Mt. Shasta,CA
Maybe it was only I who felt sad leaving Newport Beach-?? We were going to take Interstate 5 to stay a night in Klamath Falls and then Medford. The quickest way to Klamath Falls from Newport Beach was to take Hwy 20 to I-5S. We followed the Corvallis Newport Hwy (20) & then the Corvallis Lebanon Hwy (34)...The drive was scenic and we went through the "woods" as my girls said. There were miles and miles of forest and then we'll come upon a house or a "lonely" auto shop/wreckyard suddenly- driving & driving,until gradually we would come upon a small settlement. We went through cities like Toledo, Corvallis & Philomath...(saw signs of Oregon State University) slow drive because of road constructions but the scenery was great...Oregon is green! Stopped at few places, ate and stretched and off we went on our way to connect to I-5. It was like coming home when we began to see signs of Interstate 5. :-D A very familiar sign for us because we're from Nor Cal. The drive to Klamath Falls seemed took ever so loooong or so it seemed like...welll Newport Beach was approx. 6 hrs from city of Klamath Falls. We had decided not to cut across from Eugene but from Ashland since the Freeway would be quicker but even then with all those truckers and other traffic-we couldn't wait to get there. Good thing our resort (WorldMark By Wyndham)-named "Running Y", was before city of Klamath Falls. The scenery was great and even better when we began to see lakes after lakes. These lakes were big and clear. The best sight was when we came downhill and came upon cows grazing in the pastures. Green pastures, cows grazing, clear blue lakes and yes road constructions here too! It seemed like the whole state of Oregon was fixing roads at that time so that's why there was so much delay in traffic. I almost wanted to say "are we there yet?" :-D Well we finally reached our vacation rentals just as dusk was falling and didn't get to see much of the area but caught some nice views of the setting sun over the mountains & lakes. Amazing! If you can imagine a lake with no ripples at all (well from where I was standing)-still and the sun is setting throwing it's last rays on the water. I love to watch sunsets so we decided not to go into town which was 12 miles away. We ate dinner at the Golf Link restaurant(forgot the name) at Running Y-great food but a little bit expensive with just a few selections. But the view definately made up for it...Fabulous! Gorgeous! Awesome with the "greens" on one side and the lake on the other-my camera didn't do much justice to the scenery. Sometimes I would be so lost in admiring the views that I would forget to take pics. too. :-D Some, very ice looking homes all over too! This was a great place to just sit back and relax or for golfers, I guess would be to golf their heart out. :-D This golf link didn't seem to be too busy. http://runningy.com/. Saw several families come in for dinner,excited children talking about their "catch of the day". I could only imagine the fishing around here with so many lakes & rivers. Next morning we went for a tour of Klamath Falls city...had brunch there and strolled around the town...the city was spread all over.http://www.travelklamath.com/. The only attraction we saw there, was the Crater Lake (8th wonder of the world). One attraction to see, would be the Lava Beds National Monument, where one could go into the lava tubes (450 lava tube caves in all) and many other activities like horseback riding, the scenic byway drive around the lake, see the largest collection of American Rock Art at Petroglyph Point, Beautiful Ranches, Historic place where wagon wheels were built and repaired and an abundance of wildlife. Also, saw on our brochure, that Klamath Falls and the surrounding areas were a birdwatching paradise because of the water and the migration of variety of birds. Well this is another place we need to go back to..one day wasn't enough. This had been only a "test" trip this far in ...neither my family nor I like this kind of setting but do need to learn how to golf since most of our vacation resorts are in or near a golf course. Well after our short stay in Klamath Falls we made our way back to Ashland to stay the night. We had made reservations to see "The Taming of the Shrew" at the Ashland Oregon Festival- Shakesperean Outdoor Theatre. Had a great time there watching "The Taming of The Shrew"--hillarious! This was our last night on vacation but what a way to end it. If you're going that way do go & see one of the plays...Ashland itself is "magical" in the night. http://www.orshakes.org/- and that was the end of our beautiful and memorable vacation. We left next morning and were back home with wonderful memories to keep with us forever! On our way back )via I-5) we stopped at Lake Shasta, took some great pics of Mount Shasta and knew that this was one of those trips that will be talked about for a long long time! Hey I'm still doing that- :-D Met a lot of nice people...In fact we met a couple from San Francisco who had flown there just to watch "The ....Shrew"--I wouldn't mind doing this kind of spur of the moment thing..we were lucky that we had great weather then...that helps a lot with vacations... Next time we go back...we're flying into Medford airport and taking a rental car to Klamath Falls or Newport Beach or even further up 101 North-Just have to go back!
