Road Trip in Oregon — The Wanderers

There is nothing more exhilarating, liberating and fulfilling than hitting the road to explore somewhere new. My passion for road trips started a long time ago and still is a big part of my life. Countless hours driving to a new destination with nothing but your own thoughts, that’s my own definition of therapy.
And with our world going crazy lately it felt right to go on a little road trip with my boys. A much needed escape to the beautiful state of Oregon.

This one has been on my list for quite a while and somehow I never managed to go but here we are! It took us 48 hours to plan and get ready for what would become a 10 day road trip, so buckle up folks and get ready to discover Oregon’s not so little wonders.

To give you a bit of context, we decided to do a loop of central Oregon, conscious of the vastness of the state it would not have been possible to cover everything in one go and having a little pup with us we decided to mainly focus on short hikes whilst chasing waterfalls. We ended up covering a lot of famous landmarks and taking the most scenic routes. So yes, a lot of driving was involved as the first bit from SF to the state border was about 6 hours!

Usually I like to plan a lot in advance to make sure I am not missing out on anything, however the short notice made this trip a little different. I booked the first 4 days and then we decided to go with the flow. Turned out to be quite a success… sure we were tired and still are but we got blown away by this place and we are not regretting the 2000 miles!

The road that led to our first stop was literally a straight line from SF. We started by visiting Crater Lake National Park, known as America’s deepest lake. Crater Lake is located on a sleeping volcano and will leave you in awe. Never in my life have I seen a more mesmerizing lake (and I have seen a lot of beautiful ones), but there is something about this one that is hard to explain. It is one of the most pristine lake on earth mainly fed by rain and snow, thus the magnificent turquoise color. The pictures don’t do any justice to the beauty of the place but it is worth sharing, hoping that one day you will as well experience this gem.

After a few hours driving around the lake we headed to our next stop: Bend, where we spent the next two days discovering the area. Bend is great spot for anyone looking to explore and relax. The city’s diverse range of scenery (from mountain highlands to desert vibes) makes it vibrant and unique. We loved the laid back atmosphere, the warm weather and the accessibility to major landmarks. You can hike your way to the most beautiful waterfalls during the day and enjoy a craft beer at night…

From Bend we hiked the Toketee, Sahali, Proxy and Tumalo Falls.. even though there are a million more, we had to pick a few to make the most out of our trip. I always feel very blessed to visit stunning places like this, we felt free and energized just by looking at those powerful waterfalls.

After chasing waterfalls and enjoying cooler temperatures we headed the next morning to the famous Smith Rock State Park, located in the semi arid desert of Oregon. We could only go early or late at night as it can easily reach 100 degrees fahrenheit during the day… and it’s no surprise that Milo did not quite like the trail! Smith Rock is known for being the birthplace of sport climbing, the sheer cliffs of basalt attract the most experience climbers in the country, thankfully you can still appreciate the spectacular views by walking along the Crooked river.

Being just the three of us on a new adventure was exactly what we needed: to unplug and shift the focus back on what really matters: US. We hiked, ate a lot of food, ordered too many frappuccinos (and Pupccinos of course), we walked, read, listened to the same country music radio over and over again, we had some deep meaningful conversations about our lives, we laughed… we just lived every single moment at its fullest and it felt damn good.

We drove up north and stopped by Oregon renowned wine valley. We had a great afternoon at the Stoller family estate and stayed the night in a remodeled AIRSTREAM !!! We then reached the Columbia River Gorge so as to explore the Mount Hood Area. Within two days we hiked the Tamanawa falls (Alfie even went for a swim!) and did the Lost lake trail loop.

These boots are made for walking…in the dirt

It is often hard to showcase the beauty of a place through pictures, even though it certainly helps I wish you could smell the clean and fresh mountain air, feel the warm and gentle breeze on your skin and hear the roaring water… it’s an overwhelming feeling of pure joy and freedom.

Oregon left us speechless. An essential back to basics trip that all of us needed and we are so ready for our next adventure now !