"O Lord my God!When I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power thro'out the universe displayed. When through the woods and forest glades I wander, and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees; when I look down from lofty mountain grandeur, and hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze; then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee; how great thou art, how great thou art. Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee; how great thou are, how great thou art."
This morning we were planning to find the namesake of Klamath Falls, but after some questions, we learned that although there used to be falls here, they damed the upper lake which stopped the falls. Alas no falls to be found anymore. Nathan pulled in to fill up before starting our day, but before he could get out of the car, a bearded mountain looking man bundled in a coat had already approached the gas lid and was removing it. Quickly Nathan threw his door open to stop him and get him away from the van. He said, "No, thank you! I'll pump my own gas." The man explained that it's OR law (as well as NJ law) that station attendants have to pump the gas. If we were caught pumping gas, we could receive a $750 fine and so could the station. Nathan apologized for being so jumpy and explained that we were not accostomed to having someone approach and fiddle with our car.
So then it was on to Crater Lake which is what had actually brought us this far over initially in OR. We were blessed to be able to drive through more beautiful forest on our way to the park and found some interesting lava formations. In one area, we could even see the gas vents that gases had bubbled up through the lava after the eruption . Then deep down at the bottom of that gorge was our first glimpse at some falls and a rushing river. As we climbed the mountain on 62 fog began to settle in on the road and snow was blanketing both sides of the road. We reached the park entrance and were ready to pay our $10 when the ranger said that we were welcome to come up, but all cameras where showing that fog had settled on the crater as well and there were no views of the lake. Since there was no guarantee that it would clear up anytime soon, we opted to head on out of the park.
We entered the Rogue River National Forest and were excited to see even more glimpses of the river flowing alongside the road. Samuel and Caleb had fun running along side the shore and begging to get in. BRRR! They stuck their hands in, and that seemed to settle the urge to swim. We were again getting a drizzle, but it only made things look that much greener. Some of the pines in this area have something draped through them that reminds me of Spanish moss. It is beautiful to look out through the forest and see all the hues of green, but it's sad to come across regions that have been burned out and have only evergreen skeletons left standing. Today brought views of more lovely flowers on the drive as well.
Now heading back west across OR, we drove through Steward State Park and marveled at its beautiful lake. Nathan called Jan this morning to work on coordinating schedules, and when he talked with her about his desire to see the ocean but fear that there wouldn't be time, she told him he'd better go or he'd regret it! So to the coast we headed. No need to let a little rain and closed park ruin the day. Our vacations are never set in stone, so we have the freedom to pick and choose as we go. I was driving this morning and just following Nathan's directions. I was a little thrown off by the time he was saying it would take us to get back up the OR coastline. I kept questioning him, and he confessed that he was trying to surprise us. He was leading us BACK to CA to see the Redwood Forest before we began our drive up the coast. It pained him to think we would have come this far only to miss the ocean or redwoods by only a couple of hundred miles. So our adventure continued!!
This part of CA was still largely populated with evergreen, but there were some deciduous trees in the mix. We stopped at Patrick Creek River and saw crystal waters rushing over the rocks. The boys were skipping rocks and Andrew stuck his toes in the frigid water.
We pulled into the Redwood Forest and were immediately greeted by towering monsters! We had already been marveling at the massive Ponderosas when all of a sudden we caught our first glimpse of these majestic redwoods. The trees we had been in awe of earlier now seemed dwarfed. Some of these trees probably had a circumference of 40 feet or more. Nathan took a picture of the 3 older boys and me with our arms stretched out, holding hands, trying to hug the tree, and I don't think we even made it half way around! There were beautiful, lush ferns growing on the forest floor. We had some light drizzle in this park too that seemed to make everything look that much more crisp. We were enjoying our scenic drive when I rounded a corner, and we saw a distressed lady waving her hands on the side of the road. Now let me explain something here. This was a two lane road through the park, filled with hairpin curves and winding roads. There were occasional pull-offs, but not much in the way of shoulders. (Some parts made Hwy 7 in AR look straight!) There were areas where the land just dropped off on the side of the road into ravines. So the car in front of us spoke briefly to the woman and continued on until they could find a pull-off. We had to go a bit further to be able to find another place that we could turn around and go back. As it turned out, this lady had been coming down the road the same direction we were, lost control near a hairpin turn, regained control, but overcorrected and went down into a ravine. Her truck, a 4 wheel drive, rolled over and was upside down in the bottom of about a 30 foot ravine with its lights on. She had clawed her way back up the slope to the street just as we were driving by. Miraculously she did not appear badly hurt. Her hands were cut up from the climb, and she was obviously quite shaken. There was no reception in this area, so we drove back down the road until Nathan could get reception and call 911. The rangers, ambulance, and firetrucks showed up, and we left on out of the park before the roads got closed off so that her truck could be retrieved. She was blessed to have regained control before going off the opposite side because she went into the more shallow ravine. She was also blessed to have been able to climb out so that she could be seen because there were no skid marks on the road, and her truck was not at all visible from the road.
About 20 minutes out of the park the boys got their first look at the Pacific Ocean. A chorus of OOOs and AAAHHHs and WOWs sang out from the back seat as they drank in the views. We crossed back over into OR, and stopped just after Brookings, OR at a state park to play on the beach. The three older boys immediately headed for the water with rolled up pant legs, but in no time were completely soaked. Andrew had his first experience walking in the sand and only playing at the waters edge until a small wave came in and caught him off guard. He tumbled face first but caught himself, looked a little disturbed, but quickly got over it. He enjoyed grabbing up firstfulls of the gray sand and offering them to me. Samuel found a long piece of sea kelp and immediately had his very own whip! Taylor found a large section of kelp stem that looked like a pipe and another bulb piece that he said would make a great vase. Taylor, Samuel, and Caleb all got brave and were running well out into the surf, knocking each other over and climbing the rocks. Andrew overcame his nervousness in short order, and was running into and out of the surf. We enjoyed the lovely sunset and a great opportunity to stretch! We have now finished up our day at 3333 miles in Florence, OR. What a marvelous day it has been!
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