The first day (technically) was actually last Friday. We left right after Brett came home from work and drove as far as Boise. Our portable dvd player didn't work that whole drive, the kids were grumpy and hungry, and it ended up being the worst drive of the entire trip. But we stayed the night in Boise at a hotel and got up early the next morning to start the trek across Oregon. Destination: Crater Lake.
We drove through the most desolate part of Oregon. It's much like the desert we see here, but even more dry and empty. Towns were few and far between, and we were lucky we brought food cause it would have been a long trip to the nearest fast-food! I think we drove 9 hours that day...it's a little hazy. :-) But boy were we happy when we got to Crater Lake!
We happened to plan our trip for the same weekend they were offering free admission to many national parks, Crater Lake included. That was a nice little bonus. It was actually a little nerve-wracking to view that beautiful lake with the kids...It's a long drop to the bottom! But it was beautiful nonetheless.
Crater Lake is the deepest lake in North America, and it was created by a volcano collapsing in on itself. There are no inlets or outlets to the lake, so the lake is fed entirely by rain and snow. It has the most beautiful, pristine blue color. It's very hard to describe or even imagine. Even the photos don't do it justice, but I certainly tried!
After we were done seeing the lake, (and of course checking out the gift shop!) we headed to the little cabin we had rented for the night at Union Creek. This is a little resort located just south of the lake, and it was beautiful! It was really just a quick stay as we left the next morning, but it ended up being my favorite of all the little "cabins" we stayed in.
The cabin:
The view from the front door:
The view inside the front door, and the family chilling with a movie:
The cabin had a teeny-tiny dining area with a table and 2 chairs.
A teeny-tiny kitchen...
And the smallest stove I've ever seen. You can't really tell how small it is from the photo, but it was so skinny it was hilarious.
Union Creek is located near the Rogue River, and we were able to walk across the highway from our cabin to see some great waterfalls on the river.
Brett found this plant that was growing out of the bottom of a rock, toward the water. It was actually growing upside down. We thought it was cool enough to get a photo.
Kylee and Aedan got really good at finding the information markers on this trip. Kylee even started recognizing when they had maps, and she would ask us to point out where we were on the map.
Near the Rogue River was an information board about something called the Living Stump. Apparently the trees in this area grow together, and their roots combine and, well, grow together. This tree stump is living off the roots of the other trees.
It's really kinda freaky looking. :-)
All in all, it was a great start to our trip, and a great place to recover from the insanely long drive! I'll post more later on the rest of the trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment