When I was a kid my granddad used to take me each Christ out into the north Louisiana woods around where we lived to pick out and cut down a tree for Christmas. We would take it home in the back of his truck and hang LOTS of tinsel on it, and lights and ornaments, including ones I made and brought home from school. Looking back those Louisiana pines, don’t make the best tress, they kind of look like a teenage Charlie Brown Christmas tree, but I never noticed or minded.
This year with the kids being 3 and 4, they have been really excited about getting a Christmas tree and someone told me you could cut your own at in certain places in the National Forest here in Ashland. SO we went to the ranger station (behind Super 8 on the south side of Ashland) and bought a permit and got a map to know where we could cut from. You can find info here if you are looking to cut your own Christmas tree in the Rogue Valley. The best part was that the permit costs only FIVE BUCKS!! And you can cut a tree up to 12 feet tall, and up to 5 per family. Talk about a deal! Anyways, we drove up Dead Indian Road about 26 miles, stopped on the side of the road and hiked around in the snow until we found the perfect tree. The kids had so much fun, and we even brought hot coco that we picked up form a gas station and listened to Christmas music on the drive up. I highly recommend anyone in the area to do this, I just can’t explain what a joy it was for all of us.
I also think this would make a wonderful family photo session for Christmas, New Year’s or just because!
Here is a little video my hubby, Brian, made on his iPhone of the trip. 🙂
