Day 57: Canyonville to Cave Junction, OR

Our sleep in the casino parking lot was safe but a bit on the noisy side. Casinos are busy places - even overnight! This morning was laundry day, so our first stop was Sunshine Laundromat in Grants Pass. The eight load capacity washers were a game changer, turning washing from an eight hour extreme event to a manageable two hour task.

The boys were mostly well behaved and helpful. After everything was cleaned, dried, folded and put away, we treated them to brunch at Powderhorn Cafe and Pie Shop. As always, anything that results in full bellies is a huge hit. Liam opted for enormous pancakes, Seamus and I for eggs and bacon or sausage (Seamus chose the biscuit instead of toast which turned out to be a very tasty move), and Daddy and Ali had hamburgers and fries. 

After dropping off our trailer at the KOA Campground in Cave Junction, we navigated the switchbacks up a mountain to visit the Oregon Caves. This was an underrated cave, for sure. Available to see only by guided tour, there were not very many visitors given the diversity and quality of the formations inside. The cave height was on the shorter side meaning we had to bend to get through many passages which made walking through the cave really interesting. Our guide was a very enthusiastic volunteer, so the tour was fantastic. We saw stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws, draperies, columns, popcorn and more. The tour wove right through and directly beside the formations, which was very different than other tours we’ve been on where the formations are far away or even caged off. It was definitely a worthwhile place to visit. We even saw a teeny tiny brown bat and a humongous centipede. Thank goodness we didn’t see their resident salamanders; apparently they are a foot long (no joke, we Googled it) which would have been way too much salamander for me.

Heart shaped moonmilk (cave bacteria).

Sleeping brown bat.

Liam sized column.

Jellyfish room.

Dinner, back at the campground, was the last of our flounder catch. We have joking named this meal “trash fish” because, while it tastes fine, it stinks like burning garbage. Needless to say, while we are grateful for its nourishment, we are glad to have the flounder out of our freezer and out of our lives.

After showers - the best of the trip so far - and firing up the AC in the camper for the first time on the trip, we will all be climbing into beds made with clean sheets tonight. Looking forward to a great sleep.