We left the hotel about 10:30 and decided to have breakfast at the Black Bear Diner on the way out of town. About 11:30 we were on the road again (with another piece of their coconut cream pie), looking for Route 20 to take us to Boise. 55mph is kinda slow when there is so little traffic on the road. Around 2pm or so Brenda saw a herd of something off to the left, so we turned around and headed back. They were a little spooked by us, but there were so many of them we were able to get the video camera out and record their journey up a little butte as they moved on. We drove another quarter mile or so and got a bit more video. Another half-hour or so down the road we saw a bald eagle dining at a deer carcass on the side of the road, and got some digital and 35mm shots of it. Once in Boise, we chose the Holiday Inn over the Holiday Inn Express with regrets. We did not have wireless access and no king beds available (gosh we are getting spoiled!). Had an Amazing dinner at the Cottonwood Grille in Boise – Brenda had the best trout we have eaten, and Harlan had a pretty good NY Strip with some great potato casserole. Brenda had a green salad with a great dressing, and Harlan had some really good venison chili. For dessert we shared a Crème Brule, which the chef has won awards for. Harlan did not lick the bowl, but was tempted…

In the morning Brenda went for a short walk around Fort Klamath while Harlan researched some items on the internet. We also spent time reorganizing the car. Didn’t leave the motel until 12:30pm. We drove to Crater Lake hoping to do some cross country skiing before we left, but the snow was wet and heavy from the rainfall earlier in the morning. Plus the lake was almost clouded over. Since the rainy cloudy weather was predicted for at least another week, we decided to head to Bend, Oregon. We arrived in Bend around 3:30 and drove around looking for a 3-star restaurant mentioned in the AAA guidebook, and when we finally found it we learned they had changed to a members-only golf club restaurant. After another false start we headed off to the Black Bear Diner (always great food at a nice price). After dinner Harlan went to visit some family friends (Kent and Beth) in Bend while Brenda decided to stay at the Holiday Inn Express and soak in the 4’ by 6’ whirlpool tub in our room. Great tub and the best room we have ever stayed in!!!

We drove to Crater Lake for a 1:00pm ranger guided snow shoe walk. It was a 1.25 hour walk around the park headquarters. They usually do the walk near the rim but couldn’t because the brakes in their ranger vehicle were not working properly and it’s a Bad Idea to drive around up there with no brakes. The park provided the snow shoes. It was very informative and we loved walking in the snow shoes. They are definitely better than cross country skis in powder snow, which is what was at Crater Lake. After the hike we watched a video on Crater Lake at the visitor center and went to the rim to view the lake. It was cloudy but the lake was visible and Harlan got some great pictures and a video. (The audio is another story, however! A car alarm was going off most of the time…) We then drove back to Fort Klamath and spent some time chatting with the owners and played frisbee with their dog. We also saw a bald eagle fly over us at the motel as we were heading out for a nice dinner at a Mexican restaurant (Vallarta?) on 97 about 10 miles from our motel. The rest of the evening was spent at the motel watching TV and doing internet stuff. We had a modem connection. Slow at times, but better than nothing. We learned the best time for us to go back to Crater Lake to enjoy better weather for cross country skiing, lodging at the lake and boat trips (particularly at Wizard Island) is in May before Memorial Day and Sept after Labor Day. The park ranger told us snow is there until July and the busiest season is Memorial Day thru Labor Day.

We left the caboose motel around noon, went into Dunsmuir for breakfast and then tried to find a geocache we located during our Sept 2003 trip up at Castle Crag. The road to the cache was closed due to snow so we headed into Mt. Shasta to repair a pebble ding in our car windshield. While it was being repaired we stopped off at the ‘HasBean’ for coffee, tea and internet access. We picked up the car and headed to Fort Klamath to the Aspen Inn, which is about half hour outside Crater Lake. It is a great place and was purchased about a year ago by a nice lesbian couple. They did some renovations and our room (#12) is very comfortable. There aren’t any restaurants within 10 miles so we stopped at a grocery in Klamath Falls for some canned food. So dinner was canned soup, granola, chips and nuts. Very romantic….

Ate breakfast in the car at the motel this morning and then headed to the Mt. Shasta Ski School. We were the only 2 who showed up for the 1:30pm group cross country ski lesson. Harlan was a pro and Brenda ‘french fried’ when she should have ‘pizzad’ many times and got individual attention most of the lesson. She fell down only once during the lesson and won a powerbar from the instructor. We then did some cross country skiing on the trails and Brenda only fell down twice on these trails. Gorgeous views of Mt. Shasta from the trails. We finished up about 4:30 and headed to food, food and more food at a recommended Thai restaurant in Dunsmuir called SengThong. They make the best (fresh) spring rolls anywhere. We inhaled appetizers, a main course and Harlan ordered 3 desserts (but we didn’t finish one of them – too sweet). We then went to the Caboose Motel in Dunsmuir. It is a motel park where the rooms are train cars that are located just below gorgeous views of Castle Crag. We stayed in the #1 caboose from the ‘Erie’ line. It was COLD when we got in and it took way too long to heat up. We were told by the ‘caboose keeper’ to keep the water running in the bathroom so the pipes don’t freeze. Plus the toilet didn’t work. Harlan identified the problem…broken chain in the tank. Since the plumber couldn’t get there until tomorrow, we were stuck with manually pulling the tank chain every time we had to flush. Plus they had a small hot water tank and we ran out of water trying to fill the ‘claw foot’ tub for baths. Guess this is how it was for people traveling on trains way back whenever!!!

Left Petaluma around 2:00pm after a wonderful lunch with Gail. Headed to Chico to visit Susan and Bruce (Harlan’s friends). We met them at 6:00pm and ate at the Black Crow in Chico. We also bought 2 sleeping bags at the Target in Chico. Left Chico at 9:00pm and headed to Redding. Stayed at the Holiday Inn Express.

We left Santa Clara at 5:45pm with a packed car!!! About 5 bags of food, clothes, water, cross country ski gear, laptop, cameras and back packs.

We headed to Petaluma to visit Gail and Joe (Harlan’s friends). We spent the night in their cottage in the back, which is where Gail has stuff from Maine. The mirror over the kitchen sink is mounted inside a porthole, and some of the nightstand lamps are made from brass fire nozzles. They got an internet music service thing (I forget the name) for a Christmas present – they can listen to tons of music on-demand, and they can also listen to “channels”. We’re gonna look in to this when we return.

Petaluma is such a quaint town! We had lunch with Gail before leaving at a little coffe shop and the food was very good – not too much salt or sugar in anything!

Joe mentioned a cross country ski marathon in February in Canada that covers 100 miles. He has done it 3 times and loves it. Ahhhh…maybe another trip.

Joe works at Athleta, and Brenda picked up a catalog on our way out. Neat stuff, and she plans to order stuff soon.

Welcome to the blog for Brenda and Harlan’s early 2005 trip.

If you have suggestions on places to stay, see, or visit, please let us know!

See our itinerary.

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