In the first parts of my trip, I left Los Angeles and wound my way north through California, from the Bay Area, up to Lassen Volcanic Park , and then north to Lava Beds National Monument. From there we headed north into Oregon, heading to Crater Lake National Park. After that , Jen had to head back home, and after a farewell at the Klamath Falls Airport, I headed west, continued up the Oregon coastline, and eventually made my way to Portland.
Newport Bridge – one of the many excellent bridges along the coast
After leaving Lava Beds, we headed north, and very shortly found ourselves entering into Oregon, on our way to Crater Lake. The landscape turned from scrub land, to scrub forest, to sligtly more legitimate forest, to snowy quite legitimate forest as we approached Crater Lake. The southern entrance of the park where we came in was clear, but by the time we got to the “real” section of the park, there were still piles of snow higher than the car all over the place. However, the road around the west side of the lake was plowed, but we wre able to see a fair amount.
We finally got the lake. It was a very bright day.
We got to the campsite area, where most stuff was still disturbingly snowy, and I started to dig out a site. Jen went to go check in, where she discovered that the site I was laboriously shovelling out was in fact reserved, so we had to go find a different site. We did so, set up our tent, and shovelled out the bear box, and then went to go look at the lodge and the hotel. At least that is how I recall the order of operations.
Jen, in silhouette, reading something interpretive
Large snow pile on the way down to the viewing area
When we got up to the lake, we walked around and just gaped a bit. Big parking lot…bigger lake, and huge snow piles. But the lake really was just that fabulous. There is a small path down to a display overlooking the lake, and we went down and checked out all of that. We also went over and checked out the hotel for a bit. I’m a bit confused on the order of operations, but we did a lot of things that night, since sunset was so late. I know we had dinner back by where our campsite was, and we drove around to the north side of the lake as the sun was setting to get a look at things, and I know we saw a ranger talk at the lodge, and we *also* went back to the lodge during the evening to sit around and read, and had a drink. It was all in all rather pleasant…other than the mosquitoes. Swarms of mosquitoes. Hordes of mosquitoes. Oh my holy crap. Apparently they hatch out of the snow, and, well, it was the snow hatching time of the year. I killed hundreds, perhaps thousands, on my car, but it couldn’t make a dent. But the views were indeed really awesome.
Really. All the mosquitoes. Ew.
Camera time was about an hour off – this was 8 PM. So good. (The lodge is in this photo, as a tiny speck on the ridge)
We went back to the campsite once it was finally dark, and went to bed, and in the morning packed up, and drove back south to Klamath Falls. I think it was on the way back south where we had to stop for a few minutes on the road because some cowboys were herding their cattle across the road, which was kind of neat. We stopped in at the Visitors Center, and got advice on a nice place to go, so we picked up a couple of bagels, and headed over to the Veterans Memorial Park, where there was a train on display, and we could see a lot of birds on Lake Ewauna, and where we talked a little bit to a woman who was there birding, and who had previously lived in MA! After spending a bit of time there, I drove Jen down to the airport, where I was very amused to find a terminal of only a couple of gates. Outside, the first few rows of parking were the 4-hour max section, and the farther rows were two weeks. Also, I could actually walk into the airport and hang out with Jen for a bit (and check my email!) until it was time for her to go.
Subarus at the visitor center.
Thats the airport. All of it.
I then drove west to the coast, going a bit north on the I-5 first, and then more west, until I met up with the coast near Coos Bay. I turned north, and went as far as the Umpqua Lighthouse State Park, where I set up my camping stuff, then went to explore a bit. I checked out the lighthouse, and drove over a bit closer to the dunes, and watched people pack up from riding their ATVs all day. I also took a little walk around the tiny lake in the state park. Most things were closed, but a lot of it was very beautiful. When it came time for dinner, I went into Winchester Bay, instead of continuing to be the one person sitting there in this campsite full of family groups, huge tents, stoves, etc, and got some pizza. Amusingly/disturbingly, I ended up being seated next to a small Tea Party meeting, which was sort of fascinating to see in play. They had a speaker in from elsewhere, and he definitely had some sway with people.
The sand dunes, against the grasses
Umpqua and Heceta Head Lighthouses. Didn’t go far afield architecturally there, did they?
The next morning I continued on up the coast, first stopping for some coffee and breakfast in Florence, and then taking another break at the Heceta Head Lighthouse. There was a beautiful view of a bridge from there, and a really nice B&B, that even though it is close to the highway, I think would be a fabulous place to go and stay. I continued north, through Newport, stopping to look at the Yaquina lighthouse (not open right when I was there), and just generally enjoyed the misty coastal tour. Further north, I stopped in Tillamook and checked out cheese both at the Tillamook Factory and at Blue Heron. Apparently there are some other creameries in the area. Anyway, I got to see and eat a bunch of cheese, and even waited for them to fix the rolled penny machine at the the Tillamook factory so I could get my preferred souvenir. Unfortunately, as I headed down into Portland, my car started redlining, and I didn’t know what was up, so I found a place to go check out in Portland. I headed over to Miller Mechanical, where Al looked at my car, and thought it was mostly ok, so after filling it up with more antifreeze I headed over to meet up with Amanda.
The B&B was really placed pretty awesomely.
Excellent sign conflation.
Misty headlands.
I spent the evening with her, and saw her house, met her son and husband, and generally had a very pleasant evening. The next day I tried to head out to Astoria, and had a very nice drive out, but just as I was getting to Astoria, and about to head over the bridge into Washington, the car started redlining again. I stopped at another place to get my car checked out, and the guy there told me my head gasket was blown. He said he could fix it, but it would take a week, and he would lend me a car and I could come back a week later and get it, but I called Sarkis, and he said that as long as I kept pouring water or coolant into the tank, and kept moving, I could be generally ok. I decided to head up to Seattle and deal with it there, and after looking at a map, determined that the route heading back to Longview or Portland and crossing the bridge there would be shorter.
Babies behind bars
Hanging out with Amanda and Ian
So I head back, and traffic is flying like whoa, but then , when I get to the bridge in Longview, it’s all backed up and jammed over the bridge, and as I’m waiting to get onto the bridge, the needle is creeping up further and further into the red…finally I manage to pull back out of the turn, and pull into the tiny little area that is the Oregon side of Longview. I wait half an hour or so for everything to cool off again, and then am able to make it back to Portland. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of traffic over the bridges there too, and I don’t want to get stuck driving around the town, so I pull into the parking lot of a motel and prevail on the very nice desk lady to let me sit in their lobby until it’s late enough that the traffic has died down, at which point I drive to Seattle with no further problems.
Poor car. Also, another bridge. So many bridges.
Just because I like the photo, Amanda had a garage with , you know, a plane in it
The sky, heading into Washington.
