Right after our last series of posts we headed out for a weekend in southern Oregon in honor of our upcoming anniversary. We headed down to Ashland, Oregon, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. We had a Groupon Getaway for a half-priced stay at the Lithia Springs Inn, which features private mineral baths in every room.
We've been to Ashland before so we spent most of our time exploring the area outside of the city. We visited a the Tashi Choling Center for Buddhist Studies in a secluded valley south of Ashland. The monastery features a 35 foot tall statue of Vajrasattva, the Buddha of Primordial Purity, which is one of the largest Buddha statues outside of Tibet. The Mandala Garden, where the statue is located, was undergoing some renovations but it was still a beautiful place to visit.
We also did some exploring of the area around the Monastery. We took a dirt road up to the base of Pilot Rock and drove part-way up Mt. Ashland to find some amazing views.
We ended the day with a wine tasting at RoxyAnn Winery, and of course a play at the Shakespeare Festival. We saw Love's Labor Lost in the Allen Pavilion, which is an outdoor Elizabethan Stage.
We drove back to Portland by way of Highway 101 which runs up the Oregon Coast. We stopped at the Oregon Dunes, which are the largest sand dunes we've ever seen. We also visited the worlds largest known sea cave which is a popular resting place for Steller Sea Lions. The drive from Ashland to Portland along the coast took about twelve hours, so we were happy to be back home and that we had Monday off for Labor Day!
Watch for updates on what else we've been up to in and out of the house coming soon (we promise)!
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