Yesterday morning the Dodge Four said goodbye to the Treesort, which was a travestree- but a necessary one because we had to make our way to Crater Lake.
But before that, we took a spontaneous right and dove into a last minute adventure into the Oregon Caves near Cave Junction. Now, I've never thought of myself as claus...claus....claustrophic, but I felt an odd sensation when first entering the cave. A tightening of the chest, if you will. I think Tiffany and Chase also felt the same way. Charlie, on the other hand, seemed to be in heaven! She even wanted to scoot to the front of the tour group, away from us!
Sadly, this tour promised over 500 steps and near-crawl on your face conditions, so the Dodge Four bailed halfway through. I felt bad because Charlie really wanted to go on. She REALLY wanted to. And I don't blame her either. But well, it just wasn't realistic for that moment. But looking at how sad she was only guaranteed that now I'm going to have to train on a stair master and condition my core so that I can take her on future cave tours to make up for it.
While at the Caves, Chase got appointed Junior Ranger for the U.S. National Park Services. I think she digs it. I know she's hoping to get a Junior Ranger badge from Yellowstone, as well.
After a quick lunch at a country store in cave junction, we hit the road, and made our way up to Crater Lake. By the time we reached The Crater Lake Lodge, storm clouds were gathering. It sprinkled some, but quickly cleared up. However for the remainder of the night, a wicked lightning storm was going off in the distance. As the four of us ate dessert in wooden rocking chairs on the lodge patio, we could both look up at the stars overhead AND watch the lightning storm in the distance. Take that, Nintendo DS!
Would you consider me a curmudgeon if I went on a small rant here? Before dessert, we drove the entire rim Crater Lake. And every time we got out to take a photo or a look or both, I couldn't help but notice how quiet it was. It was nice. Not something I could take all the time, but very very nice. And then we got back to the Lodge. I couldn't help but notice how people just can't manage to shut up. Here we are, surrounded by a miracle of nature, and some old hen is droning on about her boring niece and nephew's new carpeting. Really? Here? These surroundings just naturally compel you to close your mouth and look. Around. But it seemed like it was most of the people at the lodge. Gab gab gab. Nobody can take pause anymore. Every minute has to be filled with something. Nobody even thinks about how the world was before humans made it noisy. Don't get me wrong, I'm noisy. But the worst kind of noise is small talk. THE WORST. Instead of small talk, next time just shut up. The world will be a better place. And elevators will be tolerable once again. Small talk is a human travestree.
This morning we woke up and jumped back on the highway, and spent all day making our way to Boise, Idaho.
I kinda didn't realize that Boise is practically on the border of Oregon and Idaho. A good portion of our drive was through the Oregon Badlands. Wow. Not the Oregon you envision in your head when you think of Oregon.
About halfway through The Badlands we were in need of gas. But there weren't any chain stations around. The only places that sold gas were the occasional single-pump dusty, gas/coffee shop type places that look perpetually closed. So I decided to pull over to one of these.
In Oregon you aren't allowed to pump your own gas, so I waited in the car. And out of the coffee shop ambles a very tall old man with gritty whiskers.
He gets to the window, takes a look a me and says, "I've seen you before!"
"You have?!" I ask.
"Yeah I have. I've seen you before!"
"Oh, I don't know..."
And then the guy filled the car up with gas and left it at that. Heh. I don't look like Zach Galifianakis.
Once crossing over into the land of Potato, I was very excited, because I've never been to Idaho. When researching things to do in Boise, I discovered "Going to an Edward's movie theater." in the top 25. But that's okay. Not everything has to be New York City. We grabbed a smashing BBQ dinner and took a swim in the hotel swimming pool and are getting ready for bed. Nice day. Tomorrow, we travel the width of the state to MONTANA! Until then.
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