Crater Lake-Grants Pass-Cave Junction

This is a long one. This week was a whirlwind, but at the same time beautiful and holds so many memories for our family that it will be cherished for a long time to come! Our journey from Bend to Crater Lake was of course scenic and peaceful. Sunny Oregon skies, lots of trees, and an easy drive. We arrived and made camp just before the sun went down and we were in blackness. My parents came to meet us the next day and we set off to see the sights. That day we went on three different hikes, two during the day and one for sunset. They were in all different parts of the lake and gave us plenty to look at as we stood over "Big Blue," the purest water you can find.

The next morning we went to the lodge for breakfast and were told they were approximately out of everything! It was a strange but delicious meal that had some of the best views of the lake.

From Crater Lake we made our way down to Grants Pass where my parents had a hotel and we had a campground right on the Rogue River (Austin had requested a river spot for his birthday). We settled in and Mom and I went to grab some local cheese and crackers from a creamery. When we pulled in, there was a local winery and chocolatier in the same shopping center so we hit the trifecta for a meal on the river during sunset.

Grants Pass is a cute little town that has a couple of nice places to visit. We found a couple of used book stores, coffee shops, boutiques, and a glass blowing studio. Glass Forge Gallery and Studio is run by some of the nicest business owners we’ve come across. Each of the two owners took their time to walk us through different projects and the artists just keep working during the entire process so you really get to see a project go from a blob of clear glass all the way to a beautiful vase. It was incredible to watch and was put on our “to do” list.

Wednesday, the big birthday for Austin and my dad, we headed to the wildlife safari. This place is pretty great as a drive through experience where many animals have the freedom to roam over hundreds of acres. They are a top research facility for veterinarians across the US and their volunteers were great at helping us figure out the best places to view the animals. During the trip through we spent about 40 minutes with the hippos as we have never seen hippos play before and this duo had quite the little playdate for us to watch! They were rolling in barrel rolls, jawing one another, and chasing each other around the water hole. The boy’s favorite part was when their tails started going fast as it sprayed hippo dung everywhere! After the safari we surprised my dad by taking him to the glass studio and each of the boys blew him a globe. They got to work with an artist, pick out the colors, blow the air into the globe, and finish off the stem with a knife. Thursday wasn’t sunny, and we had seen most of what the town had to offer, all except the 70 year old bowling alley, so we put on some shoes and grabbed some balls and everybody got to watch me win…which happens next to never! Friday we left Chris working in Grants Pass and headed South because….

Next up on busy week was to head for the tree houses! Austin’s kindergarten teacher had told us about these when we first left on our trip. I didn’t really think we’d ever be able to visit them, but I tucked it away in my mind. As soon as it seemed we would be in the Oregon area for his birthday the treehouses were highlighted and became a must do activity. We booked two trees and spent the nights high off the ground in hand crafted homes. The dogs were not allowed at the tree house, but I was told to use a kennel nearby. I made reservations for them and my dad and I went to drop them off. The house was on 10,000 acres which sounds just about perfect for a dog kennel, but I quickly realized our pups would not be setting foot outside of a 7 by 7 kennel that was located outside. My heart froze as we stood around chatting with the man who owned the place who couldn’t hear me nor let me know if the dogs would actually be walked, “Sometimes my wife will come walk them on a leash,” he said. The owner had three German Shepherds and one of them had tried to start a fight with Jackson as I brought Jackson from the car to the kennel so I wasn’t sure how walking the dogs on a leash would be a good idea if their dogs had free roam of the land. I was standing there with my throat swelling shut as I looked at our two fur babies locked in their kennel (they’ve never spent an night outside) and I told my dad quietly, “I’m not leaving them.” My dad looked puzzled and while it wasn’t going to bother me to tell the man that the dogs wouldn’t be staying, my dad told him we wanted to take them for a hike so we left, dogs in tow and my breathing back to normal. Back at the tree house place I let the staff knew we had a problem as we have two labs with us and I wasn’t going to leave them at the only kennel around. They agreed that our dogs could stay in our camper that was there at the tree houses and all was well. Even better news was that I called our rafting company that we were heading out with the next day and the pups were welcomed to come on the water! Everything was perfect and we settled back into enjoying the treesort. The grounds were stunningly beautiful and the homemade breakfasts were delicious. Waffles and quiches and eggs and muffins with coffee and juice for everybody. The place is run somewhat like a commune where there is a shared kitchen to use and a big fire pit to gather around. The kids quickly made friends and chased each other until well past dark grabbing headlamps on the way.

Rafting the Rogue on Saturday (we used Ferron’s Fun Trips) was everything we wanted it to be…mostly a float trip with a couple of rapids. It was just our group, the owner of the company, and his two dogs. The raft was huge and the sun was out. Ferron (the guide) had brought along some inflatable kayaks and Chris took the kids out one at a time. They got to go over some rapids in the low kayaks which made for a lot of laughter and whooping from the kids! On the “big daddy” of the rapids Oliver was out with Chris and they got wrapped around a large rock. Our raft couldn’t be stopped until we got out of the rapids around a bend. I fully expected to see them come down floating in the freezing water over the rocks and down the slides, but Chris was a quick thinker and had Oliver crawl out of his seat to get back with Chris. This released the boat and they came through those rapids very low, and backwards! Oliver thought it was awesome and we all ended the trip on a high after getting a little adrenaline pumping!

Sunday morning was our last with my parents until we meet again back in Colorado. We all squeezed into the truck for a scenic drive through the Redwoods down to Crescent City for a last lunch and look at the coast together. We dropped them off at a tiny airport and headed South, to the middle of nowhere.