Crater Lake—here we come!

The first day of major driving was suddenly upon us, and I won’t mince words—I didn’t love it😳.  We made it out of the busyness of the Bay Area, observed forest fires in Winters, stopped for lunch and samples at the Olive Pit in Corning before hunkering down for the long trek to southern Oregon and Crater Lake.  We stopped for dinner at a brewery in Klamath Falls.  Dinner was followed by a Walmart stop for supplies, and people watching. There’s nothing like a trip to Walmart to sample the local culture😜.  We were only more perplexed when our stop for gas resulted in what appeared to be a motorcycle gang running the gas station.  They pumped our gas and made friendly conversation.  We were relieved to make it out unscathed!

Crater Lake National Park was another 45 minute drive.  We pulled in around 7PM and made our way to Watchman Tower for a 0.8 mile hike to an old fire lookout tower.  The tower sits on the crater of this ancient volcano.  We were quickly losing sanity and enjoyed stretching our legs, throwing some snowballs, and learning about the history of this scenic spot.  (The lake started forming in a crater of a volcano that collapsed during an eruption 7700 years ago.  It’s the deepest lake in the U.S. and the cleanest lake in the world!)

We had to dig out pants and sweatshirts—the temperature dropped from 85 in Klamath Falls to 60 at Crater Lake!



The center island (Wizard Island) was a smaller volcano that was active after the larger volcano collapsed.  

We pulled into the Eagle Inn at Crater Lake around 9PM and collapsed in the quarky, but clean A-frame cabin.  Sounds of trains and trucks dotted our night, but we were thankful for soft mattresses, cool night air, and a reprieve from the minivan:-)