Crater Lake and the Oregon coast

In June 2017 we crossed the California border and drove into Oregon. It took us several days to drive through it to Washington State: we saw the deepest lake in the country, bathed in hot springs in the forest, and drove along the ocean.

Crater Lake

Our first stop was Crater Lake. Its water is bright blue. It is the deepest lake in the USA: it partly fills a caldera that formed about 7700 years ago, when the Mazama volcano collapsed.

Hot springs

From the lake we drove to some hot springs and found an inexpensive campground near them. The springs look like pools stepping down in a cascade. I had been wanting a hot bath, and my dream came true: a bath with a great view, just a lot of mosquitoes.

Wet mineral-crusted rocks of a hot spring with a small pool of water; below, in the gorge, a river rushes through dense conifer forest — Hot springs above the river and a bath in one of the pools, June 2017

Pavel sits up to his shoulders in clear warm water in a rock pool, his back to the camera, looking at the conifer forest — Hot springs above the river and a bath in one of the pools, June 2017

The photos from there just would not upload, and we could only tell you about it all once we got to decent internet.

Along the ocean

Then we came out to the coast and simply drove along a beautiful road by the shore, stopping at viewpoints and beaches. It is very windy there.

A wide beach with wavy bands of sand, dark rocks standing in the surf, and wispy cirrus clouds stretching across the sky — A beach on the Oregon coast, June 2017

A white lighthouse tower with a small white house with a red roof attached to it, on a green slope under a blue sky — A lighthouse on the coast, June 2017

For the night we stopped at a campground by the beach. In 2017 a site there cost $20, and the shower was free, with no time limit on top of that — I was jumping for joy. We made hot dogs and went to the beach to watch the sunset, hiding from the wind in some little hollow.

Sunset over the ocean: a golden sky, a wave rolling onto the wet sand and reflecting the light — Sunset on the beach by the campground, June 2017

The next day we drove across a bridge and ended up in Newport. Then we found a Starbucks with good internet and sat there with a big Frappuccino, like real homeless hipsters.

View through the windshield: a two-lane road runs across a bridge toward a green arch between two stone towers, a silver car driving ahead — The bridge before Newport, June 2017

On the Oregon coast you could drive right onto the beach.

Cars parked right on a wide sandy beach, with the ocean and a big rock island behind them, shot against the sun — You can drive onto this beach, June 2017

American roads

Pavel told our relatives how the roads here differ from ours. Almost all the road signs are different, and most of them simply spell out in words what you are supposed to do. The rules are different too, although he admitted he had not really studied them and was going by first impressions: for example, there are intersections with a mandatory stop where cars go through in turn. There are no traffic cops at all, and no stops for document checks either: the patrol may pull you over for speeding, and that is about it. The roads are excellent, the interchanges are well thought out, and everything works the same way all across the country.

A campground by the river

From the coastal road we turned off toward Portland. On the way we found a very cozy campground by a river and decided to take a day off from driving. We swam and sunbathed there.

Pavel crouches by a fire pit with a grate, adding a twig to the fire under a pot, surrounded by forest and ferns — A campground by the river on the way to Portland, June 2017

Pavel swims in a calm greenish river, dense deciduous forest on the far bank — A campground by the river on the way to Portland, June 2017

This little river was home to these cute creatures.

Inhabitants of the river by the campground, June 2017

Once we had a signal again, we wrote to our relatives: if we go quiet for two or three days, we have most likely gotten stuck in some great place with no cell coverage, and there is no need to worry.

Then we crossed a state line again and ended up in Vancouver — not the Canadian one, but a small American one, in Washington State.