Oregon Adventure

Our third time in the 33rd state was filled with the things that make travel great -- spectacular scenery, wonderful wine, and fine friends.  We were grateful for the hospitality of our friend Joe and his friend Nancy.  They live in Medford & Ashland - a wonderful area in the Rogue River valley full of art & agriculture.  Joe greeted us and showed us his workplace (we got to see peaches being processed), and Nancy joined us for an afternoon at a local winery.

The next day we took a short drive to take in the scenery at the local mountain lakes.  Clearly a popular area for boating and fishing, or just hanging around enjoying the view like these ladies.  Returning to Ashland, we checked out the town and took a short nap before dinner and a show.  The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is an amazing experience; the main stage is an outdoor theatre (ala The Globe).  We saw "Twelfth Night" under the stars -- no pictures allowed but you can get a feel for it here.

We really enjoyed the wildlife we saw on the trip.  In Medford & Ashland, deer are as common as squirrels here in Chicago.  Speaking of squirrels, the golden mantled ground squirrels were fun to watch as they scurried around the lakeshore.  In Ashland, Joe & I got very close to this deer, which obviously is pretty used to being around humans.  There'll be lots more wildlife in the next post. 

On Sunday, Joe drove us up to Crater Lake -- the drive up & back is really scenic.  There are lots of places to stop along the Rogue River where you can get close to the rapids and formations like lava tubes where the river travels underground.  This is the spot where one of our cameras drowned while Rochelle was trying to dip her arm deep into the water to get a feel for how cold it was.

 

When you think of volcanoes, chances are you think of rocks & lava, not beautiful blue water -- but that's what you get at Crater Lake.  The deepest lake in the U.S., it was created long ago when the mountain blew its top and collapsed in on itself.  The 33-mile drive around the crater has so many vistas that you can spend an entire day like we did, stopping to marvel at the view (which changes at every stop).  This is easily one of the most spectacular and unique sights in the country -- I'll let a few photos tell the rest of the story.  Come back in a couple of days to read about the rest of our trip.