Author: Easin' Along

We drove to Sea and Sand RV Park in Depoe Bay, Oregon, from Crater Lake. The campground overlooks the Pacific, and the crashing waves plus a couple of magnificent sunsets added greatly to our relaxing time there. I’m going to save the rest of the story for a later date because Easin’ Along is woefully out of step in time, and I need to move ahead to be a bit more current.

We traveled about 250 miles northeast to Yelm, Washington, to meet up with my sister, LeAnn, and brother-in-law, Marty, from Depoe Bay. My sister is a special person and a lot of fun to be around. Marty is a helluva guy, a great husband, and a great dad. He is one of those handy fellows that can do almost anything with his hands.  Helen and I always have a great time when we’re with them.

Le and Marty have a permanent home on the east coast of Florida, but a few years ago, discovered a unique community in the State of Washington, not too far from Mt. Rainier National Park.  Looking around for a place to park their motorhome, they ventured into a former logging camp that is now a neighborhood of single-family homes and RV lots with full hook-ups. Campers may park their motorhomes and trailers on the RV lots from May to November.  Eager to escape the summer heat of Florida, Le and Marty purchased two adjoining lots and established a summer paradise that any RVer would envy

Their shaded lots overlook a lovely lake stocked with trout.  A tree-lined path surrounds the lake and affords users a delightful area for a morning exercise walk. Marty put his skills to work and improved both lots by adding terraces and walkways to the deck and adjacent campfire pits, plus improved a small shed on one of the lots for his tools and gardening equipment. Evenings spent around the campfire are always fun. We parked Dora on the second lot and settled in for four days of fun in the forest.

Last summer, we hiked through the wildflowers atop Mt. Rainier (photo at top). However, that opportunity evaded us this year because Mt. Rainier still had several feet of snow blanketing the mountain trails. Le and Marty took us hiking in Deschutes Falls State Park instead. The melting snow from nearby mountain peaks allowed the streams and the waterfall to put on quite a show for us. After our hike, we replenished our calorie count with Chili, Chicken Fried Steak, and Barbeque at Jim Bob’s Chuck Wagon.

The next day, we decided to liven things up somewhat and drove an hour or so to Woodinville, WA, to sample the offerings at Chateau St. Michelle Winery. We arrived in the early afternoon and received immediate seating on the outdoor patio.  A very knowledgeable server gave an impressive presentation of the characteristics of each of the four wines in the sample (carefully noting that full bottles are available in the store on our way out). We had trouble choosing a favorite because all were excellent.

For our last full day, Le and Marty wanted to take us for a walk along the shore of Puget Sound in Olympia.  The weather was perfect for beach walking. My sister enjoys collecting Agates found on the sand, then smoothing the surface of them in her rock polisher.  By the end of our day, she had a handful, as did Helen. I don’t have a passion for Agate hunting, choosing instead to take pictures of the scenery around Puget Sound and the state capitol building in Olympia.  I did not lack scenes to shoot. All I can say is, “what a glorious day!”

We left our spot in the woods thinking that we’ve had some great stops on this journey, but this one was hard to top. We can’t thank Le and Marty enough for going all out and making this visit so memorable. Helen and I will try hard to repay them at some point, just not sure how. Hugs and an outpouring of thanks will have to do for now.

We’re Easin’ Along to Whidbey Island, WA, for our next chapter in this adventure. Our campsite is in Sunset Harbor, and it is aptly named. Join us next week–I’m confident that you’ll love the place almost as much as we did.

Crater Lake in Oregon was a “must-see” for Helen, and we booked a campsite well in advance of this trip. Our home for this leg of our journey is Diamond Lake RV Park in Diamond Lake, Oregon. The campground is adjacent to the Umpqua National Forest and Crater Lake National Park. Massive trees surrounded our campsite and gave us an authentic feel for life in the Great Northwest.

Crater Lake was less than ten miles from the campground. We rose early on our first morning there and drove northward to the first overlook above the water. The closer we came to the overlook, the more snow we encountered on each side of the road. Maintenance crews had cleared snow from the parking lot, but heavy, packed snow blanketed the ground between our truck and observation point. Helen, using a hiking pole, negotiated the distance carefully. A slip-up could prove costly!

We visited the overlook on two days during this visit. On our first day, we experienced cloudy skies, and we decided to return the next day, hoping for better weather. The second day was an improvement over the first, but I’m not sure that we needed better skies. Crater Lake is fantastic! Lake Tahoe is blue, but Crater Lake sets the standard for blue water.

Snow and rain are the only sources of water for Crater Lake–that’s it. No streams or springs add water to the basin, and the water accumulated is as close to pure as can be found anywhere on earth. The blue color of Crater Lake results when its pure water absorbs all the colors of the spectrum except blue, which gets reflected to the viewer. At 1949 feet in depth, Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States. I took a lot of pictures of both Crater Lake and Wizard Island.

Helen obtained a brochure at our campground and discovered that six waterfalls existed within about ten miles of us. We decided that we would visit them all for our next day’s outing. In the interest of full disclosure, some of the waterfall details came from Helen’s brochure. I added a picture of each one. The melting snowpack caused each waterfall to put on quite a show.

Toketee Falls
A tiered falls with the upper descent dropping 40 feet and the lower falls plunging 80 feet. The moderate trail is about a half-mile one way. “Toketee” is a Native American word for graceful.

Watson Falls
This majestic, plunging waterfall is the highest in southwest Oregon and drops 293 feet. The trail is also about a half-mile and is rated moderate. Watson Falls roared on our visit.

Whitehorse Falls
A punchbowl waterfall located next to a campground and required little effort to view from an overlook. Whitehorse Falls drops about 15 feet.

Clearwater Falls
We walked only 400 feet to this waterfall, a segmented fall that cascades over moss-covered rocks and logs. Clearwater Falls drops about 30 below the Clearwater River.

We visited the four waterfalls on the first day of our outing and saved the remaining two waterfalls for the following day due to the length of the hikes involved in reaching them.

Lemolo Falls
The word “Lemolo” is Chinook for “wild’ or “untamed.” It is a horsetail waterfall that plunges 102 feet into a deep pool. The hike to Lemolo is 1.5 miles, and we started under threatening skies and cool temperatures. The trail rated as “moderate” suffered from a lack of moderation. We went up and down many hills along the route, which followed a beautiful river. After about a mile or so, we hit a snag. A colossal tree blocked the remainder of the path to Lemolo Falls. Some helpful person had carved a step into the tree trunk, which allowed me to climb the structure, but it was too high for Helen to even think about. She pouted a bit but agreed that we had walked too far to abandon the mission. I went ahead and photographed the waterfall. The water volume was incredible.
I returned to the tree to find Helen pacing about, sure that bears lurked in the wilderness. I climbed back over the big tree, and we began our return to the truck…just as the rain started to fall. The further we walked, the harder it rained. By the time we reached the truck, we were soaked.

Our visit to the sixth waterfall will have to wait for another day.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Crater Lake and every place we visited in the State of Oregon.

We’re delighted to have you Easin’ Along with us. Come back next week, and we’ll take you to Depoe Bay for surf, sand, and oysters.