Friday morning, we drove down through Bend, Oregon, and the Deschutes National Forest, to Crater Lake National Park. Another national park, sighed Molly, and waited patiently in the van.
Crater Lake is VERY beautiful. It is so still and blue and lovely that it looks like a painted backdrop more than a real landscape. The water is blue, blue, blue: different shades at different depths, from darkest cobalt to deep turquoise. Speaking of deep, we read that the lake is about 2000 feet deep. Formed in the crater of an old volcano, it is the deepest lake in the United States. We stood at one overlook point and looked and looked, somewhat awestruck. Then we made sandwiches in the van, carried them up to another point, and ate our lunch with the best view ever.
Seeing Molly peeking at us from the van window, Sandeep carried her up to the overlook point as well. She appreciated the lake in silence for a few minutes, and then transferred her attention to the national park chipmunks. Lovely views are nice, but someone has to deal with the pests.
We drove through the Umpqua National Forest – yes, wonderful Oregon is just littered with National Forests! – which was also beautiful. Tall, evergreen-covered hills slope steeply down to the road, which follows a shallow, sparkly river. We climbed down to the river so Molly could wade in it, which she did. It was one of Sandeep’s favorite drives so far, and we have been trying to say the word Umpqua as often as possible since then. Say it: Umpqua! Umpqua! UMPQUA!
We saw the Pacific Ocean, for the first time on this trip, in the dark with just a little glow from the UMPQUA Lighthouse.
We camped Friday night in Lakeside, Oregon, in the first state park since the Midwest with electricity. Yippee! It was a large campground, on a lake, and nearly full. In addition to RV and tent sites, the park has cute little yurts with plastic skylights that people can rent. We do prefer the Gumby van to a yurt, though; it’s just as cozy, and much easier to move!
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