Valley of the Rogue State Park, Oregon--July 6-9

Valley of the Rogue State Park was our next destination. It is located between Medford and Klamath Falls, Oregon. It would be our stopping point for exploring Crater Lake National Park.

Crater Lake was gorgeous. We stopped at the information center before completing the drive to the lake. There was also a geocache behind the center! The lodge overlooks the lake. It doesn't have AC, but really doesn't need it. The air coming off the lake was cool.
You really do go AHHHHHH when you first see the lake. The blue of the lake is indescribable.

The blue behind these trees is the lake, not the sky! The water was calm so the mountains surrounding the lake reflected in the water. And yes, there was still snow at Crater Lake. The rim road has not opened completely so we couldn't drive around the lake.
Not only does the water reflect the surrounding scenery, it is extremely clear to a depth of 144 feet. From the overlook we could see rocks and ledges under the water. We planned to take the boat trip on the lake, but the boats weren't operational for the season--they started 2 days after we visited!
From Crater Lake we drove south to Fort Klamath. There was a small, interesting museum of army life in the area in the 1860s.We geocached on the other days. We even drove to Jacksonville, Oregon (Joyce grew up in Jacksonville, Florida). Jacksonville is a national historic landmark town. We walked around the main street and looked in shops, but it was very hot! We have gone from the cool redwoods to an area with record breaking heat! Thursday we will move north along Interstate 5 to Sutherlin, Oregon. There is an Escapee Park there where we would like to stay. We are members of the Escapees (the group we were with at Quartzite, Arizona).