Leg 2 - Eugene to San Jose via Crater Lake

Whew! Today was a long day! We left Eugene at about 9 am and headed out to Crater Lake. A friend had told us to go the scenic route through the lava beds and into the north entrance to the lake, but unfortunately due to a late spring, the north entrance was still closed. So we had to backtrack and enter the park thru the south entrance. For those who don't know, at a maximum depth of 1932 ft, the lake is the deepest in the US, the second deepest in the Western Hemisphere and the seventh deepest in the world. It was spectacular, and we were glad we took the extra 3 hours to go check it out.
By the time we left the park it was past 1pm and stopped at Pixie's diner for lunch. Raga swears that the egg salad sandwich he ate was the best ever! After lunch we headed on south to SFO via route 97 south which literally hugs the base of Mt.Shasta. Gorgeous views from the highway. Pic attached. By about 5.30pm we were desperate for a good cup of coffee. (I want to digress here - most of you know i worked at Starbucks the last 2 years. I have always wondered at the amazing success of Starbucks throughout the world and what a phenomenon it has become and could never quite figure out why people would pay close to $5 for a cup of coffee! I KNOW NOW WHY!!!! Ever since we packed up our high tech coffee machine - which brewed amazing coffee - in the container, we have been drinking instant coffee and it just doesn't cut it. Every day the caffeine craving hits us and only a Starbucks cup of coffee satifies that craving!!! I totally get it now! As long as i had my Starbucks discount card, i never used it, maybe once....but since i quit and lost my 30% discount perk, i've had a cup every day...crazy!)Anyway, we exited the freeway twice in search of one but no luck, then all of a sudden when we were back on the freeway we saw a sign for one ahead...yay! So we got our caffeine fix after all - the usual double tall caramel macchiato!
OK enough of digressing.....then we headed south to Los Altos where my cousin Vijay, lives. We got in around 10.30pm or so and were greeted vociferously by their golden, Cyber - the cutest dog ever! I thought Snoopy, the beagle we had, was the most chilled out dog, but Cyber takes the cake! The most gentle, good natured dog i've seen. We stayed up late chatting and since Gautam was also there, most of the discussions were political in nature. Crashed at 12.45am.....!!!