Crater Lake to Fossil

Left the Mazama Campground around 9:00. Took one last look at Crater Lake before heading towards Bend. While Dave admired the lake I had to walk over to take a picture of the fire sign.
Apparently you are only supposed to report unnatural fires. I really wanted to grab a piece of rock for a souvenier. But we were in a National Park right next to the road so I behaved.

We left Crater Lake Lake behind and headed towards Bend. It was a nice, peaceful drive until we missed the exit for the place we'd planned on camping at. Rather than backtrack we decided to head on down the road. Darned if we couldn't find anywhere we wanted to camp. Just kept on driving. We did stop at the John Day Painted Hills Unit. It was amazing. Unlike anything I've ever seen.

Then we continued on to Fossil. There were some steering wheel clinching moments (sharp dropoffs beside the road).Finally, we made it down and pulled over at the above fishing area to relax for a few minutes.

A few miles later we arrived at Fossil. This is the part of the trip I had been really excited about. Well, Fossil and the Oregon Caves. OK - Fossil, The Oregon Caves, and Crater Lake. Anyway, we tried to stay at an RV park/motel in town but it was closed. So we ended up camping at the Wheeler County Fairgrounds in Fossil. Only $18.00 a night including water, power, cable, and interesting neighbors (one has an old recliner outside his trailer). Anyway, it was a quiet, air-conditioned, night. Exactly what we needed after our long travel day. I couldn't wait to get up in the morning and dig for fossils.