dd_traveler's notes: A mini-vacation: 16 hour one-day road trip!

Last Sunday I wanted to go to southern Oregon for a sheep herding competition so I could scope out the scene here and find a new trainer for Audrey. I left the house at 6am - totally unprecedented for me! It was about a 3.5 hour drive down there, so I decided to make a road trip of it and see a new part of the state while I was out and about. On the way down I stopped for gas and coffee - at both places they offered Audrey dog treats. People here are so friendly! The competition was nice - the people seemed friendly and gave me good information. It was in Ashland, OR, which is almost on the border with California. The setting for the competition was stunning - I included a picture below. Unfortunately my camera battery decided to die just then so I didn't get a full panorama nor did I get pics of the later parts of the day.

After the competition, I went a bit north to Medford for lunch and to see the big Harry and David store. Oddly enough I decided nothing there looked enticing because I'm quite spoiled with the good food here, so those fresh fruits and nuts were not remarkable to me anymore! They did have a huge pumpkin statue being carved with 3 giant pumpkins on top of each other like a totem poll - it was pretty cool. While I was at lunch some people told me about a nice dog park across the street so I decided to take Audrey to check it out. People there were very friendly and the dogs were too, but Audrey as usual wanted to play with me and not the other dogs so on our way we went.

We drove north on the Rogue-Umpqua Scenic Byway.
http://www.oregon.com/byways/rogue_umpqua.cfm
It was phenomenally beautiful and I will go again - many times in fact. This would be a place worth buying a little cabin someday. Audrey and I walked along the Rogue river (" one of the original eight rivers designated as "Wild and Scenic" by Congress in 1968 for its amazing beauty and wilderness"), and she swam in it. This river is good for rafting and kayaking - I will have to try it next summer! The rapids get too hard for me in places, but it has a dam, so if I stay above the dam I'll be fine. I don't have my own pics, I stole these from online:

Then we kept driving and stopped at Mill creek falls - we hiked to the falls. It was an amazingly beautiful day - sunny and clear, but it had been rainy the week before so the falls had a lot of water. They were breathtaking.

We continued driving and went to Crater lake. I didn't realize crater lake was formed from in the blown-off top of a volcano. Therefore it is at a high altitude and as we went higher and higher in the mountains we found snow. Audrey LOVES snow! I loved seeing her eyes get huge when I let her out of the car to play in it! It was very deep - I think at least 2 feet (deep considering I'd seen no signs of snow where I live!) and Audrey was jumping through it like a kangaroo leaving holes a few feet apart through the snow showing her hopping tracks. She tried to chase a bird but couldn't get much speed - it was pretty funny! She tossed her nose in it and rolled around - she was a very happy dog.

Crater lake itself is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. I can't wait to go back - though I think it's closed most of winter. It supposedly has some of the most pure waters in the world. It was extremely tranquil that day too, because it was off season and there was so much snow, so tourists weren't there. I wanted to stay longer, but it was already getting near dusk and I had a long drive home ahead of me, through icy mountain roads. They have winter snowshoe tours - maybe that can be my next trip there? Can't take Audrey on that one though, and she is a very good travel companion!