Crater Lake

Our next stop is Crater Lake. Since this is right after the 4th of July many campgrounds close to Crater Lake are full.  After some research we discovered Sno-Parks. These are NFS(mostly I think) that are large parking lots for winter fun. You need a permit to park your car at these lots and go play in the snow. The rest of the year these are used by RVers as a boondock spot. 20-30 rigs/tents park around the perimeter for the night. Free. These work out great, there are 100+ of these in the mountains of Oregon. I had never heard of them until this trip. Works similar to a ski area where you just park in their parking lot for the night.

There is a perimeter road around Crater lake that we wanted to take. This was great, very little traffic, every stop had plenty of space for parking. We were surprised at the lack of tourists. The drive is only 33 miles, takes 2-3 hours with all the stopping. Crater Lake is as blue as the pictures you see. This lake is not stream fed. Rain and snow only. Underground seepage keeps the lake level but no one knows where the water is going. A mystery of nature.

The lake is so still and the reflections of the surrounding mountains are unbelievable. Put this on your bucket list.

After Crater Lake we are planning to do minimal traveling. This was in our plans until we start up again after Labor Day. We will be spending the month of August in Washington near Olympic NP and will do a couple day trips each week once we are settled in. 

For now we are at a park in Oregon for 2 weeks, then we will visit some friends, spend some time at the Columbia Gorge and then on to our August campground. 

Crater Lake

07 04 2021 Mt. Hood

 What I love about where we are touring are the snow capped mountains that are on the horizon as you drive. 

We were concerned about 4th of July but found a campground that was attached to a County Fairground. One of the best fairground campgrounds we have stayed at. About 1/2 full. When we started this trip we were concerned about crowded campgrounds. We have never been in one that has been full. We travel mostly secondary roads and that probably helps. This might be different is we drove interstates.

Mt. Hood is just up the road from us so we took a day trip to the mountain. Snow is starting to melt off the peaks so they are not as stunning. Pretty drive though.

Mt. Hood

Plymouth Park, Washington

 We have been caught in the heat wave of Washington and Oregon and decided we wanted to stay in a campground that had electricity for the duration. We found a really nice Corp of Engineer campground, off the beaten path, only 39 sites. This worked out well for us. we did some touring, tried a local restaurant and just took it easy. We hadn't planned to travel much in July/August so we started a little early. 

We have lots of wineries around us and thought we could visit them. That plan didn't work out very well as most needed reservations or were still mostly closed due to Covid. Covid is still impacting us. Most restaurants have limited hours, fast food don't have their dining rooms open yet. 

Going to the supermarkets here is a dicey situation. They don't seem to be well stocked, this is including Walmart.

We finally left the COE park. Tom needed a new phone and we thought this would be a great time to have one shipped to us. Our overnight package took 5 days to get to us. When we were finally able to hit the road again, 4th of July was upon us. We found a county fairground to stay at for 4th of July weekend. 

We did a few day trips along the Columbia River while waiting for the phone. The Columbia is awesome, it is a large river. We have driven maybe 200 miles of its length and the river size has been the  river size has been the same through out. 

There are numerous dams along the river for electrical generation, surprisingly you don't see many boats or fishermen on the river. I have no idea why not.

Each side of the river has a road. On the Oregon side is the Interstate, on the Washington side is a smaller, 2 lane highway, much prettier to drive and you can stop where  you want. No towns or services though.

We did find a local restaurant that was great. We like to go to Mom and Pop restaurants as most of them are very good. This one was a winner. 

 

Mt. Rainier, What more do I need to say

We took a day trip to Mt. Rainier. We came in from the NW side which is unusual, most tourists come in from the East side. This is a great way to visit, the roads are empty, the viewpoints have 1 car. After an hour or so we were wondering where everyone was. We found out. We crossed the invisible line for the tourists who come in from the east, wall to wall cars and people. We had seen Mt. Rainier in all its glory with a beautiful day. Good way to end this stop. 

Rainier is awesome, just takes over the horizon wherever you drive. We encountered frozen lakes, roads closed due to snow(6' still) but still a great day. 

We stopped at a local place for dinner and had the best chicken fried steak and fish in chips in years. We like to try the Mom and Pop restaurants. We rarely find one that isn't good. 

Mt. Rainier 

Drive from Grand Coulee Dam to Yakima, WA

 Today was a great driving day. We were at Grand Coulee Dam, largest in the US. They had a great 45 minute movie about the construction of the dam and a very interesting museum. This is a massive dam, 550' high and 30' across the top. Happy we stopped here.

Today we drove down to Yakima WA to stop at an Elks Lodge for a few nights before we move to a Corp of Engineer park on the Columbia gorge for 5 days. Looking forward to this, we had a taster a few days ago driving along the Gorge but now we are going to see the "Gorge".

Our trip today was phenomenal scenery wise. We drove from Grand Coulee along the Columbia River. We were stopping frequently for the views. Then we had to drive on I90 and I82. Interstates are not my favorite as I find them boring. Not these two. Up and down significant grades(5% for 5 miles), then came the crowning touch, we stopped at a Scenic View Point and here was Mt. Rainier in all its glory.

A few miles down the road the view was even better, both Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier came into our view. Of course no scenic area so pictures through the windshield is the best we can do. 

Took us 2 hours longer go get in than planned with all our stops.  

Drive to and Grand Coulee

Drive to Yakima, WA 

Spokane

We are now in Washington and have driven through their Palouse region. This is a unique region, only in Washington of rolling hills, mainly agricultural, just lovely to see after Oregon. We are heading for Spokane for a major food shopping before heading back onto the backroads for a month or so. 

We have friends in Colville, around 90 miles NE of Spokane and will visit with them for a few days before moving on.

Spokane 

 

East Side of Oregon

I am so far behind in my blog and pictures. I am only going to put up the links for now, some of the pictures have comments. Overall, OR was boring and the roads are empty. 

We are now going up the east side of Oregon. The east side of Oregon is so barron, very surprising to us. We are driving mostly on interstate for a few days. Going through some passes was so nice. The interstate followed a nice stream, lots of curves but a nice change. There isn't much to do going up the east side which surprised us. Nevada was so much more interesting. Not much to see or stop at.

We placed an Amazon order and will wait in Hermiston, OR for the packages to arrive.
This is near the beginning of the Columbia Gorge so we will be doing a day trip. Should be in Washington in another 3-4 days. Hope Washington is more interesting.

Three links of our trip through Easter Oregon

Jordon Hall, OR

Ontario, OR 

Hermiston, OR