Great Cats World Park
Posted September 25, 2008 by Rosalind Gardner · Filed Under Adventures
Enroute from Crater Lake to Crescent City, we stopped at Great Cats World Park in Cave Junction and enjoyed a personal guided tour of the park, while staff and trainers interacted with large and small cats including:
- African Lions
- Siberian Tigers
- Bengal Tigers
- White Tiger
- Black Leopards
- Snow Leopards
- Amur Leopards
- Jaguars
- North American Cougars
- African Serval
- African Caracal
- South American Ocelots
- Yukon Lynx
- Fishing Cat
- African Wildcats
- Geoffroy’s Cat
These animals have been featured in major motion pictures, such as “Vertical Limit”, and various TV shows and commercials, such as “The Crocodile Hunter”, “The Late Show with David Letterman”, “The Late, Late Show with Conan O’Brien”, “Newton’s Apple” and the “Today Show”.
I was especially enchanted with Sabah the Fishing Cat! Watching a cat catch fish in a pond is not something one sees everyday.
A sweltering hot day, we also appreciated the shade cloth and misters around the exhibits.
See our other pictures from the Great Cats World Park.
See the full list of places that we visited during our Washington / Oregon / California road trip
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A Walk Along the Rogue River Gorge
Posted September 25, 2008 by Rosalind Gardner · Filed Under Adventures
Enroute from Crater Lake to Crescent City, we stopped at the Rogue River Gorge trail, a 3.5 mile long trail that takes hikers to a spectacular view of the Rogue River cascading through a constricted channel of basalt lava.
Here is a description from the Rogue River National Forest website:
The trail starts at the Natural Bridge Viewpoint parking lot and travels upriver on the east side of the Rogue River. The Upper Rogue River Trail traverses the west side of the river. You pass by Natural Bridge and Union Creek Campgrounds before arriving at the Rogue Gorge, located just off Hwy. 62 north of the Union Creek Resort.
The gorge area offers an interesting display of pothole formations. These smooth depressions were sculpted into solid rock by the continuous spinning of small rocks churned by the swift river currents. They are especially obvious in a section of dry riverbed above the gorge.
A short loop hike is possible by crossing the Rogue River at the Natural Bridge Viewpoint footbridge and following the Upper Rogue River Trail to the Natural Bridge Campground, returning on the Rogue Gorge Trail to Natural Bridge Viewpoint.
I’ll just add that you don’t have to do the full trail, and that just doing the east side of the gorge in the early morning of a beautiful summer day makes for a very fine walk.
See our other pictures of the Rogue River Gorge.
See the full list of places that we visited during our Washington / Oregon / California road trip
Celebrate Oktoberfest in Leavenworth
Posted September 24, 2008 by Rosalind Gardner · Filed Under News
Oktoberfest in Leavenworth is the next best thing to being in Munich! There’s live music, German food, arts and crafts, Bavarian clothing sale, and activities for the whole family during the first 3 weekends in October.
Leavenworth’s own Musikkapelle Leavenworth will be joined by other musical groups from the US and Germany and Leavenworth’s Mayor will tap the keg at the Keg Tapping Ceremony that happens at 1:00pm every Saturday during Oktoberfest.
Diamond Lake Resort Review
Posted September 24, 2008 by Rosalind Gardner · Filed Under Adventures
Crater Lake Resort was fully booked when we planned this vacation and I should have known, based on the really tacky website, what we were likely to find at the Diamond Lake Resort.
As you can see from the picture, the setting is idyllic.
Idyllic, however, stopped at the lakeshore.
Two Days at Crater Lake
Posted September 23, 2008 by Rosalind Gardner · Filed Under Adventures
After my last road trip from B.C. down to California, I regretted that I hadn’t swung by and taken a look at Crater Lake. Getting to spend 2 days in the Crater Lake area on this road trip more than made up for that previous oversight.
Arriving in the evening of the first day and having checked in at the Diamond Lake Resort, Ed and I drove up to the rim via the North Entrance to watch the sunset. Although clouds prevented that from happening, we were truly stunned by our first view of the lake.
Lava Lands at the Newberry National Volcanic Monument
Posted September 22, 2008 by Rosalind Gardner · Filed Under Adventures
Leaving Bend, Oregon for Crater Lake on Highway 97, it’s impossible to miss the Lava Lands at the Newberry National Volcanic Monument which includes some 50,000+ acres of lakes, lava flows, and spectacular geologic features.
We wheeled in and while waiting for our time slot to drive to the top of Lava Butte, we toured the Visitor Center and did the “Trail of Molten Land” which meanders over the 7000 year-old lava flow.
Around the Bend in Bend, Oregon
Posted September 21, 2008 by Rosalind Gardner · Filed Under Adventures
After our day at the John Day Fossil Beds, we spent the night and half the next day in the lovely high-desert plateau city of Bend, Oregon - population in excess of 70,000. After all that hiking and driving, it was great to see a Starbucks again!
It was also great to stumble upon what has become my new favorite store, the World Market which stocks a fabulous collection of international foods. Ed and I nearly filled the car with treats, a number of which I’ve loved since childhood but are impossible to find locally, including lacies and stroop waafels. Translated from Dutch to English, I suppose that would be ’syrup waffles’? Basically, they’re yummy cookie wafers filled with ooey-gooey syrup.
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
Posted September 20, 2008 by Rosalind Gardner · Filed Under Adventures
During our trip planning, I happened to spot John Day Fossil Beds National Monument on the map, and after just a minute or two of poking around the Internet to see pictures of the place, we both knew that it was a ‘must-visit’ destination.
The Monument consists of three separate chunks of land including the Sheep Rock, Painted Hills, and Clarno Units. Coming from the north and east, our first stop was the Sheep Rock unit where the visitor center is located. The Thomas Condon Paleontology Center features exhibits, interpretive programs, and audiovisual presentations on fossils, geology, and the processes of paleontology.
Dry Falls and the MegaFlood
Posted September 19, 2008 by Rosalind Gardner · Filed Under Adventures
Dry Falls is one of the greatest geological wonders in North America — a former waterfall that now stands as a dry cliff 400 feet high and 3.5 miles wide. When active, this waterfall was ten times larger than Niagara Falls.
The falls were created following the catastrophic collapse of an enormous ice-dam holding back the waters of what has been named “Glacier Lake Missoula”. Water covering three thousand square miles of northwest Montana was blocked behind a glacial dam until the rising lake penetrated, lifted and then blew out the ice dam.
Comments, Questions and Suggestions
Posted September 19, 2008 by Rosalind Gardner · Filed Under News
Leave a comment, suggestion or question for us below. We’ll be able to see it no matter where in the world we may be… provided we have access to the Internet!! 
