We are heading off this morning to Oregon Caves National Monument. The route takes us up 101 to Crescent City, where we were stuck last November for a few days when our kitchen faucet began leaking. Then we’ll cut northeast on Rt 199 into the lower end of the Klamath Mountains and then into Oregon. It should be very scenic. Route 199 even has its own website (although it seems to be down today).

We had considered going up 101 into Oregon along the coast, but decided against it for a few reasons. (1) The weather along the coast is going to stay cool (60s) and cloudy for a while. (2) We know from going south on 101 last November that there’s very little Sprint coverage along the coast and that means no Internet, for us. (3) The inland route along 199 brings us to stuff we haven’t seen before, and sets the stage for Crater Lake National Park, which has been on our “to-do” list for a while.

Pronunciation lesson: Being from the northeast US, we say “ORE-uh-gone” but the locals harass us for it. The local pronunciation is “ORE-ee-gun”. Everybody practice — we’ll be there for nearly a month.

I can see from the network coverage maps we won’t have Internet tonight. So this is all the blog entry I can do until we drive out tomorrow and cross I-5 around Grant’s Pass. Stand by. There should be some good pictures coming out of this overnight stop.