Crossing California (Sept. 25 & 26)

California is a large state, and unfortunately we don't have time to see everything we want to see along the way.  It has taken us two days of almost constant driving from the northwestern most corner (Crescent City) to the town of Needles in the southeastern region.  We started with beautiful coastal views...

Then headed inland over winding mountain roads and passing recent wildfire activity, which, sadly, destroyed some homes and a lodge...

I don't have photos from the longest stretch of the trip through the farmlands of central California.  We passed miles of fruit and nut trees (olives, almond, pecan, walnut) and fields of pumpkins, squash, and strawberries.  Then through the oil refinery region of Bakersfield, remembered more for its smell than its scenery, and on to the rolling hills leading to the Mojave Desert...

 I was amazed at the number of wind turbines...

We passed the plane boneyard in the Mojave Desert, where large aircraft owned by major airlines are stored.  Doug and I looked this up and here's what we found:  "Some aircraft reach the end of their useful lifetimes and are scrapped at the Mojave boneyard, while others are refurbished and returned to active service."

We stopped at a rest area with warnings of rattlesnakes...

I've heard about Joshua trees much of my life, but didn't actually see one until now.  Would you believe it's in the lily family?

Here is some of the lovely Mojave landscape...

and a Mojave sunset...

The famous Route 66 paralleled and passed back and forth across our route.  Here's a photo of Route 66 advertisement in the restaurant where we ate our dinner...

And this photo of the map brings us up to date on the route we've traveled...

The next three nights we'll be camping at the Grand Canyon with nighttime lows in the mid-30s. Brrrr.  I expect to be off line, but will catch up on the blog soon...

Back to the Coast Again (September 23 & 24)

After two days of winter, we headed back to the coast of Oregon by way of the redwood forest of Jedediah Smith State Park.

It's difficult to capture the full height and diameter of the trees with a camera, but this photo helps to put it in perspective.

And these fungi look like natural bird feeders installed on a tree trunk.

Not too far from the redwood forest at the southern most stretch of the Oregon coast is Brookings.  We had reservations for two nights at Lowden's Beachfront B&B.  This is the view of the Winchuck River from our suite...

And this view slightly more to the west is where the river meets the Pacific Ocean.  What a magnificent location!

Here's a view of the house from the beach...

And a closer view of the river flowing into the ocean.

And most magnificent of all--the sunset...

Early the next morning, we saw two otters playing in the river...

Later in the morning we walked a different beach at the north end of Brookings...

And each time, our pockets grew heavy with beautiful rocks we collected.  Here's just a small sampling...

I don't often get a photo of Doug's smiling face because he's usually behind his camera...

And I can't neglect to show you this wonderful little porthole in the wall of our suite.  It lets in the sound of the ocean all night long...

Now we are making a fast track across California on our way to the Grand Canyon...

Out of the Rain and Into the Snow at Crater Lake (Sept. 20-22)

Yes, I'm getting ahead of myself by putting this photo up first, but it's just too beautiful a scene to resist.

Back on Wednesday, the sun did come out, and Doug and I enjoyed a late afternoon walk on the beach, followed by our second campfire of this entire trip.  Most of the other locations have had fire bans due to all the wildfire activity.

On Thursday morning we broke camp and headed inland along the Umpqua River and then followed the North Umpqua, passing several active wildfire sites.

until we came to our first sight of snow...

Fortunately we did find out ahead of time about the snow at Crater Lake and decided to change our campsite reservations to a cabin, instead.  The night time temperatures were in the 20s and the daytime highs in the low 30s--not very conducive to tent camping.  We hoped our "cabin" would include cooking facilities, but it was a basic motel room.  Mind you, I'm not complaining since it had heat and running water!

We arrived just before dark, so our first breathtaking sight of Crater Lake was in the morning.  Both the East and West Rim Roads were closed, due to icy conditions, but we did walk along the wall at Rim Village.

 The trolley was temporarily out of service,

but the Visitor Center was open...

as was Crater Lake Lodge...

with its welcoming fireplaces...

and rustic interior...

These outdoor rocking chairs have seen warmer days...

And I couldn't resist this view to the south...

These men were tossing snowballs down the hill to see if they would roll all the way to the lake.

In the afternoon, people gathered around the fireplace to hear a talk by one of the park rangers.

We learned that Crater Lake was originally Mount Mazama, a 12,000 foot volcano, which erupted 7,700 years ago.  After a number of eruptions, the top of the mountain collapsed and formed the caldera, which eventually filled with rain water and snowmelt. Today Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States at 1,943 feet.  It is also the 10th most potentially dangerous volcano in the United States.

By late afternoon, the East Rim Road was opened, so Doug and I ventured out for more amazing views, which will speak for themselves...

But I do have to point out this one of an island in Crater Lake, known as the Phantom Ship...

And we ended our day with a delicious meal of fresh salmon and ocean halibut at Crater Lake Lodge...