Finally made it to Crater Lake

Captains Log July 21 –  We  had  a  great  time  today!   We headed  out  for  Crater Lake  this

Store and restaurant at South Entrance

morning.  We were not sure if there’d be a place to eat so I took some fruit, carrots and snacks to get by with.  Bill didn’t think he better drive with his toe surgery, and really shouldn’t be doing a lot of walking but we were running out of days to go so I drove and he slept.

We started our visit at the South Rim.  They have a pretty large parking area and we had perfect timing and got a spot immediately.  They have a big gift store and a small cafeteria for ready made sandwiches and salads and do burgers and hotdogs on the grill.  The actual Visitor Center is closed so there was no movie, or intro, but that was fine as we got to do that part 2 years ago when we came and there was so much snow still that we could only drive so far and the roads were closed.

View from South Entrance, Wizard Island

I got Bill a sandwich and I was not paying the price for the tiny salad with a dash of chicken on it so I survived on our snacks!  We stopped so many times while driving the entire loop around the lake.  I took a ton of pictures and the lake is prettiest from where we started but the side with the Phantom Ship is also very nice.  There were bikers and hikers all over and foreigners and children and so many people, but we never had a problem parking at any of the stops we made.

Now we can officially check Crater Lake off our bucket list!  It was pretty nippy when we arrived and we took jackets but about ¼ around the lake it was warming up.  We didn’t see any wildlife but the tiny chipmunks that are willing to eat from your hand and pose for photos!!

Mid-way around, so blue!

On the way home we stopped at Becky’s in Union Creek for her pies that we heard were out of this world.  She does 8-10 different kinds of pie each day.  I had coconut cream pie and Bill went with chocolate peanut butter.  It’s pretty pricey at $8 a slice, but it is a big slice and close to 4 inches tall.  It was enough for 2 servings so we sat out at a picnic table and ate half and took the rest home.  The filling was to die for but the crust was very thick, which I guess you’d need to hold it together for the heavy slices, but it was pretty boring and dense.

There was no question that dinner would be

From Northside, Phantom Ship island

leftovers!  That was fine as I wanted to make some blackberry crisps for us and 2 small ones for 2 of the guy loop hosts. So I kept the convection oven going strong til the baking was done.  Bill delivered the crisp to the guys and we called it a day!  A really good day!

From the lake to the volcano

June 27 – The plan was to leave by 9:30 today but Bill needed to air up the truck tires we

Nothing ugly about this drive!

were about 20 minutes late.  We only had one planned stop today it was 119 miles.

It was a little drizzly as we drove north passed the entrance to Crater Lake.  There was no traffic but us.  Wonder where everyone was?  The drive was beautiful under the super tall trees.  No interstate, just 2-4 lane roads.

We made it to Newberry National Volcanic Monument around lunch time.  Being a National Park and us having our “old people” passes, we got in for free.  The car

Looking down in crater

lot was full and we headed to the RV-Trailer lot and wouldn’t you know, cars were parked in the long spaces for BIG rigs.  We were ticked.  We drove to the end of the lot and next to the last space there was a car parked in the very front of the space so I pulled in and the truck was out in the road, so Bill got in front and inched me forward til the truck was just

Lava rock for miles

barely out of the space.

The concern then was “what if we get back before these people do”?  I just didn’t feel like worrying about it so we had our lunch and went in to the Visitor Center where we checked out the exhibits and the gift shop.  The ranger told us they have a shuttle to the top of the crater that is $2 round trip.  WE could have walked it but we didn’t have all day!

It’s at the top of Lava Butte.  They have a manned fire lookou

Once the bus dropped up off we still had to walk to
the top

t that is off limits to us regular folks and there is a ranger who is very knowledgeable of not only this crater but of the entire area.  He pointed out numerous hills that are/were vents for the massive eruption that took place 7,000 years ago.  The area is continually monitored for activity as it is considered an active volcanic region.  We had a bird’s eye view of the Lava Butte crater. Leading up to the Butte is acres of lave beds.  It’s about 25’ tall from the ground at the visitor center. 

Mt Batchelor

We could see the snow topped Mt Bachelor and next to it are the The Sisters.  Two miles down the road is the parking and entry to Lave River Cave.  We had planned to go there but in passing we could see it was packed with cars and no place to park the RV.  The ranger told Bill that there is 40+ minute wait for a lantern and the cave walk takes about 2 hours.  So it wasn’t going to work out for us to go.  It’s a lava tube and there’s a cave and a Sand Garden.  It would have been a great excursion, but the place was packed. 

Bill took a short walk out behind the Visitor Center up on the lava bed, mostly so I could take his photo!  Then we began our walk to the RV and realized that the lady running a park membership table today was parked in front of us and she left before we got back.  Hallelujah! So we got back on the road headed to Bend, OR where we planned to stop at Wal-mart and stock up on fruit, veggies and fill the rest of our list. 

The parking was tricky there as the lot was pretty full and there were already several RV’s in the back.  We lucked out and found a row with enough spaces empty for me to have 1 open space in front and get the truck barely of the driveway.  The question was whether I could get it back out of that space and make a left turn?

We spent more time in the store than we had planned but pretty much got everything on our list and then some!  That’s always the case.  Leaving Bend the traffic was packed coming and going.  We couldn’t figure out why.  The next city, Redman, was equally bombarded with traffic.  We had 54 miles to go to Coves Palisades State Park in Culver, OR.  The entire

Road along our drive

landscape changed from trees and mountains to flat farm lands.  The camp ground was no “just off the main road” as Bill pointed out.  It was quite a drive, especially once we came to the crooked road hugging the canyon wall, weaving back and forth.  Once we go to the bottom at the Crooked River we figured it was just along the river.  Not!  We had to cross the river on a STATED narrow bridge and do more driving along the edge of the canyon wall.  Finally, we arrived at the park.  That’s the good news!

The ranger at the entrance was so nice and personable.  He told Bill what roads to

From the front

take tomorrow to get where we need to be.  We drove to our space and planned to leave the truck hooked up to make our exit tomorrow much simpler!  I pulled forward as far as I could to get the truck in the space.  We put 2 boards under both front tires and we were still sitting downhill.  I went ahead and made dinner (broiled tilapia, fresh broccoli and mixed rice) and put a load of wash.  I just wasn’t comfortable and neither was Bill.  After dinner we took walk

From the other side

to see 3 retro travel trailers being towed with retro vehicles and as we walked back to our space we saw a vacant perfectly level spot that we knew we could get in.  Bill called the office and it was not booked so they OK’d us to move.  The problem there

One of the 3 classics in the park

was the lane was too narrow for me to make the turn without hitting a tree or the truck.  So we unhooked anyway and pulled the motorhome in and Bill parked the truck in front.  I felt much better about this space!

Now maybe we will rest much easier!