We are so happy we found McKay Crossing Campground about 30 minutes south of Bend, Oregon. Not only is the campground in a beautiful setting, but the location in the Deschutes National Forest is pretty cool. We enjoyed slowing down and checked out places we might not otherwise stop for. This week has been one of those places that has surprised us and we stayed for 7 wonderful days.
We were kind of lazy this week. It was fun having visitors the past few weeks and we saw some awesome stuff. We always enjoy exploring and seeing new things, but once we found our free campsite on the river, we settled in. We both enjoyed reading the many books we now have thanks to Kristen. I just finished my 18th book but who’s counting. Gus loves the campground too because there are trails everywhere and we enjoyed taking long walks everyday. Each side of the river has a trail as well as a horse trail that goes to Paulina Lake. We didn’t walk that one to the end but what we did walk was nice. We also had some chipmunks that wanted to be friends. They were obviously used to getting people food because they had no fear approaching us. They kept Gus on his toes.
The campground is a busy little place. Not really used by campers but the day use area is busy every day. Many people hike or mountain bike the many trails in the area. We hopped in the Jeep a day and followed a road that led out of the campground opposite of the entrance. We followed what turned out to be a snowmobile trail and somehow ended up inside a fenced “Do Not Enter-Geothermal Project” area. Oops. We made our way to the main road, or trail if you will. We meandered our way through the woods, saw a cool lava rock field, and eventually came up the back way to the Newberry Caldera. The Newberry Caldera encircles the basins of Paulina and East lakes and it is nearly 5 miles in diameter. This collapsed caldera is the result of more than 500,000 years of volcanic activity. We made our way to Paulina Peak where the views of Paulina Lake and East Lake and the Caldera were amazing!
Monday was our 19th Anniversary. When we went to bed Sunday night, we had turned on the furnace and it wasn’t getting warm…not a good thing. Craig checked the propane and it was on E. Once the sun goes down, it gets down to about 35 degrees. With no heat in the camper, it made for a long cold night. We piled blankets on and wore many layers to bed. We made sure Gus had an extra blanket but he kept spinning himself out of it. We both woke up at 5 am with cold noses and chilled to the bone. We put on stocking hats and grabbed our books and chuckled about how our anniversary day was beginning. We wouldn’t change it for anything. It all adds to our journey, teaches us to appreciate things (HEAT!) and continue to take things as they come. I love that after 19 years we’ve stayed on the same page, stayed focused on our dreams and are actually getting to experience them together. We don’t take this for granted and treasure every single day.
We did finally warm up in the trailer, get cleaned up, and headed to Sun River brewing which was the closest brewery to us. Turns out they won best brewery at the Great American Beer Festival last year so we were excited to give them a try. Our meal was excellent and their beer was awesome. We were really impressed and enjoyed all their fresh hop beers that are only available this time of year.
The rest of the week we hung around the campground, continued to read books and took Gus for walks. It was 80 last weekend and now it’s barely hitting the 60’s and the mornings are freezing!! One morning my phone said it was 25 and Craig’s pillow actually froze to the side of the camper wall. Fall is here! Thankfully we haven’t had much rain. We stopped driving the trails because it’s rifle season and the woods are filled with hunters.
We finally left our little haven next to the river and made our way west. It started to rain as we were driving and we made it to Eugene and decided to hang out there for the day. We found a free spot to spend the night behind a mall. Not classy at all but the trails and the parks from the parking lot we stayed in were so nice.
Eugene also has a great beer scene. We went to the Growler Guys, which had so many beers on tap it was hard to choose! They recommended we also go to Beer Stein so we went there too. We love the beer store-pub thing they have going on. The people were great and the beer was excellent. Craig had a Marzen beer from the firkin that came right from Germany. It was pretty tasty. Add the free samples the bartender kept placing in front of us and we didn’t want to leave.
Craig’s parents are coming to visit us for a week. We’ll meet them on Sunday. We are excited to see them and happy they are willing to make the trip out. They have never been to Oregon so we found a cute little house to rent a few blocks from the Oregon coast in Gleneden Beach.
We drove the rest of the way to Gleneden Beach Saturday morning. We scoped out the rental house. We were hoping the driveway would accommodate our rig and were bummed when it was way smaller than we thought. We passed a sign for a marina RV park and since we had good luck with marinas in the past I made a phone call. They could accommodate us for dry camping for a fee. In reality, $20 isn’t a lot but more than we like to pay, especially for no amenities. But they were super nice people and the space was more than enough to fit our rig comfortably. They even recommended another marina down the road for storing the trailer for the week when we are at our rental house. That turned out to be a great recommendation and we’ll get that taken care of tomorrow.
On the recommendation from the folks at Growler Guys, we drove up to Pacific City to Pelican Brewery. The beer was really good, the food was good but a bit pricey and the place was busy. But their location was fabulous. We finished dinner and took Gus for a walk on the beach just as the sun was setting. That’s when we saw all the vehicles on the beach. We love driving on the beach so we hopped in the Jeep and joined the crowd. We got some great pictures and watched a new bride and groom get some great pictures too.
We can’t wait to see Mom and Dad Vug and catch up with them. The weather looks like it will be pretty decent so hopefully we can see some more awesome sights and also relax and enjoy our time together.
Waiting for Mom and Dad Vug…
Took someone from Michigan to turn me on to a great campground in my backyard. You drive right past McKay on the way to the lakes. Thanks!
sounds like you had an interesting week to celebrate your 19th year together….
(where have the years gone?)
we are enjoying the Pacific coast, and got to drive on the beach also….very cool!
looking forward to our week together ,and we’ll be celebrating 51 years!