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.