From Crater Lake to Portland and all the goodies in the middle!

You are so lucky to be spending two weeks here in Oregon!  I am the AskOR Willamette Valley Ambassador so I will tell you why I love it here!

First of all, I love Crater Lake.  I went for the very first time about a year and a half ago and it's so breathtakingly beautiful and you will be awed and amazed!  When you've had your fill and you are ready to hit the road again, you can't miss Eugene!  It's on your route heading North toward Portland!  I was recently a guest at a new boutique hotel there called, Inn at the 5th.  You can check out this blog for more info and some photos:  http://www.whitebreadandjam.blogspot.com/2012/02/inn-at-5th-sweet-spot-in-eugenes-fifth.html

The hotel is located in best place and has a wonderful restaurant attached as well as a spa and wine bar.  You'll see for yourself with the blog I listed.

Now if you are in to hiking, please check out our hundreds of miles of trails here in the Willamette Valley.  One of my most favorite places to hike are the forests near Oregon State University.  Here is the link for that area:  http://www.cof.orst.edu/cf/forests/mcdonald/  You will see amazing things while hiking there.  There is an "Old Growth" area that still amazes me and I've been told some movie parts have been filmed there.  You'll be in Corvallis, OR while hiking there so be sure to try and hit the Farmer's Market.  It's huge and wow... the locally grown food and goodies are delicious!  The link to finding out about market days is here:  http://locallygrown.org/home/

I could go on and on about our wineries and our hazelnuts and our delicious food found here in the valley but it would turn in to a book instead of a quick email.  So, please let me know if I can help you further and I am happy to do so.  You can also skim through my blogs to read about my experiences in Oregon and I can elaborate on those as well at www.whitebreadandjam.blogspot.com!

Thanks so much for your question and enjoy it all!

Debbie

Travel Oregon AskOR Willamette Valley Ambassador