2012 Road trip part 1

 Maybe I should have taken some pictures of the ride to Crater Lake.  We left the house around 8am and arrived around 6pm.  Yep.  It was not a good start.  Greg planned a little detour up the Rogue river, but the trailer got a flat and we didn't have the tools to fix it.  A good Samaritan stopped to help us out. Next we headed to the nearest Les Schwab to buy a tool and tire...they were out of tires?!  We stopped at another Les Schwab and bought another tire, had it put on and all tires checked, ate all of their popcorn and hit the road again.  That ate all of our fishing time.  We hit about 5 construction zones and drove to Crater Lake about 20 miles per hour for hours.  But we made it!  Yes, it was worth it.

 We still haven't made it to the campsite, but I'm glad I snapped this picture.  The next day smoke from a forest fire moved in and ruined the view.

 So happy to finally be here!

 Look what we made!

 The trees hang on for dear life.  They survive such harsh conditions.

 While waiting for our boat ride, they found crawdads in Crater Lake!

 The boat ride was nice, but 2 full hours long and slow moving.  It circled the entire rim of the lake and worth the hike and the cost.

 A little adventure for my (Kari's) birthday.

 All pictures are a bit hazy from all of the smoke.

 Wizard Island. 

 Enjoying a honey stick.

 The park rangers let Charley come up and sit in the Captains chair for a bit.  He felt very big.

 It looks shallow, but the water is so clean you can see down to the bottom.

 Phantom ship

 Covered with lichen and moss

 We saw this garter? snake swimming over to the island.

 Charley photography.

 Another boy taken picture.  His view. 

 Greg just had to jump in.  I do not know what the temperature of the lake was, but cold enough that very few people went in and no one could stay in.

 The boy can eat a pb&j without taking a single bite of crust.  Seriously drives me crazy.  Notice Charley isn't poisoned by crust.

 Favorite camping activity ever!  Charley will ask all day if it is time to start the fire.  He will sit for hours and poke a stick into it. 

 We camped a total of 8 nights on this vacation and ate lots and lots of smores.

 This is a Clark's Nutcracker.  They are huge birds and all over up here.  They are responsible for the planting of most of the trees.

 These awesome formations are called the Pinnacles.

 Super smoky down into the valley.

 A cool, swirly tree trunk.

 This place had some of the most amazing wildflowers I have ever seen.

After camping 3 nights in Crater Lake we are off to the Redwood Forest.  The boys can't wait!