Vacation - The Arrival

Hello to one and all,

To go a full week without using cell phone, internet and little TV was strange and yet refreshing!

Today is the last day of vacation and then it will be back to the salt mine. All the more certain that change is in the air and we shall see how it all works out. But this is not about being finished, but rather we are just getting started. I am going to do the posting in 4 parts so that they do not go too far. Last week I drove to Portland on Tuesday evening but not before I was "the stranded vehicle on I-90 bridge" as my 1st rental car had a blow-out. Enterprise Rent-A-Car was awesome in getting a replacement car to me and off I went to get to my sister Janet's place in time to get to dinner before it was too late. We got in some chat time and then z-z-z time. On to Ashland on Wednesday. Arrived in time to enjoy the fire in the fireplace as it was a tad cold and the new furnace was being installed, but not quite working.

Alas, a part was not working properly and so we got to go heat-free for the night. No worries, we kept the fire going until we went to bed. Then it was off to Crater Lake on Thursday. We stopped by to see Meredith and Lizzy for a while and then it was on to Beckie's Cafe in Union Creek for lunch. Between the amazing burgers and the homemade pie = heaven! Mom and I split a piece of pecan pie on the way up and then on the way home we stopped and got pie to have with lunch. YUM! Got to enjoy a piece of peanut butter cream pie and how lovely it was. Can totally understand why the go through 80 pies a day during the summer months. Amazing to be sure!

So we began the drive up to the lake and well, there was snow still on the ground. Just take a look! The first photo is taken from the 2nd floor of the Lodge and then I decided to gain perspective by going to the 3rd floor (middle photo) and finally the 4th floor (bottom photo).

Wizard island is off to the left. It was the new cone that began developing when the mountain blew it's top hundreds of years ago. What a site to be sure. So it would be a good guess that snow drifts were up to 12 feet if not more in places. Yes, it was the end of May!