Lilah at Glacier National Park

Summer 2012: Travel Tip #2

My hubby and I have learned the hard way that pushing hard for very long distances in the van for 2 days or more results in very grumpy children, frustrated adults, and a road trip where no one is having much fun.  Since the idea of road-tripping is to actually see sights as you drive through the U.S., we decided to make more frequent stops this time around.  After leaving Southern Oregon, we stopped in Portland for a brief visit with my sister-in-law, a quick walk up to Multnomah Falls after leaving Portland, and also a short walking tour of a fish hatchery along the Columbia River Gorge where we saw some sturgeon that were over 50 years old and bigger than many sharks.  That night, we camped in  a National Forest in Idaho.  And the next day we reached our destination of Glacier National Park and camped there for two nights, as well.  So, the lesson we’ve learned is to make frequent stops, plan in several extra days for camping and sight-seeing en route to the destination, and make intermediate destinations between the start and end goal to break things up and keep everyone happy.   

National Forest camping stop-over.

Isabella enjoying the beauty of Glacier National Park.

One of the many old-time tour buses that makes the trek back and forth on the Goind-To-The-Sun-Road.

One of the many waterfalls being diverted through a waterway in the road.

More Oregon Adventures

My plan to keep blogging this summer has so far been thwarted by lack of internet access.  So, a digital record of our summer adventures is going to be more difficult than I anticipated, but nonetheless, I’ll try and do what I can.  Here’s a little recap of our last few days in Oregon.  My hubby and I went on our yearly date to Ashland, OR, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  We stayed at a lovely B&B in the hills above Ashland and saw a excellent production of Henry the V in the outdoor Elizabethan theater. 

Hubby on the beautiful grounds of the B&B.

Downtown Ashland.

At a local winery.

The next day, Augustus, Isabella, Arianna, and I went on a hike past Galice (an area where raft trips are launched on the Rogue River) to Rainie Falls.  The other girls stayed home with the grandparents.  We hoped to see the salmon jumping up the stream, but to no avail.  We were probably a week or so too early.  The great excitement came when we saw an otter swimming in the river and then saw him jump and play with yet another otter.  They then went to their den where we spotted at least 4 baby otters in a little cave by the river. 

Rainie Falls behind me.

A view of the Rogue River from above.

Our last big event was attending the annual Rooster Crow celebration on Saturday in Rogue River.  The girls always love attending the parade and walking around afterward to see the goings-on.  We were just beginning to watch the rooster crowing contest get underway (with actual roosters), when it started to rain.  Needless to say, we didn’t stay to see the rest, and I can only imagine that the roosters were not crowing to the best of their abilities in that wet atmosphere.  As much as we didn’t want our Oregon fun to end, we had to get on our way because we had places to see and go, so after packing on Sunday, we hopped in the van on Monday morning en route to Glacier National Park in Montana. 

Little D, cheering at the Rooster Crow parade.

The fam.