BodesWell

Outdoor Paradise

Posted on September 6, 2009 by angela13 Comments

I’ve never been to Oregon (I know!), and I have found it to be wonderful. The whole state is set up for outdoor recreation and every citizen seems to take advantage.  Again, we took advice from a few readers and headed to Lake of the Woods. We set up our camp at a forest service campground right on the lake and then headed for the ‘resort’ area a short hike away. I love that all these camps have started calling themselves Resorts. It makes it seem like I’m on a completely different vacation.

Anyway, the Lake of the Woods resort has a restaurant, store, bar, cabins, and marina with free wi-fi. Bode explored and played on the beach and docks, but it was much too windy and cold to swim.  We enjoyed the amazing view from the deck, the grownups with a beer and Bode with a plate of fries.

It is at this beautiful resort during a charming game of Candyland, that my son attempted to stack the deck….and lie about doing it.  Although I was a little impressed at his card-sharking, we had to explain that hoarding the Princess Frostine card was uncool. And so, the game had to end. The night picked up when we met some really cool women with four girls. Bode had playmates for the evening as we enjoyed popcorn around the campfire.

Crater Lake was our next stop, and one I’ve always wanted to make. Arrival at the park coincided with nap-time, and Bode was crashed out in the back. There is something about a van doing 40 that knocks him out.

When we got to the Ranger Station, we were given these two options:  if you’re hungry, turn left and go clockwise around the lake, if you’re not afraid of heights turn right and go counter-clockwise around the lake.  Not wanting to question this logic, we decided we were not hungry and headed right.  We drove around Rim Drive and took in the scenery. It was a little overcast and windy, but the lake was still very blue and picturesque.

Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the US, and was formed inside a collapsed volcano. This concept was explained numerous times once Bode woke up.

Without a clear plan for what was next, we continued north. This is when things got ugly. Bode was in a mood and we were all too tired to deal with anything. We set out for a highly rated campsite near Bend, but one wrong turn later and we were lost.

It was getting dark and I just wanted a shower. Oregon is set up for camping, so it was fairly easy to find a random campground in only a few minutes. They didn’t have a shower, so I opted to leave the boys to themselves and hole up in the pop top and read. We arrived just before dark…and were out of there by our earliest start time yet….9:30.

–headed to Portland via McKenzie Pass