Having rested in Burney we moved up to Klamath Falls which is near a lake but lacks waterfalls; not even rapids. It's a bit less Nowheresville than Burney, but not that much less. At least there were some 'food trucks' near by and a tap room with 27 different beers on tap. Apparently it is becoming quite the norm here to sell a ridiculous amount of beers with bizarre names. It no longer suffices to simply ask for an IPA and that's even before you get into the size of the glass, remembering, of course, that a pint here isn't a pint anyway and you have to name what you would like in fluid ounces.
We are now in Oregon and it seems that here, for once, prices of things are the prices that you pay. There are no taxes that squeeze in at the end to embarass you - just when you had got the 10$ bill out thinking that, just because that was the price indicated, that would be the price you would pay.
Klamath was our base for Crater Lake, both a lake and a National Park. It was quite a way from the Park but that way we got to see lots more trees; the forests can seem never ending. We also saw and heard a number of helicopters scooping sacks of water from the lakes to dowse forest fires.
Crater Lake is the most magnificent blue colour due, probably, to its depth at over 600m putting it in the top ten deepest of lakes globally. And it is in the crater of a volcano - with a cone of a small volcano in the lake too. We could not ride all the way round as part of the road on the Eastern edge had collapsed. But we managed a short hike up to an old fire look-out point. Fires here are not new.
We then headed up to Bend to meet Doug. We had met Doug in Ecuador. Our American and Canadian motorbike insurance was bought online whilst we were in Mexico and before we crossed the border into the USA. Whilst the Americans are satisfied with a digital copy of our insurance this does not seem to be the case with the Canadians. They insist on us carrying a paper copy. A paper copy that has been printed on special paper. So when we bought the insurance we had to give an address in the USA where the Canadian paperwork could be sent to. Thank you Doug. Bend is a lovely place. Doug bought us dinner that evening and we had a lovely time in a restaurant where you needed cutlery to eat the food. As we said, Bend is a very pleasant place. Thanks again Doug!
From Bend we headed to Portland. We passed by Smith Rock which is another American rock climbing mecca. And then Mount Hood became more and more visible as we approached it. And then the Columbia River. There always seems to be something to look at. Portland itself was just a short stopover and we had a quick walk down the river. The river and the bridges reminded us a bit of St Petersburg and London. And Istanbul. And Paris. In fact any city with a river and bridges. Careful, we must be becoming blasé...
