Last weekend we decided we needed to get out of town. Â So we packed up the car with the essentials for a car camping adventure and headed south to Rosenburg, then on to the North Umpqua Highway. Â Before venturing out into the woods we spent the night with my mom who provided us a lovely dinner & sent us off with better provisions than we had supplied ourselves.
Saturday morning we jumped in our trusty Subaru and headed east.  The North Umpqua Highway is beautiful.  It travels along the Umpqua River and it seems like there are endless trails to waterfalls and beautiful lookouts to look at the mountains and forests.  The waterfalls are awesome, but even if you never make it up a trail to see one the river is majestic – so blue!  We later found out the pure color of the river comes from the lack of sediment in the water.  It’s just cold, clear, and brilliant!
After trekking along the river & up trails to waterfalls we hunkered down to a night hiding from the rain and the cold in the back of the Subaru. Â One of the best parts about our car is that we can both lay down in the back, a perk for those camping trips when the ground is to wet or you have no motivation to set up a tent. Â We built a small fire with wet wood we gathered from the empty campground we stayed in next to Steamboat Falls and made a nest of blankets to sleep in.
The next day we found snow! Â We were on our way to discover a geocache up at a fire lookout station but once we encountered frozen, narrow, slippery, snow covered forest service roads we decided we should save that trip for another weekend. Â The snow and ice was lovely to look at, though.
Our next adventure is bound to look very different than this past car camping trip -Â Â we are headed out next week on a Western Caribbean cruise with Stead’s sister & parents! Â So excited for warm sunshine, oceans, scuba diving with Anna, fancy ship food, and exploring a new part of the world.