CHRISTMAS LIGHTS TRAIL IN MEDFORD

I don’t know about your family, but ours cannot get enough of Christmas light viewing!  Every night we can, we get bundled up and head out to enjoy the magical, enchantment that Christmas lights offer to the season.  Here’s a small list of places that we visit and some that we hope to enjoy as this holiday season winds down.

Candy Cane Lane – Kerrisdale Ridge – All of the houses are decked out in red and white.  Some throw in a bit of green here and there but for the most part they are dressed up to match. 

The Elf House at 1815 Bristol St, Medford - This house must have taken at least a month to get their halls decked.  There are so many cute stories within their display we got out and took some time to catch all of the details.  There is even Christmas music on to help put you in the spirit. 

This is just a small sampling of all of the wonder!

Cherry Lane and Greystone Court – Who doesn’t know about Cherry Lane and Greystone Court?  These streets are amazing!  I highly recommend parking on Cherry Lane across the street and walking around Cherry Lane and then heading over to Greystone Court.  Cherry Lane teams up with Gently Used Toys to collect toys for kids in need and Greystone Court has a canned food drive for Access.  Starting on Thanksgiving weekend they have their donation barrels out and they stop collecting toys December 21^st so that they have time to distribute them to children in need.  The canned food drive’s main event is always on the 21^st-24^th from 530-930pm.  Santa is there each night.  Human Bean will be there to kick-off the charity event while handing out free sample cups of hot cocoa.  And Medford radio stations will be there from 5-7pm on Thursday and Friday.  It truly is a family outing.

Seckel Ct off of Murphy - Every house in the neighborhood has been decorated by high school students.  It is really cute!

Harry & David – They have singing lights every night of the season.  We love to go sit in our car and listen to the music and watch the lights.  My favorite song is “Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas”, Santa’s mouth moves along with the words.  So fun!

Other houses that aren’t in Medford but that we have heard are great:

I’m calling it the Holiday Wonderland on Scenic in Central Point –Going north on Hwy 99 in Central Point take a left on Scenic Avenue.  Go around two bends in the road and it will be on your left.  Such a fun house with lots to look at!

DeAnjou Rd in Eagle Pt – We haven’t been, but we have heard that it is all lit up with music to go with it!

To view the google map go here.

These are the main places to view lights but throughout Medford you can find lots of wonderful houses to enjoy!  We have also created a Google Map to help your Christmas Lights journey along!  Merry Christmas Southern Oregon!

For more Holiday Festivities, Live Music & Theatre, Holiday Bazaars, and Winter Fun head on over to What to do in Southern Oregon here.

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CHRISTMAS TREE HUNTING!!

There is something about snow that turns even the most serious adult into a child.  When it started snowing the first things that come to my mind are sledding, hot cocoa and making family memories.  So, when our friends invited us to go on a Christmas tree hunt, we jumped at the chance.  I mean, what doesn't sound fun about that?!  Now, we have never been on a Christmas tree hunt (confession we are of the sacrelegious group that has a fake tree, though it does come from family traditions of my husband’s military family :) ) so we didn't quite know what to expect.  Good thing we went with some pros!

Priorities first, we stopped for some coffee and hot cocoa at Dutch Bros, to make sure we were warmed up for the drive and then we headed out to Wagner Creek Rd in Talent.  Since it was the first snow of the season we did have to drive out a little.  At the first sight of snow the kids started to basically crawl out the window so when we got to our destination they jumped out and immediately started throwing snowballs.

Once we got everyone bundled up, we broke out the sleds and fun ensued.  There was even some snow fort building and just good old-fashioned butt sliding.  The kids were also really excited to see icicles.

After about an hour of play, it was time for a break so we cooked up some campfire hot dogs and crockpot chili and refilled our hot chocolate.  The adults may have even spiked their cocoa with schnapps ;).

Where we stopped our crew couldn't find any trees to their liking so we packed things up and headed up the road.  Little did we know the adventure was just warming up to become a little more exciting.  We had a caravan of 5 cars and we were bringing up the rear, so when everyone stopped dead in their tracks and we saw our ring leader get of the car, we knew something was up.  The snow had gotten too deep for regular 4-wheel drive cars so we had to turn around.  As we went around a corner we ran into a truck whose 4WD had gone out so we decided to pull over so that Gary could see if he could help.

This turned out to be one of the funnest parts of the trip.  Since we all had to drive around the trapped vehicle the snow was of course a little deeper. So, what do you think happened?  One of our friends got stuck.  Now the whole road was impassible and soon there were five more cars piled up behind the trapped cars.  It sounds like it could be a miserable situation but it really wasn’t.  It just added to the escapade!  Fortunately a bunch of guys in a lifted SUV with a tow line came along and bailed everyone out. 

As we headed back down the mountain everyone was looking for their perfect tree and they finally found them.  We took the opportunity to do a little more sledding and have the climactic snowball fight!

  Notice the flying snowball in the right corner. Gary was soaked after that one!

It was such a great afternoon and we made a lot of great memories.  This is on our permanent Christmas tradition list!  Even if you don't want to look for a Christmas tree the fantastic views are worth a winter drive. 

This year we headed up Hwy 140 right after the Howard Prairie turnoff on the left.  You can find quite a few roads to pull onto and then get to hiking to find that perfect tree!!

If you decide to go look for your own Christmas tree make sure that you have contact the District Office where you are interested in harvesting to check for current availability before you head out for a permit.  They start at $5.

For more Holiday Festivities, Live Music & Theatre, Holiday Bazaars, and Winter Fun head on over to What to do in Southern Oregon here.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, and Pinterest