After leaving the surprisingly cold weather of San Francisco, we headed further north to the greener pastures of Oregon. An 11 hour journey was ahead of us, and we'd heard of sunnier times further up north, so we were quite enthusiastic to venture into Portland, our first main stop in the Pacific North West.
Before we got there though, after a lengthy six hours of driving we spent the night in Klamath Falls which was probably our first real experience of a smaller town that would more commonly be described as well, backcountry. The town had its small pockets of extremely humble and quiet housing, yet still contained all the large shopping chains and a fairly built up highway throughout, most likely as it seemed to be some sort of regional hub, and also because of its proximity to Crater lake, which we would visit the next day.
As we ignored the plagues of mosquitoes surrounding us at Crater Lake, we were able to take in what was a remarkable sight, and worth the hour and a half deviation off the usual trek between San Francisco and Portland. Covered in mosquito bites, we were back on the road and onto Portland. The city is a very clean city, with a distinct lack of 'tacky' Americanism. It could easily have been Melbourne or Perth. With less tourist attractions per se, we were able to relax and enjoy a bit more low key activities, including sampling many of the cities micro breweries. It was nice to enjoy a bit more of a slow paced stop after the hectic few weeks we'd had throughout California.
Driving to Portland
Crater Lake, Oregon
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