It was the first time we've faced any significant travel complications. We were delayed several hours on both ends due to US Air mechanical problems. We missed our connecting flight on the front end, we were de-planed on the return and had a long delay making for a post midnight Atlanta arrival where the plane train broke down on us. And we hit a deer sometime after midnight in the middle of nowhere on our way to Crater Lake.
There were lots of hits and misses along the way. Places where we wish we could have spent more time and others where we wish we hadn't taken the time we did. It's unfortunate that our minds become accustomed to our surroundings so quickly - even when those surroundings are as incredible as Crater Lake or the Icefields Parkway. You want to bottle it or hold onto it somehow, but you can't. There are so many factors that affect how we experience things - the weather, your health, the number of people around, the time of day, the energy level and attitude of everyone around you, etc.
I spend hundreds of hours planning a trip like this so that we can have as many real, sincere, soul warming moments as possible. We've learned that you can't really plan the special moments, but being prepared helps you navigate all the things that get in the way and allows you to increase your chances. It's hard and frustratingly elusive despite all the time, energy, and money. But when everything falls into place and it happens - it's really special.
Derek was a big help with the driving. The kids did great overall. They still had their moments, but we all did - it's a long trip. The hardest thing in dealing with the kids is that they are on such different schedules. Derek is a morning person, but usually starts losing it by 9 or 10 pm. When we do manage to wake Adam he wanders around in a zombie like state and doesn't really come fully alive until about 5 pm. I joked that they were all like my chia pets and, in order to ensure a pleasant travel experience, I had to constantly monitor their sleep, food, down time, etc..
People always ask, "What was your favorite?" I guess it's human nature to want things packaged into quick and understandable sound bites, but giving a nice and tidy list reduces something that is so varied and nuanced to something that, while easier to consume, doesn't capture the scope and detail of the experience. With that being said, here are some of our memorable highlights:
- Phoenix Airport: missed connection to Portland, de-planed and long wait connecting to Atlanta, why don't they have a good local flatbread restaurant in the airport?
- Portland Airport: Mo's chowder, nice ambiance, pretty carpet, missed connection meant no scenic drive along the Columbia River Gorge to Mount Hood
- Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood: quintessential lodge experience, colorful parade of skiers in the middle of summer, beautiful hiking trails, delicious breakfast with local ingredients like Tillamook Cheese and marionberries
- Mirror Lake: the significance of elevation gain when evaluating a hike, beautiful view and reflection of Mount Hood
- Bend Oregon: beautiful trip from Mount Hood along tree lined crystal clear rivers, nice dinner at Deschutes Brewery, too late to see the High Desert Museum, everyone says Bend is so great but, frustratingly, we didn't have the time or the knowledge to unlock it's essence
- Crater Lake: we hit a deer after midnight on the way from Bend, jaw dropping beautiful, so blue - unlike any other blue, nice lodge, wish we could have hiked the mile down to the water, restored Franklin automobiles driving around the park
- Eugene: beautiful drive from Crater Lake along tree lined crystal clear rivers, fun time at the Wildlife Safari in Windsor, too much time looking for the covered bridges of Cottage Grove, enjoyed driving around the University of Oregon campus but, again, frustratingly unable to really experience the city in the time we had
- Newport: trip to the coast from Eugene unfortunately in the dark, wish we had more time to see the southern Oregon coast, enjoyed beach front stay at the Hallmark Resort, had fun walking along the beach but coastal water too cold to swim, wish we could have seen a big storm over the water, had fun at the Oregon Coast Aquarium and enjoyed lunch along the Bayfront
- Oregon Coast: lots of pretty views to get out and enjoy, getting in and out of the car is tiring and a momentum drain, Mo's chowder and marionberry cobbler, wish we could have taken more lengthy hikes to fully experience the coastal heads, dinner at Roseanna's at sunset with view of haystack rocks was one of our trip favorites, drove through Cannon Beach at dusk but too late to really enjoy, not having enough time to experience Astoria was my biggest trip disappointment
- Portland: Embassy Suites, walked all around downtown, took the streetcar and the TriMet train, Farmer's Market, Pioneer Courthouse Square, Historical Society, Gardens, Food Trucks, Voodoo Doughnuts, Keep Portland Weird, homeless people, felt like we really experienced downtown, wish we had more time to experience other areas
- Seattle: water water everywhere, ferries, parks and gardens, Capitol Hill, the Cuff, gay pride, Supreme Court decision, Pike Place Market - smoked salmon - breakfast at Lowell's, Seattle Center and Space Needle, Olympic and Mount Ranier National Parks - beautiful alpine meadows - so big - hard to fully experience without backcountry hiking, wish we had time to experience Mount St Helens, Future of Flight and Boeing Factory Tour was fantastic
- San Juan Islands: nice but not the jaw dropping beauty I had expected, more of a low key get away from the city escape
- North Cascades National Park: beautiful vistas, so big - hard to fully experience without backcountry hiking, Ladder Creek Falls, Winthrop was a cute little western town, had fun at the fish hatchery, and really enjoyed our tour at the smokejumper base
- Revelstoke: pretty drive through the Okanagan Valley from North Cascades National Park, lake country, lots of farm stands and orchards, had not planned to stop in Revelstoke but too late to get to Panorama, enjoyed the Revelstoke Dam tour, hiking in Mount Revelstoke National Park - lots of mosquitos, pretty mountain drive though Rogers Pass and Glacier National Park
- Panorama: enjoyed the ski resort ambiance, beautiful views, had fun petting the horses and playing mini golf, Derek really got his driving groove on the rolling mountain roads, so glad we got the Maxima in exchange for our deer battered Malibu - fun to drive and downshift in the mountains, thank goodness Wildside Pizza in Radium Hot Springs stays open until midnight, Big Horn Sheep
- Kootenay and Yoho National Parks: we enjoyed the less visited neighbors of Banff and Lake Louise. We learned about the spiral train tunnels. Marble Canyon, Takakkaw Falls and Emerald Lake were all gems
- Banff: we kept trying to get to Banff and would run out of time, we ended up visiting for short periods on a few different days, on Canada Day the town was crowded so we hiked a little to get views of the grand Banff Springs hotel and then headed to the Lake Minnewanka loop and enjoyed a beautiful sunset at Johnson Lake, on the way to Calgary we enjoyed visiting the Whyte Museum, the Park Museum with all the stuffed animals, and the gardens around the administration building
- Lake Louise: Moraine Lake (where we had fun following a porcupine) and Lake Louise are picture perfect emerald green glacial lakes surrounded by alpine mountains, the Lake Louise Fairmont Hotel setting is as luxurious as it gets
- Icefields Parkway: soaring glacier covered mountains with emerald green glacier fed lakes, rivers, and waterfalls to see along the way, there's a reason this is rated one of the top drives in the world
- Jasper: breakfasts at the Sunwapta Lodge, falls and canyons, whitewater rafting, pizza and gelato at Famoso's, we saw a bear
- Calgary: flat farmland was so different after being in the mountains for so long, great time at the Stampede
- Glacier National Park: really enjoyed Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo Jump and Waterton National Park on the drive from Calgary, barely made it across the border before it closed, Going-to-the-Sun Road, Logan Pass, mountain meadows, big horn sheep, mountain goats, marmots, wonderful dinner experiences at picture perfect Many Glacier and Glacier Park Lodges, smoke - where's the Montana Big Sky?, late nights crossing back and forth across the park, cabin in Whitefish, hard to believe only a handful of glaciers remain and will be gone in a few years
- Columbia River Gorge: enjoyed Missoula and very beautiful drive on Hwy 12 winding along rivers through Idaho, big river, big gorge, very windy, well done Discovery Center, Lewis and Clark, dinner at the Multnomah Falls Lodge, Hood River Fruit Loop
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