Cowboys, Waterfalls, and Apple Picking- Our Tour of Oregon

Kayla Richerson
Nov 24, 2023
2 min read

Long time no see! Autumn has arrived in all its glory, and for the past month (ish) we've been exploring the great state of Oregon!

Our first stop was to visit one of the biggest names in rodeo, Pendleton! We came during their biggest event of the year, the Pendleton Roundup, and had a bucking good time!

My favorite event would be the bucking bronco or the Indian relay race (a bareback race with two horse changes!). Mom brought her giant camera, so we got some good pics.

Pendleton itself was a really cute town, with lots of good shops and restaurants. It was so fun to dress the part for a few days!

Next up was Mount Hood, where we managed to snag a beautiful boondocking spot; definitely one of our favorites. We were there for a few weeks, watching the colors change, picking apples at the surrounding orchards, and visiting the waterfalls around.

If you want either some good wine or good apple cider, this is definitely the place to go!

Pacific City felt like a dream. While I've spent the greater half of my childhood living near the beach, this beach was unlike anything I'd ever seen before!

First of all, there's this eerie Pacific mist that comes in and shrouds the entire area. It's not quite fog either. It's just mist from the ocean or something.

Second, the beach is so vast and beautiful. The waves roll in with such power; nothing like the Atlantic. One cool thing about Oregon is that "private beaches" aren't allowed. They're all public. Plus you can have beach fires and even drive on them!

This was also the first time we got to see whales! Granted, from the shore a ways away, but still! Fun times.

Crater Lake was magical! While it was too cold to walk down to the shores, we drove around it and hiked up to see the beautiful scenery.

In Bend we managed to chill out for a few weeks and even had Halloween there! It was tons of fun, and for some reason the RV park had like a million bunnies 🤣

Our final destination in Oregon was the Oregon Caves National Monument! We managed to get a tour on the last day of the season, and we had a very interesting and informative experience!