I woke up this morning, popped up the hatchback and for a moment forgot where we were. It opened to reveal the Alvord desert where we camped but to me it looked like the aftermath of a post-apocalyptic Oregon and I was waiting for a zombie to come slow-walking towards me. The vastness and emptiness were overwhelming, nothing for miles in either

direction. The sun had just come up so the shades of purple and pink were reflecting off the distant mountains.  It really was such beautifully unique landscape that gave way to some amazing stargazing the previous evening.

I, however, had this urgency to get on the road because getting from where we were to where I hoped to get to today was going to take a long time. So without hesitation I began my prep for leaving. I’m becoming quite proficient at packing the car back up and at this point, everything has a place and an order to which it is packed.

We hit the road toward a little town to fill up the gas tank, there was a lot of empty land today so I had to be very conscientious of the gas tank.

About 25 miles from Lakeview we hit our first hiccup or in this case, flat tire.  I immediately called AAA (thanks friends) with the one bar I had on my phone and sat there for a moment before I realized, wait, I can do this! So on the side of the highway, I unloaded my packed car and pulled out the spare and proceeded to change it. Two nice local gentleman pulled over and offered to help. I thanked them and with a smile said, “I got this.” Just a few short minutes later, my car was equipped with a little wimpy spare and ready to go. I have to admit, I did feel pretty proud of myself, like maybe pounding my chest and howling or something (ok maybe I did actually do this). I cancelled my AAA request,  got back in the car and traveled the 25 miles at a speedy 30 mph to the Lakeview Les Schwab. Jacob fixed my tire and and we were out on the road again.  By this point it was about 2:30 and Franklin and I were exhausted with over 2 hours left to drive! I told myself, if we can get to Klamath Falls and find a campground, we will go the remaining 45 miles the next day to Crater Lake. By the time we got to Klamath Falls, campgrounds were difficult to find and before I knew it we were only 20 miles away from Crater Lake! I decided after this long ass day, we deserved a break so we pulled into the adorable Crater Lake Resort, got a little cabin by the creek and now here we sit. Franklin is of course already sound asleep and to be honest, after the couple cold beers I just drank from the little market, I’m ready to fall asleep as well.  It could have been a crappy day but it turned out great, ended even better and met some kind and generous people along the way.

 

SIDE NOTE:

Here is a glimpse into what happens when you are in the desert with only your dog:

SIDE SIDE NOTE:

We stumbled upon Beatty, Oregon today, what??? I didn’t even know it existed let alone where it was and we literally drove right through it. I, of course, slammed on my breaks and had to take a shameless selfie:)