Southern Oregon in 16 Snapshots: Medford to Crater Lake and All Points in Between.

Touching down in the former logging town of Medford, we weren’t entirely sure what we’d find in southern Oregon. Despite being just 20 miles from the California border, we had crossed an invisible line of demarcation into the fabled Pacific Northwest.

In the early days of our relationship in San Diego, Beth and I had talked about traveling up the coast to Oregon but never got chance to make the trip. At that time, the furthest we made it was the San Francisco Bay. I guess then it is only fitting that our first trip north of the Golden State started just across the border.

I’ve talked before about the passionate people we met in Oregon on our journey to Crater Lake National Park, one of Oregon’s Seven Wonders. Like Molokai in Hawaii, the Rogue Valley is one of those special places where gorgeous landscapes and the people who call its sacred native lands home live harmoniously together, so much so, that’s it’s hard to imagine one without the other, as their fates seem to be intertwined.

If you haven’t been to southern Oregon yet, or as I like to call it the “Golden Gate to the Pacific Northwest,” then I hope these photos will inspire you to go and check it out for yourself. And for those that are already familiar with the Rogue Valley, then I hope these snapshots will bring back some incredible memories. (Make sure to read all the way through, because at the end of the story, we’ll reveal how you can enter to win your own trip to Oregon!)

We’re on the way to Oregon and it’s Chachy’s first time on a train. He likes it!

We all thoroughly enjoyed our flight to Oregon–even Mr Chachy who got to sneak some views.

In addition to posting our photos here on Beers & Beans we’ll also be posting them on the fantastic @traveloregon Instagram feed. Be sure to go check them out, they have amazing photos and we’re quite humbled to be sharing our images of this beautiful state with their followers.

Our first stop this morning was Portal Brewing Company in Medford, Oregon. This tiny little brewery makes excellent beer. This photo shows their taps, beer flights, portable kegs and a hand painted growler. Be sure to get the Ghost beer when you visit. 100 E. 6th Street, Medford, OR

Peaceful days at the Lake Of The Woods Resort with Mt. McLoughlin keeping watch.

Today started up in the air. We both took plane rides over the Klamath region and Chachy got to come too! This was one of the beautiful views I saw out the window of the 1949 two seater Piper I flew in. Jim was an excellent pilot and totally took away my fear of flying in a little, vintage plane. If you’re interested in taking a vintage plane ride in Klamath check out FlyKlamath.com -a very unique experience.

Jacksonville is a cute gold rush town in Oregon. Randy and I fell in love with it immediately and wished we had more time to explore it. While walking down the street i spotted these beautiful flowers–so pretty!! I love that Oregon is so full of greenery and flowers.

A fun hike along the natural bridge with the guys I love – randy an Chachy! Tomorrow? CRATER LAKE!!!! I hope the snow minimal so we can get some more great hiking in!

I hope this rain calls it quit soon – we’re on our way to Crater Lake and I want my big blue skies back!

A great shot of Oregon from above–such a gorgeous landscape!

Meet Jon from Caldera Brewing. One of the highlights of our time in Oregon was all of the fantastic beer and Jon brews some of the best! They also have amazing vegetarian food – seriously they have a killer menu with all sorts of inventive food. Worth the drive for the beer alone but the food makes it a complete destination. If I lived there is be a regular for sure! Have you been to Caldera?

Once a year go somewhere you’ve never been. This year we made it to a new state–Oregon! It was worth the wait.

Group selfie in Crater Lake! Can’t wait to return in the summer for the big views!

Self portrait with Randy from Crater Lake in Oregon. In 10 days ( or so) we leave for Europe and I am so excited to get back into Photography again. I have missed it so.

We had an amazing time at Crater Lake in May. Along the way we met a lot of passionate people doing a lot awesome things and got to test out some cool “crafted-in-Oregon” gear from the likes of Danner, Poler, Shwood, The Clymb and Nau.

Now that you’ve seen our Oregon journey, how would you like to take one of your own? Travel Oregon wants to know which of Oregon’s 7 Wonders is your favorite. Vote for the one that you love most and you’ll be entered to win one of three epic adventures from The Clymb, two tickets for air travel on Alaska Airlines and plenty of cool gear. You can enter at http://budurl.com/vote7W.

Disclosure: We were invited by Travel Oregon to explore Crater Lake and the surrounding region. As always, though, our thoughts and opinions are entirely our own.