By: MJ + PJ
See the gallery of PHOTOS: Oregon + Washington
See the MAPS page for the areas we were at – zoom for precise locations.
See the 360 DATA page for costs and accommodation types. Use search query: “OR,”
See BUCKET LIST: Month One for locations in Oregon that we visited.
We spent a long day ‘driving the 5’ to reach Oregon from Napa to be within reach of Crater Lake. Google and an interesting sign welcomed us into Oregon, and we saw rain and snow and sunshine in the first hour there. We were enjoyed by the mozzies (mosquitoes) at Collier Lake State Park campground, which was very busy, and learned the lesson that we need to apply repellant as soon as we arrive, not after being eaten for 45 minutes,
The next day we spent almost four hours at Crater Lake, with the boys earning their Junior Ranger badges, and seeing quite a lot of the rim. It is a bit like the Grand Canyon – amazing vistas and colors, but always seeming a little out of reach. Then we had a long afternoon drive north to Portland.
We caught up with a good friend and family in Portland area with more boys being added to the mix, leading to some organized chaos and fun. One thing we were struggling with at this time was that we ideally needed an extra day in each of the places we stopped at. We wanted to slow down and smell the roses and improve the ratio of driving:exploring, but had to keep moving to reach Ohio for some specific events. This is an aspect of travel that everyone deals with, particularly when seeing places for the first time and wanting to be immersed but having the march of time to contend with.
The second full day we had in Oregon was actually spent in Washington at Mt St Helens. But we were back for a second night to rest and plan for the days ahead trying to get north to keep on schedule.
The highlight of the northern fringe of this state was seeing the iconic Multnomah Falls on the Oregon side of the Columbia River, on the exit into Washington the next morning. There is clearly more of Oregon to see – particularly waterfalls!
