OK, we did away with thwartation. This was a lovely day once we escaped the horrific wildfire smoke. We drove to Weed, CA, up and around Mt. Shasta, and the air cleared, so we did indeed make the detour to the Lavender Farms.
What a treat. Up a very steep dirt road (Lisa did a lovely job driving, as she mustered the nerve to drive the steed) was this woman’s dream—a field of English and French lavender overlooking Mt. Shasta and the valley below. All kinds of ladies had wicker baskets over their arms and scissors in another hand and were harvesting lavender. The proprietess said that 4000 people did that last year, and you’d never know the lavender had been touched. We tested lavender oils and spritzes and bought some cards and a sachet to make our camp clothes smell good. This stop was Nick’s test, and he sorta failed. He got at least a D, at any rate. We left him in the RV while we strolled amongst the lavender and looked at the things in the shop, and he yipped and howled the whole time. Sigh. But he’s great right now.
Right now, we’re in the Crater Lake National Park Mazama Campground, surrounded by snow, slush, mosquitoes, and no one else. We are boondocking. Here's Nick enjoying a rest on the snow. He loved eating it.
It’s day 2 and we are actually bloomin’ camping. No water, bathrooms only till 8PM (and again at 8AM), no electricity. And of course no Wi-Fi. We’re writing this on Mac battery power in the moment, cause we promised we would.
We’re just all in this camper. Of course, the store sells wine and we have Deet. So, all is right with the world. After having so little sleep the last 2 nights, we are delighted to listen to the wind in the trees (and hopefully not to bears). We realized last night how very spoiled we are living in Carmel Valley—land of starlight and that’s it at night. No noise, no light, no nothing. Just peace. It’s clear the rest of the world doesn’t operate that way. Trains must travel. Trucks must idle to warm up. People must party. Etc.
But here in the Mazama Campground at Crater Lake, it is quiet and peaceful. Here's a shot just looking straight up from our campsite. No editing has been done to this.
We haven’t even seen the lake yet, because we were so tired when we got here at 4:15 PM, we just parked. Our plan is to arise early schmerly and see the lake at sunrise (and photograph it, too). Then it’s on to Bend for shopping—a real water bowl for Nick (sorry, Renee, the collapsible keeps getting stepped in by human and dog alike), sweat pants for Julie to sleep in (because you can’t take the dog out at night in real jimmies), and a hotspot to post this in. (Plus our reflections on the night’s adventures.)
Signing off for day 2---
Amy and I are glad to see all is well on the adventure so far. Tip for the mosquitos - invest in a couple of ThermaCells (THEY WORK!) or spray listerine (unsure if this actually works, but we've been told it does)
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