Next morning, took a few shots at the fairground. It’s the end of April so not much going on here and not many campers.
It was just yesterday that we were in a snow storm. 
The buildings aren’t very modern but the bathrooms were clean and pleasant. Heated too. And the showers were pretty nice. I didn’t use one, but I always check them. This campground opens on April 1st and stays open until Oct. 31st. I’d imagine it’s packed during fairs and holiday weekends. At $30 per night and no WiFi and no cable it’s not really a bargain though. It’s the Inter-Mountain Fair Grounds RV Park.
Soon it was time to leave. We weren’t in any hurry. Here’s an antique tractor next to the road out of the fairgrounds.
Pretty nice valley here.
We were disappointed that such a nice RV park at the fairgrounds doesn’t have WiFi. So no email checking or anything. I have my iPhone so at least I could check for any emails without to much trouble. But I didn’t do any web surfing. Much of the road through that giant valley looked like this. Old, not used much. Cows out wandering.
So off we head north on the road and soon I spy the sign for the Lava Beds National Monument turn off. I turn onto the road, get 8 miles down it and it has me turn off onto a narrow, paved but in poor condition, road. I can see a distance along it as it slopes downhill and it’s in poor condition. Potholes, broken up edges. I come up to and stop right next to a sign that screams, “Bad Road!” for 12 miles or something. Yikes! I’m not taking my new to me Winnie down that road. Wait until the shine wears off. Or until I have a toad So we backtrack to the main highway and head for Crooked River Ranch. 
This is the road to the lava beds. Before the turn off onto the bad road. I’ve included it to give you and idea of the topography. 
Here’s the road to the RV park. Eagles Nest. If I’d had a toad, this would have been convenient. Drop off the RV, head down to the ice caves.
After that disappointing side trip, back on the main highway for an hour or so.
Nice looking dirt right there.
We expected to cross the border into Oregon in just an hour or so, then on to Crooked River ranch to spend the night was the plan. Trip was to take maybe 5 hours. I had never been on this particular road before up to Klamath Falls so it was all new scenery for me. Dan went to OIT (Oregon Institute of Technology) for 3 years, years ago, so as we got closer to K-Falls he’d start recognizing areas and filling me in.
And here we are at K-Falls.
Outside of K-Falls and there’s Lake Klamath. Thing is yuge!
After passing through K-Falls, it was decision time. Turn west and go to Crater Lake? Or just continue north? We pulled off the road into a casino parking lot, started up the generator, and got online using the casinos free WiFi with my main computer. Look at that casino’s web site and it’s not really RV friendly. There were 3-4 RVs there with the slides out, but I didn’t see any actual RV sites anywhere, so no electrical. Pretty handy having the WiFi though. Did some quick checks while having lunch of the left over giant salad from the day before. Turned out the weather up there at the lake was cold. Snow on the ground. Weather warnings for later in the day because of a late arriving storm. OK, we won’t do Crater Lake this year. And a big disappointment for me because every freaking time I’ve passed by it’s bad weather. I’ll have to make it a summertime destination trip I guess.
Big ol’ mountain off in the distance.
And here’s Crooked River Ranch. Beautiful spot. That’s the ranch area and golf course. The RV park we’re headed for is off in the distance.
I dropped Dan off at the bar near the RV park and went over and found a parking spot. Of course the managers were both out. But I did what I thought was the best under the circumstances, even leaving a check in the drop box. Took some quick photos in the fading evening light. My camera kind of washed the pictures out though.
My camera put 9 PM on the pictures but I’m pretty sure it was 7 PM and I’d just forgotten to reset the camera clock.
It’s really a spectacular view, and kind of dangerous there on the cliff edge.
I’d really like to find a way down to that trail.
After we got back to the RV park, probably around 9, some lady spots me and wanders over, handing me her phone. The owner or manager was all aghast that I’d just parked and paid then wandered off instead of waiting for her sorry butt. If she knew how to run the park, she’d have put a notice up for which spots were available, and which were reserved and for which dates. Maybe using a erasable white board. I always did that when I was going to be away from the RV park I had managed for 3 seasons. After I told her we were only there for the night, and had paid already, she was happy again. Turned out that I’d paid double because I’d forgotten it was a Passport America half price park. Darnit.
Next time…traveling north, visit to an almost ghost town.
See ya then!