Oregon

We spent Fourth of July exploring Fort Rock State Park in Oregon. It was about an hour away from Bend. Fort Rock was created when basalt magma rose to the surface and encountered the wet muds of a lake bottom. It's hard to believe this used to be a lake.

Every Sunday after church we take a short trip if possible. The first Sunday in July found us at Todd Lake at the base of Mount Bachelor. We did not set out to go there, we stumbled upon it. The Lord has been so gracious to us.

We decided to make the two-hour drive south to Crater Lake National Park and we are so glad we did. It was an extraordinary sight. We didn't realize it was the deepest lake in the United States until we got there. It turned out to be the cherry on top of our overall Oregon volcanic adventures.

On Sunday afternoon we headed to Sahalie Falls and Koosah Falls, which are located along the West Cascades National Scenic Byway. It was a short but very beautiful trail. After that we went a couple of miles down the road to Clear Lake to have lunch and rent a boat. Clear Lake is a mountain lake that is primarily fed by snow runoff from nearby Mount Washington and the surrounding areas.

Smith Rock State Park is in the High Desert area so it was much warmer than Bend. The park is know for rock climbing and has more than 1,500 climbing routes! Climbers from all over the world come to climb. Also, Crooked River runs through the park, which adds to the park's beauty.

We sort of fell into the Newberry National Volcanic Monument by chance. We had no idea how much there is to see. We took three days to do it all, including: Lava Butte, Lava River Cave, Paulina Peak, and Newberry Caldera. It was pretty neat.

This are various photos of the area that didn't really fit into a specific excursion.

While in Bend we went just a few miles out of town to check out the Tumalo Falls Trail. It was totally worth it! So beautiful. We saw four waterfalls within two miles. The tallest, Tumalo Falls, is a 97-foot waterfall on Tumalo Creek, in the Cascade Range west of Bend.

The first weekend in Oregon we traveled to Sisters, Oregon for the Rodeo Parade and Rodeo. The town is small but so charming - very western. We also visited the High Desert Museum in Bend.