When we left the Columbia River Gorge we drove towards Portland, OR.   I thought it was amusing that last year we were in Portland, ME on the other side of the country some 3,000 miles away.  We stopped for gas in Portland and noticed so many homeless people.  There were people living under the over passes and some on the exit ramps.  I know there is a tiny village that was built in Portland for homeless, but there is still so many living on the streets.   There is a camper type where you put the van portion in the bed of a pickup truck.   We saw several of the van parts on the residential streets parked in parking spaces without a truck, set up on stilts. I can’t imagine what these people do in the winter without heat and only a canvas roof to protect them. 

We got a late start since we did not want to leave the Ainsworth State Park we were staying in, in the Cascade Mountain region.  I also had a work meeting so we did not get on the road until about 11.  Ernie was having a stomach ache and  needed to stop every hour to go outside.  He is much better now since I feed him rice since Thursday.  We stopped for lunch at Grandma’s Homemade Food which turned out to be a Mexican food truck with great tacos.  Jerry had a huge burrito.  We arrived late at our picture unworthy campground in Dexter Shores, Oregon and had no internet.   That meant I could not finish my work from the morning meeting or post anything.

We got up early and started to drive to Crater Lake National Park.  It was only a 2 ½ hour drive but Ernie still looked a little green so we made 3 stops on the way.   The first stop was at McCredie Springs which are hot springs and a former resort in Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located near Oregon Route 58, 10.7 miles east of Oakridge, and 50.7 miles east of Eugene, within the Willamette National Forest. It is known for the nearby natural hot springs along Salt Creek.  Here we met a woman and her pet pig.  She was eccentric and I was polite because you can never tell if someone is crazy.   She had a pig and dog living in a van with a mattress in the entire back of the van.   She was just coming from the springs after bathing.  Her pig was on a leash which she did not hold but she “oinked” loudly to have the pig follow her.  She asked/told me to pet her pig.  I asked if the pig bites people and she said sometimes.   Ernie was with Jerry taking care of business but looked up to whine at me as if to say, what are you doing?  The hot springs were very nice and we saw a couple there in their bathing suit and another naked.  One couple was in their 20’s and the other in their 60’s.   Can you guess which one was naked?

From there we had to stop again for Ernie and this time it was Salt Creek Falls.   It is the second largest waterfall in Oregon, we had just come from the largest so it was nice but we’d seen bigger.  The trail was nice and the viewing area was handicapped accessible.  We leave the trail to go back to the car and who do we see but pig lady.   She asks where are we going next.   I said we would eventually be at Crater Lake today.  And wouldn’t you know it, so would she.   I am not sure if the National Park System considers a pig a domestic animal, because they are the only animals allowed in the park, but we did not see her there.

After this stop we stopped at Odell Lake.   There was an old resort built in 1903 and the property was so tranquil.   We ate lunch there and the French fries were so good, fresh and just like my mother made.  I had a burger in fries and Jerry had a California BLT, which means it has avocado too.  We stayed there for about an hour and walked around after we ate.

Finally, we arrived at Crater Lake.  This is the first National Park I have been too that did not have a sign with the name and US Government Logo, so we could not get our typical picture.   The lake is beautiful, the colors so clear and bright.  The lake is the only attraction.   We circled the lake and saw it from every angle.   Once we were done, we went to our campsite and did not fit!  We were thinking of moving on but had no internet or phone service so we could not find a different place to stay.   They let us stay in a spot that was considered an emergency space and was right in the sewer dump and garbage collection area.  They also said there were a lot of bears in the park.   We were supposed to stay two nights, but decided we would stay the night and then search for another place.

After driving a bit, we found the Rouge Elk Campground.   It is so peaceful here and we have been sitting outside all afternoon.   Tomorrow, we go to Grants Pass, Oregon and stay for two days before we move on to the California Redwood Forest.