Day 1: Oregon to Idaho to West Yellowstone, WY

Longest day of my life. I spent 14 hours driving through some gorgeous country with some thunderstorms to keep it interesting.

The Journey Continues

So my mom is here and alive after a grueling 15 hours of travel to Oregon and then another 6.5 hours traversing around Oregon with me. She was a trooper. We ventured to Crater Lake (the whole West Rim was open!!) and then around to the North Umpqua River falls. Tomorrow way early, we will be headed towards Yellowstone! Hopefully we don't get stranded at another dumpy motel due to snow. I'll try to post any fun pics we get. Wish us luck! :)

Rogue River Rendezvous

This past weekend was spent on the Rogue River. Saturday was a jet boat ride from Grants Pass to Graves Creek (who knew you could jet boat on class 2 and 3 rapids?) followed by two nights of camping and white water rafting (in the same class 2 and 3 rapids) from Hog Creek to Graves Creek.

Sunrise from Camp


Camp Site: $12


Raft Rental: $15

Cliff Jumping and Swimming in Hellgate Canyon: Priceless


The amazing Hellgate Canyon




Oh and did I mention the water temperature was 55 degrees - pretty hard to catch your breath after the initial dip, every jump after was a breeze though.

Completely Unrelated to Oregon

Everyone MUST log onto www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com. This site will add 10 years to your life. I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. Look out for the Reed family photo. It belongs on this site.

Crater Lake

This weekend's trip was to Crater Lake. Crater Lake was made from a volcano, Mount Mazama, that erupted over 7,700 years ago. It is the deepest lake in the U.S. It is the most spectacular thing I have ever seen. I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I did.


Wizard Island


We followed the North Umpqua River to get to Crater Lake. I had the chance to revisit two of the falls that I had previously seen. Also, we stopped at the lookout point that was 6 feet under snow last time I was there. At the top we had a great view of Mount Thielson and Diamond Lake, which has since thawed. Check out my previous picture as a comparison.

Watson Falls


Mount Thielson


Diamond Lake with Mount Bailey in the distance

Brewery Tour

So along with my many adventures, I've been able to tour a decent amount of the breweries that Oregon is blessed with. The following is my list to date:

Double Mountain Brewery, Hood River, OR
- India Red Ale
- Pale Ale

Widmer Brothers, Portland, OR
- Hefeweizen
- Drop Top

Full Sail, Hood River, OR
- Amber

Deschutes Brewery, Bend, OR
- Mirror Pond
- Black Butte Porter

McMenimans, Salem, OR
- Ruby
- Wheat

Rogue Brewery, Newport, OR
- Chocolate Stout
- Dead Guy Ale
- Mom Hefeweizen
- Kells Irish Lager
- Hazlenut Brown Nectar

Lost Coast Brewery, Eureka, CA
- Great White Beer

This has been a successful experience already, if not for everything else, for the good beer. I have yet to meet a beer I don't like. Cheers!

Future Adventures

Since I am such a slacker at posting in a timely manner, I will bank on your anticipation to keep you coming back. So next week, tune in for Crater Lake! I'll be making that trip with three other explorers. Then, I will be taking a jetboat ride of the Rogue River. And for the finale, the last weekend, before my mom comes and we head to Yellowstone, I'm going SKYDIVING!!! I'm pretty psyched in case you couldn't tell. So stay tuned for some more awesome pictures and tales from Oregon. Miss you all!

My Future Wedding Location

Ok everyone, time to book your tickets to come to my wedding in 50 years. It will be located at Fern Canyon, CA in the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. It is the most amazing place I have ever been. These pictures, once again, do not do it justice. But take my word for it, it is worth the trip! (Have I ever lead you astray before? ;) )



Elk bull and herd that posed for a picture when leaving the State Park.

Redwoods National Park

This past weekend, my "housemate" and I traveled to CA to check out some Redwoods. Once I got there, there were some massively big trees all around me.



California Coast



Ladybird Johnson Memorial Grove

Smith River - The most refreshingly clear river I have ever seen.

Silver Falls National Park

Sorry for the lack of posting last week. Time is flying by and I can barely keep up. I have some amazing pictures to make up for it though. Last weekend, I traveled to Salem, OR (Oregon's Capitol) with my newly made friend Vijay. I got a snapshot of the lovely Oregon farmer that stands atop the capitol building. Very original.


After that brief visit, we traveled to Silver Falls. It was another amazing majestic place that I will return to someday. The first fall was South Falls and had a walkway to walk behind the water.



Lower South Falls was hidden back inside the park and required quite a hike to find. This also had a walkway behind it.


My future cabin in Silver Falls. I'm going to own a ton of real estate in Oregon by the time I'm done here!


North Falls