Silver Falls 5K & Ainsworth State Park

Justin woke up bright and early to register for the Silver Falls State Park 5K.  We had already walked the trail the night before, so he knew what he was in for.  Justin hasn't run much since his marathon a few months ago, so he was a little concerned he would be too out of shape.

The kids and I got there just in time to see him start the race.  He looked happy to be out running in such a beautiful place.  He'd even made some "race friends" while he was there and was chatting with them when we arrived.  We watched him take off, and then the kids and I hung out on the porch at the lodge till the runners started arriving.

Once we saw a few runners make their way across the finish line, we ran over to peer over the side of the wall down at the trail.  Connor immediately spotted Justin in his bright yellow shirt, leisurely trotting along, snapping pictures.

If you look closely, you can see him down on the trail--he's the one in BRIGHT yellow.

We cheered Dad on as he crossed the finish line, then waited for his "race friends" to cross.  We even encountered Ranger Ian at the finish line.  He was excited to see so many people show up to the race.  This year, they had over 100--their biggest race ever!  Justin says it is the smallest race he's ever run, but the most memorable.  You just can't beat that scenery!

After the race, we headed back to our campsite to pack up.  We were all pretty sad that we only had one night here.  It is such a beautiful park.  We'll definitely be back some day!

We hit the road for Ainsworth State Park, stopping in Clackamas, Oregon to do some quick grocery shopping and grab lunch.  Once we had all the essentials, we pulled into camp and set up.  This park is quite pretty.  The loop where our campsite is located is really quiet. 

We made some dinner, hung out, and watched Connor attempt to cut firewood.  It was our entertainment for the night before turning in early.  What a city kid!

Crater Lake and Silver Falls State Park

We left Lava Bed National Monument bright and early.  We were headed to Silver Falls State Park in Oregon, but decided to make a quick stop at Crater Lake.

It was so cold at Crater Lake, but we are really glad we made the stop.  We've never seen such a beautiful, blue lake.  There are no rivers that feed into Crater Lake, so no sediment to muck it up.  The water is snow-fed and crystal clear.

We stayed at Crater Lake for about an hour before moving on.  Silver Falls State Park is supposed to be the crown jewel of Oregon's State Park system, so we were excited to see it.

Silver Falls did not disappoint.  Justin says this is his favorite campsite so far.  It was beautiful and SO green.  We set up camp and decided to take a short hike.

The park is full of rivers and waterfalls.  In fact, it is home to the Trail of Ten Falls, an 8-mile hike that has 10 major waterfalls along the way.  We met up with Park Ranger Ian, who suggested a short 2-mile hike we could take to get acquainted with the park.

When we came around the bend to the first waterfall, we were blown away.  Upper South Falls was gorgeous, and the trail winds around behind the fall.

It was an amazing hike.  We wound around through gorgeous scenery down to Lower South Falls.  These Arizona kids had never seen so much green, and they were snapping pictures on their phones the whole time.

On the way back up, we saw Ranger Ian again, and he told us that the next day was State Parks Day all over Oregon.  Silver Falls had several activities going on, including a 5K race.  Justin was all over that.  He made plans to get up early the next morning for the race.  Then we went back to camp, showered and made some dinner.  Justin and I went for a walk to take the trash out, and when we came back, the kids were in the trailer ready for bed.  What lightweights!

We'll check back in tomorrow and let you know how Justin's race went.  Sadly, we only get to stay one night here, and then we are off to the Columbia River Gorge area.  See you tomorrow!

Lava Bed National Monument

It's been a while since we've had service, so bear with us.  We have lots of updates coming...

We packed up early and left our peaceful campsite in Tahoe to get on the road.  We headed to the California/Oregon border to visit Lava Bed National Monument.  It's a pretty isolated national park, and it doesn't get many visitors each year.  We'd heard awesome things about it, so we headed that way to check it out.

There are over 800 lava tube caves at Lava Bed.  About 15-20 of those caves are developed enough that you can explore them easily.  You can drive Cave Loop and stop at several of those developed caves.  We stopped at the visitors center and got all the details, then we borrowed a few flashlights and set out to explore.  Mushpot Cave was the most developed cave.  There were lights and a paved path throughout the cave.  It was a good starter cave.

Once we got a feel for the caves, we started exploring some of the more difficult ones.  Many had steep ladders down into the cave, and some required duck walking and stooping.

One of our favorite caves was called Hopkins Chocolate Cave.  It was named because the man who discovered it, Hopkins, thought the lava walls looked like melted chocolate.

We were even able to find the graffiti he left on the cave wall way back in 1892!

Our favorite cave was called Sunshine Cave.  There were several collapsed areas that let the sun shine through.  Vegetation started growing, and it was so pretty inside.

We spent several hours in the caves before we headed back to camp.  Lava Bed has a small campground on site, and it was pretty desolate.  We only saw a few other cars there and never really ran into any other guests.

We made some dinner, played some ukulele, and went to bed early.  That seems to be our routine lately.  The kids are wiped out from all this adventure!  See you tomorrow.

Kayaking Lake Tahoe

We all woke up bright and early this morning, so excited for our next adventure.  We have wanted to go kayaking together for a long time, so the kids were really looking forward to this leg of the trip.

We drove to Emerald Bay, with plans of kayaking to Fannette Island.  When we came around the bend and saw the island out in the distance, we were all pretty anxious to get out there.

I have to say, I was a little nervous about the whole kayaking thing.  I always have visions of my children falling out of the boat and sinking to the bottom of the lake.  They were all naturals, though.  Connor took a single kayak, and Tatum and Rylee took turns paddling with Justin and me.

 

I'm happy to report that we made it to Fannette Island with no casualties.  We hiked around the island up to a little structure called the Tea House.  An eccentric lady build it there in the early 1900's and would take guests across to serve them tea.  It's in ruins now, but still pretty cool.

The views all around the lake are amazing.  We spent about 4 hours kayaking today, and I know we are all going to feel it tomorrow.  It was just so much fun, we didn't want to stop at the 2 hour mark.  Of course, Connor wants to buy kayaks now.

Tatum was our "tour guide" and took us to all the cool spots on the lake, including 'Little Mermaid Rock," where she naturally, had to pose.  She's such a goofball!

After our epic kayak adventure, we headed back to camp to shower and find a laundromat--and find some WIFI.  Laundry on the road is a lot of work...  We seem to spend more time here doing laundry than I'd like.  *sigh*

On the bright side, tomorrow we are headed out to do some spelunking!  We'll check in at Lava Beds National Monument...  if we have service.

Goodbye Sequoia, Hello Tahoe

Today we said goodbye to Sequoia and packed up the car for Lake Tahoe.  We were excited to see Tahoe, because everyone has been raving about how gorgeous it is.

It was a long drive day.  We were in the car about 7 hours with all the stops we had to make.  We also hit construction traffic right around South Lake Tahoe, but after too many hours in the car, we finally made it!

We are staying at Fallen Leaf Lake campground, which is beautiful.  It is just off  the beaten path, and they have the most amazing hot showers.  The kids hit the showers as soon as camp was set up, and I got dinner on the table.  Food tastes so amazing when you are camping.

After dinner, the kids settled into their nighttime routine of reading and music.  They are pretty exhausted at night, and are usually out by 9pm.  It's awesome!  Tomorrow, we head out to Emerald Bay for an epic day of kayaking.  We can't wait!

Sequoia National Park, Day Two

We woke up bright and early on our second day at Sequoia National Park.  We had never seen King's Canyon National Park, and it is adjacent to Sequoia, so we decided to head over there.

King's Canyon is a little more spread out, and we really wanted to do a hike near Cedar Grove, but it was another 45 minute drive from the KC visitor's center.  Someone who shall remain unnamed (but I bet you can guess who she is) refused to ride in the car any longer.  So we headed to the Grant Grove to check out General Grant.

The General Grant tree was named "The Nation's Christmas Tree" by President Coolidge in 1926.  It really is an awe inspiring tree.  We wandered through the grove amazed at the sheer size of some of these giants.

After the Grant Grove, we headed back to the KC Visitor's Center to eat our lunches.  We were pleasantly surprised to find out that there was free WIFI there, so the kids pulled out their devices, and Justin got a little bit of work in.

Once we'd seen all there was to see at King's Canyon, we headed back to Sequoia for showers, laundry, and ice cream.  We are headed out to Lake Tahoe in the morning, so we had to wash clothes and pack up for the next leg of the trip.

We will be sad to say goodbye to Sequoia, but I know we'll be back some day.  We love this place.

Summer Adventure 2015 Officially Begins!

We kicked off our 2015 summer adventure in style.  Our first stop is Sequoia National Park.  We visited Sequoia in 2013 and had such a great time, we decided to come back.

This was our longest drive of the trip.  We anticipated a 10-hour drive, but it ended up being close to 13 hours when it was all said and done.  We encountered California traffic and had to make a couple of extra pit stops along the way.

We finally got to camp and set up.  After setting up, it was dark, so we ate burned hot dogs and went to bed.  The next day, we awoke refreshed and were better able to appreciate the beauty of our surroundings.

Our campsite backs up to the Kaweah River, and it provides awesome white noise all night.  It is really a gorgeous place, and we have a perfect campsite.

After breakfast, we decided to head back to Crescent Meadow, where we got lost 2 years ago.  This year, we went armed with a map.  We took a beautiful 6-mile hike from Crescent Meadow back to Lodgepole campground.

We found a perfect little place, overlooking Circle Meadow, to stop for lunch, where we were able to watch a bear grazing for about 30 minutes.  It was pretty cool.

We continued along the Congress Trail, where we were able to see General Lee, General Sherman, President McKinley, and most of the Senate Group.

After our epic hike, we came back to the campground, where we showered and got some well deserved ice cream.  Then we headed back to our campsite.  While Justin and I made dinner, the kids read or played their instruments.  Connor has a new mandolin, and Tatum has a baritone ukulele.  I'm sure our campground neighbors were annoyed, but it sure was fun.

We've got one more day here, and we plan to spend it in Kings Canyon National park, about 30 miles away.  We never get tired of seeing these giant trees.  They really are awe inspiring.  We'll check in again when we've got service.