Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Tom found some time to hoist the flag…… he used the long “snow pole” the park service has placed at each site. Old scouting skills, as well as sailing skills (like knot tying) came in handy to properly display the colors. We also decided to improve the aesthetics of our site and placed fallen pine boughs over the garish blue sewer line. Now it blends in with the wooded surroundings.

Lynn has been transferred to the Annie Creek Gift Shop, which is just ¼ mile from our campsite. So now I can walk to work, through the beautiful woods. I do keep a lookout for large black furry moving things, and am ready to clap and loudly sing something like “Blessed Assurance” should the need arise. There is another critter to watch out for up here – the pine marten. It looks like a large cat or weasel and has a mean personality. Now I know why tribal warriors chant and beat drums all the time – to keep away the beasts!

The Annie Creek Gift Shop is smaller and not near as busy as the Rim Gift Shop. That is good in my case, as back problems continue to plague me, and it’s difficult to last to the end of a 4 ½-hour shift. The young foreign students work 8 ½-hour shifts 5 days a week. Ah, youth.

Tom has had some loooong work days this week, having to end them with the arduous 1.1 mile climb up from the docks, so he arrives home pretty tired out. Many hours have been spent on training – rescue procedures (from man-overboard to crashing and sinking), and first aid (from bee stings to heart attacks). So Captain Tom will be ready for anything!

He came home one evening and told me he had seen two bald eagles fly over the lake. I told him I had seen something unusual that day too. A family from a southern state was checking into the campground. Their son, about 7-years-old, was obviously enamored seeing the remaining patches of snow: he burst out of the van singing “Jingle Bells” and danced all around on the parking lot like a Lakota Hoop Dancer. (We understand his excitement).

June 21, 2007

Friday, June 15, 2007 View from my lunch-eating spot:

Tom has been training in boat operations. He describes the tour boats as big “bathtubs.” As soon as the trail was cleared of snow by the park service, the captains and dock hands have been re-constructing the docks, as well as attending training such as basic first aid, CPR, and cold water rescue. Lynn continued learning the cash register. It is getting somewhat easier. I only make a few mistakes each day, and none have been of major consequence.

The gift shop ↑
Things come up, though. Today, a tour bus of Amish from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, arrived. The fact that the Amish do not have photos taken of themselves (for religious reasons) slipped my mind, and I asked an Amish man. who was paying by credit card, for his photo ID. Showing me his social security card, he said, “Don’t have a photo.” I apologized as I wrapped up his four souvenir shot glasses, and photo card of Crater Lake scenes for a Viewmaster (remember that toy from the 50s?).

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Tom has lost his sole. He wore out his Philmont boots going up and down the lava rock-strewn trail to Cleatwood Cove, where the boat docks are. So today, our first day off in a week, we drove to Klamath Falls to have them fixed. The highway and the railroad tracks into Klamath Falls follow a narrow passage between the base of the mountains and Lake Klamath. A sign simply says, “Rocks.” Maybe that’s short for “There may be rocks on the road.” Or maybe it means there are rocks nearby, or perhaps they just left off the word, “Falling.” I wonder if people actually see rocks coming their way, and if so, what do they do? You can’t swerve into the lake, or into the side of the mountain. It’s worse on the road up to the rim of Crater Lake. After the sign warning of rocks, there is a sign that says, “Danger: falling can cause injury or death. Stay away from cliff edges.” So there is literally no where to go – depending on the size of the rock, you’re safer just letting it fall on your car!

It takes 1 hour to drive to Klamath Falls, and cost $25 round trip in fuel. It may be cheaper to buy at the camp store, in the park, even at their inflated prices, for regular items such as milk, bread, and bug repellent.

There is a scenic “turn-out” just inside the south entrance to the park overlooking the Annie Creek gorge, and the fumaroles. Awesome view! And a great place to bring a picnic lunch.

Wednesday, June 20.

Observance of 37th anniversary of our wedding.

Weather report: Sunny, sunny, and more sunny. Highs in the mid-60s, lows in the mid-30s. Tom packed away his furry, flap-earred cap and got out his wide-brimmed hat.

Critter report: elk, H-U-G-E mosquitoes, chipmunks, beautiful birds, and little dark-gray mice that attempt to set up housekeeping in motorhome engines and gift shops. No bears have been spotted, yet.

June 13, 2007

NOTE: This posting begins a week ago, because we have only just now been able to access the internet. We are now on dial-up internet, so I hope I can publish this post shortly - it covers our first week at Crater Lake.

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Happy Birthday, TOM! (He is now eligible for a lifetime National Parks Pass – woo hoo!)
The weather here is just bizarre! One minute it is snowing a blizzard, the next minute the sun is out. A few minutes later the clouds return and it’s raining and snowing. The only consistent factor is the temperature……cold. Yesterday’s high was 37; the low was 24.

Of course the woods are gorgeous - snow carpeting the ground, and laying thick on the tree boughs. Thinking the snow would melt before we could "capture" the scene, we ran around like southern yokels, snapping photos like crazy. Then it began to snow again, covering the branches even heavier. It’s just bizarre.

Tom has met the other boat captains – there will be seven to start out the season. He was issued his captain shirt (with epaulets). And Lynn met her manager at the gift shop.

A few more people are showing up on our block, “Mazama Row.” Others are checking into the staff dormitory. We are so glad we did not arrive today in this weird weather. We’ve had time to get our bearings, and learn where things are.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Orientation day!

So at 8 a.m. Tom and I drove the jeep 7 miles up the icy road to the rim. It took us 30 minutes, and we only skidded twice. The snow had fallen all through last night, making everything white again, so it was beautiful driving through pristine woods. Even the sheer drop-offs we slid past on those hairpin curves, were covered in fluffy white blankets of snow.

No one likes to sit for 9 hours in a “classroom” in the attic of the employee dorm dubbed “Animal House,” but that’s what was required of new employees, young and old. I swear Tom and I were beamed back to high school. Except for the boat captains, who look like they are 45+ years, and a few retired couples (like campground hosts), most of the employees are late teens to mid-20s. Comments and jokes were tossed out in Portuguese, Spanish, and Turkish, as well as English, as the Human Resources leader did her best to present a total overview of working at Crater Lake National Park.

Do you remember the PBS series, “Upstairs, Downstairs”? Which half did you most identify with? In the majestic old Crater Lake Lodge, with its Grand Hall built with Ponderosa pine trunks and massive stone fireplaces, guests are treated to fine cuisine, beautiful surroundings, and a quite satisfying “upstairs” experience............Well, the employee dining room (EDR) is “downstairs.” We are required to park far away from the main lot, walk on the employees’ path, enter at the service entrance, continue past the freezer room, laundry room, and various other working areas of the hotel basement. We line up and proceed slowly through the “buffet,” which is served on paper plates with plastic forks and knives. But no complaints here – Tom’s meals are free, and mine are nominal. And, at the other EDR, at the restaurant nearer to our site, we always know what’s on the menu; the buffet serves the same items every single day.

Gatorade is saving my life! (That and fixing my own meals). In this altitude, it is easy to become dehydrated, and I did. Now, I drink several Gatorades and lots of water all through the day.

Upstairs, on the Lodge veranda:

Friday, June 8, 2007

Tom was in training all day, and Lynn had her first day at the gift shop. This involved learning the cash register, learning the inventory, how to fold t-shirts, and how to keep your cool when customers are impatient and downright rude.

After work, I drove down the mountain and stopped at the turn-out where Captain Gene said he found phone service on his Verizon mobile phone. Sure enough, my phone works – there on the side of the snowy mountain, on a hair-pin curve, in the wilderness of Crater Lake National Park, six miles away from our site.

By Monday night, though, our land line should be hooked up, and we’ll email the “How To Reach Us” information when it is working. AND we’ll be able to check email on a daily basis (if all goes well).

Saturday, June 9, 2007

Life As We Know It has drastically changed. Take, for example –

Mail: there is no friendly postman to take our postcards and letters at our front door. The nearest post office (the only p.o. in the park) is four miles up the mountain, and has limited hours.

Shopping: The nearest town is Klamath Falls, 60 miles away. It has a Safeway and a Wal-Mart, and not much more. Medford is a larger town and has Safeway, Wal-Mart, Target, Penny’s, Lowe’s, and a great Army Surplus store – but it takes 2 ½ hours to drive there. Nevertheless, we had a long list of “needs,” and we both had the day off, so on Saturday we drove to Medford, and crossed a lot of things off our list. The drive through the wooded mountains mostly follows the Rogue River. The road was cut through a thick forest of Ponderosa pines, leaving a ribbon of blue sky very high above us. We stopped at Natural Bridge, to see where the river flows through a lava tube, forming caves and blow holes, and exiting into rapids and falls; it continues down the mountains, and into the Pacific Ocean, 184 miles away.

After a day of shopping and the 2 ½ hour drive home, jeep loaded with supplies, we were exhausted. This is a whole different way of life! Tom is used to running over to Home Depot every time he needs a bolt, screw, or nail (sometimes several times a day). That won’t happen here. And there’s no dashing to Kroger to pick up some lettuce for dinner. If you don’t have it, you use something else.

And we still have not found the place to dump our trash. There does not seem to be a dumpster (other than "Recyclables") any place in Oregon. So we take our trash in small bags and deposit them in small trash cans wherever we find them.

Again, though, we are not complaining: neither Tom nor I have ever had a prettier drive to work. And stretching out on the sofa after a long day, we can look out the window into the tops of 80-foot Ponderosa pines swaying in the cool mountain breeze.

June 6, 2007

Monday, June 4, 2007

HELLO from Crater Lake! After 2,564 miles, the Mechanical Navigator, informed us, “You have reached your destination.” The greeting committee was not yet formed (we are supposed to arrive two days from now), so we let ourselves into the campground.

The first sign we saw (after the “Welcome to Crater Lake”) simply stated, “Warning: There are BEARS in this campground. Obey all regulations.” That’s pretty straight forward. In other parks, the signs are less anxiety-producing: “Please don’t feed the bears” (which make you feel they are harmless as chipmunks).

Actually we were greeted by unexpected weather. There is snow everywhere. Most camping spaces are blocked by big banks of snow. Our site (for employees) is clear, but there is also below 40⁰ temperature, and rain. Parking this behemoth was an ordeal! I had to park the jeep on a remote stretch of snow-covered road and guide Tom into the tiny space allotted for us. Backing up, Tom has to rely on my directions, and I have to keep a lookout for tree trunks, overhanging branches, protruding rocks, and ruts. We use walkie-talkies as a back-up, but our main communication is hand signals. Tom doesn’t move an inch unless he sees me in the mirrors. Our signals look like this:

Once we were parked, (it was just before dark) I walked back to retrieve the jeep, and all I could think of was the sign – “There are BEARS in this campground.”

Tripometer: 2564 miles (from Houston)

Monday, June 4, 2007

Today, the sun is just coming out, and we think it will be a better day. Lynn has the laundry hanging from the overhead bins, and Tom has pretty much figured out what things we can run at one time on 30-amp service – basically three things (like washing machine, coffee pot, and one heater).

The sun has just disappeared, and it is snowing (8 a.m.).

Later: It has snowed off and on all day. Big flakes! We drove to the rim, and found the Lodge, shrouded in clouds and snow. The clouds lifted for a few moments, we caught a glimpse of the lake, and I snapped a photo of Tom.

(NOTE: The motor home fan problem is temporarily solved, at least enough to get us here, and until more permanent repairs can be made. But the two days in the Caterpillar service parking lot left our rugs filthy – well, there’s another job for today…………that is, if it quits snowing.)

And…………….it never did quit snowing today. It looks like a winter wonderland (good grief, it’s JUNE!). People here say it is most unusual to get this much snow in June. It was fun to watch the big plops of icy snow fall off the roof of the MH……..In the afternoon, Tom moved us a few spaces over to the only site with 50-amp service. There are icicles hanging from the roof!

We are settled in, we register Wednesday, and start work Thursday.

June 2, 2007

We spent two days in Longmont, Colorado, working on the motor home, and visiting with Lynn's sister, niece, and nephew.

We stayed at the Fairgrounds, where preparations were being made for this weekend's dog show. Tom discovered our tow car hitch was broken. The good news is we didn't lose our jeep on the highway; the bad news is Tom had to buy and install a new hitch. Tom says that any given time, there are at least five things wrong on your motor home, and only two or three of them you know about.

People began to arrive at the fairground campground in motor homes, trailers, and 5th wheels........ and dogs. In one site nearby there were SIX Great Danes in as many pens, and they have all the amenities - rugs, canopies, regular walks, groomings. It must be like Noah's Ark when this couple travels. Other dog owners had fluffy Shelties, Schnauzers, Bull Dogs, etc. and all were being pampered and gussied up. Our last night there, around 11 p.m., something got the Great Danes riled, and it sounded like the hounds of the Baskervilles.

Goodbye family, goodbye prairie; we're heading for the hills.

The 100-mile stretch between Salt Lake City and the Nevada state line is all salt flats. It looks like a white lake spanned by the highway. People have "written" names, initials, and messages with rocks out in the white stuff. We stopped to walk out on the "lake," and sure enough, it's salt, and has the consistency of snow. Two girls made a "salt man."

Let's see, what can I say about driving 400 miles across northern Nevada.........it's long.............................boring..................................dusty.............that's about all.

Next posting will probably be after we're settled in, at Crater Lake, in two or three days. And I'll add lots more photos.

Tripometer: 2243 (at Reno, Nevada)