The Great Darby Road Trip - Days 16 & 17

 Mike Darby, well-known British car restorer and SABCC'er is on the road his newly-restored 1959 MGA roadster with daughter Stella, undertaking the dream trip of a lifetime. The Darby duo will be traveling from their Alabama Gulf Coast home to Southern California, then up the Pacific Coast to Oregon and then back to the Heart of Dixie. 

Stella has kindly agreed to send along a daily report of their progress as well as observations of the people and places that make up our nation.  

 Yesterday the five of us visited Crater Lake – we couldn’t have had more perfect weather.  Crater Lake, one of the deepest in the world, was created nearly 8,000 years ago when a volcano erupted and then collapsed in on itself.   Brilliantly blue, it’s surrounded by high cliffs all around; each stopping place on the trails and roads around it shows a new spectacular view.  The contrasting colours of the snow, trees and lake had us reaching for our cameras over and over, even though photos just can’t do it justice.  Some snow cover lingers, but we were thrilled to have bright sunshine and no wind.  A perfect day to appreciate an incredible place!
 
On the way home we topped up our ‘natural beauty’ fix even more, walking along the Rogue River Gorge.  The Rogue winds back and forth through the local area, meaning we crossed it so many times yesterday we lost count.  The gorge was…well…gorgeous, of course!  (Sorry.)  Every minute enough water to fill an Olympic swimming pool passes through the waterfall, flanked by a canyon of lava rocks.  No one fancied their chances in a kayak.  But the walk was great!
 
Having stuffed ourselves at a good diner at lunchtime, we stuffed ourselves again with good Mexican food in the evening.  All in all, a fantastic day out.  We couldn’t ignore the news about Tropical Storm Andrea back on the Gulf Coast, signalling the beginning of hurricane season…fingers crossed for everyone in the zone this year.  

Today we stuck close to home – more laundry, sunbathing, porch-sitting and a quick shopping trip into town.  Mike put in plenty of work, though:  he finished the rear lighting repair, adjusted the valves, and topped up the gearbox and differential oil levels…as well as cleaning the dust off the car.  Tomorrow he’ll air up the tires and fill up the tank, ready for departure early next week.

In the meantime we’ll visit the Oregon coast before heading home.  Tonight Stella’s enjoying a birthday beer, looking forward to the birthday cake Joyce has baked and is about to frost…yum!  Surrounded by family, out in the country with curious deer and thick trees up to the porch railing, warm evening sun going down over mountains…seems a pretty good way to turn 29 (yes, for the first time, thankyouverymuch!  Haha).