Walking on the moon

I just got back from a roadtrip to southern Oregon (with my visting parents) via a less direct and more scenic route over the Cascades and down through Bend to Crater Lake National Park. My GPS was broken (perfect timing) and I decided to invest in a $4 map and that is where all the fun begins. I am going to write to google maps and suggest they add "scenic /fun route" button to their map search page because there is such a degree of variance between the most direct route and one that is more enjoyable and scenic.
Watching the landscape shift so dramatically after crossing the cascades from lush forest to high desert is a visual that I won't soon forget. We stopped for coffee in Warm Springs and as I looked at the girl behind the counter, it hit me that I was on an Indian reservation drinking a coffee. She smiled - more than likely at my small revelation. I caught route 97 in Madras (kind of a sleepy town) and we headed south to Bend. The drive to Bend was very scenic with the unobstructed views of three sisters , mt bachelor and three-fingered Jack for severals of miles.
Just south of Bend is an area of some volcanic significance and I walked on some long hardened lava beds and explored the remnants of a dormant lava butte that afforded some spectactacular views of the cascades. The areas is covered in remnants of volcanic activity peculiar lava flows and formations for acres on end. I think we were on the "Trail of Molten Land" and it was certainly unlike any landscape I'd ever seen. I would describe it as something one might encounter while walking on the moon. How does the song go ?

Giant steps are what you take
Walking on the moon

Next stop Crater Lake.