PINCHER CREEK – DAY 2

Fun day, we left Klamath and headed up to Crater Lake. On the Upper Klamath Lake we saw 3 bald eagles. Patti was so excited she couldn’t sit still. Guess what we found at Crater Lake?   Snow and lots of it.  The road was only open from the South Entrance up to the lodge.   Crater Lake National Park is the oldest park, created in 1902.  Put that trivia in your thinking cap.  Anyway, we did enjoy the view from the veranda at the lodge, the lake was completely still and perfectly mirrored everything, even the clouds.   500” of snow last winter and I don’t think it will all melt this summer.   Not being able to go out the North Entrance meant that we had to go back the way we came and circle way around, added about 50 miles to our days driving. Anyway, here are a couple pictures at the park.

The snowbank below must have been nearly 2o feet high.

 

Look at that perfect reflection.

 

They still have the rocking chairs.

And we have a little story for Ray.  Remember when we went to Calgary back in 2003, I think it was.  My Model A generator crapped out as we rolled into Madras, OR.  We spotted an old 20’s Dodge at the edge of town, so we went to talk to the guy about locating a Model A generator.  Well, he called a friend and the friend took the generator off his Model A truck and handed it to me and said to mail it back when I was done with it.  Drove it all the way to Calgary and back home  and sent it back to him.    Well the good samaritan still lives at the edge of town and now has quite a collection of old iron in the field by the road.  We talked to him and he remembered our visit way back when.   One of the cars is for sale, a mid-20’s Dodge coupe, restorable, runs, $2995. Whattayathink?

And so our day went.  On the home stretch for the day,  going up the Columbia Gorge, and nearly to our hotel at Hermistion, OR., I kept thinking that I was feeling a little vibration.  Stopped and inspected the trailer tires, found nothing obvious, but the stop was pure serendipity.  On the hill above us were 4 bighorn sheep about 30 yards away, watching us very intently.  If a guy set out to see a bighorn, his chances on any given day are probably 1000 to 1.  But there they were, big as life.

When we finally got to our hotel, I jacked up the trailer wheels and finally found a lumpy tire, so I put on the spare. Now, I have to get a new spare tomorrow.