After La Pine State Park we decided to start working our way slowly south, and picked out Farewell Bend Campground, on the upper Rogue River, as our next stop. It turned out to be one of our favorite campgrounds of all our travels, which is saying something.

Farewell Bend Campground is located in a stand of towering old growth Douglas Fir and Ponderosa Pines along the banks of the Rogue River. The Rogue cuts through old lava flows here in a series of waterfalls, rapids, narrow gorges. The lava was laid down in layers from a few inches to a couple feet thick, and at Farewell Bend erosion has turned these layers into natural patio areas along the river, with numerous flat spots, steps, seats, and potholes, which are ideal for lounging on a beautiful day. There were even natural sandboxes where large potholes were filled with sand. These gorgeous areas, each of which would have been significant tourist attractions anywhere east of the Mississippi, were tucked behind the campsites without any signs or formal trails indicating their presence. It was refreshing to be somewhere where you could discover fantastic scenic spots on your own.

We didn’t have any reservations for the campground, but like most Forest Service campgrounds 40% of the spots were first-come, first-served. We lucked into a huge site on the edge of the river with massive Ponderosas and Douglas Firs, and a nice rock patio area on the river.

Less than a quarter mile downstream from Farewell Bend is the gorgeous Rogue River Gorge, where the river tumbles over large waterfalls into a deep and narrow slot. Just beyond that was the ideal amount of nearby civilization: a small ice cream shop, general store, small restaurant, and nothing else.

We spent most of our days playing by the river, exploring the immediate area, and just relaxing.

One day we got ambitious and did a hike along the river. The plan was for Ma to drive the Toad down to Natural Bridge, a scenic spot three and a half miles down the river, and then hike back on the trail, and then after lunch the family would all hike down the river together and take the car back. The plan went a bit awry when Ma accidentally took the wrong trail at Natural Bridge, had to backtrack quite a ways, and then walked along the highway to get back instead of trying to find the right trail. However, the family hike back down the trail went smoothly, and Little Kid walked the whole way, albeit slowly for the last portion.

Another day the kids tubed together down a calm stretch of the river. The water was cold, but the kids loved it. Big Kid especially liked tubing by herself through a narrow gorge; the current was swift and just rough enough to make it exciting without being dangerous. On our last day on the Rogue everyone jumped in the river, even little kid.

We spent about a week at Cinder Hill Campground, in Newberry National Volcanic Monument, along the shores of East Lake, which was formed when the Newberry Volcano’s caldera collapsed. We got an amazing campsite on top of the hill above the lake, with a nice flat area right on the lake where we left the canoe. There were lots of awesome volcanic rocks around the campsite, such as obsidian, a sharp, glassy black rock, and pumice, a white or grey bubbly rock that was so light it floated. There was also something else strange around our campsite: crazy chipmunks! Both Ma and Pa had chipmunks climb on them and one even nibbled Pa’s toe!

We spent most of our time canoeing around the lake, checking out beaches, cliffs and other cool things. One day, we paddled to the hot springs on the other side of the lake. The first springs were barely warm, and we were pretty disappointed, but we paddled a little farther and we found a spring that was pretty hot. We also spent one afternoon hanging out on a beautiful sand beach.

One day, Pa, Little kid, and I went to a lava tube, which is a long cave formed when lava flows through a channel and the top hardens. It was super cool! My favorite part was where a sign said that the highway crossed over the lava tube there!

We also went to the Big Obsidian Flow, which was basically a big mound of obsidian and pumice. After that, we drove to Paulina Falls, an amazing twin water fall. We had a picnic lunch there before heading back up to the car.

The next day, we moved to another campground not too far away, called La Pine State Park. From there, we took the Jetta to a trail that went to Paulina Plunge, a natural rock water slide. Little kid and I had a ton of fun sliding down the slick rocks, even though we did get a little cold. Pa also went! But then it started to sprinkle a bit, so we packed up and started heading back. The sprinkle quickly turned into pounding rain, and for a few minutes, it actually hailed! When we got back to the car, we were soaked.

With the relentless wind, a rainy forecast and a desire to explore places we have never been, we left the coast and headed east. After the drive from hell (those darn kids) we arrived at lovely Crooked River Campground at Cove Palisades State Park on Lake Billy Chinook, about an hour north of Bend, Oregon. Lake Billy Chinook is a reservoir, with three rivers flowing into it.

We spent our days at the lake either playing at the beach or out canoeing. Our favorite paddle was up the Deschutes River, where we canoed far enough to see the canyon walls narrow and the water turn from green lake water to clear river water. We went as far upstream as we could, until the opposing current was too strong to paddle against. We found a beautiful spot to pull up on shore and enjoy a picnic lunch. Becca even braved the icy temps for a short swim in the river.

We also spent some time hanging around camp, where the kids had fun playing with the other young campers. Jay tried out skateboarding and Becca had a go on a Ripstick. There was also lots of bike riding, tree climbing, frisbee tossing and running around.

But, without a doubt, if you ask the kids, the highlight was our last day when we rented a ski boat! For four hours we zoomed around the lake and the kids had a great, crazy time being towed in a tube behind the boat!

Because we procrastinated on making summer plans we were not able to get any reservations on the coast for the July 4th weekend, so on July 1st we headed 18 miles inland to Blackberry Campground on the Alsea River, the only nearby campground where we could get reservations for July 1-5.

Blackberry Campground is a US Forest Service campground, so we kind of assumed we would be in the middle of forest with hiking trails, etc. Turns out, Blackberry is on a small parcel of Federal land surrounded by vacation homes and small farms. We like to go for long walks and explore, but the only place to walk was around the campground loop and along the adjacent highway, which left us feeling a little claustrophobic.

On the plus side, the weather was warmer than the coast and the river next to the campground was shallow enough for the kids to play in. Big Kid and Little Kid had tons of fun exploring pools, catching crawdads, and riding an inner tube down the mild rapids

After two days in camp we decided to break out and take the Toad for a drive along the nearby coast to scope out the first-come first-served campsites available there. We had burned out on researching campgrounds and making reservations after getting through the end of June, so we had no reservations for anything after the Fourth of July and needed to find where we would go after Blackberry. After striking out at the first campgrounds we scouted, we found first-come first-served spots available at Rock Creek Campground on the coast halfway between Yachats and Florence. The campground was nestled in a beautiful rainforest valley with towering Douglas Firs, and was a short walk from an incredibly scenic beach. We paid for a spot and then went back and packed up and moved, leaving Blackberry two days early.

While we were at Rock Creek Ma and the kids went to nearby Yachats for their Fourth of July parade while I stayed home resting an injured toe. According to Ma, it was not your typical Fourth of July parade: there were more tie dye and peace signs than American flags, and the parade included a wedding party, with the bride and groom on top of a wedding cake float.

While Rock Creek was a beautiful setting, the constant near gale force wind of the Oregon coast kept us off the beach in the afternoons, and even in our valley the wind was strong and cold enough to keep us inside most of the time, so once again we started researching where to go next. We quickly settled on bopping over the Cascades to the high desert region of Central Oregon, and after three nights at Rock Creek, we were on the move again.

We spent nine days in Nehalem Bay State Park, which is located on a spit of land between the ocean and the bay. Every morning, we went down to the beautiful beach to play. Jay played with sand, I did some boogie boarding, mom read, and dad dug giant holes. Dogs were allowed off leash on the beach, so we brought Barney with us and let him romp around the dunes. The first few days, we went all the way down to the beach and tried to build shelters to protect us from the biting wind, but then we discovered that it was much easier to just hunker in the dunes. One day, we walked the two miles on the beach to the town of Manzanita, where we walked around for awhile and got ice cream.

The afternoons were far too windy to play on the beach, so we spent them hanging around camp, playing at the playground, and hanging out at the bay. At the bay, we found a super steep sand slope that was a ton of fun to roll down. At the bottom of the slope, someone had built a couple of log shelters that Jay and I played in and improved.