2nd stop: Crater Lake

So, the itinerary went like this (and we thought this was a good idea for a toddler...) :

1)Leave our home at 10 am. Drive an hour to Foster Lake/Reservoir. Take a few pictures like this one:2) Dive on another near hour and stop at a pull out along Hwy. 20 at a small wayside and Pier to take a few more pictures. Like this one:3) Drive SEVERAL more hours into eastern Oregon turning from Hwy. 20 to Hwy 97 and following it south through several very small towns. Arrive in the "lava and pumice fields". Take yet more pictures, like this one:(note how life finds a way even in this harsh and unforgiving yet thoroughly beautiful landscape)4) make our way to the Oregon's own National Park. Crater Lake.A brief history lesson will tell you that once a long time ago (when my dear blog friendHoss was a young lad in leading strings... OK maybe not THAT long ago) a very very large volcano name Mount Mazama exploded, leaving a heck of a mess and a 2 thousand foot deep crater, which filled in with glacier melt, rain water and assorted other moisture to become the deepest freshwater lake in the nation. It is now an amazing national park that attracts visitors from all over the world who go there to see natural beauty, and of course freeze our "bums" off:(incidentally... after that trip i wish the temperature gauge in the truck was less accurate... i didn't need to know how bloody cold i was) On the positive side, the Florida boy whom we were escorting around on this whirlwind tour got to see his first snow. There was a very small amount on the ground and it did "spit at us" a bit as well.Oh, and of course, here's a bit of the lake and the famous Wizard Island. Wizard Island is actually the "cinder cone" of the old volcano.

5) Drive our freezing cold behinds out of there via the longest route home possible without backtracking. We found a place where we once again pulled off, parked and explored. I think it was called Clear Water Falls. Should have been called COLD water falls. We got a few more pictures including these (one from the top; one from the bottom):6) On the road again for several more hours, traversing some even-numbered hi-way (even s go east/west odds go north/south) out to beautiful downtown Roseburg where we caught 1-5 Northbound for two more hours home.

Fortunately, the windshield wasn't to filthy and i was able to shoot this out the front window of the truck as the sun set over the middle of nowhere:We arrived back home around 1130PM. Indiana wasn't as happy arriving as he was leaving. But of course, he and his daddy had a great day. (as did I and the Florida boy)(you didn't think i would have a post this long without a good shot of Indiana, now did you!?!)

for more information about the Lake check out Crater Lake there are other great resources out there, too! It is interesting and beautiful and although we spent 13 hours in the truck with the car sick toddler, it was worth it. Oh and i will admit of one last mommy bit... Indy made the entire trip without an "accident", telling us when he had to "go" and "holding it" until we got to a restroom! way to go Indy!