Wrap up of our Oregon trip

This is the football stadium at a high school where Jacob played soccer the last Sunday we were there. He plays on a traveling team and we all went to watch them play. This was like traveling to Warrensburg [or farther] for a game. This was quite a facility. You can see the open bleachers here. We were in the covered ones, and they were VERY comfortable.

If you see a really blonde head in here, that is Jacob! It was hard to catch him at times, because the minute you thought you had him in your sights...he would move!

On our way to the game we saw this big flat bed truck carrying this little "Mater" truck tied down right in the middle of it. I took this out of the car window as we travled along beside the flatbed. Karen had the pic that Chris took on her blog,too.

Here is the mountain they call "Flat top". This is also taken from the moving car. If I am remembering right...I think Chris said that there is a boy scout camp [among other things] on the top of it. I could have it mixed up with another place, though.

Here you can see Jacob at that game. I'm not sure if he is playing offense or defense here. His team did win, though. That was the second time they had won against this team.

Last pics of Crater Lake

I took this on the way back down the mountain. There is some kind of gorge with steep rocky sides, and, I believe, a stream running through it. There are a lot of different colors in the rock face of the cliffs, too.

Here is one of those 'classic' kind of pictures you see from Crater Lake. Trees in the foreground, deep blue of the lake, snow on the mountains behind, and a clear sky!

Another family was there at the observation area when we were. We took their pictures, and they took ours! Ron was so cold and so worried about someone falling over the low wall, that was the only barrier there; that he headed back to the van. Eventually, most of the others did,too.

But, Karen and I wanted to get some more pictures! Here is one of Wizard Island. Karen's 'zoom' is a little better than mine. When she zoomed in on that little white 'spot' at the waters edge, she got a picture of the boat dock,etc.

Apparently there is a tour you can take on the lake [in the summer] that makes a stop at the island.

Here you can get an idea of why Ron was so worried about anyone falling. You would just tumble several hundred feet straight down to the water! I know that people want to see the natural beauty of the area, but you DO think that they would have some type of barriers up for safety. [ I know some kids, and adults, that I would not want to take anywhere like this!]

It was truly great to just be able to go and see this! I'll store it up in my memories, to think about from time to time!

Checking out another beach.

We left the first beach and drove about a mile +/- to another beach that is close to a fishing bay. The access to the beach was easier here--no big hill to go down. There were more gulls landing near us, maybe because the wind was not quite as strong. This one made a nice picture, posing in front of this diftwood and rocks.

"Nanny wants to take a picture of all of us so lets get lined up."

So here is the pic...

...And here is the mad 'foot scramble' as they got out of the way of a wave that came a little farther in than they expected!!!

This beach was different than the last one. The giant boulders were not as close, the beach was rockier, and we found a lot more shells. There was a motel with access right up to the beach, and restaurants and other businesses nearby,too.

Views from the top

Here are some of the sights from the parking area of the first beach we stopped at on the Oregon Coast.

Here are Karen and the rest of the kids feeding bread to the gulls. It was very windy here at the top of the hill. See the picnic table? I don't think anything would have stayed on top of it! That orange fence was around some construction they were doing to improve the steps etc. that headed down to the beach. We had to go down a different way.

This view was just to the right of the last one.

Did you realize that there is a tsunami danger off the pacific coast? I didn't! If you click on the pic, it will enlarge it and you can read this sign.

More gulls flying! Chubs barked at them, and I don't think they appreciated him either!

The view we could see as we descended to the beach. Fine sand, lots of driftwood,kelp? and other sea plants that were left at high tide , but veryfew shells!

Crater Lake, first attempt

Hmmmmmmmm! I thought I might have fixed the picture download problem, but this is messed up, too! This should be the first pic and the last one is the last; but the ones in between are in reverse order. Oh well! We'll just work with it!

1. After Jake's game we headed toward Crater Lake {we were almost halfway there]. After we were in the park we began to see vehicles coming toward us with snow on them. Pretty soon we could see it on the ground, like in this pic I took from the car. [Now scroll down to the next to last pic.]


4. Ron was ready to get back into the warm car, but he let me take this shot of him with the center in the background. Now scroll all the way down to the last pic in this post.]

3. After we had spent some time in the center/gift shop, we walked out to where you are supposed to be able to see the lake. Ordinarily you would be able to see it just to the left of Jacob in this pic. NAW! the cloud had settled right down on the lake and you could not see anything! ! One young man that came in the gift shop while we were there said he was from New York and had made a special trip out of his way to see the lake because he had wanted to see it since he was about 10 and read about it. He was about to cry. I had been there in my mid-teens, but Ron had never been and I so very much wanted him to see it with me. [scroll up to next pic]

2. Here is what we saw from the parking lot at the visitor center. Chris is heading inside to wait for the rest of us. [scroll up one pic]

5. In the short time we were in the visitor center, they closed off this road that goes around the lake. Someday, maybe we can go back and take that tour! We would not have had time this day, even if it had not snowed. The lady in the center said that they don't usually get snow until just before Thanksgiving. By the time we got halfway down the mountain, the snow had changed back to misting rain.