JULY 29

Tuesday

We started our day at Fort Clasop (Oregon). Mark and I were especially interested in visiting this area because of a class on Lewis and Clark that we participated in at UNF. There was a wonderful reenactment and reconstructed fort. It was very nicely done.

Afterward we rode along the Oregon coastline to Cannon Beach for a look at Haystack Rock. The weather was a bit misty, but not bad enough to keep Mark and Catie from doing a little exploring!

JULY 28

Monday

It has been 28 years since the Mt. St. Helens volcano eruption. Trees have regrown and been harvested(1),but the crater area is still very raw and foreboding(2). That is not steam you see, it is ash blowing around on the mountain top! There has not been any seismic activity , but they monitor constantly.
If you are ever in the Portland/Seattle area, a visit to the Johnston Ridge Observatory is a must!
On a much lighter note...Catie liked the campsite!!(3)

JULY 27TH

Sunday

The Columbia River Valley is so beautiful. Lucky for us that the Oregon Trail provided a path for the Historic Columbia River Highway. Our first stop on the highway was Chanticleer Point where Mark and Catie were acting....well, normal for them !(4) They were actually getting a far off view of Vista House, a vintage rest stop.(5)
Back on the road we stopped at numerous waterfalls(did I mention that I love waterfalls!!). I caught a "cutie" Catie at Horsetail Falls.(6)
We stopped at the Bonneville Dam for a look at the dam and their fish ladder(helps the salmon swim upstream to breed).(7)
We saw Mt Hood from so far away, that we had taken dozens of pictures before we got the really close up views!(8) Awesome!!
Does anyone remember the movie"The Shining"? It was shot at the historic Timberline Lodge at Mt Hood.(1) They have one room that is requested more than any other. (2)Catie caught Mark and I enjoying the great Arts and Crafts interior of the lodge!(3)

JULY 26

Saturday

Today is Portland Day We started our tour in Pioneer Courthouse Square. As you can see, our tour guide ,Catie is conferring with Mark as to what direction to go.(4) After a pleasant walk to the Willamette River and a dash through the Saturday Market we ended up in Chinatown. (5)Next stop was Union Station,Portland's historic train station.(6) We saw lots of historic buildings,some even had fancy art work!(7) Can you tell which windows are real?
Mark had no idea that Portland had such a high regard for him!(8)
We visited a VERY large woman named Portlandia.(1) She does a great job of protecting her building!
Believe it or not, we All enjoyed a trip to Washington Park and the International Rose Test Garden.(2) Mark really got into the action.(3) For anyone interested, I have bunches(get it...bunches) of pictures of the flowers.
We had nice dinner at the Rogue Ale Public House, where Mark and Catie slurped up some micro-brewed beers.
DON'T FORGET TO CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO GET THE BEST VIEW!!

JULY 24 AND 25

Thursday

We are now on the Oregon coast, camped at Umpqua Lighthouse State Park.(1) First order of business was to walk on this beautiful Pacific coast beach! I was busy taking pictures of the waves crashing on the jetty(2), when Mark says,"Look to your right". It was a molting sea lion who chose this spot to do his thing!(3)

Friday

This morning we start North up the Oregon coastline.(4) We are stopping in most of the little towns along the way.(Lighthouses and ice cream!) Our route sends us NW toward Vancouver,Washington to our next home,Battle Ground State Park. (And the arrival of Catie tonight at 11 PM)

JULY 22 AND 23

Tuesday
We arrived at Diamond Lake Campground(Oregon) this afternoon. Mark has picked ANOTHER great waterfront site!! (1)There was a great little pizza place a short walk from our campsite, soo...PIZZA NIGHT!(followed by a long walk to work off the pizza and ice cream!). Crater Lake in the morning!

Wednesday

Crater Lake was actually on our itinerary last year, but because we were out so early in the spring, it was still snow packed. We decided to skip it and reschedule. It was WELL worth the wait!!(2)
There was still at the higher elevations,so we had to play Florida tourists.(3)
Crater Lake was created when a volcano, Mt Mazama blew it's top and the remaining crater filled with snow and rainfall. The top of a smaller volcanic cone still protrudes above the lake(Wizard Island)(4)
We drove the 33 mile rim trail. There are no bad views of crater lake. We stopped and hiked along the way,see lake formations such as the Phantom Ship.(6) We also toured the historic Crater Lake Lodge. (5)It way a great day!

JULY 21

Monday
We did some volcano exploring today. We started at Lave Butte in Newberry National Volcanic Monument.(5) A short hike took us to the lava fields that the astronauts used to train for lunar trips. (4)We then drove to the top of the volcano to view the crater left by the volcano.(3)
Our next activity was t o walk a mile into the Lave River Cave. (2)This is a tunnel that the lava flowed through 1000 years ago!Mark led the way with his special Steinmart miners headlamp.(It was pitch-black dark in there). It was slightly creepy, but also something that you don't want to pass up.
Next stop Crater Lake!!

JULY 20TH

Sunday

We are at La Pine State Park near bend Oregon.It is a beautiful campsite surrounded by Ponderosa pines. We had an early dinner,took a walk,then sat at and read until bedtime! Ahhh vacation!

Friday, July 18

Friday was spent exploring the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. Our first stop was the Bayhorse Ghost Town, an abandoned mine. There were a lot of unstable buildings and mining debris, but very interesting. Having worked up an appetite, we stopped at Redfish Lake Lodge for lunch. Next stop: A gold dredge – a unique way to mine gold.

Thursday, July 17

We camped at Challis Hot Springs (in Challis, Idaho) right on the Salmon River. True to its name, there is a hot spring pool here and we took advantage of it on both nights. Thursday night we went into town for “Cowboy Music and Poetry”. The poetry was very regional and very entertaining. The roadway to our campsite passed a farm with a dozen horses; half of them adults and half of them horses.

JULY 16TH

We say goodbye to the Tetons today and travel to Idaho.The area from Idaho Fall to Arco is VERY arid.(Read dry,no real vegetation,dust storms!). We stopped at theEBR-I...the worlds first nuclear power plant.(1). This is where electricity was first produced using atomic energy.(4)The project involved a Breeder Reactor. (I have the brochure for anyone wanting accurate info!). Out side they have the remnants of a program involving the development of a nuclear powered fighter plane(2). That didn't quite work out, too dangerous in a crash!

Yep,that is Jan at the control panel. I am about to push the SKRAM button, which when the facility was is operation stopped EVERYTHING!(3)

Took care of some car maintenance (oil change) in Arco, Idaho. Set up camp and did laundry and enjoyed the moon rise and pleasant temperatures.(5)