It was a bit of a shocker getting up at 7 but we were on a mission today! Breakfast at 730 was a little more continental but eggs, cereal and toast filled us up. We grabbed some fuel and topped up so we were ready to rock.
Funny thing - apparently only Oregon and New Jersey still have full time gas jockeys. The one we had today was an extremely ominous fella and I was a little nervous about getting my credit card back but it all turned out okay!
We got on the road and headed south through 100 million more trees. Wow - Oregon = TREES!
Of course we had to stop almost immediately at a roadside coffee shop for a cappuccino as that was a priority for our navigator! 😃
My navigator pointed out that the Crater Lake was coming up in an hour and my friend David had suggested it as a must see. We veered off the highway and 15 minutes later we were there.
A volcano had erupted thousands of years ago leaving a giant basin over 500 ft deep making this the deepest lake in the United States. As we walked up a slope from the viewpoint parking lot, we had no idea what we were going to see until we were hanging over the precipice.
STUNNING! The deep blue water and scenery surrounding the lake were incredible. What a sight to behold.
We stayed and took some pictures and video for a bit and then made our way back to the parking lot and over to a massive SNOWBANK! There was still snow everywhere! 5000 ft of elevation provides this spot with over 500 inches of snow annually - and lots of it never melts! So of course we have to have a snowball fight!
After we cleaned off our shoes, we hopped back into the van and started making our way around the ring road to the west side of the volcano.
No sooner than we went 10 minutes, we had to come to a complete stop and wait almost half an hour for construction. This resulted in several boys having to make a trip over giant snowbanks to the woods to use natures outdoor washroom ! This also resulted in other large snowball fight which had numerous other casualties including vehicles on both sides of us!
Apologies were made to the drivers and back in the van as we headed around the ring road to the interpretive centre for a quick tour and another washroom break before we ventured south some more.
By the time we made it back to Highway 97 south - we had lost 90 minutes so now we had some time to make up. I put the hammer down and we flew through the remainder of Oregon following any fast vehicle we could find.
We reached the California state line and had to stop for a fruit and vegetable check. We passed with flying colours and were on our way.
The further we travelled into central California, the greater the temperature rose on the van until it reached a peak of 39°C or 102°F. I thought the paint on the van was going to start melting off and we could feel the heat from the outside even while we were travelling as the air conditioner was working hard.
We stopped for lunch in a place called Weed - The biggest tourist trap on our trip so far where fuel was $.50 a gallon more expensive food was outrageously priced. After inhaling an expensive but very healthy wrap and sandwich, we were headed south again.
Eventually as we neared Sacramento we veered off and got onto interstate number five which had several lanes traffic and was moving brilliantly. The nearer we got to San Francisco, the more traffic started to bunch up. The traffic coming from the opposite direction was insane and backed up for well over 90 minutes.
We drove through Oakland saw the Oracle Arena where the Golden State Warriors play. Even though we had the occasional slow down for traffic, it would eventually pick up and move nicely.
We turned west and went over a bridge that was over 2 miles long crossing the bay before we arrived at our hotel. We were so excited to pour out of the van after our 23 Hour Marathon drive from Calgary only to discover that a couple of cans of beverages in the back of the van had exploded in a backpack and soaked numerous things. The cleanup began and eventually we were able to check into our very nice room on the first floor with our van parked right outside.
We also discovered another cooler that leaked water and completely soaked all our soccer tickets and airline passes for Krista and Nicholas from Seattle home which I had to separate individually and spread out on the bed to dry.
Caroline sent all the boys on a tour to check out the pool and other things while we made our way to the hotel watering hole to celebrate our successes and drown our sorrows from surviving such a trek with four noisy teenagers.
Shortly thereafter Krista and Randy made an appearance walking into the hotel with their carry-on luggage and their lovely direct flight from Calgary to San Francisco. 😳
We all grabbed a light jacket and headed across the street to a pizza place where we inhaled numerous flavours of pizza and salads and got caught up on all of our adventures. We headed back to the hotel around 10 and went to bed as we had a full day already today and had many adventures planned tomorrow in the San Francisco area.
Road trip number one complete and sightseeing festival begins tomorrow!
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