Toll Bridge Park is beautiful. As we have been camp hosting here since the middle of April, we’ve been able to witness all of the amazing spring blooming happening in the park.
When we arrived here, the trees were bare, with the exception of the beautiful pines. Gradually, the forest began awakening and surprising us every day with its beauty.
The trees were so bare, that we were actually even able to see the top of Mt. Hood.
Growing up in the Lake Tahoe area, I had seen manzanita many times, however; never in bloom. What cute little flowers they have.
The trillium were one of the first flowers to surprise us. I had never seen or even heard of this pretty flower that reminds me of a type of lily.
On our site, right behind our fifth wheel, there is a wild plum tree. It’s delicate white blossoms filled the tree, but the rains came and the small flowers didn’t stay long.
Oregon‘s state flower is the Mahonia aquifolium, otherwise known as the Oregon Grape. Very much in bloom this time of year with bright small yellow flowers followed by dark bluish-black berries that are very tart and have large seeds. Some people use the berries to make jelly. The leaves are holly-like and are sometimes red.
The dogwood trees have been all in bloom, too. The sunlight shining through the pale leaves up against the bright blue sky made for some stunning views.
We have a large canopy over our campsite patio of what we believe to be a red maple. The evolution of blooming on this tree has had us mystified. It began with some small burgundy flowers, then masses of dark red leaves sprouted, and now, the leaves are gradually turning green. We won’t be here to see the autumn colors, but this spring, we’ve been treated to a range of colors already.
There is a tree here in the park that is bent over in an arch with two branches reaching upward like two new trees. (the first picture is from April and then the second with all of the leaves is from May)
We’ve been mesmerized by all of the beautiful nature here at Toll Bridge and look forward to even more surprises as we continue here through July.
And then, there are little guys like this too!
