Southern Oregon and a trip back to Minnesota

Hello and welcome back to Nomad Dad Life! Today we are continuing our journey through Oregon, this time focusing on the southern area of the state. If you haven’t read the previous Oregon post, please do so here. This trip was a lot of fun because it was one that just kind of happened. We didn’t plan anything in advance. All we knew was that we wanted to do something after waking up that morning. We weren’t sure what so Fae and I tried to come up with ideas while we made breakfast. All we knew was we wanted to go somewhere we hadn’t been before, so that meant we were either heading east or south. By the time we were all done eating, we had a plan to go to Wildlife Safari and Crater Lake National Park.

Wildlife Safari

Wildlife Safari is located near Winston, Oregon, which is about an hour and 20 minute drive from Eugene. It is an over 600 acre park with a 4.5 mile drive-through loop. The animals roam freely as much as possible. Of course, the predators are confined so they don’t eat the other animals that are roaming free. This meant the drive was often very slow because animals would frequently cross the road. This also meant we could get really close to some of the animals.

There are over 600 animals throughout the drivable loop. There is a petting zoo and walk through area that has another 90 animals. The park starts out with the African Safari and features lions, zebras, hippos, scimitar horned oryx, and more. Next up is southern Africa for the rhinos and giraffes. Bears, bison, elk and other North American animals follow. Next up are the elephants, yak, and emu and the park ends at the carnivore loop that features tigers and cheetahs. Chances are you’ll get to see cheetah cubs when you go there, as this is the No. 2 breeding facility in the world.

There is a stop on the loop where you can get food for the animals and feed them out of the window of your vehicle. We decided to do this to give the children an up-close view of some animals. They got to see close-up views of blackbuck, sika deer, fallow deer and emu. Fae had a really close encounter with the emu that robbed her. She was pointing something out to Arkyn and an emu walked up to the window, reached its head in the vehicle, and stole the food we got for the animals!

Crater Lake

Crater Lake National Park is located in southern Oregon about 3 hours from Eugene. It’s the 5^th oldest National Park in the United States and the only National Park in Oregon. The lake is a remnant of Mount Mazama, a destroyed volcano. At 1,949 feet deep it is the deepest lake in the United States. Crater Lake has no streams or rivers flowing to it or out of it, so the lake was created entirely by rain and snow.

We drove the rim drive around the lake, stopping many times to enjoy the views. There were also many hiking trails just off the main road around the lake so we found an easy one that Arkyn and Ayla could handle so they could get some exercise after being in the car most of the day. The one we decided to hike was a relatively flat one through the woods that ended at a waterfall. The trail wasn’t paved, but it was very well maintained and was handicap accessible so we could have pushed a stroller if we wanted to.

There aren’t any towns close to Crater Lake, so if you go there make sure you plan accordingly. Luckily, when traveling with our children we always have snacks and drinks packed in the car. Bend and Klamath Falls are the nearest cities that actually have restaurants or anything in them and they are an hour and a half from the park.

Flying back to Minnesota

Not too long after this trip we had plans to fly back to Minnesota to spend some time with our families. Shortly after we sold our house and moved to Clear Lake, Minnesota, my parents lost their home in a fire. Since we were still in Minnesota at the time of the fire, I was able to drive up right after I got the call in the morning. My dad was out of the house when it happened, and my mom was sleeping but she woke up in time to get out of there safely, thanks to a neighbor who was awake early and saw the smoke and flames and came running over and knocked on all the doors and windows he could. The house was a total loss, but they were both alright and that was all that mattered.

This was obviously a tough experience for them and one that I’m not even going to try to put into words. I was just grateful they were both OK and that we were still in Minnesota so I could see them. As I said before, I’m not going to try to put what they went through into words; I just want to provide some background information as to why flying back home meant so much to us.

My parents would be celebrating their 50^th wedding anniversary about 4 months after this fire experience. My brother and I were already planning on doing something for them, but after this we really wanted to make it special. We wanted something to take their mind off things, to take a break from everything that had to be done, and a break from inventorying everything for insurance or talking to contractors about the rebuilding plans. We just wanted them to have a fun and stress-free weekend.

First Airplane Ride

Because we were in Oregon at the time of my parents’ anniversary, and we didn’t want to miss it, we flew back to Minnesota with the children for a weekend. This would be their first time on an airplane and Arkyn was so excited! He had so many questions about the plane and about the house fire at Grammy & Papa’s house. This was new to him as he was used to getting to see my parents a lot since we lived in the same town. He couldn’t figure out why we had to get on an airplane to see them now. Arkyn loves to drive things and we had to explain that he couldn’t fly the airplane or help the pilot fly the airplane!

Not knowing how the children would react on the airplane, we booked a red-eye flight, hoping they would sleep most of the flight. I don’t think either one of them slept at all. Arkyn was too busy asking questions to sleep and Ayla slept the whole car ride to the Portland Airport so she was ready to party. Luckily, they both did good and weren’t screaming on the plane or it would have been a long flight.

Back Home

It had only been a couple of months since we had been home, but it seemed like a lot longer. Since both of our families lived in the West Central Minnesota area, our children were used to seeing their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins frequently. One of Arkyn’s favorite things to do before we started traveling was to drive the tractor, 4-wheeler, lawn mowers, and his little side-by-side out at our “farm.” We have hunting land around the area we lived with a hunting cabin on it that we would go to often to give the children and dogs room to run around.

My parents stayed out at the hunting cabin after the fire so we went there first when we got back. My dad had all the vehicles lined up for Arkyn to drive as soon as we got there. He started with the biggest and worked his way down the line to the smallest. He had so much fun! Ayla was walking now, so my parents got to see her take some steps for the first time.

The next day we had the party for my parents at my brother’s house. We had some help getting a guest list together of people who were in their wedding party, current friends, and friends they hadn’t seen in years. It was going to be a surprise party, but they knew we were flying back from Oregon so they figured something was up! The weather was perfect and the day ended up great. My parents were able to enjoy themselves, spend time with friends they haven’t seen in a long time, and they got to see their grandkids again!

This will conclude the post for today. The next post will wrap up our time in Oregon. Please continue to follow our journey on social media for updates and notifications when the next post is up. Click an icon below!

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Links

Crater Lake National Park: https://www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm

Wildlife Safari: https://wildlifesafari.net/