Thursday
October 21
On the morning we left Bend, it was one of the 300 sunny Chamber of Commerce days! Rte 97 heads straight south. A sign said Klamath Falls 100+miles. I had one big tourist stop left on my agenda, Crater Lake! So an hour or so south of Bend we would be cutting to the west on Rte 138 and heading up into the Cascades towards the lake. Everyone has seen the pristine pictures of the lake. It is the deepest lake in the USA, and a much visited National Park. Our guide book noted that the roads to the lake were often closed due to snow in the winter months. But it was only October!
As we turned onto 138 and headed up in elevation the Sun disappeared, and it began to snow. The Lake is at an elevation of about 6200 ft. We were not accustomed to driving in the snow, and as the road became covered we had visions of sliding down the other side of the hill, and off some steep precipice into a deep gorge! Fortunately, the snow was wet and the tires held the road. We came to the north gate entrance to the Lake and saw a big sign indicating that it was closed. Bummer! The main gate was on the south end of the lake, so we headed in that direction. The south road had been recently plowed and was open, although there was over a foot of snow on the ground with more coming down. We wound up the entrance road to the park and finally reached the Visiter's Center. There was a bus and a few cars in the parking lot, but the Lake was nowhere to be seen. Here we were at a great natural wonder with terrific views, and the visability was about 100ft. The rim road around the lake was completely closed. There were a few people having snacks at the restaurant, and shopping at the gift shop. We bought Matt a couple of post cards. The lady at the desk told us they had been closed the last two days because of snow and about the only thing we could see was the old hotel just down the road about 800 ft on the other side of the parking lot. So we walked over and took a few pictures. It was closed and all boarded up, and I half expected to see a ghost or maybe Jack Nicholson looking out between the cracks in the boards just like he had done in the movie, "The Shining".
I had looked forward to Crater Lake! It was a white-out! Guess I will have to go back!
We headed south again on Rte 62 towards Medford, and the Rouge River Valley. The road followed the path of the river, long known for great trout and steelhead fishing. Since we were no longer in national forest lands, there were small villages here and there along the river, as well as lodging, RV campgrounds, and other businesses. Private homes lined the river in many places. I always had visions of the Rouge as a wilderness river. Maybe somewhere else in its meadering it was.
We were soon entering Medford, and traffic and clutter started to increase. Medford is the largest city in Southern Oregon with a population of about 65000. It is the center of commercial activity in the area, so has good facilities including a small airport, and good medical facilities.
At Medford we connected up with I-5, and 12 miles south of Medford we pulled off at the exit for Ashland.
Ashland is known internationally for its Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which runs from February through the end of October. It also had a quilt shop and a very good knitting store!
The Shakespeare Festival was started with a couple of plays held in an old theater as part of a Forth of July celebration back in the 1930s. Today there are two beautiful indoor theaters and
one outdoor theater which put on professional productions for over 300000 visitors annually. Productions are often sold out months ahead of time.
The small town of about 20000 people is set up for tourists with alot of cafes and shops, as well as many Inns and B&Bs. In the season we would not have been able to just drop in! We drove around the downtown area and found a nice room in a refurbished Victorian home just a block or so from the main street. In getting acquainted with our hostess, we found that she and her daughter were transplants from Solana Beach, almost next door neighbors to our home in Encinitas.
Nancy made a visit to the quilt store and the knitting shop while I walked around looking at menus and trying to decide where to go for dinner. I also checked out any coffee houses I happened to see. We went back to the B&B for afternoon "tea" and consulted with our hostess as to restaurants. One Italian place I though looked good was her recommendation as well, so about six we headed over to eat. I was hot for spaghetti, and that's what I ordered. How could anyone mess that up in an Italian restaurant? What I got was a pile of meat sauce with bits of spaghetti in it. I should have asked for a "correction", but instead picked out the pasta as best I could and ended up with a pile of meat sauce on my plate. I did make a suggestion regarding the dish to the waitress. Of course I was nice. It wasn't her fault, and didn't affect her tip!!
The wine was good!
We went for a walk afterwords and as we walked near the theaters, I suggested to Nancy that we go see what was playing. It was about 7:45, and the plays were starting at 8. Henry the VI part II, was playing in one theater, and The Royal Tannenbaums, a 1930s comedy patterened after the Barrymore family, was playing in the other. I asked if there were any tickets left for the comedy--and there were--and they were discounted to $25 each. Some guy standing there said he had two he would sell me for $20 each, and the ticket seller said "buy them, that's a deal!" (Regular price was $36.50)
We had not intended to go to a play--but that is what Ashland is all about! So we had an enjoyable night at the theater seeing a very well done drawing room comedy by Kaufmann and Ferber. We noticed that our B&B hostess was sitting just a few rows down from us. Later she said that the only time she goes is late in the season when she can get discounted tickets! Our night at the theater alomost made up for missing the view of Crater Lake that morning.
We had a big, firm, KING SIZE bed at the B&B which was very comfortable.
In the morning we were back on I-5 for a run all the way down past San Francisco to see Sara in Santa Cruz again.
October 21
On the morning we left Bend, it was one of the 300 sunny Chamber of Commerce days! Rte 97 heads straight south. A sign said Klamath Falls 100+miles. I had one big tourist stop left on my agenda, Crater Lake! So an hour or so south of Bend we would be cutting to the west on Rte 138 and heading up into the Cascades towards the lake. Everyone has seen the pristine pictures of the lake. It is the deepest lake in the USA, and a much visited National Park. Our guide book noted that the roads to the lake were often closed due to snow in the winter months. But it was only October!
As we turned onto 138 and headed up in elevation the Sun disappeared, and it began to snow. The Lake is at an elevation of about 6200 ft. We were not accustomed to driving in the snow, and as the road became covered we had visions of sliding down the other side of the hill, and off some steep precipice into a deep gorge! Fortunately, the snow was wet and the tires held the road. We came to the north gate entrance to the Lake and saw a big sign indicating that it was closed. Bummer! The main gate was on the south end of the lake, so we headed in that direction. The south road had been recently plowed and was open, although there was over a foot of snow on the ground with more coming down. We wound up the entrance road to the park and finally reached the Visiter's Center. There was a bus and a few cars in the parking lot, but the Lake was nowhere to be seen. Here we were at a great natural wonder with terrific views, and the visability was about 100ft. The rim road around the lake was completely closed. There were a few people having snacks at the restaurant, and shopping at the gift shop. We bought Matt a couple of post cards. The lady at the desk told us they had been closed the last two days because of snow and about the only thing we could see was the old hotel just down the road about 800 ft on the other side of the parking lot. So we walked over and took a few pictures. It was closed and all boarded up, and I half expected to see a ghost or maybe Jack Nicholson looking out between the cracks in the boards just like he had done in the movie, "The Shining".
I had looked forward to Crater Lake! It was a white-out! Guess I will have to go back!
We headed south again on Rte 62 towards Medford, and the Rouge River Valley. The road followed the path of the river, long known for great trout and steelhead fishing. Since we were no longer in national forest lands, there were small villages here and there along the river, as well as lodging, RV campgrounds, and other businesses. Private homes lined the river in many places. I always had visions of the Rouge as a wilderness river. Maybe somewhere else in its meadering it was.
We were soon entering Medford, and traffic and clutter started to increase. Medford is the largest city in Southern Oregon with a population of about 65000. It is the center of commercial activity in the area, so has good facilities including a small airport, and good medical facilities.
At Medford we connected up with I-5, and 12 miles south of Medford we pulled off at the exit for Ashland.
Ashland is known internationally for its Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which runs from February through the end of October. It also had a quilt shop and a very good knitting store!
The Shakespeare Festival was started with a couple of plays held in an old theater as part of a Forth of July celebration back in the 1930s. Today there are two beautiful indoor theaters and
one outdoor theater which put on professional productions for over 300000 visitors annually. Productions are often sold out months ahead of time.
The small town of about 20000 people is set up for tourists with alot of cafes and shops, as well as many Inns and B&Bs. In the season we would not have been able to just drop in! We drove around the downtown area and found a nice room in a refurbished Victorian home just a block or so from the main street. In getting acquainted with our hostess, we found that she and her daughter were transplants from Solana Beach, almost next door neighbors to our home in Encinitas.
Nancy made a visit to the quilt store and the knitting shop while I walked around looking at menus and trying to decide where to go for dinner. I also checked out any coffee houses I happened to see. We went back to the B&B for afternoon "tea" and consulted with our hostess as to restaurants. One Italian place I though looked good was her recommendation as well, so about six we headed over to eat. I was hot for spaghetti, and that's what I ordered. How could anyone mess that up in an Italian restaurant? What I got was a pile of meat sauce with bits of spaghetti in it. I should have asked for a "correction", but instead picked out the pasta as best I could and ended up with a pile of meat sauce on my plate. I did make a suggestion regarding the dish to the waitress. Of course I was nice. It wasn't her fault, and didn't affect her tip!!
The wine was good!
We went for a walk afterwords and as we walked near the theaters, I suggested to Nancy that we go see what was playing. It was about 7:45, and the plays were starting at 8. Henry the VI part II, was playing in one theater, and The Royal Tannenbaums, a 1930s comedy patterened after the Barrymore family, was playing in the other. I asked if there were any tickets left for the comedy--and there were--and they were discounted to $25 each. Some guy standing there said he had two he would sell me for $20 each, and the ticket seller said "buy them, that's a deal!" (Regular price was $36.50)
We had not intended to go to a play--but that is what Ashland is all about! So we had an enjoyable night at the theater seeing a very well done drawing room comedy by Kaufmann and Ferber. We noticed that our B&B hostess was sitting just a few rows down from us. Later she said that the only time she goes is late in the season when she can get discounted tickets! Our night at the theater alomost made up for missing the view of Crater Lake that morning.
We had a big, firm, KING SIZE bed at the B&B which was very comfortable.
In the morning we were back on I-5 for a run all the way down past San Francisco to see Sara in Santa Cruz again.
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