July 4th 2008 Long Weekend

Just a quick post about my long July 4th weekend.

We (my two sisters, their families, and my dad and I) went down to the Oregon Caves National Monument on Friday. This was my third time at the Caves; the other two were over 20 years ago (am I really that old? I guess so...). My dad did not go on the tour with us, as he's not as mobile as he used to be (but then again, neither am I); he hung out at the lodge. He did manage to find someone to play chess with; he beat them. After the caves, we headed over to Klamath Falls, where we lodged; it was a 2.5 hour trip from the Caves to K-falls (as it's known in "short-hand").

The next day, the original plan was for all of us to go to the Lava Beds National Monument, but my dad, one of my brothers-in-law, one of his sons, and myself decided to stay at the condos. So the rest of them went and had a good time. I've seen a lot of lava tubes and beds and such and my feet were killing me from the Caves, so that's why I stayed. I guess I'll have to make another trip down there, one of these days, 'cuz it does sound interesting.

Sunday, we all headed up to Crater Lake before we headed back home. It was a nice, sunny day. I took a few pics with my cell phone. This is the one I like the best:

Pic 1

Not too bad for a cell phone, eh?

Notice that the trees and the reflection of Wizard Island make a nearly complete heart-shaped frame of the water. I didn't even realize that until after the shot was taken.

Note that even though this pic was taken on July 6, there is still some snow on the ground.

Here are the other shots I took:

Pic 2 Pic 3

Pic 4 Pic 5

As you can see, three of the shots were taken in about the same place and I obviously didn't take too many pics. Still, if anyone wants a full-sized copy of any of them, let me know. Be sure to include an e-mail addy and which one(s).