We are currently in Klamath, California at the Ravenwood Motel. I tell you all this so that if we get sacrificed to, say, Cthulu, you'll know where we last were. I'm not one for strip hotels actually, but this place isn't bad. Anyway, we got round way at 9am this morning, and followed the map (since there were no signs in Roseburg) to Crater Lake. The road there, once it gets past the country area, is a well-paved windy track that follows the path of a beautiful river all the way up the mountains. There are douglas firs all along the roads and the deciduous trees were all yellow and red and light green. Further up, we drove into the clouds which were clinging to the tops of the trees and misting on our windshield.

After an hour and a half we reached Crater Lake, but were told visibility was zero due to the clouds/fog. When we got out at the first viewpoint this was obviously the case with the lake barely visible and a freezing wind driving the clouds right at us and over the edge of the lake. Crazy stuff. We decided to go to Rim Village and eat some lunch and see if it cleared up during that time. It was a horrible lunch (they had a captive audience... actually, the worst meals I've had on this trip have been in national parks. Make of that what you will.) but, sure enough, when we went outside afterwards, it had cleared up enough to get pictures like this. The clouds were still hovering all around the rim and looked like they'd cover it again any minute, but we got our pictures and it was gorgeous. From there, I volunteered to drive even though I don't usually like driving after lunch (I get sleepy) because I'd had so much fun driving the twisty roads up the mountain, I wanted to drive them down too (Dad is learning to fear my squeals of joy upon seeing the twisty roads sign). We ended up making a quick pit stop to see Rogue Gorge which is very pretty and the best example of a gorge I've seen in awhile.

Dad and I switched off driving about an hour later since I was falling asleep (I just can't seem to stay awake if I drive in the early afternoon - morning and night are my best times). When we hit Crescent City after driving down 199, the redwood highway, we picked up a pizza at Pizza Hut since we'd been told most of the places in Klamath were closed for the season. Along the way, driving down highway 101, which really does hug the coast in twisty turns like they show in the movies, we stopped to take pictures of the beach at sunset. It was gorgeous with big waves and rocks out in the ocean. It reminded me of the Mediterranean only more lively. Once we got here, we settled in to watch House and eat pizza.

Tomorrow, we head into Redwood National Forest.
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