OTR: Oregon Caves

I know this is a little out of sequence for our road trip, but I was just looking through the photos and had to share a little about this fun destination for anyone heading to southern Oregon this summer.

The Chandeliers inside the cave

The Oregon Caves are located in Cave Junction, Oregon. Where is that you say? OK, better landmark: north of Medford, Oregon. The caves are actually part of the Siskyou Mountains and were discovered in  1874 by a man named Elijah Davidson. While the caves truly are amazing, the first thing that will amaze you is the last 10 mile drive up to the cave parking lot. My best guess is about a 2,500 foot drive UP the mountain with constant switchbacks. The boys thought it was very cool. Until they started feeling a little motion sickness from all the back and forth. The elevation at the top is 4,000'.

Dakota's not who they were talking about.

We had a 20 minute wait until our tours started - perfect for a quick lunch of fruit, cheese and crackers...I had to post this picture with the background of "please do not feed the animals". I just had to though - he was way to cute to not feed. Yes, Kashi, feel free to send me some of those amazing whole grain crackers :-)

A living tree room hundreds of feet underground in a pristine environment

The tour is not only worth the cost of admission ($8.50 adults/$6 for kids under 16) but was one of those things I would really put on my must recommend lists. You won't be disappointed. A little breathless from beauty, but certainly not disappointed.

The boys loving the inside of the caves

Additional notes: Because the caves remain a cool 44 degrees inside year-round - bring a jacket and a hat and you'll be fine. They post this on their website, but I'm guessing a lot of people think that during the summer, it will be warmer. It's not. I had a wool blend sweater and a hat and was very comfortable. Others on our tour were not.

It is an hour and a half walk and quite frankly, not for the faint of heart! It is quite a walk uphill with lots of stairs (over 500 to be more exact) along with narrow spots where you will be walking and will have to contort and twist your body to make it through without scraping your head along the cold, damp marble interior. That said, I made it!  Backpacks/purses are not allowed inside the caves, but they have lockers where you can store your things for a quarter (which you get back when you come for you stuff). Neither are dogs/pets, but they won't fit in the lockers :-).

If you make it to the Caves, or have been there, drop a note and let us know what you thought!

OTR: See For Miles at Bryce Canyon

You've heard the expression, "you can see for miles", right? Bryce Point, the highest point inside Bryce Canyon, has it all. See for miles? How about 104 miles? Yep, you read that right - one hundred and four miles is the sight distance from the top. Let's compare it for a minute ... Yosemite National Park has a visibility of 47 miles, Seattle 33 miles and Chicago/LA & DC all tie with only 12 miles. 104 is pretty impressive.  It is second in visual distance only to Great Basin National Park which has 116 miles of visibility. 

Forget about the "mile high" city. We're pushing in at almost 2 miles ... top elevation at Bryce Point is 9,115. Your probably thinking, wow, what a drive up. Not as much as you think. Our elevation here at the campground is 6,900 . One thing we didn't think about was the air pressure.  Definitely feeling a heaviness when breathing - especially on the longer walks and hikes.

The beauty of Bryce Canyon cannot be explained with words alone. Even the pictures don't really do it justice, but here are a few.

The wildlife are alive and well inside the park. They are obviously well accustomed to humans being in their territory as they barely twitch an ear at all the passers by as they munch right along the side of the road. See these two boys?

  And how about this gorgeous little fawn?

The natural beauty is so amazing and something you really have to see in person to fully enjoy. We would highly recommend that anyone going to Utah plan a visit to Bryce Canyon! We've been to the Grand Canyon before and this tops it for us.

On another note, we've tried it a couple times now, but third times a charm: The boys finally were able to complete everything they needed to earn their Junior Ranger's Badges for Bryce Canyon National Park. Good job guys!

Salt Lake City, UT

As the sign says, Life Elevated. They aren't kidding. Most of the areas where we have driven through have been between 4000-8000 in elevation. Beside a very ugly fuel bill, this is also some of the most interesting country we've seen.

Some of the largest grain elevators I've ever seen in my time driving across the country a few times are located in the burbs of SLC. Here are some photos of them...

Yep, those are all photos of different grain elevators. All within minutes of Salt Lake City.

Then, I was able to capture a couple more photos:

I don't know if you can read the names on the side ... we were driving by at 60 and didn't get a second chance to take a better photo, but the top one says Desert Mill, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the bottom one says Welfare Square, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The Mormon's own some of these massive grain storage elevators.

What a gorgeous downtown area - and clean! Salt Lake is obviously going through some new, major construction right now and the freeways are a big part of it. Really pretty freeways. Up to 6 lanes of freeway in each direction includes one HOV lane.  I guess if you have to have traffic to sit in from time to time, this has got to be one of the prettiest sections of freeways we've ever seen.

The other thing we noticed were all the churches.

See the tall, white steeple back there

 Not that we were expecting less driving through Salt Lake City, but it was interesting to see a church surrounded by homes and then a mile down the road another church surrounded by more homes and again, down the road more of the same.

Another one

Another tall steeple...

There were so many more photos, but I digress. It was very interesting to see so many community based churches, in what I can only imagine you would attend your local, neighborhood church. Any of my Mormon friends or folks from SLC who can tell us more?

While ours was a very quick drive through, this is definitely worthy of a stop for a couple days. Next trip for sure!

Makin' Hay

I love hay. There is something about the sweet smell of the freshly cut grass mixtures that just sings to my soul. And then there are the hay bales. Oh my gosh - I go crazy seeing bale after bale out in the field, ready and waiting to be picked up. Small ones. Big ones. Round ones. Grass. Timothy. Alfalfa.  Just love those bales of hay.

It's one of those things that we are looking forward to doing on our new farm: making our own hay. A sweet mix that will not only nourish, but satisfy as well. That will give fresh, sweet milk from the cows and a glossy shine on the horses. At the same time, add a little extra nutrients to the fresh eggs from the chickens. I'm thinking that a little flax seed in the mix will add wonders. Hmmm. We'll have to see how that works with the other seeds and the nutritional value as a whole, but it makes sense to me.

Good-Bye or See You Later, The Journey Begins

Good-bye or see you later?

It has been a busy week for us. We've traveled from Northern California, through Oregon and back "home" to Washington in time to put together a celebration party for our oldest, who graduated high school this weekend. Congrats Miss Chelsea!!

And then it happened. I finally got sick. Saturday, the day of the graduation walk and her party, I got a stomach bug. And a headache. Oh my. Not that I never get sick, but it's not a common occurrence. I was able to make it to graduation, and part of her party, but even that ended up being too much and Father's Day, Farmer Scott was on his own with the boys. Luckily it passed relatively quickly and we got on the road Monday, a little late, but still kept on moving.

Leaving though is bittersweet. We have big dreams and a plan, but it involves leaving not only our beloved farm, animals and business, but our family and friends as well. But today, we say not good-bye, but just see you later. We look forward to finding the right location that will fulfill not only our dreams, but will allow for family and friends to come and stay for a while. For others to come and learn. A journey for all, to be sure.

The Journey Begins

Leaving the Seattle area a little late due to illness, our original plan was to hit Boise by evening. Duh. What were we thinking? Yeah, that might be OK if we were two of us, traveling in a car, driving the speed limit. But we're not. We've got 2 young-ish boys that are full of energy oozing out of every seam. We've got a big truck. And a bigger trailer. As I said in my previous post, we're not quite going the speed limit. It actually more likely that we're doing just shy of 60 on the freeway to have any sort of reasonable gas mileage.  So in actuality, we ended up just over the border in Fruitland, Idaho at a rest area because we were too exhausted to try and find any other place to park for a few hours of sleep. OK, this was a first for us. No, you don't really get sleep at a rest area, just rest. Note to self: off freeway parking when you are used to sleeping in the country is a good thing.

The most amazing thing happened a little earlier that night though. We saw stars. Not just the big dipper and his friends, but seriously, the sky was littered with stars. The entire Milk Way galazy.  Being out in the middle of basically nowhere, and not having the city light polution, you can see things. OK, maybe not the deer on the side of the road that I'm sure where there, but the most amazing creation ever made. OK, second most, or third, but you get my point. This wasn't what you see in the glossy photos of National Geographics. Or even in the wonderful planetariums. The only way to describe it would be, if you had a very large black piece of paper, placed rocks to form the known constellations on it and then threw sand up in the air over the paper and let it fall. That would be pretty close to how covered the sky was with stars.

So even though we were tired, we were star struck in the best way possible.  Now, onto Utah...see you later!

Life On the Road - In the Slow Lane

At 10+ miles to the gallon, some might argue that RV'ing is expensive. Especially with prices hovering around $4.50 a gallon for diesel in parts of the West. And there are days we would strongly agree. The other half of me then argues that there are huge savings to be experienced ... you can find really nice campgrounds for $20-40 a night (yes, there are those dives too, as we've experienced). Heck, if you don't mind boondocking it, you can find places to stay for free.

How much do you spend on meals? Even in fast food restaurants? Cooking from your RV can not only save you money (and a LOT in my opinion), it's also healthier and you know what you are putting in your meals. I am not - by any means - saying we eat every meal here. Hardly. But, instead comparing it to hotels and all meals in the restaurants.

But one of the most exciting parts of RV'ing is your speed. I know, you are saying right now, "ARE YOU CRAZY?" Most drivers getting stuck behind an RV are just waiting for the next turn out to hurry up and get past that big beast. I have been there - "Hurry up, get around that guy!" "Here comes a pull out, so make sure we get around that thing." "Do they have to drive that slow?" Really. Words out of my mouth. But, we are looking forward to that pull out more than ever! I am noticing that the "slower" speed of RV'ing allows us to see things we never would have seen before.

Hawk circling for lunch.

The hawks that circle over the open green pastures, looking for their next meal.

The funny street names that we used to just zoom on past and never give a first look, let alone a second - Slaughter House Lane (yes, seriously).

The differences in the landscapes from area to area, and some of the very interesting street vendors along the way.

The interesting architecture too.

Even more than those though, are the amazing conversations that you can have with your spouse or your kids. You'll learn things. Doesn't matter how long you've been together or how much you do as a family. You will still learn things, I promise!

While I know that  being stuck behind a big ol' trailer is not most peoples idea of fun, next time it does happen, take the time for a few to see and enjoy the beauty around you. You'll pass it quick enough.

Now, off to see if we can find a local farmer's market. Or a farmer. Whichever comes first! We promise - we will pull over just as soon as safe space allows.

OTR: Redwoods National Forest, CA Part 2

Earlier, I had posted some of our trip information on our trip into the Redwoods. There is a whole other area that we just visited as well that is pretty good entertainment as well - The Trees of Mystery a little further down in Klamath, CA but still part of the Redwoods. The Trees of Mystery is Native American owned facility that is home to a GIANT Paul Bunyon.

When I say giant, I mean his boots are 10' tall alone! Overall, this statue stood over 49' tall and weighed in at 30,000 pounds. Even bigger though is his base. I'm guessing there is a lot underground because the base alone weighs in at 800,000 pounds! Crazy. That is a lot of concrete!

They have a great aerial tram that takes you up 500 some vertical feet in the Sky Trail tram. Not for the faint of heart of those afraid of heights.

See the terror in their faces?

But the view from the top - oh my! There is a little peekaboo view of the ocean through the tops of the trees that is totally amazing.

I know, it's kind of hard to differentiate between the blue sky and the blue water, but in that "V" in the middle of the pix is the Pacific Ocean. Cool.

After that amazing trip up and then back down, we had a few more stops along the way in their trees. One, was this way cool cathedral that the trees just naturally shaped. A great place for weddings.

 On our way back home, we stopped to see one of the three, yep, 3 Redwoods large enough to drive through. This one was in Klamath as well.

 Tight fit. The opening of this tree was only 7'4" wide and was 9'6" high. It is about 90' tall to the point where the wind snapped it off, but like many of God's creations, it was intent to continue to live: it has side branches that have grown up off of it and make it over 165' tall now.

On the drive home, we took it a little slower, even without the big rig behind us. Good thing we did, otherwise we might have missed the most wonderful sight of the day:

I take a peek down a side road and there she is. A deer walking across the road to the ranger's station. A quick stop and Scott hops out to take a picture of her when we all see the rest of the herd...

This is just part of the herd.

All in all, it was a fun day for the whole family. Tired and a little dusty, we hit the hay around 9pm and slept sound all night. Thank you National Park Service for preserving such an amazing treat for all of us.

OTR: Birthdays!

Life on the road can present all sorts of new issues. Living in 240 square feet is different. Really, I thought it would be harder, but we are managing - 12 days in now. Weird though - even in such a small space I have managed to loose both the youngest boys Nintendo DS along with a box of checks! I know they will show up, but in the meantime, a little weird.

Not so weird are birthdays on the road. Scott recently turned ... 40 something. And while he was counting down the days to his birthday, I was trying to figure out what to do to make his day special. Living in small quarters, we aren't bringing new things in unless something else goes out. So it comes down to experiences. We ended up going for a great lunch - referred by the woman who runs our campground and has lived here most of her life - and it was awesome.

We dined at the quaint little Chart Room. The food was truly amazing. We both opted for seafood - they sit right on the water (take a look at the photo t to the left). The fish was done perfectly as were the scallops and shrimp. Oh how my grandma would have loved their shrimp! She's the one who got me started. She weighed all of 90 lbs and could put away a pound of shrimp by herself if she was in the mood, but I digress - back to the birthday lunch.

We got the table right under the red letter "C" in Chart Room there. Our view from our table inside the restaurant were a couple docks, with the smaller boats there.

Papa sea lion

The boys up close and personal with the wildlife.

More entertaining though for the boys, were the gianormous Sea Lions sitting on their own dock. And the absolutely adorable sea otter checking us out! After lunch we took a little walk down to see them. WOW - he was a very big boy and seemed to enjoyed showing off for us. He's done this before I bet...

Sea Otter brave enough to stick around. His friends all left when they saw us.

After lunch, we headed out to the historic Battery Point Lighthouse. Originally built in 1856, it is still an active lighthouse and has been continuously lived in for over 150 years! They are open for tours daily, April thru September, but you better leave your dog behind and VERY important - go potty before you head over. They offer no facilities over there!

Here's an even cooler factoid about the lighthouse: You can only get there during low tide. Seriously.

The path to the lighthouse ...

When the water starts to rise, you need to start making plans to move it into high gear and get to the mainland, otherwise, you'll be wading back. The caretakers for the moment shared that they do have a little ATV that they use to get their belongings and groceries back and forth. Walking this rough terrain, I understand why they were so appreciative. 

To finish up a special day for a special guy, we went to see a new movie. Super 8. We really didn't know what it was about, other than it had the kids and an adventure. It turned out to be a good movie (with the exception of a little language that really wasn't necessary). I made me think of the movie Signs. I couldn't watch all of that one - freaked me out to much.
Super 8 though, held my attention and the boys thought they had seen their first "scary" movie and loved it. I love my boys!
I  think one of the most entertaining parts of the whole experience, was the theater. Yes, it had a video game area, but also a couple pool tables and a foosball table. It also had the "normal" sloped floor seats, I remember. Not the huge, have to walk up 2 flights of stairs, to get to your seat, seats. Bonus: It was also a little less than what we were used to paying. No coupons and an evening showing, along with a large popcorn was $33. Normally, that wouldn't even get 4 of us in unless it was a matinee.

All in all, I think it was a fun filled, entertaining day. Any thoughts on creative birthday ideas? I have a couple more coming up in the next few months for our younger passengers. Share?