Oregon, Family & Fun July 2019

July 2019
2nd segment of our Alaska trip blog

Randy, Joyce & Uncle Dale at Crater Lake

Since we'd be in the northwest on our way to Alaska, we wanted to stop in and see Randy's uncle. He lives in Myrtle Creek Oregon. He invited us to stay at his place, and as a long-time rver he had full hookups for us. We felt so welcomed, as all the cousins arrived when we got to town. It was amazing that Randy & his cousins were raised almost 2000 miles apart, as their sense of humor and mannerisms are so much alike!

Crater Lake National Park was only couple hours away, and it was soon decided we needed to take a road trip there. 

Randy's Uncle Dale, & his 3 children Mike, Diana & Jim.

It was a tight squeeze but all 8 of us fit in RV for an evening of family time.

Uncle Dale had told us what time he served breakfast (for the deer). There were some guests that arrived an hour early but several knew the exact time!

The fawns were so precious and we loved to watch all of them.

Jim & Lou Ann, Ed & Diana, Joyce & Randy, Uncle Dale, Mike

On our way to Crater we made a stop at Clearwater Falls.

Diana & Ed recommended breakfast at Diamond Lake Lodge. We had a gorgeous view of  Mt. Bailey.

Joyce & Diana were so much alike. Both had to get their toes in Diamond Lake.

We finally arrived at Crater Lake National Park. The lake is such a beautiful BLUE! Yes it's actually the color shown in the pics! The lake is fed entirely by rain and snow. The color is due to it's depth and purity. It is America's deepest lake with a depth of 1,943 feet. 

Dale, Diana & Ed at Crater Lake

Panoramic of Crater Lake

The photo looks like it's been edited. All we kept saying was "Wow what beautiful blue color"

We loved staying with Uncle Dale and being around the cousins. We so enjoyed all the wildlife and nature on his mountain. 

We even got to celebrate Randy's birthday with family. Diana invited us over for dinner and fixed a yummy birthday cake for Randy. 

Uncle Dale also had turkeys that came up to eat.

Uncle Dale loved zipping around with Randy on his 4 wheeler. 

Dale took Randy up on his property, to a cabin that he & the boys had built.

Diana found her a boyfriend.

Can you see the family silliness?

Dale drove us up one of his trails but due to trees down we couldn't go any further.

Joyce couldn't keep up following Uncle Dale!

Randy "helping" Joyce wax the rv.

Uncle Dale had scaffolding and convinced us to stay and wax the rv. So the week we had planned to stay turned into THREE weeks. On the day we left all the cousins came by to see us off. Even Jim & Lou Ann stopped in on the way to a doctor appointment. What a wonderful time we had at Mrytle Creek!

After we left Mrytle Creek we headed towards Portland. We belong to Harvest Hosts (A membership which has farms, vineyards, museums etc that allow you to stay overnight at their farms or parking lots, for free. There are generally no hookups, and you're encourage to support their businesses.) We saw there was a place to stay not far out of Portland in the Willamette Valley. Various farms and vineyards make the valley their home, due to the fertile soil. The Hoffman Farm Store in Beaverton Oregon, raises and sells Blueberries, Blackberries, Marionberries, Raspberries, Strawberries, Tayberries and various other produce and products. They hosts wedding and other events on the weekends so you had to call for reservations. When we arrived we were directed back by one of their event barns. 

www.hoffmanfarmsstore.com/

You can see all the small farms in area around Hoffmans.

Our truck & RV,
 looking from the store across one of their parking lots.

In the evening we had the place all to ourselves, 
with just the sounds of the sprinklers.

The color of the blueberries let you know which were ripe.

Kelly, one of the owners was working in the store and was a great hostess. (Yes, we bought lots of various berries, small pies, jam, and even their yummy berry milkshake!)

The following morning we got our buckets from the store and walked among the bushes picking blueberries. They then weigh your harvest and you pay by the pound price.

Joyce loved being out in the field picking!

Yum, fruits of our labor!

While at Hoffman's, Joyce had seen that we'd only be a half hour drive from Portland's International Rose Test Garden. Joyce had gone there when Randy had a training class in 2008, but that had been in October so she wanted to see roses at their prime. And Randy had not seen the gardens. Yes it was worth the drive! The roses were gorgeous! Some of the roses are just numbered as till their trials end they are not named.

Joyce could bore you to death with ALL the rose pictures she took!

Joyce was in her happy place!😊

It was a quick tour, but we both enjoyed it and were amazed at all the rose varieties.

Uncle Dale and his family thoroughly spoiled us! We had such a great time with them in Oregon! Their sense of humor and loving gestures were such a blessing and hard to leave! But Alaska weather can turn snowy in September so we had to continue our travels north. Next stops were for the National Park geek (Randy) in Washington State, Mt. Rainer and Olympic. 

I John 4:7

Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. 

Whoever loves is a child of God and knows God.