508 miles, 9.5 hours.

I think it was wise that I stayed in a motel last night. I woke up, had some banana bread that Mom made for me, then got on the road.

My first stop was at the Lava Beds National Monument. The road to the lava beds is paved but very rough- in other words, perfect on the DL650. I enjoyed the ride through the monument, even though I didn't stop and walk into the caves or anything. Perhaps another time- I need to do a couple of California trips anyhow.

My next stop was the Tule Lake War Relocation Center. It's one of the Japanese-American internment camps from World War II, and later in the war it was used to house Italian POWs. Unlike Heart Mountain in Wyoming, Tule Lake is completely closed to the public. There are a few preserved/restored buildings available, but they are only visible from the road.

My main destination of the day was Crater Lake. I've never been there before, and I at least wanted to tour around it. There was a fire somewhere near the park, which meant heavy smoke and some small detours on the access road, but once I was in the park itself the fire wasn't a problem- the park is high enough to be above the smoke.

The altitude meant it was cold around the lake. I kept my heated vest turned up. The views of the lake are fantastic- I can't believe how blue the lake appears. I rode all the way around the lake, then rode outside of the park and rode almost all the way around the park again.

One nearby place I really wanted to see was Diamond Lake. It's fairly famous for being infested with a non-native species in the 50s, then poisoned with Rotenone, which successfully killed the non-native species. It happened again in the 90s and the lake was poisoned with Rotenone again in 2006. I was surprised there weren't any real signs of this near the lake.

The rest of the transit home was fine- traffic in and near Eugene, then a boring slab north on I-5. I've spent so little time on the freeway over the past few weeks that I forget what it's like to be near major cities!

My chain was getting loose and rattly, so I had to make some major adjustments on the way home. Obviously the O-rings are toast, so the rollers on the chain are rattling. It's fairly disconcerting.

It was very nice to be home after two months on the road. It was especially nice to see Tamara and our little Suebug. Now I have a lot of work to do- both to get the bike tuned back up, and to catch up on life and school. Overall, it was a great trip.