Crescent City

I am determined to create a post for each of our destinations this summer. It may take me until next summer, but I'm going to do it! =) After Joseph Stewart State park we headed down to Crescent City California. We had a lot of fun at the KOA there. They had a great playground that the kids enjoyed and we had fun at the beach. It was so cold, but my kids didn't care! They still ran right into the water. I was amazed because they had a hard time getting into Lost Creek Lake when it was over 100 degrees outside. I guess there is just something different about the ocean. It doesn't matter how cold the water is, you still have to chase the waves! We also enjoyed some S'mores. The kids enjoyed being able to make their own.

Joseph Stewart State Park

After the crazy weekend we landed into one of the nicest places we have stayed in. It was Joseph Stewart State Park. We were able to stay in an awesome spot that had lots of shade and was big enough to set up our swimming pool. The kids had a lot of fun wading in the pool.

Another benefit to this park is that it had a great park and a rock structure with spraying water and a little pond. The kids really loved that!! It was definitely nice since it was over 100 degrees every day we were there.

On two separate days we went to the lake and rented a pontoon boat. That was an awesome experience!! We had so much fun! The best part was finding the swimming docks in the middle of the lake. We were able to just park our boat on the dock and have fun jumping in and swimming around. This was so wonderful! Both days we took a picnic lunch and lots of drinks. Going to the shore wasn't so great because the land was made of a thick, yucky clay that we almost got stuck in. The second day we ended up just driving around the entire lake waiting for one of the swimming docks to be opened up. Once it was we spent a couple of hours on it and had a great time. Both days the kids ended the trip by taking a nap on the boat!!

We had a really great time at this park and hope to come again! Who would have known that such a crazy weekend would bring us to such a great place?

Crazy Weekend

Once we left Canyonville, we were in for an adventure! =) We left the Roseburg area around 12:00 and left to go to Diamond Lake. Well, when we got there, we were quite disappointed. The number of bugs there was overwhelming! There were just clouds of gnats. I have never seen anything like it before. The camping sites were cramped and difficult to get into. The one campground that looked okay didn't have any water hookups and we hadn't filled up with water before leaving. So, we went and stopped somewhere for dinner. While there, Jeff was able to fill up with water. However, the gnats were so thick that at one point Kallie's leg was black because it was covered in gnats! Then, we checked out the lake and it was disgusting because of the algae and junk in it. Therefore, we determined that this was not the place for us. So, we set off to search for somewhere else to stay. Well, if any of you have ever tried to find somewhere to stay on a Friday night without reservations, you know this was not an easy task. So, we drove for awhile and found a place called "Williamson River". Well, this place was okay, not great, but okay. For some unknown reason though, we decided not to stay here and keep traveling. By this time it was about 8:00 at night. We kept driving and found the most luxurious, best camping spot ever.....the Wal-Mart parking lot in Klamath Falls! Here is a picture - I couldn't believe it! =) Then, here is a picture of the front of our truck after driving through all of those gnats - disgusting! The next morning, we woke up and set out at about 10:00. Our plan was to go stay at the Klamath Falls KOA. Well, when we got there, we didn't feel like it was "speaking" to us, so we decided to go on and see if there was possibly anything available around Lake of the Woods. For some reason though, we didn't get out of Klamath Falls until around 3:00. We just kept driving around in circles! It was weird and frustrating! I didn't like the town too much after that! =) Anyway, we drove up to Lake of the Woods. It was gorgeous! I couldn't believe how beautiful it was up there. Unfortunately, everyone else had already discovered how beautiful it was. The campgrounds everywere around there were full. We just kept driving and checking and driving and checking, but to no avail. We got ourselves into a terrible spot at one point! We were checking out a campground that was down by a lake. We should have taken some sort of clue when the tent campers we were passing were staring at us with open mouths. Well, I started praying when I saw the tight squeeze we were going to have to make just to get down the hill. Next, the really hard part came - getting back up. It was a very tight turn and very steep! A 19 foot trailer would have been lucky to get out of this area and our trailer is 27 feet! I just kept praying and Jeff did get us out of there! When we left the tenters were all clapping there hands in amazement that we got out of there without a scratch. We're thinking it might have been nice if they had warned us first! =) Then, we drove down to the Howard's Prairie area, this place was pretty awesome also - but also full! We just kept driving and driving and driving. We finally ended up in Ashland at a hotel that had some hookups available in the back. We were amazed at our craziness! We stuck our noses up at okay places to end up in a Wal-Mart parking lot and the back end of a hotel!!! But, I have to say it was memorable!

We had a great time in Canyonville! Look at the great view!!

They had a wonderful indoor swimming pool that we took advantage of twice every day! Kyler really loved the swimming pool. There were some pre-teen boys who swam there most of the time when we were there. They were doing some great jumps and dives off the deep end of the pool. Kyler thought this was pretty cool and decided to imitate their jumps. He did a pretty good job! They thought it was great having a little four year old idolizing them and really encouraged his jumps. After awhile they would have Kyler jump first and then they would imitate him! They were some great kids. We have decided that Kyler just may be in the making for being on the Olympic diving team some day! =) We also really enjoyed Canyonville because we got to catch up with some friends. (I wish I would have taken pictures of them!!) My friend Dawn came to visit us a couple of times and even went swimming with us once. My kids really enjoyed getting to know her. Her house was the best to go to because she had lots of toys and a trampoline! I loved seeing her again and catching up with her. We also got to see my friend Lora and her husband Kevin. It was so much fun! Canyonville was also a great place to ride bikes. Kallie has almost figured out how!! Kyler is getting really good on his bike and learned how to go off curbs at this campsite! Kallie loves running after him while he is riding!

We stayed here from Monday until Friday morning. Then, the real excitement began!! I’ll write about that in another post!

pictures

I'm going to attempt to post the pictures again from when we were leaving for our camping trip. Then, there will be other posts to come.

Lowry Camping Trip - 2008

My family and I are now in full swing on our family camping trip for the summer of 2008. My plan was to post a page every day of our trip. Well, I am already way behind! I think that I will try to post as often as possible - at least one time every at every new campsite. Currently, we are staying in Canyonville which is in Southern Oregon. This is a great RV park! It has a wonderful indoor pool, great sites and a lot of trails to explore on our bikes. The view is beautiful. As I was sitting here typing on the computer I spotted a deer heading down the hill towards us. Kyer got a little closer to investigate and it scared the deer away. Kallie is sound asleep after a day of bike riding, swimming, and playing in the playground. We started our trip last Tuesday and only got as far as the Maryhill State Park. That was a great park as well! We went swimming in the river - boy was it cold! - and walked down to the fruit stand and got some peaches - those were delicious!! Next, we were on our way down to Canyonville when we drove through Portland and planned on saying a quick hello to Jeff's mom. Well, she didn't think that was a very good visit and we ended up staying until Monday! We are glad we did because we had a great Fourth of July! We are so glad, though, to finally be on the road for our camping trip. We don't have too many set in stone plans, but right now we think we are going to be heading to Diamond Lake next, then Joseph Stewart State Park, and then the beach. Finally, we are meeting Jeff's sister and family in Eureka, California to see the Redwoods on July 30th! It should be a fun month! I can't wait! I am going to attach some pictures of the day we were leaving on our camping trip. (the one of Kyler is posted just to show how excited he was to leave - he was too busy to take the time to put on clothes! :-)) Well, unfortunately, it looks like my pictures are not going to upload. I will have to try again later! =(

Tribute to a Lost Loved One

This post is to pay tribute to our dear puppy dog. Cayuse was put to sleep last week after an illness caused her to lose almost full use of her back legs. We miss her very much!

Nine years ago, when I moved into my house, I got Cayuse who was a year old at the time. She helped me feel safe at night when I was all alone. She kept me company and was always there to comfort me when I was feeling down. Cayuse always put a smile on my face because she was so full of energy and life everytime she saw me. She became a very big part of my life. Then, I got married and had children. In some ways, Cayuse took a backseat to these new loved ones in my life. However, she still greeted me by jumping around and wagging her tail everytime I came home. My children came to love her also and really began having fun throwing a ball for her to chase or just sitting by her and giving her hugs. Most of all, she was our camping dog. You could just tell how much she loved camping. She would get so excited when she saw the fifth wheel and the truck. She jumped around all over the place and would not let us out of her sight so that she could make sure we didn't leave her! =) We loved taking her to the beach and watching her leap like a deer over the waves. She loved the leftovers she was always sure to get when camping and she loved all of the walks we went for on the trails.

Cayuse brought us so much happiness. We will miss her!