Crescent, OR

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Andi, Tory, Aden, and I started our day camped at Idleyld SnoPark campground near Diamond Lake, Oregon. There are dozens of snoparks like this one located on Oregon Forest Service Land offering winter recreation sites with campgrounds. The best part is, they’re free to use.

One of my favorite things about RV life is waking up next to my whole family. It brings a smile to my face when I see the morning’s first light hit Aden sleeping face. Then I hear a toot coming from his bed, and the heartfelt moment of motherhood passes.

Obviously, there was nothing for us to do at an Oregon snopark in early October, but camp. It did get pretty cold overnight, so winter is on its way though. We hung around the RV for most of the morning so Andi could work and Tory and Aden could do school work. Andi sat outside the RV in a camp chair to take his calls. It was 29 degrees when he started at 7:30am. He sat on my electric heating pad to warm himself in the cool morning air.

It’d been a few days since we’d cracked open our school books, and Aden was more interested in playing around than doing his math test. He kept writing brain teasers that he saw at Ripley’s Believe It or Not on the whiteboard instead of focusing on his test.

I get it; it’s hard for me to focus my brain on teaching them from a textbook when we’re traveling around adventuring and exploring. It’s not that we’re not learning things every single day, but we’re less in the routine of traditional schooling when we’re away from home.

Tory learned about box plots in math today, and wanted to show me all the scratch work she had to do to complete her assignment. Proof of hard work, I guess. She’s the type of kid that sees an assignment or task that needs to be completed, and puts her head down to get it done.

Andi finished his calls at 11:30am. Then, we packed up the RV and made our way to Crater Lake National Park about 10 minutes away from camp. Even the drive to Crater Lake was pretty with views of Mount Thielsen, an extinct shield volcano, and many shades of the blue-colored Cascade Mountains surrounding us.

We stopped at the Crater Lake National Park sign to take a picture — the 23rd national park our family has visited — and were soon rewarded with views of Crater Lake.

Wow!

After living in Minnesota and Wisconsin we’ve seen a lot of lakes, but none that compare to the deep blue color and perfect circle of mountains surrounding this one. Crater Lake was created 7,700 years ago when Mount Mazama erupted, emptying the Earth’s magma chamber below the mountain. The mountain essentially collapsed onto itself, leaving behind a huge crater in the center. Over time, the hole filled with snow melt and rain water creating a lake.

One thing that’s unique about Crater Lake is that there are no streams or rivers flowing into or out of it, so the water is pure. This contributes to the clarity of the water. The hole is so extensive and the water so clear that the sun penetrates deeply into the lake giving the water its rich blue color.

Crater Lake captures your attention and causes you to stop in your tracks to admire God’s beautiful creation.

We stopped at an overlook on our way into the park, and then continued to the Rim Village Cafe and Gift Shop. The gatehouse was closed when we entered the park, and a sign posted on the window said this was the place to go to get a park map, etc.

Unfortunately, the Rim Village Cafe didn’t have maps or Junior Ranger packets, but they did sell Crater Lake souvenirs. I bought a Crater Lake sticker for our RV travel book. The woman working behind the sales counter said we’d have to go to the Steel Visitor Center (located at park headquarters) to pick up Junior Ranger booklets so that’s where we headed next.

The Crater Lake visitor’s center was really small without any interpretive displays, but they were showing a video inside called “Crater Lake: Into the Deep” which the four of us took time to watch. Andi and I like the videos at national parks and monuments because they’re an easy way to get an overview of the place we’ve visiting.

We also picked up two Junior Ranger packets (much to Tory’s displeasure) at the visitor’s center. The kids are losing interest in complething these packets to earn wooden park badges, but I think they’re a great way for them to learn about the parks we visit. Some booklets are more complex than others, but this one looked really easy. I offered that we could complete the packets together inside the RV.

Tory, Aden, and I returned to the visitor’s center after we finished the packets to collect their badges. Dave, the park ranger, reviewed their packets and made a few comments, but he didn’t make the kids say the Junior Ranger pledge. Tory was relieved; I think it’s the public embarrassment of reciting the pledge aloud that she particularly detests.

From the Steel Visitor’s Center, we drove to Rim Trailhead. There are quite a few hikes around Crater Lake varying in difficulty. By now, it was already 4:00pm so we didn’t have enough time for a long hike, but Andi and I thought it’d be good for all of us to stretch our legs and see the lake from a different viewpoint.

Without thinking, I made a comment about Tory wearing her Taylor Swift cartigan on the trail. It’s way too big for her, and looks ridiculous to wear hiking, but I should have kept my opinion to myself. My comment made her mad, and she stomped back to the RV to put on a different sweatshirt. Then, she took off down the trail ahead of the rest of us.

Another hiker passed Andi, Aden, and I walking, and Andi warned the woman, “Beware of the angry teenager ahead.” The lady laughed, and responded, “OK, I’ll be sure to use some lingo like ‘sus’ or whatever the kids are saying these days.”

Eventually, we came caught up to Tory sitting beside a tree down the trail. I apologized for making an inconsiderate comment about her sweater, and asked her to forgive me. It took her a couple hours, but she eventually did.

We finished our hike around 5:00pm and then drove the RV away from Crater Lake National Park. There isn’t much civilization around the lake, so we headed toward the next town called Crescent, Oregon about 45 minutes away.

Andi gave me two options for camping tonight — camp for free once again on Forest Service Land (his preference), but we’d have to stop somewhere first and fill up with water; or, camp for the night at a full hook-up campground in Crescent. We wouldn’t have to stop and fill up with water if we stayed at an actual campground, but those places are often noisier.

We pulled up to Big Pine RV Resort first, and decided to check it out before making a decision. Bruce, the owner of the campground, approached our RV as we pulled in, and convinced us to stay.

“Do you have an open site so our Starlink will work?” Andi asked him.

Bruce said that he did. He told Andi he’s been running this campground for 25 years. “If you’d have seen the first few sites I had, you’d have run for the hills!” he told Andi. Today, Bruce runs a very clean and orderly campground. And lucky for us, there were hardly any other people camped there, so it was nice and quiet, too.

Since we had water and sewer hook-ups, the kids and I took turns showering in the RV while Andi grilled chicken, asparagus, and potatoes for dinner. Then, the four of us ate at the picnic table outside our camper.

Bruce gave Andi some great suggestions for things to do in the area and some tips for routes to take toward home. Tomorrow, we plan to make our way northeast toward the city of Bend as our time in Oregon draws to a close.