July 27, 2011, Crater Lake

We have not had internet service for 2 days, so we are posting this on 7/29.

We tried in 1975. The water in the park was contaminated, and they closed the park.
We tried in 1989. The lodge was condemned, so we opted to try another time.
We tried in 1999. Ray's prostate cancer was being treated with drugs that kept us from traveling.
But we finally made it!

Part of the difficulty of visiting Crater Lake is the fact that it is located 50 miles from nowhere. You really have to want to come here. And we did.
What's so great about Crater Lake? It is one of the most pure bodies of water in the world, and one of the deepest lakes in the world. The purity of the water makes it appear unbelievably blue, and it is set in a landscape whose backdrop is snowcapped mountains, and spruce forests.

This year Crater Lake had 673 inches of snow--that's 56 FEET. There is snow on many of the trails that makes them unpassable, and there are banks of snow everywhere in the park. Today we arrived at about 1:30, and took the opportuntiy to drive around the lake, stopping at turnouts to snap some pictures.

We checked into our accommodations later in the day. We're staying at a nifty throwback motel about 15 miles from the entrance of the park (about 25 miles from the lake rim). This is the closest place, other than the Crater Lake Lodge (that had no rooms available). The people who run the motel are very friendly and helpful. The room is large and clean, and has a refrigerator and microwave, 15" TV and VHS. There are barbecue grills out front of the motel for your use. And since there are only 6 stations on TV (we ARE in the middle of nowhere), they have a cache of hundreds of videotapes that you can borrow to watch. The beds are comfy (and did I mention, clean?). What more could you want?  We were advised that the restaurant across the street was quite good, and reviews of this place had mentioned the same. We could choose that, or go another 10 miles down the road to Chemult. So we headed there for dinner. Good choice. They served up meals that were fresh and in gigantic portions, and the background music playing was awesome (Allman Brothers). Places like this are the reason we love to travel.

Family Visit 7/27/2011

Up a little later this morning, we read a bit, had coffee and breakfast, then set out for a visit with Uncle Sonny, Ray's mom's brother. Ray's cousin, Sonny's daughter, Theresa was there as well. We hadn't seen her or Uncle Sonny in about 20 years. We spent a nice afternoon catching up with both of them. Sonny is 91 now, and lives by himself, as his wife, Lillian, is in a nursing home. He is able to live alone with daily help from Theresa.

We had remembered the area where Sonny had lived as a bucolic rural area. Portland has grown tremendously since then, and that area is now teeming with housing developments where the homes are within spitting distance of one another. On Sonny's former property, there are now 3 homes. Times change, and not always for the better. Late in the afternoon, we checked in to our hotel in Salem, OR, went shopping for food (the area we are heading to tomorrow is really rural), and went to a restaurant for dinner.

Barren to Beauty 7/26/2011

After treating ourselves to a hot breakfast at the hotel, we packed up to head out to Mt. St. Helens. Old hands at maneuvering city roads with the help of our trusty GPS, we plugged in, and discovered...that the touch screen wasn't working. At all. Even after several reboots. Hmmm. Just pull out the map. That we can't find. Hmmmm. OK, I do have a smartphone. After looking up AAA , we discovered that there was an office up the street, stopped in, and collected a few state maps, and tour book. Ray got us pointed in the right direction, and we headed south. About 45 minutes later, I found the reset button on the back of the GPS, and after a few resets, it WORKED.

The day we woke up to was very cool--50s-- and cloudy. During the approximately 2 hour ride down to Mt. St. Helens, the temperature increased to the low 70s. Once we got off the interstate to head east into Mt. St. Helens Monument, we noted by the outside thermometer on the dash, that the weather was getting progressively cooler as we gained altitude. By the time we arrived, it was 55 degrees and cloudy. Mt. St. Helens is a fascinating place (at least to me) because this monumental change in topography happened in my lifetime. What used to be an old-growth forest surrounding a snow-capped peak is now an ash-filled landscape around a crater. The approach to the mountain is covered in what appear to be spruce trees that were planted since the eruption in May 1980. The patches of new trees are odd in appearance. Usually forests are composed of trees of varying heights. All these trees are the same size. And the limbs of this particular species grow fairly horizontally, so when you see the trees from a distance, the effect is almost like a pointillist painting. At the visitor center, we saw a movie that was put together with still photos taken at the time of the eruption, and featuring some awesome cgi effects that were very realistic. The force of the blast from the eruption blew down or scorched 230 square miles of forest. Amazing. Photos of the area immediately surrounding the mountain don't show any tree remains. They are buried in up to 230 feet of ash. Wow. Unfortunately for us, the caldera was not visible--it was hidden in low clouds. The picture to the right was taken looking directly at the mountain. But being witness to the effects of the forces that took place in 1980 was impressive. We'll be back.

We then headed further south to the Portland, OR area. After checking into our hotel, we drove over to the International Rose Test Garden, the oldest official, continuously operated public rose test garden in the United States. Started in 1917, in the beginning, even though World War I was raging in Europe, hybridists sent roses from around the world to this garden for testing and to keep the new hybrids safe from being destroyed by the bombing in Europe. There are thousands of roses, all gorgeous to walk among and admire. It is a beautiful spot. we can't believe that the last time we were here was in 1975--only 36 years ago!

The adventure begins--again 7/24/2011

Up early today, we had packed last night, and were ready for the limo to the airport when it arrived 10 minutes early. We left at 6:30, and were through security and at the gate by 7:07. With a 2 bag per person allowance, and a 50# per bag limit, we almost maxed out. As usual, our Southwest flights were on time, and reasonably comfortable--no screaming babies this time! Excellent!

We arrived in Seattle at about 2:30, grabbed our bags, and were picked up by the hotel limo shortly. We walked from the hotel to a 7-11 and picked up some snacks and a few beers, and went back to the room to relax. At the 7-11, I cracked to the (Pakistani-born?) clerk that $5 for a bag of chips was highway robbery. He said something like: "Yes, you guys probably remember when chips were $.25 or something like that." I didn't want to know how old he thought we were... I don't think he understood that $5 for a small bag of chips IS ridiculous...Later, we walked over to a sub shop for dinner. Tomorrow, we will pick up the car (the hotel will shuttle us over there), and set off for Portland. We are amused that people here think the weather is HOT. It was about 85 degrees and dry here today, what we would consider quite lovely. The weather lady on the local TV station described the day as something like "oppressive". YIKES! I guess everything's relative...

Traveling again 7/20/2011

Our summer 2011 trip is set, and I'm getting psyched. This time we're headed for the Pacific Northwest, and visits to Olympic National Park, Crater Lake, Oregon Caves, Astoria, Victoria, BC, and more. We'll be including a stop in to Boeing for a plant tour, and more. You're welcome to come along by checking in on this blog.

Because of time constraints, this year we are flying in to Seattle, and renting a car. With a bit of good timing, we were made aware of the fact that we could get 2 free roundtrips to anywhere Southwest flies if we applied for and got a Southwest Chase Visa card. And so we did. That took care of our flights out west. We are renting a car off the airport, saving almost $800.00. Cheapness rules!

Over the finish line 10/6/2010

I made it! This morning I had the surgery to remove my port-a-cath. With all the chemo, surgery, and radiation done, this was the last piece of the puzzle for me. On with life!

I'm on for Wednesday 10/1/2010

Today I go for an EKG, blood work, and chest x ray in preparation for surgery on Wednesday the 6th to remove my port. A year ago on October 7th, I had my first chemo. As an added bonus, last night was my last dose of coumadin. Once  the port is out, I won't need to take it anymore. WooHoo!