Peaks and Valleys

For Curtis' birthday, we traveled to Crater Lake for the weekend to join my parents and my sister Amy and her family. Traveling with little ones is always an adventure. We literally and figuratively went through peaks and valleys during the three-day adventure.

On the way there, we stopped at the infamous Rice Hill ice cream drive-in. (It's a bit of a tradition that you must stop there anytime you head south on I-5 through Roseburg.) An hour later, as we were rounding the many curves to Crater Lake National Park, Mary began to feel carsick. Mary's pink peppermint ice cream reappeared as a fountain of sickness. I don't know about Mary, but I can tell you that I'll never be able to eat peppermint ice cream again.

Finally, we arrived at the lake around 6pm, to enjoy a gorgeous scene. We sat in the rocking chairs on the veranda, soaking up the view. And then we learned that the restaurant's next reservation was for 9:30pm. Curtis, ever the problem-solver, concluded that we would just order from the bar menu on the veranda. Except that the veranda was a quiet, serene place with rocking chairs and grown-ups sipping wine and gazing at the lake. And our children, cooped up in the car all day, were wound up like springs. So, we decided to head to our hotel room upstairs in the lodge and have the appetizers delivered there. As the server brought the giant tray of food into our room he said, "Hmm...so this is what the rooms look like." We said, "Haven't you been in them before?" To which he replied, "No, we really don't deliver food to the rooms. This is a first here in this hotel." Oops.

Saturday morning, we did a hike around the rim of the lake with the children. Thanks to careful (and quick!) grandparents, we managed to keep Lucy from going over the sheer cliff to the lake. In the afternoon, Grandma Buck babysat the girls so that we could climb Garfield Peak (a hike which had too many sheer drop-offs for little children who run as fast as Lucy and Mary). It was a gorgeous hike, led by Amy and Tom's daughter Becca who fearlessly forged the trail and reached the top ten minutes ahead of the rest of us.

Saturday night was one of those nights that makes us wonder if we'll wait until the girls are teenagers before we travel with them again. Lucy awoke at 11pm gasping and hyperventilating. After a few scary hours, we were able to calm her down and get her breathing back to normal. What followed was a restless night, with much tossing and turning. We weren't sure whether it was the elevation (the lodge is at 7,100 ft.) or the cold she was developing that night, or a combination of both. But it was truly frightening...and exhausting.

Sunday, we enjoyed a morning hike to Watchman Peak, with both kids safely strapped in carriers. Again, it was a beautiful, blue skied day to show off a glorious bluer-than-blue Crater Lake.

On the ride home, we drove through Bend and enjoyed lunch by the Deschutes River with the family. From there, we went to Gresham to pick up Greta, who spent the weekend with the Loebs since dogs are not allowed at Crater Lake. The Loebs reported that Greta was a good Catholic. "A good Catholic?" we asked. Afraid to leave her home alone in her nervous state, they brought her with them to church. Not in the parking lot. In the church. Apparently, she still has trouble making the sign of the cross, but she did sit through mass without making a peep, which is more than we can say for Lucy these days. "But, of course, we didn't take her up to receive communion," Jim joked. Thank heavens. St. Francis would have approved, but we aren't sure Fr. Charles felt the same.

All in all, a grand adventure and well worth the valleys to experience the peaks. That being said, next time, we pray for fewer valleys and more peaks.