We could have driven to Eugene in 4 hrs on the interstate, but that would have been no fun. I mean, the package could have been delivered as late as 7, and REI was open until 8. So we took the scenic route through Crater Lake just to break up the drive. We’re planning to come back here and camp.
We passed this “lake” on the way. Google maps & Garmin gps said it was water, but our eyeballs said it was not. Jaron has been asking me to look up various things that we drive past, so I looked and said that the big field of grass showing as blue on the map was Grass Lake. Weird.
Crater Lake really is beautiful. Maybe moreso than lake Tahoe.
That blue!
We got lunch at the gift shop at Crater Lake and poked around to see what we wanted to come back and do. There is a hike down to the beach, 1.1 miles each way with 700 feet of elevation, which works out to a 12% grade. On average. We missed boat tours by literally one day, but we thought that strenuous hike would be cool. I mean, we’re getting used to the altitude and getting our allergies under control.
We kept going to Eugene and got to REI at about 6:00. Our package had been delivered at 3:11 and we called to make sure they knew we were coming for it.
Jaron’s hiking boots have been falling apart and finally went their last mile. He got them in 1996 or 1997. He brought them in to REI to ask how to fix them, and they gave him some Shoe Goo. Good thing, because Julie has a couple of spots where hers are coming apart and wanted to stay ahead of it. Jaron ended up getting new boots that will likely last him another 25 years. Damn, we’re getting old.
It was a really nice REI with two floors. We got another days’ worth of food, planning for another 3-night run, and Julie was chittering with the staff and taking down their campground recommendations.
After REI, we got bao for dinner at 8. The menu was in Chinese and Jaron was overwhelmed. Julie apologized that dinner was complicated and asked the waiter for recommendations, which were perfect.
We decided to just crash at a corporate hotel that had laundry. And it happened that they put us in a room literally next door to the laundry. 👍🏻
As Julie was loading our luggage on to the cart while Jaron checked us in, she was thinking man, I am tired. I mean, I’d slept through most of the drive today. We really need to slow down the pace. It’s been so much go, go, go. We both slogged through our laundry and agreed that we’d tried to fit too much in the bag today.
While waiting on laundry, I applied Shoe Goo to the problem areas on my hiking boots with a toothpick and carefully set up a hair rubber band on 2 q-tips to hold the pieces together while the Shoe Goo cured so that the hair band would not get glued. I wish I had gotten a picture. The instructions said to let it cure for 24 hours. I thought, yeah, that’d be nice. You’re gonna get what you get, which is going to be overnight, because tomorrow we’re hiking down to the Crater Lake beach. That sounds like a great break-in hike for Jaron’s new boots, amiright?
In the morning, Julie threw up 2x and we both tested positive for covid.
My boots got to cure for 24 hours after all.
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