Saturday, October 15, 2022
After time on the Oregon coast, savoring the sights and sound of the ocean, we drove inland to our (for once) reserved, full hook-up campsite - all set for a place to stay for the next three nights. Yay.
We drove along the beautiful Yumpqua River where we stopped for lunch, and hummed the Oompa-Loompa song. Yumpqua/Oompa-Loompa... it worked.
Our Google Map gal (we call her LucyLou) directed us on our route and we, silly silly we, believed her. The most "fuel efficient" route took a little longer, but time was less expensive than gas that day. We weren't in a rush. We drove right over a mountain or two, twisting and turning and upping and downing. We actually enjoyed the drive and were nearly undisturbed by other vehicles going our direction. But we were really tired by the time we arrived in our campground. We won't return to the coast the same route.
Saturday we were Wagons Ho! in the early hours, headed for Crater Lake National Park. We thought this was a park we "should" visit, but didn't have very high expectations. Silly silly we. We arrived before the gates were manned and drove through, onto the East Rim Drive. Oh, my goodness. Holy Cow.
A volcanic mountain collapsed into itself and left this great five-mile-wide crater, which filled with rainwater and snowmelt. What evaporates and runs off is replaced with additional rainwater and snowmelt. The rim drive is 35 miles around the lake, but it is a drive that took us all day. We just could not pass up an overlook. Until 3:00-ish (on our clocks) we had the views to ourselves or once in a while shared them with one other vehicle. Bliss.
After being on Highway 101 on the ocean, we were reminded how much we like being in our national parks. There is just an atmosphere, an appreciation, a wholesomeness in the parks that feels good.
Here is a tiny sample of what we breathed in on Saturday.
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| miles and miles of forest |
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| Jerry and Essi at the sign - how it really happens |
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| surrounded by mountains on all sides |
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| our first look at the lake - Phantom Ship Island |
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| I love the rock walls in the national parks |
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| Many spots were much steeper and without protective barriers |
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| These blues are real- they take your breath away |
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| Wizard Island in Crater Lake |
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| miles and miles of forest on the way home |
We finished the day with $6.00 (!) gas and pizza from the tiny town near our campground. The really good part was that we were able to give a ride to a kid carrying a five-gallon gas can back to his truck. He was prepared to walk the seven miles with that heavy load. He turned out to be a maintenance worker in the park. Sweet kid.
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