Still in the RV lot...

Our new brakes failed the test drive not once, not twice, but three times....The RV shop isn't open on the weekends, so we are sitting here plugged in, in our air conditioning, waiting.  This has resulted in 3 canceled reservations - Crater Lake, Salt Lake City, and Medicine Bow. Not very happy about that, but the steering work that they did has made an amazing difference in driving.  Glad to have had that done.

Since we had to cancel our campground in Crater Lake, we decided to take the day and just drive up there in the car.  Only 100 miles or so.  The drive was ok, a little smoggy from the nearby wildfires, and uneventful.  However, the parks maintenance folks decided that August would be a great time to resurface the roads in the park.  ugh.  We sat in the car for 4 sessions, from 10 - 25 minutes, waiting our turn to pass through a one lane construction zone. That "hill" in front of the line of cars is the outside wall of the caldera.

 

  But - it was certainly worth the effort.  The Caldera rim is about 7,000 ft high, and seemed to be above most of the smoky haze, laying over the 1,500 ft  elevations below. The lake is beautiful; a dark blue surrounded by the caldera from the volcano that collapsed and created the lake over 7,700 years ago.  Deepest point in the lake is almost 2,000 feet. The parent Mount Mazama is one of a line of volcanoes ranging from northern California to British Columbia. These include Mt Rainier, Mt Baker, Mt St Helens, Mt Hood, etc, along the Cascade range. We are glad we saw Crater Lake.

Heading back "home", we saw what is becoming a familiar sight - a helicopter carrying a load of water from a nearby lake.  This one was headed for the fire closest to us (it isn't that close!)  Not the best picture, but look carefully for the black line behind the copter and the empty water bag at the end of the line.

Hoping all will go well on Monday and we can start our trip to Estes Park, in the Rockies.  Meeting Erin and her family there for a few days!  oh, and by the way - it's almost 8 p.m. and still 100 degrees here...whew...