The morning started out rough with a crying cold baby but turned out pretty great. We did a lot of driving through Oregon into California. We left Smith Rock super early to get a jump start on the day.

The first stop was Crater Lake. This has been on my bucket list forever! It’s the deepest lake in the USA and the deepest volcanic lake in the world at 1,943 ft deep. With no feeder river or stream (obviously because it’s a dormant volcano), the water comes purely from rain and snow making it clear and beautiful.

When we arrived at the park we received dream shattering news… clouds. So many clouds. Normally, clouds are my jam and I love the different types of fluffy sky pillows but not when they are enveloping the top of a volcano! We continued on in hopes of a tiny pocket of sunshine but to no avail. Well in an effort to stay positive, we checked out the lodge, stretched our legs on a trail, and snacked on Cheerios.

Here are a few pics of our “beautiful view”

After our stop it was mainly driving for the rest of the day. We tried to stop in a tiny town in Cali for a picnic lunch, but as we drove through tumbleweeds rolled down Main Street and creepy church bells played an eerie song that spooked us to the soul so we drove on through. We played frogger with massive rain clouds for a good portion of the day. When we got ahead, we found a tiny ranger station where we picked up a map and enjoyed sandwiches in the 2 car parking lot.

We saw a sign for a town called “Lookout” and figured we’d give it a go and see if there was anything cool. Short answer no. We were stared down by a middle aged woman standing in the crook of her open truck door. With a quick flash of a smile, we pulled a u-turn and got the hell outa dodge!

Our gas light turned on and said we had 30 miles left till empty as we passed a sign for the next town in 27 miles. We crossed our fingers hoping the town wouldn’t be like to two gas-less ones we had just drive through. Rolled in and right on the outskirts of town we found a tiny gas station! Phew!

We filled up and rolled out heading south towards Yosemite. We made it to Reno and opted for a hotel for showers and a cushy bed before spending our next few nights in the woods. Fun fact- if you act like you belong, you can sneak a dog into a casino hotel with no questions asked 😉

Here’s a few pics from the day!