Summer is my favorite time of year. There are so many reasons to love summer but one of my favorite things is all the fresh fruit in Oregon. Here are the available summer fruits and the months to pick them: 

June - July: strawberries and raspberries 
July - August: blueberries and blackberries
August - September: peaches and apples 

There are so many great farms to choose from. Here is a few of our favorites: 

Fordyce Farms for strawberry and blueberry picking. They have a fun little park to play on.
​Address: 7023 Sunnyview Road NE, Salem, OR
Phone: 503-362-5105

Greens Bridge Gardens for strawberries. I have only picked strawberries here but they have a huge variety of different u-pick fruit. 
Address: 3730 Jefferson Scio Drive SE Jefferson, OR
​Phone: 541-327-2995
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Olson Farms for peaches. They have Gators that take you to the peaches, which adds to the excitement. 
Address: 6925 Jospeh St SE Salem, OR
Phone: 503-362-5942

Thank You Berry Much Farms for their amazing blueberries. 
Address: 5975 Culver Dr SE Salem, OR
Phone: 503-393-2758

Beilke Family Farm has a huge variety of delicious apples. 
Address: 4925 Rockdale St NE Brooks, OR
Phone: 503-393-1077

Be sure to call ahead to know when the fruit is ready to pick as each variety of fruit varies. I hope you are able to pick some of your favorite fruit over the summer. Whether you gobble it up straight away, bake something delicious, or freeze it, you can't go wrong.

​Happy Picking! 

My parents came out to visit and instead of trapping them in my house with home projects we decided to go camping. We took a three day camping trip to visit Crater Lake. 

Crater Lake is a must see. The clarity of the deep blue water is breathtaking. It is the deepest lake in the U.S and the third deepest in the world. It's worth the hype. 

​Day One
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After packing the minivan to the rim, we set out to see a few waterfalls on the way to our campground. Our first stop was Toketee Falls. This hike is 0.4 miles to a treehouse like platform overlooking the two tiered Toketee Falls.  After enjoying this falls, we then headed 5 minutes further down the road to Watson Falls. This one mile hike took us to the base of an outstanding 293 foot drop waterfall. We then hopped back in the car to drive 7 minutes  to Whitehorse Falls and then another 10 minutes to Clearwater Falls. After having to hike to the first two falls it was nice to have the last two falls viewable from the parking area. All four falls along the Umpqua River are worth the stop.

Our total trip that day started at 9:30am from Salem and ended at 3:30pm at our campground. Here is our Google Maps travel itinerary for our first day. Stopping at the falls broke up the trip well. After the last waterfall we were just 20 minutes from Diamond Lake and our camp at Broken Arrow Campground.

​After setting up camp, we explored the area before roasting hot dogs and s'mores. 

Day Two
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At around 9am, after finishing up our blueberry pancakes and sausages, we left camp for Crater Lake. From out camp it was a 20 minute drive to Merriam Point, which is the first view of Crater Lake if coming from the North Entrance.  We continued our drive to Rim Village where the Sinnott Memorial Overlook. This overlook provides a lot of historical information about the lake. There is also a visitors center with maps and park information. On our drive around the Lake we stopped at Vidae Falls, the Pinnacles Overlook, and Pumice Castle Overlook. The Pinnacles Overlook was my person favorite. The volcanic spires that reached heights of 100 feet tall were fascinating to look at. We finished our day off by hiking the Cleetwood Cove Trail. This is a strenuous 2.2 mile hike down to the lake shore. At the bottom we cliff jumped and relaxed with our feet in the water before making the steep hike back. ​
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​Here is our Google Maps travel itinerary for our second day. 

Day Three
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Our last day of camping we relaxed at Diamond Lake Resort. We  did a little bit of swimming and mostly laid in the sun before heading home. Bikes, paddle and fishing boats, and other equipment are available for rent at the resort. 

This was a great camping trip and we made so many great memories.  We are really looking forward to my parents move out to the PNW later this year so we can go on even more adventures with them.  

I am anxiously awaiting the end of the school year. Seven more days of school and then HELLO SUMMER! The last day of school we are picking up Carter and heading out on our first adventure to Bend, Oregon. Last night I stayed up late looking up all different things in the area to see and do. A big part of summer for us is going camping and exploring the surrounding area. 
Our favorite camping trip, to date, is to Cape Lookout State Park Campground. It is a beautiful campground on the beach and is close to so many things along the coast. 
The first day we arrived at the campground mid afternoon and set up camp. We cooked dinner and then walked over to play at the beach until the sun set. We then enjoyed a movie on the laptop in the tent as the kids slowly drifted off to sleep. 
Early the next morning we went on the self guided nature walk at the campground. With the pamphlet in hand, the kids loved searching for the next nature marker. We then heading to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. We did the free self guided tour and got ice cream cones. 
Up next was hiking to the largest Sitka Spruce Tree in Oregon. It is a short hike from the parking area and was an impressively large tree. We then headed to Cape Meares Lighthouse. Admission into the lighthouse is free. You will not want to miss the Octopus tree and the beautiful viewpoint of Three Arch Rocks Wildlife Refuge that is just a short walk from the lighthouse. We then headed back to the campground to play at the beach.
The next morning we packed up camp. We then hiked Cape Lookout Hike before heading home. This was a perfect camping trip to the coast. We were able to see a lot and still had plenty of time to relax at the beach and sit around the campfire.
I'm getting antsy for our camping trips this summer and the new places we are going to see. It's going to be a great summer! 

With our new mountain bikes we decided to explore McKenzie River without the kids. We were itching to test them off pavement for a real mountain bike experience.  The 26 mile McKenzie River Trial was voted America’s #1 bike trail in 2008 by Bike Magazine. With such an amazing trail and it being my first time mountain biking to say I was nervous would have be an understatement. As I researched the area I realized there was so much more to do. 
First stop was kayaking at Clear Lake. Don and I each got a kayak for an hour which was more than enough time for us to explore the gorgeous blue lake. You can rent kayaks or rowboats from the boat house or pay a $5 launch fee for your own boat (non motorized). For rental rates click here. 
After kayaking we drove to Sahalie & Koosah Falls. You can drive a few minutes to both of these falls or hike the short 0.4 mile trail between the falls.
Finally it was time to test out our bikes. We parked by Belknap Hot Springs and jumped on the Mckenzie Trail heading upstream. We biked a lower section of McKenzie River Trail, which is much easier to navigate then the upper section as it is less technical and not congested with hikers. As we started out I was terrified as there were a lot of tree roots and rocks to navigate over and around. The more we road the more comfortable I became. On the way back down I whizzed by the places that at the beginning made me nervous. We ended up biking 9 miles total. This trail is so beautiful! The forest is so thick and green and it is spectacular to bike along the river. The bridges they have along this trail are very cool! You can't not feel awesome as you cross them. We joked it was only a matter of time until I would fall off my bike. Miraculously I never did but Don's shoe lace got caught in his gear and he toppled to the ground. I quickly took a picture to have evidence and was no help as I couldn't stop laughing. 
Then the great debate - did we head to the hot springs and pass on the hike?! NEVER. I convinced Don we had enough time for both. We got to the trailhead for Tamolitch (Blue) Pool and asked someone just coming off the trail how long it took them. She said about an hour both ways so off we went. As we were reaching 45 minutes we were thinking where is this place and man my fitbit is so off. We continued. At an hour we didn't want to turn around with the thought it could be just around the corner. We finally ran into another group of hikers and they told us the pool was 2 miles behind us! We were hiking so fast we walked right by it. We finally found the Tamolitch (Blue) Pool. It was breath taking. Our quick 4 mile hike turned into an unintentional 8 mile hike. We were tired and hungry by the time we got back to the car. We decided to pass on the hot springs so we will have to hit it up on a future visit.

We loved our day trip to McKenzie River. Having no kids allowed us to do things a lot quicker than normal. It is a trip we would do again with the kids camping and spreading the activities over 2 days. It is all family friendly (minus the biking if you have young kids). I can’t wait to go back!

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