roadtripping

So I thought it would be cool to go on a little vacation with babyH before I headed back to work and C said he had always wanted to go to Crater Lake. The question was - what was the best way to get there? Amtrak looked like a good option but then when I added in the cost of a sleeper coach and then having overnight trains both ways (wasn't sure if that was good or bad), it got ruled out quickly. I suggested flying to Klamath Falls since we had united miles but good thing we decided against that as well since it turned out we could use those miles to go to Hawaii later this year. So that left the car and we decided to do the driving over 2 days each way thinking 4 hours of driving would be manageable. A few weeks after I booked everything, babyH started hating the carseat unless she miraculously fell asleep right at the start. It became kind of hard to go out and do anything because I just couldn't stand the incessant crying coming from the backseat. Then I started doubting my decision to book a B&B near crater lake thinking of the poor other guests. So what did I do to address this? Go on a shopping spree of course. I bought a portable mobile for the carseat and other random toys in preparation.

We left on a wednesday at 4pm which was questionable since I think people usually recommend leaving at night so the baby would just sleep the entire way. But babyH had terrible 30 minute naps all that day so by the time we left, she was ready for a real nap and this real nap suddenly became a 3 hour nap! Awesome. We were off to a good start.

From the Redding area, we made a stop at castle crags state park which I had attempted to visit twice before (first time it rained, second time - the camping trip fell apart). We were trying to make all our driving segments coincide with nap times so the minute babyH woke up in the morning, I was hustling C out of bed in a hurry (he who never wakes up before 9 was probably thinking this was no vacation). The most popular hike at castle crags is to actually go up the crags trail to a spectacular viewpoint and then on to crags dome but I had to face the realization that this would take too long and be impossible with a baby. So we opted to drive up to a viewpoint in the park where we saw some equally stunning views of Mt shasta. BabyH was still being very good in the ergo so we also threw in a stroll on an easy level out and back trail (she likes to look at trees - yay!).

Crater lake the next day was centered around the boat tour. I don't know what I was thinking - I don't think I realized how long 2 hours on a boat would really feel with a baby and I thought the boat would be bigger. It was an open boat just with benches and no interior section so basically just sitting in the sun for 2 hours. Agh. Also we hiked a mile steeply down to the water which babyH was okay with but the minute we got to the bottom, the crying began... and continued... and I realized I forgot a pacifier. Lots of bouncing ensued but the crying continued. And then we had to stuff her into a lifejacket (which did make for some good pictures). I chose the bench seat in the very back next to the engine to help drown her out (then of course I worried that the horrendously loud engine would damage her hearing). It felt like the longest 2 hours ever. I don't even know what we saw. Only an hour in did it dawn on me to just nurse her to keep her quiet. Phew. But we survived and the hike back up to the top was uneventful since babyH did finally fall asleep for some parts of the tour.



Heading back home from crater lake, I opted to take a different longer route back (I know - crazy) to pass through Lava beds national monument which I had heard great things about. The big activity there is to go caving and I figured maybe there would be a cave we could just walk into real quick. At the ranger station, I asked which cave would be good for a baby and was surprised they didn't think Mushpot cave would be good because it had a "ladder". Hrm. We went to it anyways since it was right next to the ranger station and we had just spent 30 mins getting her ready and out of the car. The ladder they spoke of was just a staircase. Silly. It was totally fine. But we were in and out of there in 5 minutes just to get one picture since babyH wasn't quite happy with the whole situation. Along the way from lava beds back to Redding, we stopped by burney falls which was another state park we would never make the trip to visit but was highly rated in the area. Man, that place was packed! It is also a campground but completely overrun - it was crazy. At the least the falls were just a short hike because it was not a good travel day for the baby this day.



So all in all, I would declare the vacation successful. And on the plus side, ever since that trip, she's stopped crying while sitting in her carseat when I have to go out. That alone is worth it.