Next stop Medford, Oregon
On Tuesday July 23rd we woke up in San Francisco to celebrate Landon’s birthday.
Streamers, banners and a bed full of balloons is what he woke up to.
One last important thing we wanted to do before we left was ride the trolly through the city.
It was chilly and quite a bit windy so we bundled up and rode all the way downtown to Union Square. Landon thought he was hot snot because he was able to stand up and hold on the whole ride with Bob.
After our trolly ride through the city, per Landon's birthday request we stopped by Krispy Kreme and Ghirardelli chocolates one more time before we left San Fransisco.
Carter was too sweet and bought Landon a dark chocolate caramel candy bar for his birthday.
We said "Goodbye" to San Fran and drove about 6 hours toward Medford, Oregon. On our way we were lucky enough to hike down to a waterfall right off our route.
Oh the water was so cold coming down from the mountains...brr!
Landon was rock climbing on the rocks surrounding the waterfall, slipped and fell in the water and soaked his clothes.
Our drive was long and we were so ready to be out of the car when we arrived in Medford. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express.
This was one of the first mountain/volcano that we were able to see along our trip...Mount Shasta.
Early Wednesday morning (July 24) we drove a few hours to hike through the redwoods. These trees were absolutely stunning in their size both in height and width. This was like a nature playground for the boys. It was hard to keep them from not climbing all over the trees and branches so we just decided to let them explore.
If you know our boys than you know about their love for sticks! We had a trunk load of sticks we collected throughout the trip and we added to them each day.
This photo is one of my absolute favorites of my 4 boys. The tree they are sitting on had fallen and the bark was so smooth the boys were sliding down the roots to the trunk.
After hiking we stopped in Grants Pass, Oregon to get on Hellgate JetBoat Excursion. Bob's coworker had suggested we try this out. This experience was out of this world. We all gathered on this jet proppelled boat and rode it down the Rogue River. During our trip the captain would splash us with water, do 360 degree water spins, and give us valuable information about the sights that surrounded us.
Look at how dry we all started out!!!
Maw Maw and I sat behind the boys in the second row and we were soaked by the time we got to dinner.
After riding down river for about an hour, they dropped us off at a private owned island with a lodge for a buffet dinner. The meal was delicious and open air.
After dinner we admired the deer in the yard. Carter was so quiet and sneaky he was able to get very close to the wildlife.
On the way back, we let Maw Maw ride in the front row with the boys with hopes she would stay dry.
What an amazing and unforgettable experience!
Each night we drove back to Medford to sleep and then headed out in the morning for a day trip to a new location.
Thursday (July 25) was our Crater Lake Day. We started by stopping off at some smaller hikes and taking in as much adventure as we could handle. The first trail led us to "Giant Boulders" where the boys threw rocks in the rushing water and got their feet wet.
Landon found another stick...surprise, surprise.
The water was beautiful to watch because it would just swirl around as it flowed downstream. It was crystal clear and cold as ice.
Below in the boulders is where we were hanging out earlier. It feels like a playground!
This waterfall below was just to the other side of the boulders.
It was quite a drive to get to Crater Lake because you had to drive up and around the mountains...when I say you, I really mean Bob had to drive. He was our tour guide throughout this whole trip. He is our vacation planner...always has been since I met him. He is so good at it. I just am along for the ride and all that comes with it.
We stopped and grabbed lunch at Subway earlier and took it to the top of Crater Lake to enjoy and sightsee.
That was one of the warmest days of the whole trip. We really didn't know too much about Crater Lake but learned a lot while we were there.
It is so breathtaking. The pictures don't do it justice but we were in awe of its beauty.
It was so cool to find a patch of snow. Of course we had to have a snow ball fight.
In effort to break up the driving back to the hotel, we pulled off the side of the road and found a babbling brook. The boys took off their shoes and walked through the water in socks. The temperature of the water was so cold it caused me to have flashbacks to my ice bath college days of two a day volleyball practices. It didn't seem to bother the boys that much at all.
Our final stop was the Natural Bridge. This was formed by the lava flow. The river flows through a tunnel in the rock downstream. The force that it goes through is insane...we were blown away by how quickly it gets through.
This crew just loves being outdoors together.
Streamers, banners and a bed full of balloons is what he woke up to.
One last important thing we wanted to do before we left was ride the trolly through the city.
It was chilly and quite a bit windy so we bundled up and rode all the way downtown to Union Square. Landon thought he was hot snot because he was able to stand up and hold on the whole ride with Bob.
After our trolly ride through the city, per Landon's birthday request we stopped by Krispy Kreme and Ghirardelli chocolates one more time before we left San Fransisco.
Carter was too sweet and bought Landon a dark chocolate caramel candy bar for his birthday.
We said "Goodbye" to San Fran and drove about 6 hours toward Medford, Oregon. On our way we were lucky enough to hike down to a waterfall right off our route.
Oh the water was so cold coming down from the mountains...brr!
Landon was rock climbing on the rocks surrounding the waterfall, slipped and fell in the water and soaked his clothes.
Our drive was long and we were so ready to be out of the car when we arrived in Medford. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express.
This was one of the first mountain/volcano that we were able to see along our trip...Mount Shasta.
Early Wednesday morning (July 24) we drove a few hours to hike through the redwoods. These trees were absolutely stunning in their size both in height and width. This was like a nature playground for the boys. It was hard to keep them from not climbing all over the trees and branches so we just decided to let them explore.
If you know our boys than you know about their love for sticks! We had a trunk load of sticks we collected throughout the trip and we added to them each day.
This photo is one of my absolute favorites of my 4 boys. The tree they are sitting on had fallen and the bark was so smooth the boys were sliding down the roots to the trunk.
After hiking we stopped in Grants Pass, Oregon to get on Hellgate JetBoat Excursion. Bob's coworker had suggested we try this out. This experience was out of this world. We all gathered on this jet proppelled boat and rode it down the Rogue River. During our trip the captain would splash us with water, do 360 degree water spins, and give us valuable information about the sights that surrounded us.
Look at how dry we all started out!!!
Maw Maw and I sat behind the boys in the second row and we were soaked by the time we got to dinner.
After riding down river for about an hour, they dropped us off at a private owned island with a lodge for a buffet dinner. The meal was delicious and open air.
After dinner we admired the deer in the yard. Carter was so quiet and sneaky he was able to get very close to the wildlife.
On the way back, we let Maw Maw ride in the front row with the boys with hopes she would stay dry.
What an amazing and unforgettable experience!
Each night we drove back to Medford to sleep and then headed out in the morning for a day trip to a new location.
Thursday (July 25) was our Crater Lake Day. We started by stopping off at some smaller hikes and taking in as much adventure as we could handle. The first trail led us to "Giant Boulders" where the boys threw rocks in the rushing water and got their feet wet.
Landon found another stick...surprise, surprise.
The water was beautiful to watch because it would just swirl around as it flowed downstream. It was crystal clear and cold as ice.
Below in the boulders is where we were hanging out earlier. It feels like a playground!
This waterfall below was just to the other side of the boulders.
It was quite a drive to get to Crater Lake because you had to drive up and around the mountains...when I say you, I really mean Bob had to drive. He was our tour guide throughout this whole trip. He is our vacation planner...always has been since I met him. He is so good at it. I just am along for the ride and all that comes with it.
We stopped and grabbed lunch at Subway earlier and took it to the top of Crater Lake to enjoy and sightsee.
That was one of the warmest days of the whole trip. We really didn't know too much about Crater Lake but learned a lot while we were there.
It is so breathtaking. The pictures don't do it justice but we were in awe of its beauty.
It was so cool to find a patch of snow. Of course we had to have a snow ball fight.
In effort to break up the driving back to the hotel, we pulled off the side of the road and found a babbling brook. The boys took off their shoes and walked through the water in socks. The temperature of the water was so cold it caused me to have flashbacks to my ice bath college days of two a day volleyball practices. It didn't seem to bother the boys that much at all.
Our final stop was the Natural Bridge. This was formed by the lava flow. The river flows through a tunnel in the rock downstream. The force that it goes through is insane...we were blown away by how quickly it gets through.
This crew just loves being outdoors together.
Comments