Diamond Lake- A Mixed Bag

Our last leg of our Oregon tour was Diamond Lake.  Our first three campgrounds were all recommended by Oregonian natives and they were golden.  This campground was listed as one of the top 100 family friendly national parks to camp at.  One of the top 100 in the nation!  It had to be good.  Well, yes, in some ways it was good.

The scenery was stunning.  It is a truly beautiful lake.

We found a really yummy pizza place that we rode our bikes to for dinner and pinball.  Jonah means business with pinball.

Trav's highlight of the whole two weeks was his canoe ride with the kiddos.  He loved their excitement and ownership of working together.  I opted for a nap this afternoon, so they rode bikes to the marina and paddled back to our campsite.  I woke up to the sounds of "Mom!  Mom!  Come look at us!!"  They were so pleased with themselves.

Jonah also went with them but jumped out at the shore with me.

We then realized Jonah had to ride his bike back from the marina so we put him back in.

Not only was our campsite about 20 yards from the shore, but we had this lovely creek next door that we listened to going to sleep each night.  I happened upon Jonah in his own quiet reverie.  I would love to know what runs through his mind sometimes.

A few downsides to Diamond Lake.  It was SO cold.  We had some rain and drizzle all along our vacay so far and I kept promising the kids Diamond Lake will be so warm, it's Southern Oregon!  Of course I never noted the elevation.  As we pulled into the campground the kids exclaimed, "There's snow on the ground!!"  And yes, there was.  Unbelievable.  The nights and mornings were especially cold and then it would warm up to the 70's low 80's during the day.

In addition to the cold we were EATEN ALIVE by the mosquitoes.  It was miserable and we all came home with welts all over our arms and legs.  Super annoying.

The Diamond Lake resort and Marina was a mile or two bike ride away on a lovely path along the lake.  The resort itself though was really run down.  It was sorely in need of a paint job, the beach we played on was kind of dirty, trash in the water, and the public bathrooms all had leaky toilets.  There was an ick factor here hard for me to get over.

Back to the upside.  This little playground was also a short bike ride away.  We played till we couldn't handle the mosquitoes anymore.

If you enjoy fishing, perhaps Diamond Lake is one of your top 100 campgrounds in the country.  There were lots of families happily out on the lake bringing in a ton of fish.  Trav and I don't fish though.

We would definitely return to any of our first three campgrounds, but sadly, I think we'd be OK if we never came back to Diamond Lake:(

Back to the upsides.  Crater Lake was only 40 minutes away, so we HAD to go.  The kids were thrilled with so much snow in June.

She's a stunner folks.  So so blue, it's surreal, and the reflection of the surrounding mountains in the water is gorgeous.  I couldn't help but be in a stupor as I took it all in.

  Here it is, the quintessential Crater Lake family shot.  We queued up with the rest of the families for our turn.  Loving my hair in this one.

We turned home after this pic and it felt SO good to pull into our driveway later that night, take a shower in our own bathroom, and sleep in our own beds.  Yay for home!  

We loved our Oregon adventure, and I know we'll definitely be making some return trips.  I foresee Bend, and the Gorge as future camping destinations for us.  But for next year it's Utah.  My Lonely Planet Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park just arrived this week.  Time to start planning...

Silver Falls, for Karen

After Portland we headed Southeast to Silver Falls State Park per our friend Karen's suggestion.  She had spent many summers camping with her family there growing up, and after our visit I can see why.

It's a beautiful temperate rain forest with great biking trails, a swim beach, and thundering waterfalls to explore.  Everything is green, green, green.  I loved it.

We went on a six mile bike ride this day, thinking it would only be three.  We didn't note there would be a return trip required.  There was a lot of incline, but the kids were great sports, relatively speaking.

Jonah in action.

Every kid wiped out at one point on the ride.  Payton unfortunately fell in a patch of thorny bushes.  I told her, "Don't move!" I snapped a picture, and then helped her out.  She was none to pleased.  

And then we had a rainy day where we hung out in the trailer.  I was envisioning some quiet reading and nap time.

But instead we got this:  A loud, giggly, out of control wrestling match.

That ended in cuddle time...

The rain turned into a drizzle, so we ventured back outside for the waterfall hike.  There's ten waterfalls along  a nine mile trail.  We cut out at waterfall number 7 which is about six miles.

South Falls is amazing at 177 feet, a real stunner.  The picture doesn't do it justice.  I honestly felt like I was in a planet earth video.

Behind the waterfall, way better than the jungle cruise at Disneyland:)

Lots of places to explore

Waterfall number 2

3

4

5

6

and 7.

You never really get tired of seeing so much pretty water in a lush green setting.  We slept really well that night.

We didn't get to sample the swim beach because it never quite warmed up enough.  We learned that July would've been a better month to visit Oregon if we were seeking more sun.  Now we know:)

Thanks Karen for a great recommendation, Silver Falls was a highlight!

Enchanted Forest

I am eternally impressed with the passage of time with my children.  Payton is almost eleven, and while she still enjoys many childhood offerings, I'm afraid for the day I wake up and certain activities are too "young" for her.  Thus our choice to visit Enchanted Forest outside Salem on our Oregon trip.

And for those curious, Travis equates being on vacation with his jeans rolled up and being happy.  Let that be your barometer for Trav in the future: Jeans rolled up, happy & relaxed.  Jeans rolled down, it's business time.

For bay area folks.  Enchanted Forest reminds me much of Happy Hollow in San Jose.  A small, quaint park where fairy tales come to life.

We could barely get Trav out of the crooked house.

Sliding out of the old woman who lived in a shoe's house.

Another slide shot.  It only took 15x's to actually catch Jonah in action.

I liked this quaint English Village area.

The kids all gave Enchanted Forest a double thumbs up.  The park also has a smattering of small rides you can buy tickets to go on.  Davey and I totally took down Payton in the bumper cars, but please don't mention it to her, she's still bitter about it.

I have mixed feelings about Enchanted Forest.  It is a sweet place, but it's sorely in need of an upgrade, a new coat of paint, and all the fairy tale mannequins need to be redone.  They're actually terrifying, their features extreme, and their body movements jerky, like something you'd see in a horror film.  This must be why I have no pictures of them.

The kids loved it, so it was definitely worth a stop.  And Payton, my oldest, liked it the most:).  I'm glad we did it.

Portland

We headed to Portland for two wonderful nights in a fancy hotel with nice soft beds and cleaned up after a week of camping.  We stayed at the Avalon located in the South Waterfront district pretty close to downtown.  We parked the car and didn't get back in until we left two days later.
Here the boys are riding the MAX train into town.  I'm not sure why Davey's giving it a thumbs down, they loved it.  Trav got his elbow stuck in the bendy middle section and we weren't sure if he was going to lose it at one point.  It was very exciting and somewhat stressful.  Thankfully it was released when the train straightened out again:).

We met Mike and Holly for one last hurrah at Hotlips Pizza in the Pearl District.  Yummy and cheap, perfect for our family of five.  Holly won't steer you wrong in her city.

We then walked down to Cupcake Jones.  I'm ALWAYS down for a great cupcake.

Holly and I split a grasshopper cupcake.  The big one.

We then walked to Powell's book store which was Payton's Disneyland and mine too.  So, so many books.  So many possibilities.  I snuck back to Powell's on my own the next day with early birthday money to spend.  It was a very happy day.

The next day we rode bikes downtown along the waterfront.  I was a little nervous on the city street portion.

Once we got to the riverfront path it was perfection.  Now we just had to dodge pedestrians.  

We found the Saturday Market and the fountains to play in. 

We lucked out with 75 degree weather the whole weekend.  Payton has never been able to resist an opportunity to get wet.

Drying out on the warm sidewalk.

Downtown Portland is the best place to people watch.  We saw break dancers, a random pie fight, people drumming on buckets, someone painted in silver, and other things that I probably shouldn't print here...

True to form, Davey's shirt eventually came off and we got snow cones.  Trav and I opted for Stumptown Coffee for our treats.  

It's always a good time to practice handstands.

Always.

It was a short visit, but we loved our time here.