Pacific Northwest Vacation - Day 8: Crater Lake

This morning we got our last look at the ocean before we would drive inland. We went out to the beach near our motel in Bandon (Oregon) and was able to see the rocks in the water that were hidden by fog the night before. The large rock is known as Table Rock due to it's flat top.

We saw a lot of great ocean scenery the past few days and the scenery here was nice, too.

We then drove four hours to Crater Lake National Park. After arriving at the park, we got lunch at the park restaurant before going out to see the lake.

And then we went to the rim of the lake.

Oh my! From first sight, we were in awe.

The water was the bluest of blue.

I had to ask people to take a photo of the three of us here.

Crater Lake was formed when the volcano Mount Mazama collapsed around 7,700 years ago and the caldera subsequently filled with rainwater and snow melt.

Wizard Island is itself a cinder cone so it is a volcano inside a volcano.

We drove the West Rim drive and saw the lake from a different angle. Every view was stunning.

It was definitely worth the trip to see this beautiful lake.

We then drove two hours to the town of Bend where we would spend the night.

We stayed at the only motel on this trip that had a swimming pool. Going in the water always helps Kai calm down.

But then it was time for dinner and he started to get agitated when it looked like we might have to wait a long time to be seated as Bend is a very popular town. Fortunately we found a great restaurant that had a table available on the sidewalk.

Kai enjoyed his flat iron steak while my wife loved her roast duck. I had blackened redfish which was also good.

We saw a lot of people walking around with ice cream so I looked up what ice cream places were in the area. It turns out that there was a highly-rated gelato place just around the corner so after dinner we walked there.

It was one of the best ice cream we've ever had. And that made Kai happy. And that made me happy.