Day two found us up fairly early...we had a busy day planned. We packed up the car and headed to Crater Lake for one last try at a glimpse of the lake. I had been to Crater a couple of times a few summers back, but my traveling companion had not seen it so it was important to him. We got to the park entrance and we were told by the ranger that, once again, it was snowing and there was zero visibility. We finally had to resign ourselves that seeing Crater Lake this trip was not meant to be. We turned around and got on the road heading to Willamette Valley (wine-tasting can always cheer you up!) and eventually, Corvallis, where we were stopping for the night. Also planned, was another stop at a covered bridge or two.
This photo below is the Aspen Inn right outside of Crater Lake where we spent our first night. It was a cozy and interesting accommodation.
This was about all we saw of Crater Lake...other than the snow falling.
After leaving Crater Lake, we started along the Rogue-Umpqua Scenic Drive. A really pretty drive that was completely unexpected!
The Rogue River below.
Our first hike on this drive was at Clearwater Falls.
Oh, look, there are the falls.
Our second hike on the Rogue-Umpqua drive was at beautiful Watson Falls below.
Nice place to have a picnic.
Our last stop on this drive was in a town called Glide, Oregon. It was a place where several rivers collided together...called, appropriately, the colliding rivers. Honestly, while it was a very pretty place, there didn't seem to be much of a collision going on, not like the one in British Columbia anyway. I took a walk down under a bridge by myself while at this stop and there was a guy drinking something under the bridge and he started talking to me about the beautiful day and then he started in about a dead baby otter. At first I was concerned (about the otter), but then I realized that he was drunk. I got out of there fast. Weird. Anyway, the beautiful yellow lupine (pictured below) was in bloom all over Oregon...including on the sides of major highways....nice!
After the lovely the drive, we headed over to Monroe, Oregon for a stop at our first winery! Benton-Lane. The wines were so good and the vineyards and sky were almost unreal.
One last stop before heading over to Corvallis for the night. We stopped at Harris Covered Bridge in Wren, Oregon. For some reason, I really took a liking to Oregon's covered bridges. I get a rather romantic feeling from them.
Finally, about 8 PM, we arrived at our lovely hotel right on the Willamette River. Too bad we were only here for one night, but we made the best of it. We went to Trader Joe's for supplies for the road the next day, and then walked over to a Mexican restaurant across the street for dinner. The view below is of the Willamette River from our hotel room in Corvallis....so serene!
It was a very long and full day, but very fun....tomorrow is wine-tasting day! Yippee!!! I love the start of long vacations!
These are really amazing shots that completely capture the feeling of Oregon adventures. Bravo!
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