This summer, me and my family decided to go to Oregon, on a 4-day road trip. We went to one of the deepest lakes, took selfies with cheetahs, and survived each other's company while being crammed into a car. This is our trip:
Planning, Packing, and Preparing
We found out about our trip on Sunday, August 7th. Amma and Nanna had planned our entire itinerary out, to the very last detail. We spent around 45 minutes learning every single detail of our trip, including where we would be staying, which were two Airbnb's which I will describe later. Over the next week, everybody packed nonstop, and planned what they should bring. Anuraag got binoculars, and we got card games. Everyone was excited. We had a few disagreements, but in the end, everything worked out.
Day One: The Car
Our first day of the trip was exciting, to most. I wasn't feeling well for the first few hours, so I didn't have much fun at the beginning. It was a long drive, almost 8 hours. We started at 8 in the morning, after fitting everything in the car. We took a scenic route and had pulihora for lunch. It was very beautiful outside, and soon, we stopped by Safeway take a short break. There we got cone ice creams and ate in the car (I had two). After that, Anuraag slept, (thankfully), and me, Amma, Nanna, Mamma, and Anarghya played Guess in 10: Cities, which is card game, that when one person gives clues, the others have to guess the city it corresponds to. We did that for an hour, and soon after, reach our first Airbnb house. It was a 1 story building, on a hill, surround by acres of ranch. The building itself was rustic and cozy but had a lot of spiders. We rested and enjoyed the house until dinner, which was aloo fry. After dinner we went outside and saw the most beautiful night sky with comets (or satellites, still up for debate).
Day Two: Crater Lake
The next day was super fun. We woke up early and freshened up. Then we had upma for breakfast. At around 9 or 10, we left the house, which we dubbed 'Julie Ranch', and headed to Crater Lake, an icon of Oregon. Crater Lake used to be a towering volcano named Mt. Mazama. But one day it erupted and blew its top off. Centuries of rainwater collected in the crater, thus Crater Lake. Crater Lake is also the deepest lake in the U.S. Once we arrived there, we went around the crater, and stopped at every viewpoint to take photos of the breathtaking view. There were even cute chipmunks there which Anuraag loved. Nanna wanted to see the lake from every angle for another reason. He was planning on coming back at night and taking photos of the Milky Way. A couple hours later, we went back to Julie Ranch. There we had lunch and rested for the midnight trip. On our way back to Crater Lake, we picked up some Subway's for dinner. sadly, me and Anarghya didn't get to see the Light Pollution 1 night sky (which is really really clear), but Amma said there was some sort of fog and that it wasn't that great anyway.
Day Three: Wildlife Safari
This was one of the best days ever. In the morning, we had to pack everything because it was our last day at Julie Ranch. After that we got in the car and headed back to Crater Lake so that we could take more photos (WHY?). That's when my glasses fell and Amma heroically jumped after them to save them from the chipmunks. The we drove for three hours to the next house, which was an amazing one story that looked like it came out of a magazine. We ate lunch here, fried rice, and then we went to the safari. The Wildlife Safari was only 5 minutes away, and we had a lot of fun there. We saw small, cute animals at the village, then we saw lions and cheetahs and elephants in the drive thru. There was an adorable, if not large, black bear, hidden lions, and magnificent elephants. Anuraag sat in the front seat. Then we went home and me Anarghya and Anuraag ate Maggi.
Day Four: Home Sweet Home
Even though it was the last day, we made some great memories. In the morning we went back to the safari, this time to take a selfie ... with a cheetah. Her name was Machuma, said as Machumba. She was energetic, and really cute. While we waited for the pictures, we went through the drive through again, but it was by 'smartly definitely not tricking ' the ticket person. Then we saw giraffes, which were amazing. Then we saw the bull/yak/bison thing that Anuraag screamed at, so it bellowed back. Then we quickly left before it came running after Mamma's red sari. We saw the lions and elephants again too. After the safari, we headed home. And after a lot of driving we stopped at Maruthi, in Portland, for dinner. Me and Anarghya played the number plate game, and we finally arrived home, and ate ice cream again. Everyone was really happy to be back because there is no place like home.
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