Loving It!

I could think of no better post title - we really love it out here!
We hardly crossed the border into Oregon before we set up camp at Valley of the Rogue State Park outside of Medford/Ashland area.  Not our favorite state park, but still had a nice little Rogue River trail to wander down (and take breaks in the shade - it was so hot here!)

All of our days were spent in or around Ashland.  Lithia Park runs right through town and has so many sweet places to explore!

We decided to come up to Eugene for the weekend to check out the famous Eugene Farmer's Market and Saturday Market.  Those were definitely fun!  We also really enjoyed exploring the city parks.  One had giant games and toys set out every weekday with live music and food trucks.  Blossom built herself an RV with these huge blocks.

Other parks had interesting statues.  Here's ZB with Rosa Parks at the Eugene Bus Station:

And we couldn't leave without visiting Voodoo Donuts, especially since we didn't do the one in Portland.  Hard to decide with this mesmerizing rotating donut case!

It was still very hot here (about 100 degrees during the day), so water time was a must.  The downtown parks are right on the Willamette river, so perfect for a little cooling off.

We definitely had the most enjoyable days actually getting out of town, though!  Our favorite spot was about an hour away at Cougar Hot Springs and Cougar Reservoir.  A short and beautiful 1/2 mile hike through Sequoia trees led to 3 rocks pools that cascaded into each other.  The hottest was at the top (about 110 degrees), cooling by a few degrees in each lower pool.  We mostly stayed in the lowest pool.  We met great people, relaxed in the magical forest and would love to come back here again!

Blossom is making friends everywhere she goes!

We had hoped to swim in the reservoir, but when we finished at the hot springs, it started lightening over the water, so we decided to head back into town.  But it was so beautiful, with such clear water and towering mountains, it was hard to not dive in!

Tomorrow morning, we are headed out of the city and back into the woods.  We will go explore Crater Lake before heading to Central Oregon to the Bend area.  Much love!