Final Duck game for us

I'm a little behind with updates here.... 'been under the weather with a head cold, so here's what we've been up to.

We were back at Armitage Park for the Tennessee game. On Friday we drove up to Portland again to help Grayce bring her trailer down for the game, and this time she drove! Steve just rode shotgun, giving her tips and discussing concerns along the way, and she did a great job!! She's now an official trailer toten' Mama!

We had another "after the game" tailgate party at the campground, our last of the season as we'll be heading home. This time the menu included some great Mexican food - appropriately warming, as the weather had turned colder than any of us had expected.

Sunday we ran around like crazy getting chores and shopping done. We packed up quickly, then Monday morning we met up with John and Chris and caravaned south to Diamond Lake. We found really nice adjacent sites with lake views and settled in for an afternoon of visiting, relaxing, and just admiring the lake. The air was cool, but the sky was mostly clear, with just a few puffy clouds for decorative effect.

Diamond Lake, and the so named peak, were named for John Diamond, an early settler in the area. I do love browsing the names on maps and wondering how a mountain, valley or creek got its name. So many historic figures have been immortalized as landscape features. It makes the area seem more alive to know a little more about who has gone before us.

In the evening Chris and John treated us to a fantastic dinner of lamb chops from their farm. The dogs both  enjoyed a treat of our chop bones, and we all tucked in for the night with full tummies and pleasant thoughts of the beautiful surroundings and good times camping with friends.

Tuesday we woke up to cold, damp skies - winter weather is definitely on the way, so we weren't surprised. After breakfast we all loaded into the truck and took off for Crater Lake, only a few miles away.

Wizard Island in the fog

John and Chris had never been to Crater Lake, so this was a new experience for them.

The blue sky had pretty much disappeared by this time, replaced by a cloud that looked like wet cotton settling down between the trees. Driving the perimeter of Crater Lake, the lovely old stone barricades that border the scenic pull-outs all appeared to be backed by  something solid  instead of the usual bright blue lake.  As the clouds shifted here and there the monochrome landscape varied, still beautiful, though this time in shades of gray.

Chris and John, and the invisible lake

We toured the visitor's center and the lodge. The fog had pretty well dissipated by then, so the glowing blue tones of the lake were gradually revealing themselves. We took a quick tour of the gift shop, and when we came out the party-cloudy skies had turned into a snow storm!

Things do change quickly in the mountains! Holding out hope in the weather forecast for Wednesday, only "partly cloudy" we headed back to camp, and a warm place to relax.

Wednesday we headed back up to Crater Lake, this time under sunny skies. The lake's famous brilliant blue and turquoise tones were on full display, an amazing contrast to the icy gray of the day before.

I never cease to be amazed at the brilliance of the colors here. The slopes around the lake, as well as the color of the water, are so amazing one would suspect the photos have been altered.... no need, it's an amazing landscape without any help!

Chris was interested in walking the trail down to the boat launch, so we headed around to that side of the lake. I only went part way, but she and John finished the 2 mile round trip. It's a really nice, well maintained trail, but quite steep, with more switchbacks than I could count....ranked "strenuous" on the list of trails in the park. There are some beautiful views from the higher levels, so I felt like I saw the best of it in the 1/3 of the trail that I traveled.

Chris on the trail

More photos in the album here.

Thursday we said adieu to our friends as they departed for a meet-up with other friends at the coast, and we start creeping our way toward Texas.

I'm feeling a bit brain dead with a bad head cold, and Steve developed a horrendous toothache, so we've scheduled a stop in Collier State Park (near our old stompin' grounds, Chiloquin) so he can hunt  up a dentist. While he's in town he'll also be shopping for a new hitch jack, which broke while we were at Diamond Lake. There's always something to keep us on our toes!!!