After our day at the Horse Expo we returned to the originally planned route to Oregon. We arrived late in Ashland, Oregon which is just north of the California border. We stayed long enough to get some rest at the Columbia Hotel in downtown Ashland. We were pleasantly surprised with how charming the hotel was. I had my doubts when I saw that we would be sharing a bathroom with the other guests but our stay there was great.

We had breakfast at Morning Glory restaurant, again. Darryl found the restaurant the last time we visited Ashland. Why try something new when we know this will be excellent?!

Our stay in Ashland was short since we wanted to get on the road to see some new territory and today that would be Crater Lake. I spoke with the National Forest ranger to find out where there was dispersed camping near Crater Lake. He recommended Union Creek just off of highway 62 near Prospect, OR. This place was recommended by the couple we met at Boulder Beach campground in Lake Mead so we decided to make that our destination.

The next morning we drove to Crater Lake and spent the day enjoying the views. There was still snow on the ground and it was a bit chilly out. I was expecting to see cabins and boats around the lake similar to Lake Tahoe so it was a surprise to see the lake practically untouched by development. There is a small boat dock on the lake that can take people to the island at the center but you can’t see it from most of the viewpoints. We hiked down to the boat dock at lake’s edge and watched the younger crowd jump into the lake’s chilly waters. We preferred staying warm and dry!