Crescent Lake Junction - Crater Lake, OR

 July 21 - 22, 2024

On Sunday we left Harrisburg and drove to up the mountain to Crescent Lake Junction, elevation 4,764'.  We're at the Crescent Junction RV Park, and very nice park in the pines.  We have 50 amp full hookups for $38.33 per night.  The campground hosts are super nice!

There is the Red Fire (started by lightning) that's about two miles away as the crow flies.  When we arrived they had just gone to a level 1 - Ready (there's level 2 - Set, and level 3 - Go).  They don't expect it to move much so we're not concerned as we can be packed up and gone in about 30 minutes.  However, it is quite smoky all through the area.  This is one is a series of 11 fires they're calling the Diamond Peak Wilderness fires.

Monday, my birthday, we went to Crater Lake.  Unfortunately the smoke from the Trail Fire near Diamond Lake north of Crater Lake made it not as pretty as I'm sure it is.  They weren't even charging admission.  John took some pictures and enhanced them to take out the smoke, and I took some that I didn't do anything to.  Here are some of both; I'm sure you can see the difference.

Wizard IslandCrater LakePanoramaThe Pinnacles

There were still patches of snow.

We did see the fires off in the distance.

Part of the loop road between Skell Head and Phantom Ship Overlook is closed due to road construction.  Maybe the next time we come it will all be open.  I did get a picture of the what people think looks like a phantom ship.  I had to zoom in but the smoke does make it a little more interesting.

After we left Crater Lake we drove to Diamond Lake RV Park.  We had reservations there but when we got here they were on a level 2 so I cancelled them.  Driving through the park I'm glad I did.  Maybe it was just the smoke because it was really bad, but the sites weren't very level and I'm not sure we would camp there if we had the chance.  Natural is one thing; unkempt is something else.

The weather has been so much cooler.  Days in the low 80s and this morning it was in the high 40s.

I had a wonderful birthday even if it was smoky.  Right now we plan on being here for a few more days.  Then we'll be...

Roving on...

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth".

Genesis 1:1

Rufus - Mosier - McMinnville - Harrisburg, OR

July 7 - 20, 2024

This one is a little long as there are lots of pictures.  But a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

We last left you in Adams, OR, visiting our friends Pam and Mark.  We had a great time with them.  We taught them some new games, and they taught us SkyJo.  It was so nice to relax and catch up.  The campground was right next to a river.

We left there on Friday, July 12 and went to LePage Park in Rufus, OR for two nights.  We had 50 amp electric and water, and since it was a CoE park it was only $15 per night.   It was HOT!  We ran both air conditioners all day during the day, but it cooled off a little at night.  We just stayed in as there wasn't really anything to see and it was too hot to do anything outside.  It was a little tight getting the 5th wheel into the site but John did a great job.

On Sunday we left and went to Memaloose State Park near Mosier, OR for two nights.  It was 30 amp full hookups for $46 per night.  We had a view of the Columbia River out the back.  There were some blackberry bushes but I didn't pick any because I didn't know if they had been sprayed with anything or not.  Better safe than sorry.

We combined errands with sightseeing.  On the way to The Dalles we stopped at the Dalles Dam.  It is one of the top ten largest hydropower dams in the U.S.  It's 2,640' long and can discharge 2,333,922 gallons per second.  That's a lot of water!  We went through the Visitor Center and watched a video, then looked at the exhibits.  But we had places to go so didn't spend a long time there.

I got a good picture of Mt. Hood from the parking lot.

We drove on the Historic Columbia River Highway between The Dalles and Mosier.  This used to be the only road along the Columbia River before I-84 was built.  It was quite windy in some spots.

And very windy at the top.

On Tuesday we drove to Olde Stone Village RV Park in McMinnville.  It was full hookups for $67.85 per night.  A little more expensive, but the park was immaculate.  However, there was a four-lane highway within a few hundred feet, and an airport on the other side of the highway that must have been giving helicopter flying lessons all day, so it was quite noisy.  

The building is the space part of Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum.

A beautiful sunset.

Wednesday we went to the museum.  The RV park actually has a path you can take to walk to the museum.  The thing we wanted to see the most was the Spruce Goose.  It was HUGE!  It's hard to get it all in one picture.

I didn't realize that Howard Hughes was a test pilot.

From the cargo deck looking forward.

From the cargo deck looking toward the tail.

Since it was built during the war all metals were directed towards the war effort.  That's why it was built out of laminated birch.

Of course there were other planes to see.

They had a Cobra AH-1F, but it was a 1965 model and John worked on a later  model in the Army.  They look similar.

There was a German Fw 190 A-7 Wurger replica.  I'm glad it wasn't an original because it wouldn't have lasted long.  Can you see what might not have been a good idea?  Leave a comment below.

Here are a couple of other planes.

We finished the aviation portion of the museum and went home to have lunch before coming back to the space building.

This museum is something we've been wanting to do for years.  Now we can cross it off our bucket list!  If you are in the area it's worth a detour and a definite must-see.

On Friday we did a couple of errands in Salem.  Of course we had to make a very important stop!

Those double doubles were soooo gooood!

Friday after we left McMinnville we stopped in Albany to see friends that John knew when he was in the Army in Hawaii, Roger and Dee.  Their then three year old son was the ring bearer in our wedding.  We had a great time visiting with them.  Dee is also a quilter so I got to see some of her quilts and talk quilting.  I miss quilting but if I was home quilting I would miss traveling more.

We're getting a little better a selfies!

Roger was a welder and a very good one!  He made this beautiful screen door.

After we left Albany we drove to Harrisburg to Life Northwest RV & Lodging.  It's full hookups for $47.25 per night.  It looks like there are a lot of long term campers but it's so nice and quiet.

That brings us up to date.  Tomorrow we head for a higher elevation, but I'm not sure how much cooler it's going to be.  I don't think there are any cool places in the west this year.  I tried to get a campground or RV park on the Oregon Coast but couldn't find anything available.  I guess this is one time when not planning ahead isn't so good.  No matter, the Lord is in control and we just keep...

Roving on...

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth".

Genesis 1:1