I don’t think this day could have been much better. The weather: perfect. The setting: sublime. Crater Lake is as peaceful and beautiful a place as I’ve seen. The advantage to visiting out-of-season: lack of crowds. The disadvantage: no boats were going to Wizard Island. Oh well, I’ll just have to visit again!

I had another Smalltimore moment, my second in two days. Considering how few people seemed to be in the area, I found this pretty remarkable. I pulled up at an overlook next to another car with Maryland tags, and said hi to the two young men who obviously went with that car since there was no one else in sight. Turns out that one of them used to live in Ellicott City, where my husband used to have a rehearsal space/recording studio.

As the day went on, I felt my throat getting scratchy and my nose started running, but I wasn’t going to let a cold get in my way. I popped some vitamin C, took some nice little hikes and watched the light fade over the lake as I had some dinner at the Lodge.

I woke up to a thick fog hanging over the seashore, so I headed back toward the nearby port town of Charleston, where I suspected I’d find some interesting scenes of fog over the docks as fishermen got ready for their day. My instinct was rewarded as a soupy sunshine started to break through the fog, and I’m sure that made the fishermen happier too — as much as photographers may love the moody presence of the fog, the fishermen hate it. As the sky continued to clear, I headed back to the botanical garden at Shore Acres State Park, which is beautiful. I can’t say I’ve ever had the experience of photographing in a botanical garden when I can hear the barking of sea lions in the near distance. I know I didn’t see as much of the surrounding coastal scenery as I would like to, but I’ll be back!

I ate lunch while looking out over the beautiful rocky beach landscape of Bandon, and then reluctantly, I started driving away from the coast on Route 42, heading toward Crater Lake. It was hard to say goodbye to the Oregon coast. There is so much there, not just for the photographer, but for everyone. Dramatic Pacific ocean views, rocky coastal areas, sandy beaches, lighthouses, tide pools, beachcombing, weathered and authentic (i.e., not touristy) fishing towns, good restaurants… there’s plenty to love.

But at the same time, I’m excited to visit Crater Lake too. I arrived at my first viewpoint at the edge of Crater Lake as the sun sank low enough to throw shadows of Wizard Island on the cliffs on the far side of the lake. I think my jaw actually dropped. This is not just any lake. It’s incredibly peaceful and striking.

I made my way to the Crater Lake Lodge, hoping to find a room for the next two nights because their campgrounds were closed, but this was the one time on this trip I came up completely unprepared. Apparently Crater Lake Lodge is booked months in advance, everything at Mazama Village (the only other lodging in the park) was closed, and there are very few towns less than an hour’s drive away.

The clerk at the lodge kindly called a hotel in the closest town, Fort Klamath, and I secured a room for the night at the Aspen Inn. I had already driven a long way that day, and another 45 minutes on the road was not happy news, but I made my way down the highway to the teeny tiny town of Fort Klamath. The Aspen Inn is a classic old-school motel, and I love places like that. What made it even better is that both of the people I met who work there, Sue and Heidi, are as nice and welcoming as can be. And in a Smalltimore moment, I found out that there was another guest at the hotel from the Baltimore area. Not only was she from Baltimore, she lived in Cockeysville, where I grew up. It really is a small, small world.

I continued exploring the coastal highway and beaches of Oregon, and especially loved photographing the Umpqua area sand dunes late in the afternoon as the setting sun formed shapes and shadows in the dunes. At North Bend, I veered away from the main highway which goes inland, and toward the Cape Arago area. I found a campsite at Sunset Bay State Park, and caught the last bit of setting sun at Cape Arago State Park.

Jamie took an early morning cab to Portland to catch his flight back to Baltimore, and so I found myself solo again. I was so happy to have had that break with Jamie! It was hard to see him leave, but I don’t think I could have done the rest of this trip without that chance to reconnect with him, spend time that was not consumed with finding photographs, and recharge my mental and emotional batteries.

I spent the morning taking care of automotive necessities — after putting nearly 6,000 miles on my car since leaving Maryland, it was beyond time for an oil change, and I also needed new tires. With a sigh of relief to have that done (those treads on the tires were looking rough!), I headed out in the afternoon, making my way south on 101, the Oregon Coast Highway. I visited the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, which was very cool, and the surrounding Yaquina Head area is fascinating as well. Unfortunately, I was on the coast at a time of low tides that were not very low at all, so I missed the good tide pools, but I did enjoy the unusual spot of Cobble Beach, which is composed not of sand but basalt cobble stones. The waves wash over the stones, making a unique rushing sound, and deposit fascinating bits of kelp and driftwood across the beach as well. In the town of Newport, I had lots of fun photographing fishing boats at the harbor, and I sat and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the sea lions barking and jockeying for position on the docks.

With a vow that we would visit again, we said goodbye to Portland, hooked up my little trailer to the Prius, and made the drive to Lincoln City, on the Oregon Coast. We had reservations for the next few nights at Salashan resort, where our friends Dennis and Claudia would meet us for some golf and relaxation. Well, Dennis and Jamie would play golf, while Claudia and I relaxed. We explored a bit of the Oregon coast but never got as far on our drives as we intended because we kept stopping at all the beaches and overlooks. The Oregon coast is rugged and beautiful and captivating. As I imagined, it’s similar to some of what I’ve seen in California along Big Sur and Monterey, but yet, it’s different. Oregon is just as relaxed and beautiful as California, but there’s a different vibe. It’s more down-to-earth somehow.

After a leisurely breakfast on Wednesday morning, Jamie and I spent the day visiting the Chinese Garden and Japanese Gardens, which are both amazing and inspiring (we not only admired them for their beauty and peacefulness, but also collected ideas for our own home and yard). The concierge at our hotel had made us a dinner reservation at Andina, which was fantastic! It’s easy to see why it’s such a popular restaurant — it was one of the best meals I’ve had in a very long time.

On Thursday, we left the city and headed into the nearby wine country. Jamie had decided to surprise me with something he knew I’ve been wanting to try — a helicopter flying lesson! It was awesome. The weather was not great — it was rainy and gray, but at least it wasn’t too windy. My instructor gave me the basic instructions, and took care of the taking off and landing, but otherwise, I flew the helicopter! It’s simple but not easy. It takes a while to get comfortable with the controls, which were very sensitive, so I had to keep a light touch. What a blast! I might have to do this again.

After that, we went to a tour and tasting at Quailhurst Vineyard Estate, a private winery that the concierge at the hotel had arranged for us. We had a great time sampling their offerings (pinot noir is the specialty of the region, and theirs did not disappoint in the least!), and talking with the owners, Marvin and Deborah Hausman, who are fascinating people who made us feel totally welcome.

After spending the previous day outside of the city, we decided to take Friday to just wander around Portland and get to know the city. We got lost in Powell’s Books, ate another delicious lunch from one of the city’s many lunch carts (can we please, please bring this idea to Baltimore?), shopped and walked around, and ended up grabbing a happy hour dinner at Jake’s Famous Crawfish. Jamie and I agreed that Portland is now one of our favorite cities in the US, right up there with New Orleans. It’s casual, arts-friendly, inexpensive, funky, and full of things to do and see.