On our drive to Eugene, OR we stopped at Clear Lake for a break from the winding roads. Just as the guy we met in Sisters said, this mountain lake was unbelievable. You'd swear you were in a swimming pool with bright blue water that was so clear, you could see the bottom 40 feet down. A few tree stumps still stood where you can float over them. We couldn't inflate our paddle boards fast enough. Judy enjoyed swimming and pull Shadow around the lake while of course chasing ducks. There's a small cabin with boats to rent and a snack shop. About 1/4 way down the road was a gorgeous waterfall. We made it to Eugene in time to eat at the Pizza Research Institute. You wouldn't know it from looking at the outside, but it was awesome! The pizza was crisp, yet not like a cracker and good quality ingredients which seems to be a theme in this town. Numerous people have described Eugene as if a bus dropped off a ton of hippies in the 60's and they never left. It has a great outdoor preservation with parks and greenways. A bicycle shops seems to be on ever corner along with a dog park. There are so many local produce stands that there's no need for grocery stores. We took a short 3 mile hike to Pierce Butte for a 360 degree view of the town. This is as close as we have gotten to feeling home. It's less then and hour from both a snow ski mountain and the beach. Still a little too big for us, but our fingers are crossed for Medford, Ashland, or Kalmath Falls.
After a few days scouting the local area we made our way down to the Redwood National Park. Unfortunately for Judy, she spent half of the days in Beulah since dogs are banned from hiking the trails there. We made it up to her by Shadow fishing in the evenings so she could run around the waters edge sniffing for Big Foot. One of our half day hikes was beautiful. The park service only allows 50 people a day to go. Any of the visitor centers can pass out the permits. We did a 4 mile loop which included the Tall Trees trail and a mile walk up river to join the Emerald trail. We stop for lunch on a fallen tall tree which we had to climb just to sit on its trunk. When we arrived a couple had just crossed the river and lost his shoe. Shadow had no problem jumping in after it to cool off. It was amazing to see the huge trees, but I recommend you see these first before going to the Giant Sequoia National Park. The Redwoods are taller, but the Sequoia are much wider.
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| Clear as a swimming pool |
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| Too comfortable at the RV park? |
Country Mouse and Shadow
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