Vacation, Day 2

Vacation day number two was spent at Crater Lake. We were up early to beat most of the crowd, but it just so happened to be National Park Day, so all day use fees were waived.
It is a beautiful place!!!

We left the park and headed south. We stopped close to Collier State Park and looked to set up camp for the night.

We found an awesome spot right on a river! Below is Jered sweeping the giant Ponderosa pine needles away from the fire pit.

Vacation, Day 1

The first day of a wonderful vacation, Jered's birthday, and our one year anniversary all happened to have fallen on the same day!! We packed the car to the brim with gear, and Daisy of course, and headed down the road. Our only destination was Crater Lake, so we had a very open 10 days.

Before heading inland, we gave Daisy one last look at the ocean from this viewpoint just before Reedsport.

And we watched a squirrel run around.

We drove by an elk refuge just outside of Reedsport.

This was our first stop on the Umpqua River. The weather was looking perfect!

Below is a fish ladder, somewhere around Roseburg. The sign said there was a viewing area, but Daisy would have none of the fifty or so stairs that went down to the viewing area. We left the windows open in the car and Jered and I ran down the stairs hoping to see a giant steelhead or something traveling up or down the river.

We didn't see a giant fish, but I think this little guy was well worth the walk. It is like they are both posing for the picture :)

Fall mushrooms are here!!

Jered and I in front of Mt. Thielsen.

I brought a tripod with us on the trip, this was one of my first successful attempts to get a picture that wasn't crooked, and actually had what I wanted in the background. I got better throughout the trip, and am pretty excited about it.

We found a super cool campsite about twenty minutes from Crater Lake. It was a great anniversary/vacation/birthday!! And there were nine more vacation days to go!!

neighborhood wildlife

Besides the usual beavers and deer that surround our house, we were lucky enough to come across a blue heron on the side of the bank.
He or she quickly decided that they did not like our company.......

Flower Pics

We saw this beautiful flower on our way back from kayaking. I couldn't believe we had gone passed it once without seeing it.

Camping had to be short, yet sweet this weekend, so we headed out through Sam's Creek Road to the ultimate camping spot.

It is such a beautiful drive, it was sunny and we were heading away from the fog bank that has been hovering on the coast for the last week or so.
Daisy started out eager, and somewhat clean.

The weekend consisted of Jered resting and icing his back. Daisy was, of course, always willing to take a break also to show her support.

But, of course, we still had plenty of river time.

The rest of the time was spent playing skip-bo and Yahtzee. All weekends should be this relaxing!

Daisy loves road trips

Frog and Butterfly