montemover

Pics: Nancy on rim of Crater Lake; Nancy in front of snow drift at Crater Lake, Elephant car wash at Wildlife Safari; Giraffe blocking traffic.

Nancy arrived June 15th and we commenced day trips around Sutherlin. On Tuesday we went to Crater Lake. Enroute we went through some gorgeous country through the Cascades to Diamond Lake and on to Crater Lake National Park. There was still a lot of snow left and only ½ of the Rim Road was open due to snow. I took some pictures of Nancy standing next to a snow drift on the highway that was more than twice as tall as she was. The day started cloudy and when we arrived at Crater Lake the water looked blue grey, but as the day progressed and the sun came out, the view of the water became deep blue. We did not take the 2 plus mile trek down from the rim to the lake as we figured we might make it down, but it was doubtful that we’d ever be able to climb back up. The views from all areas of the rim that we could traverse were gorgeous.

Wednesday we headed for the Coast. Across the coastal mountains to Reedsport where we stopped at the Discovery Center. Then on to the little town of Winchester Bay, the sand dunes and the lighthouse. Then we went on down the coast to quaint and very active fishing village of Charleston. We had lunch and toured around the town. Our final destination on the coast was the historic fishing town of Bandon were we traveled along the coast with beautiful rock formations, cliffs and beaches. We came back to Sutherlin via the town of Coquille located in the Coastal Mountains and then on to Roseburg and home.

Thursday we decided to stick close to home and on the spur of the moment decided to check out Wildlife Safari in Winston, just 15 miles down the Interstate. What a fantastic surprise that was. We were up close and personal with the wild animals from Africa, the Americas and Asia as we drove through the Park. One gigantic giraffe planted himself in the middle of the road and refuse to move causing a traffic jamb. The Park is wonderfully laid out for maximum viewing. After our first tour through we stopped at Safari Village, had lunch and watched the mountains. Then we walked the beautiful gardens. We then decided to take a second drive through (this is all on one admission ticket) and saw the hippos, rhinos and tiger that we didn’t see the first time. It was really fun to go through twice. The first time was close to noon and the animals were in shade and resting. They were much more active when we went through at 4:00. We even got to watch the elephants washing cars , “guaranteed to not get your car clean”. There was so much going on there that we could have spent more time. Next time we’ll go in the morning and spend the entire day instead of a ½ a day.

Nancy left for Portland to see Barb this weekend, but she’ll be back on Tuesday and then we’ll head out in Monte for a Rally and then on up to Washington to see the sights. So stay tuned and I’ll try to post more blogs on our travels.
Kris