Oregon {Part 3}

We had finally arrived to Medford and were so happy to hang out with Mike and Elise.  Asher is absolutely in love with these two and was so happy to get so much attention from them.  Day one we mostly hung out in Ashland - we went to Lithia Park and drank the most disgusting mineral water from the Lithia Fountains.  It was pretty bad and Marcus even had Asher try it...who was not thrilled!  

The parks there are nothing like the parks here.  They remind me more of hiking trails.  Lithia Park has a cute river that runs through it and is completely enclosed by tall trees.  There are trails for hiking or running, and there was of course a playground.  They also had the cutest Japanese Gardens that were fun to check out.  Asher found a deer friend and was convinced he could ride it.

We had lots of fun swimming in the cold water at Emigrant Lake that afternoon and stopped to show Asher the Medford Temple after finding Marcus' old apartment here.

The next day we got a delicious biscuit breakfast at Buttercloud Bakery and then headed towards Crater Lake.  On our way we stopped to hike to three waterfalls: Mill Creek, Barr Creek and Pearsoney Falls.  The moss growing around the falls completely covered the rocks and was so gorgeous.  It was a bright green and looked so lush.

Crater Lake was incredible.  I could not believe how absolutely gorgeous it was here.  

This picture kills me.  He's so happy he is shaking as he squeezes his little toy.  haha.  I was so incredibly happy that I got to visit Elise and spend a few days with her.  Let alone in such a beautiful, amazing place.

Here are a few facts about Crater Lake:

-It was formed 7,700 years ago when the volcano Mount Mazama collapsed

-It is the deepest lake in the United States

-There are no rivers that flow into or out of it - it is filled purely by rain and snow - because of that it is a beautiful blue color and so incredibly clear

We took the one and only trail that takes you down to the water and had lots of fun soaking our feet in the clear water and catching crawfish.

From Crater Lake Mike and Lise headed home and we headed north to Redmond/Bend for the night.

We had such an amazing time with Mike and Elise and were so glad they let us come visit!

To be continued...

(are you getting sick of Oregon posts yet?  There's still one more to come!)