#32 Diamond Lake, Crater Lake & Haystack Reservoir

It was now time to head south for Oregon & then Jedediah Smith SP in CA but we had many miles to cover and we were looking for an inexpensive (AKA cheap) place to spend the night. I looked at one of my camping apps which told of a free camping spot. Free camping is always good. So we hopped onto Hwy. 97 through Yakima and ended up for the night at the Toppenish Casino. I called ahead to make sure the app was correct (We didn’t want to be asked to leave at 2:00 in the morning like at the Walmart in Reno) and that we could stay overnight in the parking lot. They said that was true and gave us directions to check in with security upon our arrival. Well…..staying in the parking lot would have been just fine but it was close to 99 degrees all night so we had to run the A/C. We joined the casino membership club so we could get 2 smorgasbord dinners for 1. The price was okay but the food wasn’t very good. I think indigestion kept us awake more than the sound of the A/C. 

Next day we decided we wanted to see Crater Lake again but they were doing renovations in the park and camping was not available so we learned about Diamond Lake which had many campgrounds with hundreds of sites so we thought that since we were traveling mid week and that there were plenty of sites that there would be no problem arriving without a reservation. Sound familiar?? WELL we didn’t know about the Diamond Lake Festival. Who knew there was an annual square dancing festival at Diamond Lake? Actually hundreds of people knew so the campgrounds were pretty full. We finally found a lovely site and thanked the travel gods, again. Diamond Lake is a popular fishing lake and some fellow campers we met brought us fresh trout for dinner one evening. What a treat!! The other great thing about Diamond Lake is that it is only a 30 minute drive from Crater Lake. 

Crater Lake National Park is in the Cascade Mountains of southern Oregon. It’s known for its namesake Crater Lake. Native Americans witnessed its formation 7,700 years ago when a violent eruption triggered the collapse of Mount Mazama. Scientists marvel at its purity: fed by rain and snow. It’s the deepest lake in the USA (1148 ft.) and one of the most pristine on earth.

Diamond Lake

Crater Lake

Our next stop on our journey back to California was Haystack Reservoir near Redmond OR. The last time we were near Redmond was when were in Madras OR to witness the Great American Eclipse in 2017. Since we only have a few pictures of the reservoir we decided to throw in an eclipse pic.

#31 Heading West

So we left Spokane traveling west on Hwy. 2 which is a scenic route. We like to take the smaller highways to avoid the big ones which in this case saved us from I-80. We were trying to get more west as we had plans to meet up with friends in Fort Bragg which meant we had a lot of ground to cover. We found a campground online in Cashmere WA at the fairgrounds which has about 300 sites. We had no reservation but thought since we were traveling mid week and there were a friggin number of sites we wouldn’t have a problem getting a one. We didn’t know about the motorcycle clubs that were having a rally there. Nice people and we actually did get a site. 

We only stayed 2 nights but we really had only 1 day in Cashmere which is a pretty little town. Sorry no pics since we spent our time in a laundromat doing a mountain of, guess what, laundry! However on our way to Cashmere we had the joy of stopping at the Estes Fruit Stand. The hanging flowers were fabulous and the fruit was good too.  

#30 Spokane Sojourn

We left Wolf Springs Ranch heading northwest to Spokane for a visit with Sabrina's sister Ann-Scott and her husband, Bill. These two lovely people are both teachers at Gonzaga University in Spokane. They were preparing for a trip to the Galápagos Islands and Ecuador but  we were lucky enough to catch them just in time for a sweet but short visit. They took Cokie out for a walk in a bird-watchers paradise a short distance from their home. We'll just let Cokie's photos speak for the themselves. We love this sign on their lawn! 

OOPS forgot these enroute to Spokane pics.