Day 15 –Sunday—6/28: Andrea and Sam Kayaking while Sarah and Ryan whitewater raft the class II+ rapids of the Rogue River, OR

Today was the most adventurous day for Andrea and Sam.  While Ryan and Sarah got to ride again in a regular whitewater rafting boat, Andrea and I both had our own inflatable kayaks to navigate the Rogue River rapids.  It was awesome and exciting.   All 4 of us were on the river at the same time—the kayaks just in front of the rafts.  It was really fun to shoot the rapids in the kayak.  The guide would go first and we’d follow his line through the waves while trying to avoid rocks that he pointed out.  You have to paddle hard and continuously through the rapids.  As I was finishing one of the class II rapids, I fell out of my kayak and into the rapids.  It was hysterical—especially watching it later on my GoPro.  I was able to keep holding onto my paddle and to get back to the kayak quickly and back in to it.  On a later rapid, Andrea got stuck on a rock and then was flipped out of her kayak.  It was fun to watch her spill as I went by her in the rapids :0.  We really had fun.  The kids were in a boat with just 2 other people.  The guide on their boat loved kids and was great at showing them a good time.  He would spin the boat through some of the rapids and have them go backwards through others.  The kids jumped out many times into the 65 degree water and they’d free swim down the river.  One of the coolest things we’ve ever seen was during a calm part of the river, we were all watching a large osprey (eagle-like bird) in the tree at the edge of the river.  Suddenly, it flew right over our heads, circled around, looked down and saw a trout and divebombed it only about 30 yards from our boat.  It smacked the water hard like a pelican does.  Then it flew away with a 5 inch trout in its talons.  It was incredible to watch from such a close distance.  Raw nature at its finest.   We love adventure and wildlife.   Today was a great experience for all 4 of us on the Rogue River!  Tomorrow we’re off to Crater Lake for the day.

At the Rogue River

Andrea on her white water kayak

Ryan jumped in to the kayak and Sarah floated during the calm between rapids

After a great adventure! 

Andrea and Ryan - he was enjoying it, but he was pretty cold

Day 14 –Saturday—6/27: Oregon Caves National Monument and Jetboat up the Rogue River

There is a heat wave here in the northwest.  Last night was a rough night of sleep for Andrea and I in the RV because of the heat.  Not the kids though—they sleep like logs!  We woke up early and drove just over an hour to Oregon Caves National Monument.  The 90-minute tour through the cave was great.  We walked through the cave 220 feet lower than the cave entrance, and we learned about the stalactites, stalagmites, columns, and lots of interesting formations inside. The best part is it was really cold in there!!!  We all wore hoodies and it was about 44 degrees.  Andrea’s feet were so cold, they were completely numb by the end of the tour.  A nice change from the uncomfortably hot temperatures outside!  We walked out of the 44-degree cave into 95 degree weather.  We all removed our jackets immediately!  

Entrance to Oregon Caves National Monument

Awesome calcified formations.  Sarah thought they look like jellyfish.

Sarah thinks Ryan looks like a cardboard cutout in this pic.  Andrea looks great with her cardboard cutout!

Beautiful stalactites and stalagmites

After a quick lunch, we then took an awesome 2 hour jetboat up the scenic Rogue River.  In the 100-degree weather, it was great when the 45 mph jetboat would do many 360s in the river, spraying all of us.  We saw deer, many heron and geese, and an incredible osprey in her nest with her 2 babies.  It was beautiful, fun, and exciting all while keeping us cool for two more hours.  When we got back to the rv in almost 100 degree weather, we played by the river and then watched a movie and cooked dinner in our air-conditioned RV.  It was really fun to do caves and the jetboat today.  Unfortunately, the heatwave is supposed to last our entire time in Oregon.  Even Mt. Hood, our next destination, will have 90-100 degree weather.  Oh well, we’ll have to find more water activities in the gorgeous rivers and streams.

Day 13—Friday—6/26: Great Cats, OR and the Rogue River (tubing and RV park), Southern Oregon

Today we left the Redwoods, CA and drove 1 hour north to “Great Cats of the World” in southern Oregon.  It is an incredible “zoo” that does incredible conservation work with many big cats where you take a tour and learn lots of interesting information about each animal and get demonstrations of how they climb, eat, how tall they are standing up, etc.  It was great seeing the following animals and others less than 5 feet away (behind a cage of course):  lion, Bengal tiger, Siberian tiger, lynx, mountain lion, African wild cat, jaguar, leopard, etc.  It was amazing seeing the grace and beauty of all these wild cats.  For each enclosure that we went to, Sarah was right there in front, making sure to get the best view.  She could have stayed here all day.  The coolest part was seeing 2 separate cats literally stalk small children in our group and run quietly full speed at them right up to the fence to try to eat them.  It was 2 incredible displays of predation—humbling. 

After seeing the cats, we drove 1 more hour to Grants Pass, OR and checked in to the RV park.  We are staying right on the Rogue River.  Great views with lots of geese, heron and ducks.  After Ryan finished reading the entire last Harry Potter book, we inflated our tubes and I drove Andrea, Ryan and Sarah up the river about 2 miles and dropped them off.  They tubed for about 30 minutes down 3 different rapids and the other very scenic sections of the Rogue river.  Two of these 3 rapids were really bumpy and wild.  It was exciting and really fun!  They tubed and exited right at our RV.  Then Andrea drove me up there and I rode down while the 3 of them stayed in camp (the kids didn’t want to go a 2^nd time today).  We saw baby ducks and gosling, as well as many heron.  We cooked outside but ate inside in the AC due to the heat wave (101 degrees here in grants pass).   The kids also rode bikes, played in the river and panned for gold again (a lot of gold dust in this river).  We’ll be in Oregon for 10 days. 

Our campsite right on the Rogue River in Grants Pass, Southern Oregon

View from our RV down river

view from our RV up river

tubing the calm part of the Rogue River

Returning to the RV from tubing down 3 rapids on the Rogue River

Day 12—Thursday—6/25: kayaking, biking, and hiking in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park

 Today we wanted a mellow, relaxing day in our gorgeous campground and that’s exactly what we got.  It was great.  After cooking bacon and eggs outside under the redwoods listening to the river, we rode our bikes for about an hour.  The kids finished their Junior Ranger program for the Redwoods at the visitor center that we rode to.  Then we took a 1-mile hike along the river and through the redwoods.  After returning to camp and eating lunch, we launched our inflatable kayak and 2 tubes in the Smith River.  It was so fun taking turns kayaking, tubing, and swimming in the river.  The current was very mild so it was easy to swim and boat.  There was a 10-12 foot rock Sam jumped off into the river about 5 times—that was fun.   Everything was so serene—the huge trees along the river, the calm, cool water, and the waterplay.

Sarah and Andrea Kayaking

Sam kayaking the Smith River

Ryan in his redwood stump fort in our campsite #48

The girls on the river

Walking amongst giants

Tonight is our last in the redwoods.   We absolutely loved this place and strongly recommend it to everyone who camps/RVs.   We recommend spot 48 or along the river here in this loop.  There’s a heat wave in Grants Pass where we’re headed next (104 degrees).  Yuck.