Our Quick Summer Getaway--Oregon, Beautiful Oregon

Friday we spent the morning packing and waiting patiently for Bill to finish the trailer brakes. We ended up replacing the whole wheel assembly on all four wheels. He finished around 1, and we were on the road after he showered. The clouds began rolling in, but we were thankful for a sunny morning for him to work outside getting us ready to go. By the time we hit Brownsville, we realized we had not eaten lunch, and thought about getting in touch with Harry & Flo. We were lucky to catch them in, and met up with them in Sutherlin for lunch around 3pm. We had a nice visit…and it’s always great to see them.

We were back on the road by 4ish, and headed toward Grants Pass and the Hwy to Oregon Caves. The County park we were heading for was CLOSED!! There was a private park, but it looked like deliverance…and I was ready to be in a State Park! Back 40 minutes to Grants Pass, where we were lucky enough to find an empty spot for the weekend. There were lots of “one night only” sites….but we wanted at least two. Good thing we didn’t wait til Friday to leave.

We set up camp, enjoyed hot dogs over the fire…and a nice warm evening around the fire was such a treat after all the rain we’ve endured!

Friday morning was beautiful, and we packed a lunch and headed out early. Our destination was Oregon Caves and the Redwoods. We fueled up, picked up a few items we needed and hit 199 toward the caves. We stopped along the road at the Burl Gallery. It was a roadside phenomenon! There were things there I’d never seen or imagined before. Purple waterfalls, very neat tree houses, beautiful carvings, wonderful furniture…a very unique place!



We headed off from there and enjoyed the ride into Cave Junction….stopping at the Visitor Center there. We were told the 17 mile ride up to the cave would take about 45 minutes. I thought “45 minutes, to drive 17 miles?” The trip up was just about that! After the last campground, the road got very narrow, and we passed a sign that read “Motorhomes & trailers not suggested beyond this point. The elevation gain was quite a bit, and I thought of Bills Mom on a similar road, saying “Surely, this must be a one way road”. It was not, and although it was narrow, there was plenty of room for passing! Bill & Charlie continued to remind me of the steep drop off on the side…no guardrails, oh, they thought they were cute!!

We finally arrived up at the caves, and got in the 1:00 tour. The tour was 90 minutes and we passed all the way through the mountain of marble caves. Both Ryan & I were a bit nervous hearing about the low areas we would have to get through, but it was never tight, too enclosed, never a worrisome event for either of us. The sights we saw took our minds off any feeling of closeness in there!

After passing through the cave, going up all the way through…we came out into the bright light, and the ranger said we could hike .3 miles down to the visitor center, or go up and over the mountain .7 miles to see the view. We hiked that, and are so glad we did. The view was wonderful, and the cougar that watched us, even more exciting. Thankfully, I never saw it, but Kristin & Charlie did!

By the time we got back down to the visitor center, it was after 3, and we decided that it was time to call it a day, and head back to camp. We had lunch in the parking lot, and headed back toward Grants Pass to meander through town, and then get dinner at camp.

We came across a Motorcycle “Bear” event….it was fun to check them out, and they had a bike that you could get on, and have your picture taken. Charlie was the only brave soul…..

Back to camp we headed…enjoyed a great night around the fire, chili cooked in the dutch oven, and just a relaxing evening. We registered for one more night, so that we could hit the redwoods on Saturday.

Saturday brought more sun, but as we were nearing the redwoods, there were clouds looming. We drove right through them and enjoyed sunshine the rest of the day. We were driving along a beautiful river, when Bill saw a sign that said “Scenic Drive”---so we took a quick left. What we saw, was better than going to the redwoods national park….it was a 6 mile drive, through redwoods, giants, mind you, but not as big as those in the actual National Park…but amazingly big enough for us!

We walked a river trail, and then a Grove walk, through redwoods so tall you couldn’t see the tops. It was an amazing afternoon, and seeing the tall ferns, clover cover, and tall trees….there isn’t a prettier sight! Charlie mentioned how people spend time & money to get that kind of landscaping…and God did it all….

We had a great lunch in the park, and then finished up the nature drive, driving over the worst road ever….holes we thought our truck would get lost in. But, driving through those HUGE trees was incredible…our truck looked like a toy truck in there! After about 4 hours on this road, we finished the drive, and headed back to camp.

Along the way, we hit this neat meat market….and picked up steaks for supper. Never have I seen such a neat market. We enjoyed the best steaks ever….then hung out at the campfire lazy, and full!

Sunday brought another beautiful day as we headed to Applegate Christian Fellowship in Jacksonville. Our goal was to hear John Courson preach. We’ve read his bible commentaries for a few years now, and it was so neat to hear him teach. The amphitheater was huge….and parking was like going to a concert. We entered and were passed what I called McCommunion…as it was in the same type foil that OJ comes in at McDonalds….peel back the foil…your wafer is there…peel back the next layer…juice. All in one neat drive through package! With a congregation that size, I understood the need to do that…but communion just when the service started was a bit too soon for me. All in all, it was an incredible experience…but we missed our own Calvary family in Lebanon, and our own incredible teacher Tom.

We headed back to camp, had lunch, tore down, and headed Northwest…toward the coast. As we passed Sutherlin, the weather started to cloud up…and by Eugene, it was raining. Maybe we should have stayed south??

We got to Florence, got groceries and fuel, and decided instead of South Beach in Newport, that we would hit Carl Washburne State Park…we were tired of driving! The rain slacked off, and was just a mist….so we were able to have a fire before calling it a night. It seemed lonely in camp without our favorite hosts Flo and Harry.

On Monday, we had a lazy morning, and then headed off to Cape Perpetua. You can see for miles down the shore, and the view is like no other. We walked the cape loop, and then headed down to Devils Churn, before going to Heceta Head Light House, and the Beach. Kristin played in the water, while Charlie & Ryan headed up to the light house, and Bill & I had a nice nap on the beach. The weather was perfect!

We headed back to camp for a late lunch/early dinner, and then walked to the beach from camp. It’s a nice ½ mile walk to the beach, and with beach walking, you probably get 2 miles before returning to camp. It was windy, but the skies so blue—just one of those days! We returned to camp, had a fire, enjoyed a nice evening, and our last night of campfire.

Tuesday, it was still nice, and we had a morning fire, complete with brunch over the fire. Potatoes, onion, garlic, bacon, eggs, all in the same pot….yummy! We hung out until around 1, then packed it up, and headed home. Great trip, but too short! Would have loved to explore more of Southwest Oregon, but that will be for another time!

Check out all the slide shows….there’s a little something for everyone, and of course, don’t miss Bill’s special slide show. You never know what you’re going to get!

Here it is....Bill's slide show!