2/3rds of the Way Through!

Sorry for the long delay in posts, but we haven't had wifi (weefee as Phil likes to call it) for quite a while.

Day 12:

After waking up to a delicious breakfast at Annie and Aarons and hitting the local coffee house we headed to Crater Lake National Park (per Annie and Aarons recommendations). We certainly weren't disappointed.
It's a gorgeous lake at the top of what once was a volcano. Dawson, Connor, Phil and Tim climbed out to a point above the lake where I could take some great shots of them.

It took a bit of rock climbing to get back up, Phil decided to go barefoot.
After spending some time at Crater Lake, and making an extensive bathroom stop, we loaded up and headed to the cost. Four hours later, we arrived at a little deserted beach near Florence Oregon where we had a very late lunch.
After satisfying our appetites with Rammen and PB&J sandwiches we headed down the cost to find a place to spend the night. After a long drive along a very scenic road (and a speeding ticket in one of the small towns along the cost) we arrived at a coastal RV park and set up camp.
Dawson took a cool shot of the ocean in the moonlight.
That night Phil decided to sleep on the beach. He looked like a homeless man in the morning, with Dawson's stuffed turtle for a pillow.


Day 13:

That morning we packed up and headed down to Redwood National Park. We stopped along the way to see Paul Bunyan and his loyal ox Babe. Paul Bunyan talked to us about our traveling Gnome for a bit.
Soon after, we arrived at a beautiful campsite called Gold Beach Bluffs. It had the ocean on one side, and the red woods on the other. Sarah's whale Richard quickly made himself at home.
Dawson quickly set up the three hammocks he brought so we could relax for the next two days in our new home.
Later that day, Connor, Tim and Dawson went exploring. They climbed up on a cliff overlooking the camp,
found a hummingbirds nest,
and discovered that the forest was as close to a jungle as you can get in North America. The shrubbery was over their heads and the only way to move about was on the giant fallen trees.


That night we all relaxed in front of the fire while Dawson took night shots.

Day 14:

After their adventure on the previous day, Dawson, Tim and Connor decided to explore further into the forest. We all put our safari gear on and headed into the jungle. It was like something out of Jurassic Park.


Dawson and Phil found a springy tree.


On the way out we found a path that led us about three quarters of the way out, but then we had to drop down into a canyon. It was a really tight, wet, squeeze with a ten foot drop at the end. We were quite muddy by the time we reached the car.