PSA: Soooooooo if you haven’t guessed already, we are writing waaaay in the future and a good two years or so behind on posts. See this site now as more of a memoir than a blog. ;-P We will get around to documenting our adventures, though, as we definitely don’t want to forget them!

Elementary school seems like a lifetime ago now but we had one last trip visiting several nat’l parks before 5th started, with our national park pass from Every Kid Outdoors.

We decided to fly into Eugene, OR (a big running town!) to make a driving loop through a few national parks. We landed and went to 5th Street Public Market for dinner.

Found Asian food at Provisions Market Hall.

Walked through some of the shops and boutiques.

We ended the evening with a walk through Hendricks Park.

Excited to spot wildlife at the park!

The next day, we visited the legendary Hayward Field at U of Oregon, home of many well-known track and field events.

Sadly, the stadium itself was closed but it was still cool to walk around the perimeter and on the turf.

Very cool architecture, too!

After, we walked across the street to the Museum of Natural and Cultural Campus, also part of the campus.

The museum wasn’t huge but quite well done and informational about the area.

Explored a bit more of the campus around the museum.

Mommy found a raw vegan cafe that was yummy!!!

Of course the boys had to balance healthy with a trip to Voodoo Doughnuts… (first discovered with Uncle Dan when we were in Portland).

We set out on our drive to Crater Lake with some stops along the way.

Office Covered Bridge — a historic covered bridge.

Tiny playground by the bridge.

Next stop was McCredie Hot Springs.

And boy was the water hot!

Walking through on the rocks without touching the water.

Pit stop to devour some of those VooDoo donuts we got in the AM.

Then off to encounter the first of several falls we got to see on this trip: Salt Creek Falls.

It was a short hike through the trees to get there

It did not disappoint!

Did a bit more hiking around the area.

Gnarly exposed roots.

Plus hanging by the cliff…

Randomly came across a Rivian charge station in the middle of nowhere! A few of our neighbors had ordered theirs so thought we’d show them when we got back.

Then checked into our hotel close to Crater Lake.

Behold the beauty of Crater Lake!

The blue of the water is just otherworldly.

Quick tailgate lunch before taking on the strenuous Watchman Trail down to Cleetwood Cove.

It’s not long but definitely a steep decline down to the water.

Had to stop to admire the azul of the waters (and for water and maybe catch a breath, haha).

The boys wanted to take a dip in the lake while Mommy just enjoyed quiet time on the rocks.

Underwater was apparently crystal clear…

And cold but refreshing!

And then Daddy decided to jump off a cliff for fun…

Post-jump…

It was until after we were about to head back up that Daddy discovered his Apple watch had taken a plunge into the lake w/o him realizing him during the splash… Womp, womp, womp. His excuse to get a new one. So yea, the watch is now at the bottom of Crater Lake!

On to see some of the other interesting rock formations.

Caught some more deer.

Sunset was golden.

We sat to drink it in while E finished his scavenger hunt.

A little casino close to our hotel… They let E walk to the restaurant inside, lol.

Then back on the road towards our next stop: Lassen. Mount Shasta in the background was nice.

Stopped for coffee at a little town we don’t remember and Daddy had some work to take care of.

Walked through the Living Memorial Sculpture Garden in Weed, CA. :P It was ironic that we flew out of CA into OR but then drove back into CA (waaaay north tho).

What is Asian American BBQ? :D It was closed so didn’t stop.

Weed town center, haha.

Library is a good sign.

Grabbed some food at a stand… it was triple digits at this point and we are no longer accustomed to this kind of heat!

Took our food to a nearby shaded park by the river for a little picnic. It was still HOT!!!

A little dip in the fresh spring water was nice. Lots of folks brought huge water containers to fill up on H20.

Then back on the road for some waterfall chasing…

And then… wow, BURNEY! It was a bit of a hike down and the temps dropped like 10-20 degrees.

It was a loop hike so got to see different things back up… as it also got warmer again, haha.

A different vantage point.

Daddy wants to do a looooong thru-hike on the PCT one day.

Poetry in nature, no better combo!

We got to Redding, CA and it was well over 100 degrees. Elias woke up the next morning not feeling well… we were thinking possibly heat exhaustion but not sure.

We had originally planned to do a full hike but E wasn’t feeling up to it.

We went part of the way…

Stepped on snow — in August! Then he started feeling really nauseous and we went back to the car.

Daddy and Monday took turns hiking to the geothermal areas while the other stayed with him in the car. He ended up falling asleep which was good.

It went from trees to lots of rocks.

And then smelled the sulfur before seeing it…

After both of us did the hike to the thermals, E woke up and felt a bit better and was able to walk to some areas around the car.

Drove to the ranger station and did the pledge (again) for the badge.

Can’t miss the sign!

Remnants from a previous fire.

Drove by Bethel on the way out. We are aware of some of the controversy but can’t deny that a lot of their songs have impacted the church.

Back on the road again towards Redwood National Park. Stopped at Turtle Bay.

Couldn’t resist another waterfall: Crystal Creek.

A little gimmicky but just had to. ;-)

Had some other unusual knickknacks/artifacts.

Camel Rock area and it was nice to be coastal, where it’s closer to weather we’re used to. (Yea, pretty spoiled now!)

E was happy to see some sailboats.

Made it to Redwood and so did this little minifig. :)

Fern Canyon — parts of Jurassic Park was filmed here.

The moss!

A dinosaur?

Really enjoyed just romping around.

Elk Meadow for… elk. :D

Battery Point Lighthouse and surrounding beach in Crescent City the next day. It was a cloudy, gloomy day and bummer the lighthouse was closed.

Walk on the pier…

Back into the other side of the nat’l park for more trees. :)

Inside a trunk.

Spotted this ‘lil guy.

Got some air with our jump photos… :)

Scary movie material?

Zombie.

The length of this fallen trunk!

The sign, always the sign. ;-)

Then we made some stops along the Oregon coast on the way back to Eugene.

Imagination in nature… back to the good old days.

Sunset!

Managed to catch a farmer’s market the next day before our flight home. Then found out our flight was rescheduled to the day AFTER school starts due to a “storm” brewing in SD. (A storm in SD is “heavyish” rain, lol). We decided to cancel our SW for credit and then booked one way on another airline so E wouldn’t miss first day.

Local fruit we got at the farmer’s market while waiting at the airport.

Bye, ducks! Maybe we’ll be back one day…

Our neighbor wanted to show us his brand new Rivian just as we got home… and we told him about the charger we happened upon.

What a trip! Now time to turn school mode on — bring it on, last year of elementary!