Crater Lake and Redwoods Camping

 

Crater Lake- we nearly cancelled this portion of the trip because we were worried the wildfire smoke was going to be so bad we wouldn't be able to see much, luckily for us the wind changed right at the last minute and we ended up with clear skies! The blue is indescribable. So deep and so intense! We braved the hike down to jump in the water and the kids all earned a dollar for plunging into the frigid deep.

Redwoods- We spent lots of time prepping for filming the camping movie- this years additions were the drone and also interviews. We took Ranger along with us which I was very hesitant about at first but it didn't end up being nearly as problematic as I'd imagined. He was living his best life and got so many compliments. The trip turned out differently than previous years because an avalanche had closed the main highway we use to drive south. Many activities got scrapped and instead we spent tons of extra time at the river. Last November when Winston got a guitar for his birthday he set a goal to be able to play Cotton Blossom around the campfire with Rich. He worked so hard for months and it made me so proud to see his goal realized! The river was really low from the drought so instead of the usual rafts we decided to kayack down it. As Evan and I came over a rapid I got pulled into the brush and my paddle hooked on a tree branch. I was screaming and screaming and couldn't get it out- finally my boat flipped from filling up with water and got swept down the river without me while I went down the rest of the rapids on my butt. Luckily Evan was up ahead and caught my boat- and got a good laugh at the whole event! We threw an Italian Dinner party on our night to cook and then Evan started a congo line dance party that travelled around the whole campground.