Crater Lake and An Adventure in Finding Gasoline

Michael really wanted to see Crater Lake.

I didn't know anything about it before the trip, but he knew, and he wanted to go there.

So we planned a venture into the snowy wilderness.

The gas gauge was reading a little low, but not too low, so we went on out of town assuming that there would surely be gas on the way...

Not so much.

By the time we got into the heart of the park we were well below empty.  There were signs for gas stations near the visitor's center but everything was "closed for the season". 

We tried not to panic.

We were at the top of a mountain.  We figured we could just coast down in neutral.

But which way to go?

We knew that the way we came had no gasoline for miles.

How about the other way?

We figured it was worth a shot.

GPS wasn't working, so we couldn't consult it.

Just a guess.

We coasted down the hill.

No gas station.

Nothing.

Two houses.

We started the car again - we didn't know how much gas we had left in reality, just that the needle was far below the "E".  We drove thirty seconds and then Michael pulled over.

He'd seen something.

Gas tanks in front of a house.

Did we dare ask for help?

Did we dare ask for some of their gasoline?

Michael did.

He went and knocked on the door, explained the situation.

An elderly gentleman exited onto the porch.  He told Michael that all the gas stations within twenty miles had closed, he got gas delivered to his house because of it.  He would give us some.  $30 for a fill-up.

He was a little grouchy about it.

I didn't blame him.

Why should he help us at all?

Then he saw the kids in the backseat and his frown quite literally turned upside down.

He loved kids.

He chatted then about life and times in the area and about their gas situation.  He asked about our life, our kids, our journey.

We were so thankful.

We waved and he sent us on our way, back up the mountain.

"Have fun!" he shouted.

So now we could be there, and we could enjoy ourselves.

There was a lot of snow.

Did I mention that?

Of course the kids opted to wear flip-flops.

"I didn't know it would be this cold!"

We all laughed.

Maeryn threw some snowballs. 

Jonah, Maeryn, and I looked at the lake as quickly as humanly possible and then raced back to the car.

Michael decided to go back and take it in a bit longer.

It was windy!  And cold!  And... snow!

Michael got some gorgeous shots:

And with a full tank of gas, we headed back down the mountain.

Welcome to Oregon.