Day 15: Bodega Bay, CA to Crater Lake, OR

Day 15, Sunday: Bodega Bay, CA to Crater Lake, OR

KM start: 161,800 Km

Trip Meter: 5,343 km
Time Driven: 7am - 5:30pm

(With a two hour stop in Reding, CA for an oil change and other errands)

We woke up around 6am and it was soooo cold. 

We quickly made a hot breakfast, made sandwiches for the road and packed up in 45 minutes. So proud! We've become a well-oiled car packing machine.

We headed out through vineyard country and towards Redding, CA

After a while I started to get sleepy and since I was the one driving I stopped in some random californian town at this little coffee kiosk.

Because it was my first time I got my drink for free! Win!

Iced chocolate coffee drink (I can't remember which flavor but man it was awesome)

We stopped in Redding, CA to get an oil change at Walmart. I decided to grab some more veggies to add to lunch and dinner and we bought a little basket/bucket thing to put in our car in the front seat to contain all our drinks and stuff - it cost 97 cents and is a lifesaver. Love it! While we were at Walmart Paul decided to get a long overdue haircut and then I got some jewlery making odds and ends. Then we realized we should get gas while we were stopped and probably eat our lunch as well. 

Finally 2 hours later we were back on the road towards Crater Lake, OR.

We saw some crazy views - red banks with bright blue water.

Amazing.

Cute motels...

And signs that we were getting closer to home!

And triumphantly we arrived in Oregon.

Well it felt triumphant to us - mostly Paul was just so excited to be in his home state and be heading to an attraction he'd never seen before. And I'd heard about Crater Lake for ages as well, so I was very curious about what we'd be seeing. 

The views continued to impress.

And as usual we were amazed at how much water was around.

Also I think this photo below looks like a painting.

Love it.

Then we got into farm country - and it was the perfect time of day to enjoy the sights.

And finally we arrived at Crater Lake National Park!

After we set up camp (more to come on this later) we headed out to the lake.

And boy - were we glad we'd come!

To quote wikipedia: "Crater Lake is a caldera lake located in the south-central region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The lake partly fills a nearly 2,148-foot (655 m) deep caldera^[1] that was formed around 7,700 (± 150) years ago^[2] by the collapse of the volcano Mount Mazama. There are no rivers flowing into or out of the lake; the evaporation is compensated for by rain and snowfall at a rate such that the total amount of water is replaced every 250 years."

In other words - it's a blown volcano, filled with icy water, with a mini volcano island sticking out!

Rad.

See, we're so happy to be here.

We meandered over to the lodge that is perched on the side of the lake - it reminded me of lodged I'd seen going across Canada as a kid. Especially the White Sands from Anne of Green Gables.

Now that's one way to enjoy a meal.

And please note, we did not eat here. 

We were "wise" and ate tasty pasta back at camp. 

Which I'll admit was fun too.

At some point, like at the Grand Canyon, I realized I should stop taking pictures because it all begins to looks the same. And then I thought, who cares. More pictures!

Paul, pensively looking out over the water

A Captain!

A squirrel!

This is one of my favorites

Even facing away from the water is gorgeous

Love the sun streaming in

Look at my mad photography skills.

Stef, eat your heart out

(jokes - you would have been amazing here)

Then we headed back to our campsite to make dinner, read and rest before a few days of visiting people. 

After a few days of go-go-go I took our early arrival as an opportunity to sit in one of those chairs with a beer and a book and be entirely at rest for an hour. It was wonderful.

Paul built us a big ol' fire. He is resourceful (ie. we had no wood) and capable (ie. he gathered wood and built a fire). What a man. Or as my Auntie Sandy would say, "that Paul, he's all man"

And don't worry that quote makes no more sense in context than it does out of context.

And he hung me a lantern so I could cook in the dark.

I don't know why we didnt' think of this much sooner - really? 

Our last night of camping and we finally find a solution? Ugh. Morgans.

My "kitchen"

Our beautiful fire

Happy husband with new haircut.

Happy wife with dinner.

And then we went to bed by 9am because yet again we were going to try and wake up for sunrise....yet again we would struggle to get up at the right time, but yet again we would make it. Awesome.