Welcome to Crater Lake, Oregon. Deep blue tones courtesy of Dr. Tobias Funke
After a harrowing hour-long drive through the woods, we finally make it...
...sort of. We THINK it's on the other side, but it's hard to see through a snow drift taller than your car.
Winter laughs in the face of this snobstacle (that's snow+obstacle, pronounced "snobe-stickle"). Literally speaking, she's actually pooping in its face, not laughing.
Polarizing filter
No polarizing filter
These pictures just don't do reality justice here. The right half of a completely circular rainbow came out, and a bright ray of sunlight shot through a gap in the clouds. We tried to capture it, but I guess we need a more expensive camera.
"What's that little house down there?" (the one through the steep slope of four-foot-deep snow)
Totally winded after about 20 feet...
Stuck.
Slightly better view of Wizard Island though
Somehow, it took me until now to realize how hard it would be to get back up. So, I decided to just stay there until the snow melted around May. See you in a few months...
Justkiddinglet'sgotoCalifornia!
Watch out for 1950s coppers! You'll never take us alive once we're across the border, see!
This tunnel more or less divides Oregon and California. Why take the time to mention this? Because the rumors about Pacific Northwest weather are true...
...this is what Oregon looked like...
...and ten seconds later this is what California looked like.
First time seeing redwoods, ever. All other trees subsequently rendered inferior.
Every day for a month, Winter progressively crept forward about a centimeter, until she ended up riding here (sidenote: why the hell isn't "creeped" the correct spelling)
So technically we were in Redwood National Park, but it's a little more complicated than that. Pretty much all of northern California has Redwoods. We want to see the biggest ones, but they're not really around here. Plus it's getting dark, and there are bears... SO LET'S WANDER THROUGH THE WOODS ANYWAY.
"Okay, I'm PRETTY sure they're in ONE of these circles..." "Great, but where are WE?" "..."
Giant blue ox sighting. Not exactly what we expected in Sasquatch territory, but we'll watch our backs anyway. We won't go messing with Sasquatch like those Jack Links beef jerky asses. SASQUATCH IS REAL!
Reality...
...reality after 12 hours of driving.
If you've ever played Myst or Riven, you know what this felt like.
Don't believe the lies -- cameras CAN take pictures at night.
Made it to Arcata, California. Known for being too liberal even for Dennis Kucinich.
You know you're in northern California when...
"The Godfather": Decent. Not as good as the name of the restaurant: "Live, From New York" Pizza.
Is that... froyo? Open at 9pm on a Sunday?!
Had to stave off criticism from a 45 year-old hippie for not going to the locally sourced creamery down the street, but finally got my froyo. I don't WANT ice cream, lady!
After today, things get really awesome. Like more awesome than normal. Then, a week later, things get pretty dark.
