I was so excited to go to Crater Lake. Dad says that if he had not come to work at Crater Lake, we would have never known how awesome Oregon is and we never would have moved here. So thank you Crater Lake (see Dad, I said thank you).
Also, I was excited to go see somewhere pretty where Dad worked. Right now he just works in the garage, anywhere has to be better than that. I've been to some of his other workplaces like the
White House (it's just a big house; I spit-up while we were there), the Post Office (that was pretty cool, but the lines are long) and our old basement. But, Crater Lake was the coolest place he ever worked.
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| Thinking about taking a bath in the lake |
For those who have not been, Crater Lake is big - really big. Really, really blue. And really windy and cold in September. But, we had a lot of fun. We got to drive around the lake, have hot cocoa in rocking chairs by the rim, eat dinner in a fancy restaurant, pee in the woods (pointing away from the lake), and hike and hike and explore. It was fun to spend the long Labor Day weekend there.
We also got to do a few fun activities outside of the park, like explore where the Rogue River goes underground into a lava tube and climb on GIANT boulders.
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| At the lookout tower on Watchman Peak - it was beautiful, but we were tired |
One of my favorite things about camping is staying up late and eating marshmallows. Instead of just having a campfire our second night, Dad insisted we go to one of his favorite spots in the park at sunset. So, after dinner we hiked (well, Amelia rode on shoulders most of the way and danced the rest of the way) 1 miles straight up hill to Watchman Peak and made it just in time for the sunset (7:30pm - that's way past my bed time). Our treat for making it up - marshmallows and chocolate (and 40 mph wind gusts - yes it was cold). On the way back to the campsite, Amelia and I got to look at the stars. Loved it.
The next morning, we woke up, packed up, ate up and shimmied up to see a few waterfalls on our way home. Golly, I sure love camping; although starting school and staying up late makes me very tired.
Check out all of my Crater Lake National Park pictures here (there are a lot).
Peace out,
Phin "the rugged camper"
