As we left California, we were giddy about passing Mt. Shasta-- a REAL mountain! What we see from our home are hills in comparison. The first time we saw it, we squealed at its size, snow cap and majesty. When we saw it again on the return trip home, we had just spent a whole week looking at mountains, each one more impressive than the one before, and it was a little less exciting. Funny how that happens, huh? I love this picture of Ella in the car with Mt. Shasta in the rear view.
Day two of vacation had us cross the Oregon border for the first time and see one of my favorite sights of the trip-- the deep, blue waters of Crater Lake National Park. A movie in the visitor center taught us that Crater Lake was formed when a huge volcano eruped so voilently, the entire mountain was actually decimated and disintegrated into the ground, leaving behind this deep basin. It happened almost 8000 years ago and since has been filling with rain and snow, making it the deepest and bluest lake in the USA.
Since Crater Lake is pretty much just a mile-deep hole in the middle of a mountain range, there is no beach access, no water inlets and no sea life (except the 3 species of fish that are stocked in the lake). It was as interesting as it was gorgeous and we couldn't have been there on a prettier day.
Crater Lake gets about 44 FEET of snow each winter and, again, we picked just the right time to pass through and see the park in its entirety.
Just a bit snow remained which, of course, we had to play in! Never before had a snowball fight in July!
Delia has a funny snowball fighting technique. After nailing you in the face at point blank range, she hides behind a tree and taunts you with "You missed me's!"
We spent our second night in a hotel in Eugene and got a good flavor of the organic, natural attitude of Oregon when we strolled around their downtown. This was yet another great day in a long line of great days to come...
No comments:
Post a Comment