We arrived in Medford, Oregon with high hopes of discovering another small town with a ton of character. According to the city website it was voted one of the top ten places to live and visit in Oregon. If that's the case, we're going to have a tough visit through this state...
We stayed about 4 miles out of "downtown" at the Pear Tree RV park - a nice enough park (even though we could spit on Interstate 5). It did however, have the grossest bathrooms we've encountered on the trip so far. There was absolutely no ventilation and it smelled like a sweaty 4-day un-showered beast had just come from it. To add to the "mystique", the overhead heat lamp was stuck in the on position even though it was 86 degrees outside So in essence, this restroom was like a humid, sticky, sweaty, fetid morass. How does one feel fresh and clean after leaving that?
SM had done a fair amount of research for good places to have dinner in town... it was slim pickings... there didn't seem to be much good food in Medford. We settled on McGrath's Fish House (which turns out is a local chain... gasp!). We rode our bikes and were pleasantly surprised to see the place so crowded on a Monday night! After waiting 5 minutes for our table, we sat to peruse the menu's offerings. We ended up "settling" on the almond crusted halibut (SM) and the pan seared razor clams (CP). The food was "eh" at best.
SM - Have you ever had just the most succulent, medium rare steak that you can pass a fork through without much effort - just a wiggle or two of the fork from side to side? Well, that wasn't my halibut. IMHO - a well-cooked white fish should almost break apart as soon as a fork touches it. Understanding that halibut can be a little firmer, I expected it to be like that steak. NOT the case. I must have worked over that fish like a piece of well done pork chop. I almost used a knife!!! The only saving grace was that the taste was passable. And I had the better of the two entrees...
CP - I am in love with the razor clam. We grew up eating them on the Cape as kids, I have ordered them whenever they are on a menu - prepared in any way. If they are the garnish for another dish on the menu- that's what I’ll order. If you haven't tried them, you should. They are a great meaty clam. This menu said they were grilled. YUM! That sounded like a perfect healthy dinner... they arrived to the table coated in about 1/4 inch of soggy bread crumbs that were barely holding on to the clam. I am not sure how they define "grilled" but this is not my idea of grilled. Undettered by my pan seared bread crumbs, I took the first bite... they tasted like generic breaded fish, almost as if the chef had cooked every fish on the menu, regardless of it's preparation, in the same pan as my clams - clearly never cleaning it. I picked at the clams, saddened to have had such an awful razor clam experience.
Disappointed, we headed back to Mel (the RV) and were happy we had decided to only spend one night in Medford. BTW - the evening’s dinner was a fair representation of the town - a chain store town covered with soggy breading trying to preset itself like a decent dining experience. Thanks, but we’ll pass.
Two high points of our Medford experience... Scott got a much needed and desired hair cut at the local SuperCuts. The beaver pelt growing on the back of his neck was starting to cause a stir with the local Oregonians. The second was when, in the morning we stopped by the delicious "Artisan Bakery" in town for an apple fritter and a couple of homemade old fashioned donuts. Maybe we should have had donuts for dinner?
Our next destination was Bend, Oregon. It was suggested to us by our friends Karla and Brian and after some research we felt like it was going to be a great place to stay. To celebrate just about halfway through the trip, we booked three nights in town - our longest stop so far!
CP found that on the way from Medford to Bend was Crater Lake National Park. We decided to stop by for a little hike to stretch our legs. Crater Lake is another amazing National Park. The lake is the deepest in the United states. Fed from snow and rain (no streams or rivers enter or exit), it is considered the purest and cleanest body of water in the world. The depth and purity of the water result in what can only be described as an unnaturally vibrant blue color - bluer and more breath-taking than any blue sky we’d ever seen.
We hiked down and back the caldera on the Cleetwood Cove trail. Another steep hike down - a 700 feet elevation change in only 1.1 miles. But it was SOOO worth it! The water was just as blue up close and perfectly clear. CP stuck her toes in the year-round 38 degree water. Brrrr..... We hiked back up and headed on to Bend.
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