After about a week in Sacramento we set off for our next family adventure. We drove up to Oregon to eventually meet up with my side of the family in Bend for a few days. But first, we opted for some family camping along the way.
Oregon is just plain beautiful. There is so much gorgeous scenery along the way.
I am so over long drives in the car and this is namely why. When we drive, we try to make as few stops as possible. Although, Emmerson always has to go potty at the most inconvenient times. That's a whole other story to tell. But the junk food eating... ugh.
Long trips in the car make some of the riders happier than others.
We stopped off in Klamath Falls to pick up some camping essentials. (More snacks) There wasn't a whole lot to see in Klamath. We finally stumbled across this random Mexican Restaurant where we decided to settle for a stretch point and a late lunch. We were all so giddy at this point and since there was no one else in the restaurant, the kids decided to turn the aisles into a full blown dance party.
Back to the car to the camp spot. We were pleasantly surprised that this randomly selected camp ground was as scenic and peaceful as it was.
But don't let these summer dressed kids fool you... it was FREEZING and I wasn't quite prepared for that.
We found our reserved camp spot and set up shop. (And by we, I mean Dustin).
Ta-da!
Next up, fishing in the gorgeous lake that was just steps from our tent site.
Dad gave everyone a lesson in selecting the right bait.
And a few more tips for the fisherman.
And off he went.
The girls and I watched on and mostly huddled together to keep warm. The wind off of the lake was icy cold.
Back to the tent we went to cuddle in our sleeping bags while Daddy made dinner. This is Taylor pretending to be a spooooooky monster.
This is my man in his element. It's like a kid in a candy shop watching him play with all of his camping toys. Jet boil in tact... now time for some top ramen.
Here's Emmerson playing her best version of mommy to Taylor while we got the camp fire up and running.
Brrrrr!
Dinner was served and every one of the kids enjoyed the top ramen. It was a camping miracle!
And no camping trip was complete without s'mores.
When the sun went down... late (around 9:30) we were more than ready for bed. We all crawled into the tent and snuggled in our sleeping bags. Disclosure... we did bring my laptop and we fell asleep watching Mary Poppins Returns. I can't imagine Taylor ever falling asleep if we hadn't had that nice little distraction to get her to lie in one place. The night was long. I tossed and turned all night. Donovan wiggled his way out of his bag and covers on more than one occasion so I had to keep picking him up and putting him back in. Taylor and I shared a sleeping bag which was... well, let's just say there wasn't a ton of sleep happening. But we made it and it was such a fun memory made together.
Tired parents on an icy cold morning.
We only did the one night of camping before we were off again. I think we could definitely have squeezed in an extra night or two if we had brought warmer clothes.
Mid-morning we set off for Bend. But instead of taking the fastest route, Dustin wanted to drive up a scenic way to make sure that we got to stop off at Crater Lake. I had never seen it before and Dustin has lots of childhood memories of visiting with his own family as a kid.
Our kids have never seen snow before. Go figure they actually get to see it in the middle of summer!
When we got to the top we took in the insanely gorgeous views. Crater Lake was once a volcano that exploded thousands of years ago. Then the remaining crater has filled with nothing but rain water and snow run off. It's the purest and bluest water... just gorgeous!
I should have known when we saw the other tourist dressed in full on snow gear as we made the drive up. It was absolutely freezing. In fact, a few minutes into our walking around, the wind kicked up and we were in the midst of a full blown snow storm. I took videos and the picture doesn't do it justice. But the kids were beside themselves. It was snowing!!!!
We stayed for about an hour until it just got too cold to handle. Then back in the car for a few more hours until we arrived in Bend.
