Post-Symposium Vacation in Oregon, Part 1
Jul. 16th, 2007 11:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariJuly 11, 2007
Yesterday was a lazy day in Eugene. I was exhausted from the symposium's late nights and hectic days, and it was in the 90s - too hot to spend much time outdoors. We tooled around downtown looking in shops and checking out the small farmer's market, at which I bought two pairs of earrings. I also spent a lot of time sleeping in the air-conditioned hotel room. Unfortunately, my fatigue prevented us from getting together with Simon and Nancy.
Today we left Eugene and drove to Crater Lake. The trip itself was lovely, through mountains and pine forests. The pine-covered hills and ridges created a "wall of trees" effect on the horizon. When we opened the car windows, we could smell the piney scent of the needles. As we got closer to the park, we could see craggy mountain peaks in the distance, some with plenty of snow on them.
Crater Lake is amazing. Somehow, all my life, I'd thought it was closer to sea level, formed by an ancient meteor strike. I didn't quite realize that it is actually a volcanic crater caused by the violent eruption of Mt. Mazama thousands of years ago and thus is at a very high elevation. In a single 24 hour period, we experienced both sweating in extreme heat and walking on snow.
Crater Lake is absolutely beautiful, and not like anything else I've ever seen. The water is very deep and very dark blue in color, There's a conical island called Wizard's Island on one side of the lake, and a rock formation called the Phantom Ship jutting out of the water on the other side. Unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of time, so we didn't get around to the Phantom Ship side. We could see it faintly in the distance, though, which really enhanced the resemblance to a phantom ship. We didn't have time to hike the trail down to the shore, either. We did take a short hike to a lookout point, and enjoyed views from a section of the rim drive, too. I hope that we get to go back someday for a fuller exploration.
After Crater Lake, we made the long drive up to Portland. We stopped in Salem for dinner and ended up going to a fancy restaurant called Bentley's Grill. The food was great - steak for Matthew and salmon for me. After two weeks of cafeteria dining, I am really enjoying eating in places with table service.
We got into Portland around nine, so we haven't done anything except check into our hotel and relax. We're staying near the airport, so I haven't seen anything of the city yet.
Yesterday was a lazy day in Eugene. I was exhausted from the symposium's late nights and hectic days, and it was in the 90s - too hot to spend much time outdoors. We tooled around downtown looking in shops and checking out the small farmer's market, at which I bought two pairs of earrings. I also spent a lot of time sleeping in the air-conditioned hotel room. Unfortunately, my fatigue prevented us from getting together with Simon and Nancy.
Today we left Eugene and drove to Crater Lake. The trip itself was lovely, through mountains and pine forests. The pine-covered hills and ridges created a "wall of trees" effect on the horizon. When we opened the car windows, we could smell the piney scent of the needles. As we got closer to the park, we could see craggy mountain peaks in the distance, some with plenty of snow on them.
Crater Lake is amazing. Somehow, all my life, I'd thought it was closer to sea level, formed by an ancient meteor strike. I didn't quite realize that it is actually a volcanic crater caused by the violent eruption of Mt. Mazama thousands of years ago and thus is at a very high elevation. In a single 24 hour period, we experienced both sweating in extreme heat and walking on snow.
Crater Lake is absolutely beautiful, and not like anything else I've ever seen. The water is very deep and very dark blue in color, There's a conical island called Wizard's Island on one side of the lake, and a rock formation called the Phantom Ship jutting out of the water on the other side. Unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of time, so we didn't get around to the Phantom Ship side. We could see it faintly in the distance, though, which really enhanced the resemblance to a phantom ship. We didn't have time to hike the trail down to the shore, either. We did take a short hike to a lookout point, and enjoyed views from a section of the rim drive, too. I hope that we get to go back someday for a fuller exploration.
After Crater Lake, we made the long drive up to Portland. We stopped in Salem for dinner and ended up going to a fancy restaurant called Bentley's Grill. The food was great - steak for Matthew and salmon for me. After two weeks of cafeteria dining, I am really enjoying eating in places with table service.
We got into Portland around nine, so we haven't done anything except check into our hotel and relax. We're staying near the airport, so I haven't seen anything of the city yet.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-07-18 03:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-07-18 03:10 am (UTC)