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After a lazy morning, we ended up at Crater Lake National Park at mid-day. When we turned into the Rim Village we gawked at the bluest water that we had ever seen. After we finished our leftover pizza for lunch, we headed down the walkway to the Sinnott Memorial Overlook. We were in time for a ranger talk on the history and geology of Crater Lake. It turns out that it should technically be called "Caldera Lake" since it is the result of a collapsed volcano!



The striking blue color of the water is the result of sunlight reflecting on some of the purest water in the world! There are no tributaries that flow into Crater Lake so all of the water is rainfall and snow-melt.



We drove the rim-drive stopping at many of the overlooks and snapped a ton of pictures. We especially enjoyed the views of Wizard Island.



We drove to the Oregon coast to camp for the night. After seafood for dinner, we slept well in the cool air.

The next day we drove the scenic Oregon coast and stopped at Sea Lion Caves. We enjoyed the guttural sounds from the creatures laying on the rocks below us. In the cave, we got a closer view of sea lions laying on a giant rock. It was entertaining watching the ones in the ocean trying to get out of the water.



We stopped to dip our toes in the Pacific Ocean on our way up the coast; it was invigorating.



Meandering up the coast, we ended up in Astoria on the north-western tip of Oregon for the evening. We'll be going to some Lewis and Clark historic sites in the morning.