Oregon Sampler: Day 3-4

On Wednesday morning, we left Union Creek and headed north toward Bend.  We've heard a lot of great things about this part of Oregon, so we wanted to check it out for ourselves.  As we drove further and further north, the tall forests faded and the landscape flattened and turned less green and more brown.  Bend is on the other side of the mountains, which causes a rain shadow effect, making this area more arid.  It's also really, really hot.

Besides its reputation for adventurers, Bend is also known for its breweries.  In fact, they even host their very own original (trademarked) Bend Ale Trail.  It comes with a map as well as a space for each brewery to stamp their logo as proof that you drank their beer.  Our initial goal was to make it to four breweries.  We more than exceeded our expectations and sampled beer from a total of six breweries: Boneyard, Wild Ride, Riverbend, Deschutes, Good Life, and 10 Barrels.

We ended our day in a motel in nearby Redmond.  To give us the most time in this area, we decided to stay here for two nights.

The next morning, we got up and prepared for our day hike.  In Redmond you will find Smith Rock State Park, a popular location for climbers.  It's an incredibly beautiful area.  The big rocks you see in the photos were formed by volcanoes, as many of the most beautiful geographical features in the world are.  We took a hike up what's called "Misery Ridge," and it indeed was a little miserable.  And it only got harder and harder the higher we got.  The top, however, was really incredible.  In addition to multiple rock climbers (some doing pretty crazy and amazing ascents), we also saw lots of golden eagles and two huge eagle nests on the face of the mountain.  The river made the perfect contrast between the red-faced rocks and the greener valley below.  And even though the climb was more strenuous than it was advertised, the reward was more than worth it.

We spent more than three hours walking around at the park.  The heat was pretty exhausting, so the rest of the day was a vacation day.  We did laundry, we ate light, we watched OITNB, updated the blog.  Good times.  This is what vacation is about. :)

Oregon Sampler: Days 1-2

Now that Tanya's class is over, we're taking the week to drive around Oregon and explore some of the things the state has to offer.  Tanya calls this route the "Oregon Sampler."  Before we left the city, though, we stopped at a local favorite doughnut shop: Blue Star Doughnuts.  As it turns out, Voodoo Doughnuts, while good, is really more of a tourist place and a novelty than a local favorite.  After eating Blue Star Doughnuts, however, while they do have unique flavors, Voodoo Doughnuts actually makes the better tasting pastry (in both our opinions).

Anyway, south we went.  It is really beautiful here.  There's mountains and trees and long sandy beaches along the ocean.  Monday, we headed south along the coast.  Our first stop was the ever popular Cannon Beach.  This is a cute little town, mostly a tourist stop.  But tourists come here for a reason, right?  It's really pretty.

While here, we ate at Moe's, a local chain famous for their clam chowder.  Tanya says it was pretty good, top two of clam chowders she's had (I don't really care for clam chowder).  Their cabbage salad is also pretty good, as well as the cod tacos and grilled shrimp skewers.  Very much a seafood place.

We continued our journey south.  Along the way we stopped at the Tillamook County Creamery.  We're big fans of Tillamook cheese.  Actually, anyone who lives in the Northwest is a big fan of Tillamook cheese.  We got some delicious ice cream and took a self-guided tour, which is basically just watching the factory line below cut and package cheese.  It's kind of mesmerizing, actually.  Then we got to go and sample some of their cheeses.

We then continued on our journey.  Of course since this is the Oregon Coast, there are lots of pullouts and beautiful views.  We did pull over a few times.  It's a really pretty area over here!

We made a pitstop in Depoe Bay - home of the world's smallest harbor - to taste some wine and take some pictures.  Shocker, we left with two bottles of wine.

Our day ended in Newport.  After checking into our hotel, we headed over to Rogue Brewery.  Interestingly, in Oregon it is the law that any place that sells beer must also sell food from a kitchen.  So we got to taste some beers and eat dinner.

We spent the night in Newport in Travelodge, which ended up being a really nice place, especially for the price.  The room was really clean and inviting.  We both agreed that we kind of wished we had had this room in Portland.

The next morning, we continued our journey into Oregon.  We stayed on the Oregon coast for a little while, making several stops along the way.  There are tons of pullout spots on this highway, all with really amazing views.  We were looking in particular for a place called "Thor's Well," which basically looks like a hole in the ocean.  There are pictures on Google, and there's a spot on the map, but there are NO SIGNS that we could see from the highway, and even when we stopped at the place Google Maps said it should have been, it was not there.  We were both super disappointed.  However, all the other beautiful scenery mostly made up for it.

Eventually we made our way east away from the coast to our lodge for the night, Union Creek Resort.  If you're into camping and being in the woods with a nice creek, maybe a log cabin, no cell service, perhaps an old family restaurant down the road, this is definitely a great area for you.  We loved it.  The only thing we could possibly complain about was the heat in the room we got.  There were fans, but it was not enough.  We roasted until the night time air cooled it down enough for us to really sleep.  However, we got to see some cool things while we were there.

Before we slept, though, we went over to the Natural Bridge.  This is a short hike into the woods from the parking lot.  This underground tunnel was formed by underground lava, and now it houses this mysterious, wondrous underground river that pops out seemingly out of nowhere.  Over top of it there is a natural land bridge that has been used by indigenous peoples for thousands of years.  Now they have it fenced off to preserve the land, but the rock formations are as cool as the river itself.

After this short hike, we moved on to the reason we came to this area in the first place: Crater Lake.  This is the deepest lake in the United States, and it was formed by the volcanic collapse of Mount Mazama almost 8,000 years ago.  The deepest part of the lake is almost 2,000 feet, and only 2% of the floor of the lake has been explored.  The water is so clear, even from the highest point of the cliff side, you can see into the water.  We paid a $15 fee to get into the park, but this ticket is good for seven days (for those of you who would stay longer).  We had to drive up the mountain to get to the first viewing point.  When we turned the corner onto Rim Drive and saw the lake for the first time, we lost our breath.  It is incredible from all angles.

One of our favorite experiences while being here was when we came up to one of the viewpoints and a chipmunk came up right to us.  Literally.  He just scooted right over to us and stood up, as if he was expecting us to feed him something delicious, even though his cheeks were already swelled.  While I don't typically support the idea of feeding the animals, I will say that all we gave them was a few organic cashews.  And they loved them, okay?

After almost three hours of enjoying this lovely area, we headed back down to our lodge.  The first two days of the Oregon Sampler was awesome!  When it's over, we'll post a map of our route so that you can also enjoy this journey!