Two Miles and Four Feet from Home: Oregon Day 1 & 2

Day 1

We slept well and got up early or I guess you could say the normal time 6:00 AM. No one else was up so we laid around until 7 and then packed up and after saying our goodbyes we left out at 7:30. The plan was to find a breakfast place with WiFi and get caught up on the blog. After about 30 minutes we crossed into Oregon and went to the Visitor center. This visitor center was awesome and right on the ocean. They had picnic tables and WiFi but they were not open til 9 so we headed up the coast and ended up at McDonald's. After we got caught up we kept going north and ended up in Gold Beach. We stopped at the visitor center and the lady at the counter was super helpful and gave us great information about Gold Beach and the entire coast of Oregon. This town would have been a great place to stop but we had only been on the road about an hour so we decided to move on. We drove the beautiful coast of Oregon with all of its jagged beaches and huge boulders right in the middle of the sea. We took many pictures at overlooks and also drove in and out of the Redwoods. Finally we ended up at Coos Bay but did not really like the campgrounds that we saw so we went further on to Reedton. Lyn had not been feeling well today so we decided to get a hotel for the night and just take it easy. I found a Best Western that had one pet friendly room left. We would be staying on the cheap since my credit card miles could be redeemed for a free room. Not to shabby! While Lyn took it easy I went out and unloaded the car. While I was doing that there was man that had parked with a trailer next to mine. We got to talking and he said he was actually working and that his job was to inspect cranes along the coast to make sure they were OSHA compliant. His territory included Alaska and we had a great conversation about alternative careers. Anyway we decided to just have dinner in and I went and got pizza with some clam chowder for Lyn. After watching this thing called TV we finally went to sleep around 10. The next day the plan was to go to Eugene Oregon and visit a company called "Bike Friday". As most of you know I am a bike nut and Bike Friday makes fold-able tandem bikes. You can also take them completely apart and put them in a suitcase that can fly as checked luggage. Anyway I would love to be able to do some international bike tours and this may just be the way to do it. The plan was to test ride one and the head to Crater Lake National Park. As usual this plan may change but for now we are headed to Eugene in the morning.

Day 2

We got up around 7 and after getting everything packed we went at had breakfast at the hotel buffet. Of course it was free and plentiful. We both had more than our share and after talking with several of the people around us decided we should hit the road. We had a great drive along a river and after about and hour and half we were at the Bike Friday store/factory. The people were super nice and after I commented that I was probably going to be customer from the furthest point today they pointed over to another couple who was also from NC. Small world for sure. After talking about the bikes and the options it was finally time for a test ride. These bikes have very small wheels and of course since they fold and come apart you would think they would feel funny but they actually feel just like any other bike. Their shop backs up to a bike trail and Lyn and I rode it for several miles. We really liked the bike and when we got back they took us for a tour of their factory. It was really cool and we found out that they had just celebrated their 25th year anniversary. Just as our tour was finishing the owner walked up and introduced himself. Instead of pushing his bikes on us he wanted to know more about our little red camper and the Prius that was pulling it. He said that he was a minimalist and loved the idea of something so small and easy to use. Anyway we may just have to start saving up for one of these bikes. It would have a lot of potential for some really fun trips. We left there around noon and got back on the road to head to Crater Lake NP. We where not on a major highway so we did not know if we would see a rest area or not to have lunch and we decided we would stop at the next picnic table that we saw. Well about that time we were driving next to a lake and we saw a covered bridge up ahead. We stopped to take a picture of it and noticed that there was a little picnic area right behind it with four picnic tables overlooking the lake. Awesome! We had lunch and then headed out. About an hour later our GPS had us turn on a National Forest road. We turned and noticed right away that not a lot of cars where using this road because the plants on the side of the road where actually creeping into the roadway since there were not a lot of cars pushing them back.. The road was in great shape and it was a long one of the prettiest lakes I have ever seen. We followed it about 20 miles and the branches kept getting closer and closer in. We did see several National Forest campgrounds along the way but other that not much. Finally our GPS said 2 miles and we would be taking a left. By this time we were both ready to get off of this road. It was beautiful but it also had horror film lot written all over it. (We have watched too many Horror movies that start out just this way.) In fact we joked that what if the trees kept coming in until they completely wrapped around our car. Well when we got down to 1.8 miles to our next turn our nice two lane road turned into a one lane road with turnouts so that if someone was coming the other way you could pull over and let them by. OK this was getting creepy but we were so close to the turn and hopefully the highway. Next thing you know it we see a sign saying our road was turning to gravel. By this time we are only .5 miles from the turn but in the middle of nowhere. Finally our GPS gave us the dreaded news that the turn was coming up but we would be staying on the same road. Yikes. Luckily the camper is small so I took it off the car and turned it around and then turned the car around and we went right back the way we came. When we finally hit the highway with real street signs and other cars we were totally relieved. Now that we were back on track we could actually take in the nice views along the way. We stopped at several overlooks and took pictures and finally around 6 PM we arrived at Crater Lake National Park. We drove in for about 45 minutes before coming to a landing that was leading up to the crater. As we got out of the car it was a true cliff hanger as we had to climb to the top of the rim so we could look down on the crater. We reached the top and looked down and I would have to say that if you are judging the parks on just one view this view wins hands down. It was truly breathtaking. We hung out for awhile and then headed around the rim and stopped several more times to take pictures. We decided to go to the campground that we knew was full and see if maybe they had a spot open. They did not have any openings so we headed out of the south entrance of the park and found a little campground about 8 miles away that only had one spot left in their overflow section. It was $21 and we were glad to have it. The man at the office said a big storm was coming and that we better get settled in quickly. We got the camper set up and dinner cooked just in time to eat in the camper and listen the rain coming down. Lots of lightning off in the distance but luckily the storm never hit us. We had a wild day today with a lot of driving. So thankful for this little overflow spot that we have. Tomorrow we go back to Crater Lake and then we are thinking about going to Yellowstone.