Renee June 26: Who Doesn’t Love a Waterfall, Part 1

We have picked ourselves up and moved yet again, this time inland from the coast to the Salem Area; a state park named Silver Falls. I would place this state park on the very top of my list of state parks, and I have been to quite a few in my travels. It was spotless, scenic, GREEN, the campsites enshrouded with foliage, the trails for walking, hiking, and mountain biking were thoughtfully designed and nature decorated the paths with some of the most beautiful scenery and flora ever!

Ok, enough gushing about that, now onto the gushers, or I mean, waterfalls. We had identified the Trail of the 10 Waterfalls early in our trip as a site we wanted to tackle. It had been recommended to us be close friends who had lived in Oregon. So we set about devising a way to conquer an 8-mile hiking loop that would not kill any chances for future hiking on this whirlwind trip. We knew it was an uphill battle we were facing. So we cut it in near half and drove the jeep to one of the closer fall sites, that just happened to have a small parking area nearby, and did a 3.5 mile jaunt this date to see 4 waterfalls. We didn’t tell the kids how far we were hiking so as to cut down on the whining until the last possible minute.

Our first one was the Upper North Waterfalls, a beautiful, wide cascade fall over rocks and that fell to a beautiful and large wading pool that was inviting us to come hither. We were all frustrated that we didn’t wear bathing suits that day because that pool was calling the Micek name. So we waded out into it and otherwise just sat enjoying the spray lacing our skin for a few minutes until other hikers came upon us. I will tell you now that this was is my favorite.


Onward to the next fall, The North Waterfall. Catching a theme here? Wait until tomorrow’s post to hear all the other original names. The North Waterfall was more of a shear drop, plunging 136 feet to its pool at the bottom. Next to its sheer size, the best thing about this fall is that the path led behind the falls and benches were located along the way to allow for reflecting and gazing and amazing, of which we took advantage.

Next up was the Twin Falls. A bit of a misnomer as viewing it was difficult from the angle we had from the trail, but we were unsure why it got that particular name. The best we could surmise was that there was a large rock in the middle at the top of the falls that seemed to divide it into two, but we cannot confirm because of the difficulty we had viewing it. But from what we could see, the cascade was pretty, though not nearly the size of our first cascade fall.

By this point, the grumbling was getting louder, so Craig and I were looking for distractions. We started counting bridges (9) along the way and naming them. We were also trying to identify some of the foliage along the way. We spied some very interesting berries that had the appearance of a large raspberry, but orange in color. We had seen some of these on the trail to Munson Falls yesterday, so Craig tried one; he thankfully didn’t keel over, but he said they were rather bland, definitely not of the raspberry flavor. We found out they were Salmon berries and that the bears and other wildlife do prefer them. They were definitely plentiful in Silver Falls State Park. We also identified a plethora of Sword ferns and Maidenhair ferns, Oregon Maples and some clover we remembered from the Redwoods. That’s pretty much it for our horticultural knowledge. There was a lot of “Leaves of 3” plants but couldn’t identify any thing specifically so we just told the kids to not touch. We’re great ones to have in the forest!

The last leg of today’s hike unfortunately led us up a steep climb to our last fall for the day, Winter Falls. This one was also just a bit disappointing. I say that ironically as our first 2 falls were so spectacular and we already know that tomorrow’s hike hold the best falls yet. But we found out that this fall was so named because it gets it water supply mainly from winter snows and run-off, making the best viewing, you guessed it, in the winter and very early spring. So after a quick rest break here, we attacked the last couple switchbacks and finally reached our vehicle, gladly.

We returned to the Motorhome and the kids donned their swimsuits and bikes in order to head over to the swimming hole. The park had semi-dammed the creek running through the park at this area, allowing for a widened wading pool-type area for those wanting to cool down. Leah and Matt jumped at the opportunity, though the water was a mite chilly. Arizona kids are so spoiled!

We returned to the campsite for some dinner and Craig gave a lesson in marshmallow roasting. I have to admit his marshmallows are pristine!

Leah June 26: Switching Campsites, Hooray! Hiking, Oh NO!

Today was another travel day But once we got settled in to our campsite we went on a hike. It was hard! We hiked 3 1/2 miles of up and down like the trail couldn't decide where to go. But the god thing was that we saw 4 waterfalls. We even got to go behind one. The last part of the trail was the hardest to hike because it was switchbacks all the way out.
We finally got to our car after 2 hours of hiking. When we finally got back to the motorhome we got our swim suits on. After we got them on we wnet to the swimming area. It was cold! My body got used to it after a few minutes. I tripped on the rocks so I got my body submurged in the water. I got out after that. When I was dried off we went back to the motorhome. After we had dinner we made our beds. Then we read and went to bed.

Renee June 28 & 29: Dropping Anchor in Portland

We made our final move toward Portland today, arriving just before noon to set up camp, relearn the ropes for sewer management (scenes from the movie “RV” are replaying over and over in my mind), receive instructions for transferring pictures from camera to computer, and catch up on any other instructions for keeping the RV in working order for the 9 or so days Craig will be back in Phoenix. All this needed to be done prior to Craig departing on the plane in 3 hours. No sweat; after all, the airport is only 5 minutes from the RV Resort.

But wait…is that a train I hear? I think it is heading right for us. Craig chooses that moment to tell us that this particular park has a train running directly behind the it which is one row over from where we are parked. This is not sounding good at all! So we never get to relearning how to set up the grill, how to reconfigure the thermostat settings, or clarifying what keys are for what on the four separate key rings which I just know will become critical at some point in this next week. But! We did not plan for rush hour traffic, stupid of us. We did not think the most direct route would be under construction. We also did not plan that the road we were on would pass only 3 cars through each green light. It will be sufficient to say that Craig pulled off a full sprint into the airport as the kids and I fling ourselves headlong into rush hour traffic going the other way. Amazingly, Craig reports later that he sailed through security, and was in his seat in record time. What is more amazing is that I found a more expedient route home, also in record time. Sometimes I think we function better when we operate under the divide and conquer principle.

So we arrived home and had about 2 hours before my parents, sister, and 5-year old nephew arrive in town. They have planned to visit us and our Portland relatives during our stay here in Portland. We were glad to see them and they were ecstatic to arrive here as they had just spent two long days driving out to Oregon from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. After catching up on each others trip happenings and having pizza we all called it a day and simultaneously vowed that tomorrow would be a down day. No traveling!

So that is just what we did. We all tried to sleep in, after allowing for train schedule, which we determined was bi-hourly throughout the night. We sat around inside all morning because of the rain, but finally ventured out in the afternoon between rain showers to give Bryce his first lesson on riding a scooter. Leah also sharpened her skills on riding my bike and is now making a bid for a new bike as hers is too small, of course. Grandma and Grandpa Tschudy and Aunt Roxy even joined the kids in a rousing game of infield baseball. That was a sight! That was also enough excitement for our rest day. Maybe we will actually leave the RV park tomorrow!

Leah June 28 & 29 Grandma, Papa, Bryce and Roxy

Today was a quick travel day. When we got to the campsite we got settled in. Not even 5 minutes after we arrived we found out that a train came right by our campsite!

Dad is leaving today so we took him to the airport. It was rush hour when we took Dad. So traffic was horrible. We finally got him there after a long time of navigating through the city.

When we got back to the motorhome, we had dinner and watched TV. We didn’t do much until grandma, papa, Bryce and Roxy came. We all watched TV for a while then we got some pizza because they were starving. Then Bryce, Matt, and I played the games there. I won a bouncy ball. When we got home it was 10:00 so we went to bed.

The next day we did basically nothing. We slept in, then we had breakfast. Then we watched TV for a long time. So long that the parents went to lunch and got back and even longer. We got our swimsuits on and right after we got them on the clouds made it look like it was going to rain.

So we went to the playground instead. When we got to the playground, Bryce and I went on the slide and Matt went on the swings. It started sprinkling so the slide was slipprier. Then everyone said it was time to go home. Then we had dinner. After dinner Matt and I taught Bryce how to ride a scooter. He really liked it. Then I made hot chocolate for everyone and went to bed.

Matt June 28 & 29: Our Family is Coming to Town

Today we are traveling to another campsite, and our relitives are coming to town. We got to the campsite in no time. We didn’t think that our relitives would come today, but they did. But today dad had to leave. Shortly after he left they came in. Our relitives are Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Roxy, and Cousin Bryce. Soon we went out to pizza with Great Aunt June. After diner Leah, Bryce, and I went to play games. I won a bounce ball, Leah won a bounce ball too, and we got Bryce a bounce ball and a hacky sack. Just as we were about to leave we found a toy solder next to one of the machines. We gave it to Bryce. Then we left.


The next day we stayed at the campground. We went to the playground. We played on the swings. Later we played baseball. Grandma, Papa, Roxy, Bryce, Leah, and I played. We played for awhile and we walked to the camper. At the camper we rode our bikes and scooters. We also taught Bryce how to ride. Then we had dinner. Right after we cleaned up dinner, rain started to come down. Soon we went to bed.

Matt June 26: Another Travel Day

Today we traveled to Salem, the Capital of Oregon. The trip went by in the wink of an eye. It went really fast. When we got to the campsite, we unhooked the jeep and hiked the trail of Ten Falls. Today we only saw four out the ten waterfalls because we only went around the first loop of the trail. The first fall we went to was the Upper North Falls. The Upper North Falls is sixty-five feet tall. Next we went to the North Falls which is 136 feet tall. This time the trail went under the falls and we got to see the water up close and personal. Then we went to the Twin Falls It is 134 feet tall. That was the last fall we went to that day.

Renee June 25th: Wisconsin!? Or Oregon?

We set out today for Tillamook. For those of you grocery store savvy, you know why. For the rest of you, we were planning to tour the Tillamook Cheese Factory. A bit of a drive on, you guessed it, curvy roads, but we were all having a Wallace & Grommit moment, hankering for some cheese sampling. On the way we spied a nondescript road side sign for Munson Falls. we decided to take the dirt road and see where it led. We came across the trailhead that sent us down a 1/2 mile path to one of the prettiest waterfalls we had come across yet. A local hiker there graciously informed us it is the highest waterfall on the Oregon Coast and remarkably few people ever come to see it. I can see why as the sign that we saw was so minicule. But it was worth the stop and though the pictures never do it justice, we enjoyed its beauty just the same.
Due to queasy stomachs we reordered the car arrangement and I took the wheel with Leah in the navigators seat and Craig relegated to the posterior. We finally came across the Cheese factory that we had been anticipating and place was huge. We set off on a self-guided tour of the processing and packaging areas. My favorite part was the mixing/stirring of the curds in a big, oversized whirlpool tub that had a large 4 pronged whip, slowly churning the mixture.


Then it was on to packaging. Try to imagine 30-lb blocks of cheese—about the size of an old 19-inch computer monitor, and I am not talking flat-screen. Watching it being chopped sliced and packaged was pretty cool. The kids will tell more about it. Next we joined the line for the sampling: cheese curd was the weirdest. It is basically the freshest form of cheese you can buy, best enjoyed immediately, as the brochure goes, but it was our opinion that it was much too rubbery tasting! They did have a garlic and white cheddar variety that was surprisingly tasty.

After having a long lunch at the factory, we set out for the return trip via the scenic coast route. We located the Three Cape Scenic Loop and set off on, you guessed it, a curvy road and in much need of resurfacing. We passed an Ocean Spray certified Cranberry farm and reached our first stop: Cape Meare’s Lookout and Lighthouse. As we progressed down the gently sloping lane, the head of the lighthouse came into view. We saw people walking around in side, around the actual lens. We were excited as it might be our first chance to go up into a lighthouse.



Sure enough, as we reached the bottom of the hill we were welcomed into the lighthouse keepers building and show the way to the spiral stairs ascending to the top!
A short jaunt, but at the top we were treated to a quick lesson by the volunteer on how the signals created by the alternating flat red and curved clear lenses created the signature flash, specific to this particular lighthouse. We were informed that each of the nine lighthouses on the Oregon coast has its own distinctive pattern and any ship’s captain would be able to identify location based on the lighthouse pattern he sees. This, of course, is new information to the land-locked childhood I experienced.

Notice in the picture the optics trick. You see the kids and I upright, but the ocean in the distance is upside-down. Pretty awesome!
We then walked the alternate trail back up to the jeep, and much to Matthew’s particular chagrin, we continued up the trail to the sign demarcating, “The Octopus Tree”. Sounded just bizarre enough to draw our attention, except Matt’s who pouted the whole 0.1 mile path to the tree. So we ignored him and went to the ridge and came upon the craziest looking Douglas Fir Tree we had ever seen. And it did really look like an octopus. Obviously it was a tree, that instead of initially growing up, grew multiple horizontal trunks at its base before all angling up and reaching vertical heights. Definitely and oddity, kind of like the worlds largest ball of twine…

In the car again, we head for the little oceanside town, appropriately named Oceanside. A community that originally gave rise to an amusement park that failed, was flooded, and was subsequently rebuilt into a vacation rental destination that apparently is doing quite well. The beach is protected by large cliffs on the northern side. When at the lighthouse at Cape Meares, we spied a quaint little sandy beach that looked to be set off and unreachable due to rocky bluffs. Now on the other side in Oceanside, we looked for a way to get to that beach.
Yes, crafty folks that they are in Oceanside, there was a long narrow tunnel through that formidable cliff, that could be traversed, which we did, and we reached that quaint little beach and took a leisurely walk along the shore.

We decided to leave the area loop and return home as we were tired of vehicular travel. Enough is enough and tomorrow is another travel day!

Leah June 25: Tillamook Cheese Factory

Today we went to Tillamook Cheese Factory. We also drove along the 3 capes scenic route.
We did a lot of things at the factory. We watched the workers make and cut the cheese. First they mixed the curds. Then they aged it. If you like extra sharp cheese they age it for 14-17months. This picture shows the big blocks of cheese before it is cut.

Once it’s in block form they bag it. When they bag it they send it to the slicing and packaging room. When they slice it, the cheese has to be the perfect size or they have to make it the right size. Then they package it. After we finished the stages we tried cheese samples. I only liked 2 of the 3 samples that I tried. We got lunch after the samples.

Then we took a picture with the rain cow. The rain cow is a cow that has rain drops on it. Then we got ice cream.
When we finished our ice cream we drove the 3 capes scenic drive. On the drive we stopped at a lighthouse. Do you want to know what was so cool? We actually got to go inside it! Another cool thing was the sea stacks on the other side were upside- down. But if a person is standing on the same side as the sea stacks the person would be upside- right! Isn’t that cool?
Once we got back to the R.V. we had dinner. Then we watched T.V until we went to bed.

Matt June 25: Way To Cut the Cheese!

Today we went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. To get to the cheese factory we had to drive forty miles.

In the middle of the trip we stop to see a hidden waterfall. To get the waterfall, we had to like 0.2 miles. When we got to the waterfall a man told us that is was the biggest waterfall on the Oregon Coast. We took some pictures and went the rest of the way to the Cheese factory.


The first thing we did at the factory was got the observation deck. From there we could see how they make the cheese. Before they packaged the cheese, they have to let it age for a long time. After that you package it and ship it to grocrey stores.

Next we went to try samples of cheese. There was about ten different flavors. My favorite was Medium Chedder. Then we went to the gift shop. There, you could buy cheese.

After that we went to the restaurant. I got a corn dog and Leah got a grilled cheese samwicth. There was like one hundred people at the resteraunt! That ment it would took a long time to make our food. And it did take along time. Then we left the factory.


As we were driving we stopped at a senic veiw. A the veiw you could go inside a light house and go on a short hike. First we went to the light house. It was the first light house I’ve been in.

Then we went on the short hike. It was only 0.1 mile. The trail that led to an octopus tree! It really looked like an octopus with is arms stiking out. There was also a look out. It showed a beach. After that we went to the beach an waded in the water. The aftera little while we went back to the motor home.

Renee June 24: Sea Lions Galore

It is another moving day, another day on winding roads which means gurgling stomachs in Leah and Mom, and a 4 hour full-body workout for Craig, manhandling the RV around tight curves and within tight lanes. Ask him sometime how fun it is to encounter an arched tunnel that has minimum clearance for the RV on the edges if we are centered in the tunnel, but then to face an oncoming RV already within. It’ll be a good story!

Though we planned to spend a good part of today traveling, we made plans to stop at the Sea Lion Caves en route, probably a tourist trap with minimal parking, but we needed to break up the trip, so we embraced the tourist in each of us and ventured in.

It is certainly one of those places that you need to see, but just once in your life will do. As Leah mentions, the elevator takes you from the Gift shop, down 20 stories into the ground and opens into a foyer that takes you to an overlook into the biggest sea cave in the world. Now, we are there at/near low tide, so smell is an issue, but it really was incredible all the yelping or should I say, barking going on in a hollow cave. We definitely have no trouble hearing them!


We also explored a display of an assembled sea lion skeleton. Amazing, but the theory continues to hold true; we are all made of the same basic structure, but crucial differences in function make for adaptations to the basic structure. For instance, the bones that would be our humerus, radius, and ulna in the arm are shorter and flatter/broader so as to allow for a flipper structure. Too cool. Some of you out there know exactly what I mean; others think I am drinking too much wine…

We then took ourselves to yet another lookout to get a stunning view of the Cape Heceta Lighthouse just down the road. The Heceta Lighthouse is reportedly the most photographed lighthouse in the United States. Maybe so, but maybe many residing on the East coast would likely disagree. We decided that since we now already have pictures of the lighthouse that we had planned to visit, we could skip yet another parking extravaganza. So on the roads again, we made a beeline for our next port of rest: Lincoln City, OR.

If we had grandiose visions of our new temporary residence in Lincoln City based on our prior good fortune, things were about to change. When researching sites, we do most of our work on the internet and look at price, amenities, proximity to desirable landmarks, reliable photos, and safe road access. Well, we had proximity and safe road access and we were willing to skimp a bit on amenities as long as pictures were decent. What we had booked was not the same picture in our minds as in reality. We were basically resigned to what was little more than a RV parking lot, but it did have a free shuttle to the gaming casino…which we didn’t even visit! We decided luck was about to run short at some point, so hopefully this one was it, we hoped for a return to good luck again time. Frankly, Matt was thrilled with the place because it had a USA Today newpaper stand and it had been a whole 2 days since he had read the Sports page! Go figure!

Leah June 24: This is our New Campsite?!

Today was a travel day. We traveled almost all day! We stopped at Sea Lion Caves. We rode in an elevator that took us 220 feet down into the biggest sea cave in the world. There were probably around 150 sea lions. We climbed up to a view that showed sea lions drying off from swimming in the ocean.

After we got out of the sea lion caves, we drove to our campsite. You want to know what was so shocking? Our campsite was a parking lot!! Dad must of accidentally made reservations at this campsite while looking at a different one. Oh well, at least we’re only staying here for 2 nights.

After dinner Mom and I made cookies while watching Disney Channel. We watched the Lizzy McGuire Movie until we went to bed.

Matt June 24: BBBBBBBBBaaaaaarrrrrrrkkkkkk!

Again, today was a travel day. We were going to Logan Road RV Park, in Lincoln City. Before we went all the way, we stopped at the sea lion caves. The cave is the biggest sea cave in the world. We bought our tickets, and went inside. Inside, it was very loud. It was sea lions glore!
There was even a skelton on display. Soon it was time to go, and we left. On the way we watched HOLES. Before we knew it we were at the campground. We checked in, and hooked up. For the rested for the rest of the day.