The trip to our Daughter's was really fun, since we took our 10 year old Granddaughter, Lacey, with us. We've been to Glacier, Yellowstone and the Tetons, but Lacey hasn't so we decided to make this a "National Park" trip. Our first "Park" was Crater Lake. Oregon has some beautiful country and Crater Lake is a part of it.
Even though it was the middle of July, actually the 20th, there was still snow in the high country, yet the wild flowers were in full bloom. I guess their warm seasons are short lived so you see flowers that bloom in summer popped up right along side of early spring flowers. The shoulders of the road were ablaze with color in places, but it was always places that we couldn't stop to get a picture!
Coming into the Park you can see how high you're getting. Due to all the forest fires in California, we had a lot of smoke in the air, so our views were pretty "smoggy".
But once there, it was still inspiring! This usually doesn't happen....me in a photo! I'm always the one behind the camera, but since Lacey was happily snapping pictures, I guess she made my DH feel guilty, so he even snapped a few, this being one of them.
Lacey and I found out later that we were in a spot that we weren't supposed to be in (off the beaten path)! Oh well, really a pretty view from here.
Rather than try to tell you all about Crater Lake, the tourist info placard pretty much says it all. Much easier to take a picture than try to remember everything.
Looking straight down was awesome! I couldn't believe the color of the water...an electric blue and green in places. I'm sure the entire Lake probably looks like this on clear "smokeless" days.
So, here's the two of us, as seen by Lacey, looking like Old Fart Tourists, especially my DH! I wonder what else he could have hung around his neck! He still looks like a tourist, too, since he bought a T-shirt at every Park we went to (and wears one every day).
So now we leave the Park on or way to points beyond.
Coming down from on top, the forest and canyons are incredible. The trees are HUGE! We stayed that night just across the Oregon line in Nevada. The next morning we were treated to an AWESOME sunrise!
It was cloudy off and on all day, so it made for nice driving...not too hot. We didn't see any wild horses. I'd been watching for them since I'd heard about them getting so over-populated in Nevada that they were trying to give them away. I didn't realize that it was on their preserve that they were having a problem and that's in the southern part of the State. We did see lots of antelope....
And wild donkeys!
Even some babies!!
This area isn't much for scenery. I need trees and mountains! I don't think I could live in a place like this....much too flat and too much nothing! So ended our second day of driving. Next up, Zion National Park.
