perfect weekend.

Photo Credit:  Justin Shaulis

Redwoods

After a stressful drive (we thought we were leaking brake fluid, and it was the 4th of July so nothing was open), we made it to the Northern California coast in the late afternoon.  We quickly set up the camper at one of our favorite sites from the trip in Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park.  We had a beautiful, roomy corner site with no nearby neighbors, and wonderful places for the kids to explore.  The Stellar's Jays were really theives at this park and food couldn't be let unguarded for even a second.  Once we were set we drove the short distance into Crescent City and went to the beach.  We love the mountains, but there is something about the coast that just fills all four of us with unspeakable joy.  The North West beaches are different - colder, rougher and rockier,but still just as enjoyable.  

 We had a great late afternoon and evening on the beach, and enjoyed fireworks right on the beach.  What an amazing 4th of July!

The next morning we set out to explore the giant Redwoods.  No picture really gives the true size of these behemoths.  They were breathtaking and awe inspiring.  It's amazing to think that if some long range thinking conservationists hadn't protected these areas there would be none for us to enjoy.  The logging business would have taken them all.

The next day, after having our car checked out, we returned to the beach.  The water was freezing, but three of us didn't seem to mind the frigid temps.  The sun was short lived though, so we spent most of our morning tide pooling - an experience we aren't able to do at our Southern East Coast beach.  We really enjoyed the sea stars and anemones.  There were some great sea caves to explore, and wonderful smooth rocks to find.

The sun came out in the afternoon, so we took a creek walking hike up through Fern Canyon.  If fairies live anywhere it's here.  Magical.  We then spent the afternoon on another beach, and had some of the best weather we had the whole time we were on the West Coast.  In fact, we stayed so late that the gates to exit the parking lot were locked when we went to leave.  We finally got in touch with a park ranger who came and opened the gates for us.  Fortunately, she was very nice and understanding because it turned out that the gates weren't actually locked they were just closed.  Somehow we had missed the note that was placed on our windsheild about how to get out.  This resulted in one of the funnier stories of our trip.

If you're heading to the West Coast add Redwoods to your itinerary.  It's a place not to be missed.

Oregon High Desert and Volcano Country

After exploring the Mt. Hood valley we turned southeast and headed toward Bend, OR.   This also meant that we were leaving the lush, green forest and returning to the High Desert.  Although the High Desert can be punishingly hot during the day, and freezing cold at night, I have always found that type of terrain to be one of beauty.  

One of the big advantages we have when we travel is that since my parents have traveled extensively in the U.S. they are often able to tell us about hidden gems we don't want to miss.  Not only do we get to experience the best locations, but we often are able to avoid the most crowded areas.  I always sit down with my mom about two years before a major trip to quiz her on places we need to go, and to also learn about places we can skip.  There's a lot to see out there, and we want to use our time wisely.

We had already decided to go to Bend because of the High Desert Museum.   We knew we would learn a lot about the High Desert, and we were also eager to go to their raptor show, which promised that the birds would fly right over your heads.  When mom heard that we were headed to Bend, she said that we had to include Newberry National Volcanic Monument in our trip.  We were looking forward to more volcanic geology, and had promised the kids that we could do one more lava tube cave (this time the longest one in Oregon).

We loved the High Desert Museum.  It was filled with not only animals and their habitats, but also contained a lot of cultural history about the area.  We saw many shows and talks - we could have spent another day there.

Burrowing Owl at the Owl show

We decided to camp close by in the Deschutes National Forest at Paulina Lake.  Paulina Lake was created when a volcano errupted.  The remaining crater was then filled with snow melt and created a beautiful mountain lake.  There was only one, HUGE problem with Paulina Lake - skeeters.  They were out to get us.  I seem to get bit less than the rest of the family, so I did everything that needed to be done outside the camper while the rest of them huddled inside.  

This handmade wooden camper was across the road from our site.
It was amazing - solar panels on the roof and a stove pipe on the other side.  Someone was very creative.

After dinner we drove to the overlook above the lake.  It was a ridiculously windy, steep, terrifying, dirt road.  I thought I was going to be sick.  I quickly took a picture and then huddled in the car alternating between dreading the drive down and craning my neck to see if the kids had fallen over the cliff.  The view was gorgeous, but given my fear of heights it was not my favorite part of the trip.

When we got down to safety we drove to the obsidian fields.  This had to have been the prettiest geological sight we saw on this trip.  The obsidian was glossy and mirror like.  The chunks were imense, and the temptation to be a bad land steward and walk off with a souvenier was great, but we remembered the warning of the ranger at Craters of the Moon about the curse of the Hawaiian Goddess Paloiloi, and decided to buy some at the gift shop instead.

Every sunset in the west seems to be beautiful.  

 It was a beautiful evening.  Even though the bloodsucker attacked at the campground we found Newberry to be enchanting, and well worth our time.  Early the next morning we hiked into the Lava River Cave, and explored the Lavalands Visitor center.  We then headed west once more on our way to Crater Lake.

Crater Lake was majestic, but it was also very, very crowded.  We were also found the campground and the concession for the boat tickets (both run by Xanterra) to be completly lacking and frustrating.  I had attempted to get tickets starting in the spring, and had a temporary reservation because they don't issue final reservations until they know when the snow will melt.  However, when we got to Crater Lake we had no tickets.  It took a very long time to check into our campsite as they don't assign sites until you arrive even if you have a reservation.  They had been cutting trees in the campground areas, but had failed to clean up when they were finished creating a big mess and tripping hazards. The showers only ran on tokens, and closed at 9 PM (we got there at 8:45 and they were already closed).  We also found the staff who handled our questions to be rude and unaccomodating.  Finally, because Crater Lake is so popular the price of the camping was some of the most expensive we experienced.

Even though we couldn't ride to the island, the kids decided they still wanted to swim so we hiked the very steep trail (11% grade for 1 1/2) to the lake.  The lake is an unbelievably crystal clear blue, and it is COLD.  The swimming was brief.

It was hard to believe it was possible, but the mosquitoes were even worse here than at Paulina.  You hardly dared to stop and catch your breath on the way up as you were afraid you'd be drained of blood.  Also, it was HOT.

The water was so clear, but those rocks were sharp (volcano remember).

We also discovered while we were there that our car was leaking a strange fluid (at the time we thought possibly brake fluid), which was very scary as it was a holiday weekend and we had major mountains to descend on our way to CA.  So, although it was beautiful, and I'm glad we went, given all of the negative feelings toward Xanterra we were not sorry to depart.