Twin Falls Idaho to Crater Lake Utah

We got another early start today.  I set my alarm for 6, but was up about 5:45.  Of course that was 7:45 Eastern, so not too hard to do.  Twin Falls was uneventful, but they did have a beautiful view of the Snake River as you come into the town.  We passed the Snake River in Jackson Hole Wyoming, too.  In this case they had a miniature version of the Grand Canyon.  Very nice.

For 10 hours we slogged across Idaho and Oregon.  Not much to report here.  Mostly plains with few mountains and nothing to break up the views. 

Three hours from hour destination we came across an interesting site and pulled off the road.   This was a lava bed as far as you could see.  The information said that the lava rocks covered what was the equivalent of of the whole state of Rhode Island (1400 square miles). 

Everything ran smoothly for most of the trip, until we headed up the mount to Crater Lake.  the road we were to take up was closed.  I called the lodge and they routed me around.  We got there, but took an extra 45 minutes.  Got to see some beautiful scenery we would have missed otherwise.

As we headed up the mountain the temperature dropped 17 degrees in 45 minutes.  Someone told us that this was the first day that the temperature during the day had gotten over 32 degrees.  Might have been an exaduration but there are drifts in the parking lot 12 feet high still!! They average 522 inches of snow per year here.  Amazing. 

As sat out on a rock ledge for 20 minutes by myself appreciating the beauty of the lake.  Our room overlooks it and dinner should be really nice as well. 

We will start back down the mountain after breakfast on our way to the California coast.  We will be camping again after two nights in hotels.  Heading to dinner now.  I had a drink in the lobby and I ran into a Va Tech grad who is a waiter from Charlottesville.  Can you believe it.