Philip Robert

Road trips are a lot like life. We decide to go on a journey, and we are faced with an unending string of decisions. My plan had been to stay in Ashland for the summer, and with the exception of a family reunion in Arkansas in June, and Burning Man in August all I was going to do was learn to kayak on the Rogue River.

After having several rooms and apartments slip through my fingers I came to the decision to make a long road trip from Oregon to Arkansas for the family reunion. Take 10 or 15 days to make the trip. Take the time to visit some cool places, meet some cool people. There’s no rush, just the thrill of the journey. So I had come to a fork in the road. It was time to travel.

When I left Ashland I had an idea that I would camp out at Crater Lake for a couple of nights. When I got to the intersection of Hwy 230 and 62 I had a choice. Go right to Crater Lake or continue straight ahead to Bend, Oregon. The weather wasn’t helping that much. The clouds were threatening snow, but I didn’t actually make the choice until after I took the picture. Pulling out I was intending to turn right and head to Crater Lake. Then I saw another sign that said that the North Gate to Crater Lake was closed.

It didn’t say why it was closed. It didn’t say that the park rangers just hadn’t gotten around to unlocking the gate. It didn’t say that the road was covered with snow, or had washed out. It just said that the north entrance was closed. In a split second I changed my mind and headed straight for Bend.

It would have been nice to see what Crater Lake looks like. I wanted some photos to show y’all. But if the weather was going to turn bad, I also wanted an exit strategy. So this time I bypassed Crater Lake. Did I miss out? There’s no telling what the adventure would have been had I made the turn. At a single moment in time my life had two futures branching out from one another. Now my future lies on the road to Bend.

Thoughts on life and the roads we travel brought to you by Philip Robert.