Todd, this is a wonderful localism post. I love, love, love Oregon. It has so many beautiful areas. Great photo of a waterfall. Once or twice traveled through Oregon including Diamond and Crater Lakes. Very green and beautiful, especially on the western side.

Hey Todd - Very nice post. You do live in a wonderful part of the country.  in answer to your question, "Think about it, where else in the world could you be at the coast flying a kite in the morning and later that afternoon be skiing on the mountain, and by evening be camping in the desert?"  The answer is, not many places. like you, I'm blese to live in such an area...Laguna Niguel, California. 

Todd, When I get to the west coast again, I am going to make your Oregon a target place to explore. You have food, wine, mountains, seashore, and even waterfalls. Sounds like paradise in the north. How warm is it in the summer?

Todd, great post and great pictures. Thanks for sharing it all with us.

Teri - Diamond lake is one of our spots we try to hit about every five years and it is our only National Park, so we figure we better enjoy it! We have lots of state parks, but there always seems to be something special about the national parks. I will tell my dad you liked his photo. His is the photographer of the family! He took that up after retiring from teaching, a nice little hobby to keep him busy.

Marlene - You may even be at time better off than us, our ocean water is 52 degrees and not great for swimming in, but we still have the beauty. We just can't swim while looking at it! - lol

Judy - Lucky for us we average maybe 85? I think last year we had 1 day top 100 and that was it!

Danny - Come to Oregon, we would rather share it that way then by pictures.