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!