We have been trying to go to Crater Lake for about the past 5 years.  Unfortunately, every time we’ve tried to go, we’ve been stymied by forest fires.  When we were planning this trip, we decided to give it another go, knowing that we might have to change our plans at the last minute.

This must have been our lucky year because the forest fires held off and we were finally able to make our long awaited trip!  Unfortunately, it also ended up being a very short trip!

There is a road that circles Crater Lake and while you can drive either way on this road, there is definitely a “right” way to drive, which is with the lake on the driver’s side of the vehicle.  We, however, drove the other way–with the guardrail-less drops on the driver’s side.  My husband was more than a little nervous about this and it must have rubbed off on the kids.  When we got out of the car for the obligatory photo op, my son was terrified that he was going to fall in the lake!  After a fair amount of coaxing and a promise that lunch was soon to follow, we got him out, took the picture and then crossed away from the lake for our picnic lunch.

After lunch, we were able to coax our son over to one of the visitor centers to watch a presentation about volcanoes (which he loves).  But that was his limit for Crater Lake, so we said goodbye to Crater Lake and headed towards Bend.

Next week, I may take a break from the vacation pictures, depending on how many pictures  I get from Thanksgiving!