Hotsprings in the Woods & in a "Spiritual" Osasis.

So, we where off to find some Hotsprings in Oregon.  The first one we went to, McCredie Hotsprings, was in the woods.  We like those best.  This one could be found by locating mile marker 45 on OR 58 (East of Eugene, OR).  It was 0.1miles east of marker 45, you park your vehicle and walk into the woods using the trail you should see there (was what we read in our HotSprings book). No signs or anything like that.  We did stop at a gas station on route, he told us that that HotSpring was washed away by the Creek that flows by it a few months back, so, it's not as deep as it use to be, but, there are two small pools there on one side of the Creek and two larger ones on the other side of the Creek.

 Covered Bridge on OR58, on route to McCredie HotSprings

 The path you follow into the woods to find the hotsprings (you hope).

 These are the hotsprings, you can see the steam coming up off of them.

 You can see the hotsprings on the other side of the Creek, and the yellow umbrella guy.

So, we went on our way, and found them.  They were very very hot. Our hot-tub at home is 104degrees, this was too warm at one end and bearable at the other end.  We were on the side of the creek with the two smaller hotspring pools, we were the only ones on our side of the creek. On the other side of the creek, there was one man wearing just a yellow umbrella.  There was no one else around, yet, Jerry said he never saw anyone turn into a turtle as fast as i did entering the pool.  I got really shy all of a sudden, you just never know how you'll behave until you're in a situation. It started raining, which felt nice as it was so warm.  So, we stayed there and soaked for about an hour. Then continued our adventure.

We decided to head up to another National Park, just an hour away, Crater National Park.  But, it was still winter in those hills, so, it was actually closed still when we got there. May 30,th and it was closed for Winter.

 On route to Crater National Park, still closed due to snow!

We decided we had enough of snow, so, we decided to just head SOUTH!

So, then we found another Hotspring, that actually had camping at it. So, that's a bonus. So, we headed to Jackson Wellsprings in Ashland, OR.  It was likely one of the most different places in North America that we've been to.  It was meant for Meditation, Spiritual healing and finding your balance.  I have to admit, the timing was good, as I've been getting antsie, with eating too much and not working or working out as much as I like.. so, it gave me time to think about regrouping and ensuring I cut my day up while we travel to accomplish the things I need to to feel balance, those things include paying attention to Jerry, working out, & creating the future.  It's that kind of place, gives you balance and focus.

People where performing various healing treatments and meditating all around us.  We camped. The Monday night was women only for soaking in the Hotspring, so, Jerry encouraged me to go, he stayed back with Duke. Then next day we both went for a soak and sauna before we hit the road again.  There are only 18,000 people who live in Ashland, so, most of the people who came to that Hotspring knew each other.

 Wishing tree.

 Dream catchers

 This is one of their temples.  We had some good conversations with the two ladies working inside.

 This is one of the residence's in Jackson Wellsprings

The actual spa in Jackson Wellspring was beautiful, the use of it was included in our camping fee.  This was one of more expensive nights, at $28/night for the both of us (nice)!

 The hotspring at Jackson Wellspring, as you can see, we where alone again during the day.  Someone did come in eventually, and performed (I think) a water healing on someone else.

 Not sure why i took a photo of the woman's changing room, i think i liked the tile work around the door!

 The sauna at Jackson Wellspring.

 The entrance at Jackson Wellsprings

 Some of the side buildings at Jackson Wellspring, the temple was behind these building.s

 They love their baseball in California, this ball field went on for ever. many diamonds. 

So, we hit a Verizon store in the first larger city we came to, and got our wireless hub set up for the US part of our trip.. (Hence we drive, i work or blog!)

OK.. next stop.. California!

Triple D & The Oregon Pacfic Coast

We spent more time in Boise, Idaho then expected, good stores, people and food. We went to Cabela's on the way out of town, then stopped off at a second Triple D in Boise.  This one was called Donnie Mac's Trailer Park Cuisine, the owner, Don Mackenkie has a number of restaurants through Montana as well. 

We had a great meal, the place was crazy, as they all were.  They had tailgates as counter tops, cars as table booths.. the owners & staff were very welcoming.

We travelled across the State of Idaho to the State of Oregon.   We camped in a State Park outside a town called Bend.  We found the State Parks in Oregon one of the best from across all the other parks we stayed at. 
We spent the night in Bend, as we knew the next day we'd have to cross BIG hills.

The camp site was great.  The next day we climbed the mountains toward the coast, we had to travel through clouds in the mountains. The trees became "furry" with moss, grass grew..

We had our first glimpse of the Ocean in Newport, Oregon.  It was rainy, as coastal weather often is! We went directly for Clam Chowder at an old classic restaurant called Mo's.. we saw seals, fishing boats and everything felt soo very different then the rest of the country. 

We stayed the night in another State Park just outside of Newport, then left first thing and slowly headed up the coast.

It has vast beaches and trails, it cleared up long enough for us to enjoy it.

We explored a lot.. there was a Fort in Fort Stevens, it's actually the only place in North America that was actually shot at by a Japanese Sub during the 2nd world war.

We had a great camping spot in Fort Steven's State Park. There were only two of us in the area we were in, so, we liked that.

We're now in Port Angeles, Washington.  We're going to take the ferry over to Victoria, BC tomorrow, hand out with Kaily & Ryan for two sleeps..  Kaily's got some whale watching planned for all of us on Saturday, we'll looking forward to that.  Sunday we'll head toward Rossland, BC for another two sleeps.. then we cross back across.. so, one week left to the roadtrip now!