Diamond Lake Resort - regular lodge room $89.89 This is a happening place. Lots of water sports going on. Make your reservations way early here. This is far cheaper than Crater Lake, but also is not Crater Lake, if you know what I mean. But if you are trying to keep somewhat to a budget, this is cheaper.

Jacinto tossed and turned and flopped around all night in our double bed. I think the AC was not set low enough for him. He didn't sleep, so I didn't sleep. Oren and I had discussed leaving even earlier with the heat wave. Finally at 4 AM I decided to get up, I wasn't sleeping anyway. I was very efficient in getting ready, if I was going to get up at 4 AM, it was going to count.

I went to the little house to get ice. It was locked! Heck - ice was so wonderful yesterday. It really made the ride nice. Darn, darn. I would get ice somewhere down the road.

You know - It's the pits to try and get ready in the dark and not disturb someone. I'm sure it's also the pits to be trying to sleep at 4 AM and have someone else rattling around. I'd get ready lots faster if I could see what I was doing!

I was sitting outside eating my oatmeal when Oren stuck his head out the door. I told him I was all ready except eating. He had just gotten up. That killed a few minutes chatting. Then as I was rolling out, I saw the gas station related to the motel was open. I asked the fellow if I could get ice. YES! I had to pour out the water, fill with ice. Put the Gatorade back in the bottle (which I still had), fill with ice. Etc. All of that took time. End of story is I only left ten minutes before six. Six was the original depart time. Ah, well.

It was a bit chilly and overcast. Zippo traffic at that hour. I remember the shoulder of Highway 97 being very dirty. It was extra clean today. Thank you, ODOT. The road was flat, flat. I was feeling my oats and went faster and faster. At least fast for me. The miles were ticking by. At this rate 68 miles would be done in no time.

I kept expecting to see Oren in my rear view mirror. Nope, no Oren. No Oren. Hmmm. It took so long for him to catch up to me I thought he'd had a flat tire or something. Finally he did catch up and I actually stayed with him. Amazing! We agreed to stop in Chemelt for a drink and to top off my ice. At that point we had 35 miles in. 10 more miles to the turn. Then the climb would start. The day was looking good. I wonder if Jacinto is even up yet?

I told Oren after our drink break, I probably would drop back. I couldn't keep that pace on a climb. But I did keep him in sight for a long time. That was gratifying.

After the turn, we had 1,000 feet of climbing in 12 miles. Pretty gradual. I was in my middle chain ring almost the entire way. I still had ice in my bottles and I had a chicken burrito to snack on. No sweet stuff again today. Yes!

But all good things get boring. Isn't that a silly statement? Even with as good of a day as I was having, I was ready to be done. Or at least done with the climb. Finally there I was . I had to cross the road for a pass photo, but I did cross the road. Who knows when I'd be here again. Sometimes in Colorado I don't even bother.

OK, I was ready for the downhill all the way to the resort. The top was mile 59, so 9 miles of downhill. That sounded reasonable. Except it wasn't really 9 miles of downhill. There was some up. I tried to tell myself it was good to have up because we would be retracing 8 of those miles again tomorrow heading towards Crater Lake. But I slowed way down and felt very sorry for myself knowing I'd have to ride it again in the morning.

Hmmm, north Diamond Lake or south Diamond Lake. I called. North. Of course, because that's 5 miles away. Wow. This is a busy place. Last time we were here we were the only people. The season is obviously in full swing. Plus it's the weekend.

I tried to register. I did actually, but couldn't get in the room because the people were still in it! A late check out. I asked about Oren and he wasn't here. How could that be? He was ahead of me. Turns out that he went right to the store. His room was ready to go. I'm still waiting on our room. There's wifi only in the lobby area. I'm sitting here typing this out all gritty and grimy and very ready for a shower.

The lake is totally wasted on us. We just want a room that's not too much money. It was a fraction of the cost here. Oren, the lucky ducky, is taking a shower and a nap. Jacinto has showed up and now our room is ready.

Later - I've had a shower and a nap also. :) No microwave or refrigerator. :( We ate at the cafe here. Very basic. Or maybe I ordered the wrong thing. I'm glad we're not here another night.

We had major discussion over dinner about the facilities at Ft. Klamath. It's basically a crossroads. We are at one motel. The other motel doesn't have wifi or TV, can't have a day off without those amenities. But that motel does have an organic deli and grocery. What exactly does that mean? And do we have a fridge and microwave at our motel? A couple of phone calls later it appears we will be organically nourished, even if we don't have much selection.

Alison's original route was Sunriver Resort ($$$), Crescent Lake, then layover at Crater Lake ($$$$). In the interest of budget, we did LaPine and will layover in Ft. Klamath. If you have the pocketbook, I'm sure Alison's schedule has far better accommodations and food.

Tomorrow we ride back that eight miles (grumble, grumble) and up to Crater Lake. It's only 3,xxx feet of elevation gain, not much compared to other days this trip. But I know the grade will be some steep, so I'll be in the bottom of the granny. It looks like we have one more day of luck on the weather. It's only a high of 78 with a 35% chance of rain in the afternoon.

Heart

0

Comment

0

Link

Log in to comment or reply

Heart

0

Comment

0

Link

Log in to comment or reply

Heart

0

Comment

0

Link

Log in to comment or reply