We're becoming professionals Oregon tour guides - last week, we hosted Nate's entire immediate family (mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law). Another fun-filled week was had with the Bacheler clan, exploring around much of the western 1/3 of OR by Grand Caravan for 4 days and then spending the weekend back home in Corvallis. Our itinerary included the Columbia River Gorge (Multnomah Falls, kite-boarders and wind-surfers in Hood River), Trillium Lake/Mt. Hood/Timberline Lodge, Smith Rock State Park, Bend, Crater Lake National Park, Oregon Caves National Monument, the northern Calif. redwoods, sea lions, gray whale, and lots of sightseeing along the coast.Perhaps the most memorable event of the week was a crazy hail storm that we encountered in Bend - more than 3" of pebble-sized, wet hail fell in a matter of minutes. People clad in shorts and flip-flops were pulling over to the side of the road to clear off their windshields. Massive road flooding made it quite an adventure for us to find a safe route back to our motel. Here's a short video of the mayhem, along with some other photos from our week.
