That's a BIG Lake and other fishy stories

Today Dan got up early and got the Expedition's oil changed at the local Ford dealer.  That means we're a little over half-way through our journey.  He was up early taking care of that and everything is in good shape.  We then piled in the truck and drove to Crater Lake.  It is about 1.5 hours away.  We stopped and had a picnic lunch along the way in the Rogue Valley Forest.  The trees were huge and we wondered if any were sequoias.  A local told us they're 1/4 the size of the sequoias.  They're just big old fir trees. They stood so straight and tall that we were impressed anyway, so we took lots of pictures.  To give you some perspective, Dan is standing next to one below.  On our way to the picnic area, Carolyn met two women fishing.  The line was tugging so she stayed and watched.  It was their 10th trout, so they met their limit and were going to put the new one on the line and go home.  She asked if she could take a picture and they agreed.  They both also agreed to allow us to post their picture.  Sorry for the photo bomb in the one picture - which was noticed later.  Both ladies are from Grant's Pass, where we're staying.  Bonnie is on the left and Stephanie is on the right.  Carolyn found out Stephanie is a school counselor at the middle school in Grant's Pass.  She told her she is one as well at the CTC.  It was fun to run across these two and we greatly appreciate their willingness to be a part of our blog today.

After lunch, we headed to the lake.  It is 1943 feet deep and was formed when a violent eruption triggered a collapse of a tall peak" (from Crater Nat Park website).  For the geology fans, it is a caldera.  You can google it for more info, but it was super awesome.  The sky was clear blue and so was the lake.  The lake is the 9th deepest on the planet.  It is something that is photographed a lot because of the brilliant color of the water.  It is thought to be the most pristine lake on the earth.  We couldn't go all of the way around it due to the snow and resulting road closures. Yes, it is the last day of June and it was 75 degrees or hotter and we saw a ton of snow - more than Glacier and more than Alaska (besides the Glaciers).  Some of it from the cleared walks were above our heads.

We walked around as much as we could and drove the southern and western rim - as it is 33 miles around.  We were able to stop at a lodge on the southern rim.  It was beautiful and in the style of the other buildings in the park, which was founded in 1902.  We got some pix inside of the one lodge and posted them below.  We also came across a very curious chipmunk that wanted some treats.  He was scurrying around the plaque and going up to people along the brick barrier.  We got way too many pictures of him, but he was cute. 

We worked our way back through the Rogue Forest and stopped for a treat at the local ice cream shop.  With the hot weather - up to 94 till we got our ice cream, it was a welcome way to cool down.  We had some fun with the giant chair and went to the general store across the way.  As we came in, we passed a sign for a natural bridge so decided to visit it on the way out.  The bridge was under water because of the amount of snow melting.  The river was swollen and treated us to roaring rapids instead.  Despite the bridge being under the water, we were delighted to see the rapids.

We headed back to the campground and got some laundry done while Caris made beef stroganoff.  It was good to have a hearty meal after a long day.  The winds picked up a bit and cooled things down.  So we'll sign off till tomorrow.  Sorry the pictures are out of order tonight.

From the natural bridge area:

 These were along the road. Dan got out of the car and got yelled at for this picture.

 The Natural bridge that we never saw.  The bridge in the distance is a metal one:)

 We didn't know these still existed - where's Superman?

 Thought this was fun.

 Fun in the big chair.

 Our furry friend we met.

 That snow is no joke.

 The Lake

 The Lodge

 Crater Lake

 Blue sky and blue water.

 This is the style of building throughout the park.

 That's a big tree - Dan is 6'3"

 A picnic lunch in the forest.

 Here are our two fisher people - Bonnie and Stephanie with their 10 trout - "Enough for a fish fry for 4 people", they said.

 Ice Cream on a hot day.

A quick wash and a drive through the mountains

Before leaving Portland, we washed the camper.  We decided to do the truck while we had the supplies and soapy water.  It took all four of us about 45 minutes, but it looks so much better.  The soap washed away two+ weeks of road dirt and dead bugs.  The shiny rig is sparkling now as we travel south to Grant's Pass.  On our way here, we saw a sign that we were in the 45th parallel - half way between the Equator and the North Pole.  It came too quick for a pix though.

Grant's Pass is a hub for the area - a sort of jumping off point to several area attractions.  We're using it for the same purpose.  We're staying at Rogue Valley RV Park, named for the local river with it's own attractions.  Our main purpose is to stay a couple of days to see Crater Lake National Park and the Redwood Forest in Crescent City, California.  Both are about 1 1/2 hours away from our campground.  The lady at the campground office was very nice and even complimentary of our rig (it must have been because we washed it).  We set up and took a tour of the place.

The first stop was Wolf Creek to see the Wolf Creek General Store that has been open since 1883.  It had some sundries that we didn't need and few we did, but Caris did find Takis - which is a hot chip she's been looking for the whole trip.  This is only the second place she's found them, so we had to get them.

We got back to Grant's Pass, which has a 10 foot caveman at the visitor's center and many bear statues along the main roads that are painted.  It seems to be a town that doesn't take itself too seriously, but can have some fun.  We headed back to the campground, got some dinner, walked around, watched a movie and went to bed.  It has been a bit strange since we're 3 hours behind Eastern Time and the sun doesn't set till after 9:30, so our sleep pattern is a bit off.

Just wanted to mention that if a picture shows that it is a video, it is a "live" photo which is a one second video such as one taken from an iphone.  We just didn't want you to be disappointed thinking the video didn't work.

Oregon is not that far away...

We said goodbye to Seattle and traveled south to Portland, Oregon.  We left around 9:40 and arrived about 1:30.  We are staying at Jantzen Beach RV Park.  It is on the island of Jantzen Beach and is kind of touristy with outlets across the street.  Our ride was rather uneventful except as we drove there were parts that looked a lot like 11/15 going to Williamsport.  There were tall rock faces on the left and a big river on the right.  The only difference was the license plates said Washington and Oregon.  It was a quick ride (compared to other ones), so we set up the camper and decided to do some site seeing.

Dan had found a place on the web back when we were researching called the Vista House in Corbett,Oregon.  It looked pretty cool, so we decided to check it out.  It was about a 30 minute drive  and was more than cool.  It was historic and built on a high point along the Columbia River where Washington State and Oregon State meet.  You could see the vistas all around, hence the name.  The pictures don't do it justice, but we posted them anyway:)  The roads all around the area were built by a man named Lancaster.  He wanted to "preserve what God gave us for the our future generations", so painstakingly dug the road from the mountain side in such a way as to preserve as much as possible.  As a result, there were some narrow roads with switchbacks and 8 waterfalls along the journey, but awesome scenery.

After our jaunt around the historic highway, we went up Larch Mountain Road.  Both this road and the one to Corbett had a 10% grade - so it felt like a 45 degree angle up the mountain.  We made it to Larch through beautiful wooded roads and entered the Mount Hood National Forest.  When we got to the top of the mountain, we had another 1/4 mile up hill to the lookout on Larch Mountain.  It was chilly and steep, but we were thankful because a year ago Dan  wouldn't have been able to do such a hike.  At the pinnacle, we could see Mount Hood, Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, Mount Jefferson and looked towards Mount St. Helens, but couldn't make it out due to the clouds.  The mountains ranged from 8000 to 14350 feet high.  These height was incomparable to the mountains we see in the east.  Mt. Hood was especially amazing to view, as it was the closest and appeared quite large through the clouds.

We made our way back to the campground - as Caris made rice pudding in the crockpot and we were afraid it would burn.  Dan and Mitch made steaks on the grill with seasoned potatoes and salad.  Caris and Carolyn made a quick run to Home Depot for supplies. We had a tasty meal before a walk around the park and heading to bed.  We're off to Grant's Pass tomorrow and hope to get the camper washed.

 Our Journey today

Welcome to Oregon

View at the Vista House

At the Vista House Upper Deck

View from the upper deck

Looking across to Washington State

Inside the Vista House - built in 1915

Hiking around the waterfalls

Multnomah Falls 

The scenery on Larch Mountain

The Lookout at Larch Mt

Is at Multnomah Falls

Off the bridge at Multnomah

The Vista House