Alumafandango is officially over but our trip is not.  We still have about 7 days left in our journey, this time.  We were thinking of heading over to the coast to head home as we really like the Oregon coast but we know it is foggy and dreary over there.  We had our share of rain and dreariness here near the end of Alumafandango.  We thought we would head to Crater Lake NP!  We hitched up and headed out.  Roxie at the wheel.

Yes, you read that right, Roxie at the wheel.  She felt she needs to take a more involved role in the trailer, all aspects.  It also helped that she heard the seminar on women and towing, saw women towing a trailer that never had and saw women competing in the backup competition.  We wanted to get her down to the truck parking lot so she could practice a bit in a LARGE area.  She waved to a few dumbfounded Airstreamers as we left and did a great job.  I didn’t take any pictures but someone else did and we might see it here sometime.  After a bit of practice we headed back on the road, with me behind the wheel.

The last time we had been to Crater Lake NP was 33 years ago for our ‘honeymoon’.  Well it was about as much of a honeymoon as we could do.  My parents took us there with them in their Airstream.  See the connection?  We slept in our honeymoon suite, a Ford ClubWagon (here is a link to the rig)!  We didn’t care at that time, we were young, married and in love.  Now we are back again with only one of those characteristics changed.

We headed back down I-5 to catch the road out of Gold Hill.  We didn’t want to take the Canyonville-Trail road as I read it was essentially a paved logging trail.  No thanks.  As we got along the Rogue River I started looking for somewhere to have lunch.  I found Casey State Park right off the road and next to the river.  It must have been a good idea because immediately a 5-wheeler parked right behind us for the same reason.  There were people fishing and rafting the river.  It was nice and shady and serene:

 

With our bellies full we headed on to the park.  There is a long steady climb to get to the park and it took my fuel down to about 1/2 tank.  This created some consternation for me as I knew we had some driving to do but that they probably did not sell diesel.  Also my truck has a worry gauge on it also.  You push a button and it shows you how many miles to empty.  I KNOW that thing is not terribly accurate but nonetheless…

We made reservations for a long spot but it was all dry camping which would be great for 2 days.  I could really check out my TriMetric results!  When we got there we did have a reservation but not for a specific spot, but for a ‘type’ of spot.  We were to look for a RED spot.  We found one at D2.  I pulled in there but then saw two trees that bracketed the exit of the site.  I didn’t know if I could get through it but no matter now, I had to.  Roxie liked the spot across from it, D1.  I got out of D2 and looked at D1.  However that would put our door on the opposite side of the picnic table, etc., since it was on the other side of the one way street.  I thought OK, I know what to do without going all the way around the loop the wrong way.  I came to the loop and BACKED into the loop.  I was going the right direction just in reverse.  This allowed me to get in the site the right way:

 

We setup camp, which Roxie loves to do dry camping because there are no hookups!  We took a drive to one of the visitor info centers and watched a video about Crater Lake.  After that we thought we would take a quick drive up to the rim:

 

The shot everyone takes of Wizard Island.  The lake looks just as blue as I remember it but it was a bit smoky because of fires and it was late in the day so the blue was different.  We decided to eat at the Annie Creek Restaurant down by the campground and must say that Xanterra did a very good job.  The pizza was actually tasty and did not seem to be frozen.

We also went by the little supply store.  It was fun to watch all the worn out, frazzled tenters and/or hikers outside the showers, waiting to get it.  It makes me thankful that we have a trailer.

We turned in early that night as we were pretty worn out.  We plan on doing the loop road the next day…