Raw Simplicity (John Day, 2015)

What the doctor ordered…

Raw simplicity—that’s what extended camping gives back…a chance to wonder at all that I’m grateful for – a loving fun, and easy-going marriage, great friends, amazing family, wonderful grand kids—a great time with son Randall and his family recently when they came to Oregon – and a chance to soften the blows of harsher times – like the sorrow of losing my Dad or the surrounding family intensities, and then the agony of untimely deaths of spouses in the lives of a dear friend and now also my sister.

When I get out in the wilderness—albeit in “spoiled” trailer camping style—I revel in the realization that only everything basic truly matters—eating, sleeping, loving, breathing, appreciating nature and true beauty—and nothing that I convinced myself as mattering—what people think of me, what I have “accomplished”—actually does.  Chris and I marvel at how our “world” of the trailer (our home) gets “transported” to other places so that, much like the holodeck on the Star Trek Enterprise, we have the same home wherever we go, but we open the door onto whole new worlds.

This year, Chris drew 2 tags in the John Day area—one of our favorite places to be—and it gave us an opportunity/excuse to disconnect for what turned out to be 4 weeks—longer than we had before. And although not a hunter myself, I’ve come to appreciate his brand of hunting, with the emphasis on respect, knowledge, and a love of being in touch with the surrounding wilderness.  He doesn’t like the kill but appreciates the gifts.  This activity that used to bring about an eye-roll has now commanded my respect.  I’ve learned a lot of life lessons from those unusual settings, including from a philosophical sniper…yes, you read that correctly.


Thursday, 9/24/15
We took off at about 8:30 (we being Chris, me, and Shoppie our campin’ cat), had lunch at Marion
Forks along the creek, then into the Clyde Holliday campsite by about 4:00.  Nice weather…we took a walk on the trail by the river while Shoppie scoped out the grounds from her window (“Kitty Television”).

Friday & Saturday, 9/25/15-9/26/15
Scouting Days--I love scouting days, especially when the weather’s perfect!  We get to drive, listen to audio tapes, stop and take walks, and of course look for wildlife and possible campsites.  We had some exciting spots—a nice 4-point on the East Northside area, then 2 big huge bucks on the West side which was thrilling—tried to film them but got too excited before getting them.  Found a perfect camp spot nearby—no people, no potential neighbors, great country for walking, scouting, hunting, AND right next to a perfect clear spring water source—wow!





Scouting day evenings involved cleaning up (showering), having supper, and crashing…this becomes kind of a common theme.





Sunday, 9/27/15
We decided to drive and film the John Day fossil beds today, thinking we would move to our chosen
campsite on Monday.  We had some fun hikes and got some good footage, and then Chris was anxious to get to the campsite before anyone else took it.  So we gassed up, hit the grocery store and left the full hook-ups of Clyde Holliday to head to our new wilderness (dry-camping) “home”!

Monday-Friday, 9/28/15-10/2/15 - Scouting
The week was filled up by scouting activities—lots of driving (occasionally on hideous roads), and lots of walking/hiking.  A few times I rose early with Chris but often he took off and I ended up sleeping in until about 7:00 then walking in our “back yard”—surrounded by beauty and migrating cranes—then reading back at camp, and feeding chipmunks to entertain Shoppie.

We’d meet up throughout the day and make various plans on where we’d go next.  Chris figures he walked an average of 10 miles per day most of the 3 weeks, much of it hiking the ridges around camp.  He loves this part of hunting trips—getting out in the woods and being surprised by the unexpected.  I do too, but prefer less bush-whacking when I hike than he enjoys.

At one point, we walked together along our road a couple of miles, then Chris went down to walk along the creek back to camp and I came back on the road with our camera to see what I could see and to film anything interesting.  By the end of my walk (almost back to camp), I was lulled into a relaxing walk outdoors, nothing more…hadn’t seen much but did get some good footage of a woodpecker.  All of a sudden, I heard something up the hill to my right (the creek Chris was walking was to my left), and looked up in time to see a huge buck start downhill, and then ANOTHER huge buck followed behind him.  I was excited and it took me a few precious seconds to fumble around with the camera.  They got down to the road about 50 feet in front of me and stopped, looking back at me—photo opportunity supreme!!!  I carefully zoomed in and was talking to Chris on camera—“Boy, I hope you’re going to see these guys pass in front of you, Honey…but at least I’m getting them on film!”  When the bucks continued on to the creek, I stopped the camera…or actually STARTED the camera…I did not have the flipping thing ON---AGHGHGHGHGH!!!!

Other highlights of the week:

• The cranes, the cranes, the cranes!!  Loved the blue-blue sky and the beautiful cranes flying and making their cooing noise above us.  They were with us the entire 3+ weeks we were at this place.  Just amazing!
  
• Chris found a bear paw and not much else in the remains of a small bear that SOME critter had eaten (either a bigger bear, or a cougar he figured)…made us a little wary for a while, looking over our shoulders for that “other” guy!!
  
• Watched and filmed a Great Gray Owl only 20 feet from us.
  
  
  
  
• Caught a coyote in the act of terrorizing cows.
  
• Talked a while with a rancher who was looking for some of their missing cattle; later the horses came through our camp to scout the road behind us and Shoppie let us know how impressed she was by those animals (flew under the covers and scuffled a big wad of bedding above her).
  
• Saw quite a few bucks from the car, but still nothing for the most part on-foot.
  

Saturday-Wednesday, 10/3/15-10/14/15 - The HuntThe hunt days mostly involved Chris rising early/at dark, and trying new strategies each day to find the bucks.  I stayed, slept in with Shoppie, and then did my own walking/hiking—with bright orange on!—followed by reading (sometimes at a secluded spot by the creek)/writing/chore-doing back at camp (which of course included being entertained by Shoppie)—enjoyed the sounds, the smells, the air.  We’d meet up and often do “drive-abouts” or various “walk-abouts” to see if we could spot some better places for Chris to try either on his evening prowl or the following day.

Other highlights:

• Met a pretty cool couple of characters up the hill from us.  Art’s a retired military sniper with a Native American mother who taught him a spiritual way of appreciating the hunt and honoring the animals.  He had a lot of interesting things to talk about, but his lifetime buddy, Herb, kind of cringed whenever Art started because he had a hard time stopping.  Herb was in the habit of carrying a book with him everywhere (including Chris’ book which he had given them) and read novels while Art expounded.
  
• Chris hanging his “Asshole!  Put Trash Here!” sign next to the water source where thoughtless ones had trashed their candy wrappers.  It’s a sore subject with him—litter bugs.  I was agreeing with the sentiment but questioning the wisdom of calling gun-toting folks assholes in the middle of the wilderness.  Ahhh, testosterone!  Someone later wrote in “AMEN!” underneath Chris’ note.  He also stopped next to some ATVers who had been powering down cans of beer while they drove about and asked if they had been the ones trashing their cans by the side of the road.  You could tell they were the ones, even though they answered “No”, by the way they blushed and looked so wide-eyed but someone did pick up the stuff later.  Cool.
  
• Chris missed a buck (a 4-point he’s pretty sure) because he had taken the cartridge out of his rifle and had to spend time getting it reloaded.  He was kicking himself for that one (“Well, if I’m not successful, I’ve only myself to blame—I had my chance!”).
  
• Chris had another chance with a buck later in the hunt but it was behind brush and his shot did not connect.  He decided it was almost laughable now—he had plenty of chances and was impressed by the simple fact that he HAD another chance.
  
• “Pity Parties” back at camp included fixing/eating amazing meals (as always, we enjoyed these a little bit too much—the scales ratted us out when we returned home), playing Scrabble, napping while listening to audio books, watching movies (Blue Bloods, Bonanza) as well as keeping up with Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune via satellite daily…rough life!
  
• Hilarious “successful hunts” to find lost glasses and gloves—one time Chris had gotten up out of his chair up on a hilltop and his glasses had fallen out of his lap (he had fun hunting/locating those) and then he located his gloves in the middle of the road where he had gotten out of the truck to investigate something.
  
• Beautiful back road hike looking for Art who had downed a 4-point in a remote canyon.
  
• Trips to town to do laundry, check phone messages, call my mom, gas up, dump garbage, and catch up on email at the library.

Buck Spot Tally:  12 big bucks, 3-pt or better (including 2 that we almost hit with our truck on the way out to go home!); 2 forked horns; 1 spike

Thursday-Saturday, 10/15/15-10/17/15
We spent the following days relaxing around camp, driving around to see if the deer would show up
again, and scouting any elk for Chris’ 2nd tag (he hadn’t seen much sign of them in the area yet).  We still had beautiful weather and enjoyed our drives and walks; the other camps had left, so we had the entire place to ourselves and that was neat.  We played Scrabble, watched movies, made brownies, ate brownies…roughin’ it…

Sunday, 10/18/15
Chris decided that there weren’t enough elk sign to make it worth staying for that tag, and we were ready to move on.  Got back to Clyde Holliday in the early afternoon and set up in time for a nap.
 
Monday, 10/19/15
After a nice restful night, we got cleaned up and dumped the tanks before leaving Clyde Holliday and John Day.

Drove into Prineville where we made use of their ladder/plank stall to wash the truck and trailer. Grabbed some burgers for lunch and picked up some salad kits and eggs at the Sisters grocery store, then got to Detroit Lake by about 2:00 (passes were uneventful so the driving wasn’t hard and Chris and I listened to audio books while Shoppie slept in her box between us).

Got set up at Detroit Lake State Park, complete with satellite.

Tuesday-Thursday, 10/20/15-10/22/15
Chris decided he might need his fishing pole, so we disconnected the truck and headed into Salem to pick that up.  Shopped and headed back to camp at Detroit Lake.

We took some eerie walks through what is now the dried up lake bottom of Detroit Lake—Chris has never seen it this low before (dry, dry, dry year here in the northwest)!  It was muddy and no fish to be found (they were jumping, but not biting).

Wound up watching Major League Baseball play-off games, eating popcorn, taking walks—and having the campsite pretty much to ourselves (nice!).

And in that way, we eased ourselves back into society, the real world, with its real stuff.  It was nice to disconnect for a while, which is how we ultimately measure our success (not by “tags”).

It is important to reconnect though…and so here we are, back home!
 

When Life Gives You Excuses To Visit Places - 2015

(Nevada-Utah-Wyoming-Montana-Idaho-Washington-Oregon Circuit)

More Family Finds Chris…

At 68-years-old, Chris ended up with a good excuse to visit the state of Utah and explore surrounding states more.  He wanted to meet a sister he never knew he had until about 6 months ago.  Through some history searches done by his Arizona sister Dallas on Ancestry.com, the connection blossomed into email correspondences between Chris and his “new sister” Cheryl, and finally, this face-to-face opportunity.   An amazing and awesome journey, all the way around!

 Monday, 5/25/15

Lots of prep-work and then we’re off—1^st night at Chicahominy Lake in Oregon (not much of a lake right now).  We chose to leave on the last day of a 3-day weekend, figuring we’d miss some traffic leaving town, and that turned out to be the case.  Traffic was horrible coming back against us—we felt kind of like salmon trying to swim upstream!—and were glad we were going the other way!  Set up, dinner, listened to our audio book and…zzzzzzz

Shoppie the Pointer Cat...

Tuesday, 5/26/15             

We were woken up in the middle of the night by a crashing/thumping raucous and discovered Shoppie after a mouse that had gotten on board.  We were amazed by the show but she’s not much of a “closer” with this particular skill.  We’ve decided that being her spoiled self, she just doesn’t want to “put those nasty things” in her mouth, so she chases them down, corners them, then points (“There it is, Dad!”) at which time, Chris and Shoppie double-team to “complete the mission” shall we say!

After the excitement, we managed to sleep a little more, then got up and continued to drive on—through Winnemucca, Nevada—to Elko and South Fork Reservoir surrounded by the Ruby Mountains.  A nice 2^nd night to camp and we took some time to stroll along the shore side before having dinner and getting to bed.

Of Mice and Man/Woman/Cat…

More fun with a mouse tonight…and thunder/lightning/wind storms---whew!  Not much sleeping!  Chris wants Shoppie to learn how to actually catch mice, but I’m not so sure that’s in her future.  She’s more of a sport-mouser.  At any rate, no catching by any of us that night, but we somehow managed to run the thing off (Chris thinks maybe Shoppie jumping off the bed with all 14 pounds of her not-so-petite-self probably scared the heck out of the critter (like Godzilla was after him) and perhaps that was enough of a message.  Good work, Shoppie)!

Wednesday, 5/27/15

Our goal today was to find anything camp-worthy between Elko and Salt Lake City.  We were awed and amazed by all of the salt flats but were equally amazed by the lack of services at most exits and camp spots anywhere.  We ended up driving on into SLC pretty late and looking for something other than town-camping places that would be close to Kaysville, where his sister lives.  Looking for a place around a city pulling a trailer is its own scary kind of adventure, and things got pretty hairy for us.  We finally gave up the good fight and rolled into Cherry Hill Park (a.k.a. “Disneyland”—complete with water slides and noisy amusements)—so UN-like what we usually go for on our trips, but we were glad to find anything at this point, as late as it was.  And as it turned out, this spot was absolutely perfect for our visiting goals, and the noise was at a minimum since it was still early in the season.  It actually turned out to be a comfortable and pleasant place to stay.

We got set up just in time for another rip-roaring thunderstorm which was fine with us since we were snug and warm in our trailer.  Pretty tired after our long day and we didn’t last long after getting something to eat—sleeping well with the Mother Nature show outside.

Thursday, 5/28/15

Still some occasional thunder storming outside but we slept like babies (no mice excitement—whew!) and began the day.  We had noticed where Bountiful was on the way to Kaysville and decided to go ahead and visit Chris’ niece Liz and her family there today instead of Sunday “on our way out of town” as originally planned (Bountiful turned out to be in the opposite direction of where we wanted to head out after the family events this weekend).  We realized how unreasonable that would have been as we drove from one place to the other and were glad that Liz was able to accommodate our change in plans so we could see them too. 

We arrived in Bountiful a little early and Chris called sister Cheryl, excited to set up the “meet” with her the following day.  We were all so excited and nervous about getting together, it was kind of cute.

Niece Liz made an excellent potato soup and we passed the day catching up with her, husband Jered (Chris and Jered share the same passion for woods, camping, fishing, hunting—lots to discuss!!) and adorable Beckham who, at 3, was able to update us on any topic imaginable—not always sure what he was saying exactly but he sure is an enthusiastic conversationalist nonetheless!  We made our way back to the trailer and our campin’ cat, got showers and supper.  Tomorrow we meet Cheryl and her husband Ross—can’t wait!

Friday, 5/29/15

We slept until almost 7:00 and got cleaned up and ready for our new family connection—exciting!

…AND…very satisfying to be sure—very easy-going, relaxing, and informative!  Cheryl and Ross were perfect hosts for us—easy to be around and talk to.  Breakfast was gourmet for us—a quiche-like casserole and caramel-covered mini French toast—yummy!  Cheryl called it a “simple” one—wow!  She said her daughter Angela could out-do her in a heartbeat.  Our waistlines were happy enough with “simple”. 

We met her sons Devon and Brian and then talk continued as did picture-sharing and memory-sharing.  The whole new family thing was made real when Brian casually told his buddy who had come to pick him up, “Yeah, that’s my uncle from Oregon!”  Sweeeeet!

Time flew by and dinner time was upon us before we knew it.  The 4 of us went to the Olive Garden where the conversation never died and we had to practically peel ourselves out of there.  Chris and I did likewise after our further yacking at their house after.  Cheryl does beautiful work with her genealogy books and shared some of those with us.  Cheryl noticed quite a few similarities between Chris’ and their dad—a man Chris didn’t know.  Quite the awesome stuff!

Saturday, 5/30/15

Cheryl and Ross took us to the Aerospace Museum with son Brian before the BBQ which started around 3:30.  As Cheryl says, this might be the last time we see each other—who knows what’s in the future?—and so we’re all trying to make every minute count.  Chris was like a kid in a candy store, looking at every plane and taking pictures of many of them.  Lots to see—there were a larger number of bigger planes than at our McMinnville, Oregon museum, and we took in the well-placed/well-done educational kiosks as well.

Back at their home, we assisted in minor chores—they had everything so organized and ready—and then Chris’ new nieces and their families began showing up.  Everyone was so nice and welcoming and the families all so relaxed and easy to be around.  I hope I don’t butcher spellings here:  today, Chris gains more family and meets daughters Laura, Angie, Cassie and their spouses, JD, Cody, and Brandon and the grandkids number 11—this is where my remember-the-names test stops in the hopes that I don’t butcher any further names.  So Chris figures he has met 19 more family members yesterday and today—and that’s not counting sister Bonnie and brother Ray who couldn’t be there.  Wow.

The food was amazing, the conversations were fun and the day was special indeed.  It was hard to part/say goodbye.  They’re all threatening to come visit us in Oregon and we’re hoping they hold to those threats!

We got a bonus side trip to see Cassie and her family’s new house—great piece of property!  Finally, we had to say goodbye to Cheryl and Ross back at their home.  We pretty much poured into bed back at our trailer and went into a deep sleep with smiles on our faces.

Sunday, 5/31/15

We slept in late (past 8:00—yipes!), got our breakfast and are up and at the new adventure ahead.  Shoppie began a habit which she continued the rest of the trip:  as soon as she realized we were readying the trailer for travel, she hopped into her travel box as if to say, “Okay, I’m packed!  All ready to go!”  She stayed there until I finished the inside chores, then stayed quiet as I picked her up, put the door on her cage, and took her to the truck for travelling.  She gets extra points for that, we think…might even help with her non-mouser status!

We connected with family as we drove into the canyon and then continued on into Wyoming to enjoy the view/scenery.  Lots of beauty—painted hills and Tetons in the distance.  Chris got inspired to climb on top of the painted hills place where we stopped and had me film him.  Pretty fun/funny!

We made our way to Pinedale and set up camp.  Chris decided to throw together a stew of sorts—plus we have yummy leftovers from yesterday’s BBQ.  We still ain’t sufferin’!  Audio book (more John Grisham)—sweet!  And then…Chris had grabbed 2 movies while in the office of this place and, because for some reason we just weren’t sleepy, watched both Open Range and Dances With Wolves.

Tough life!

When Early Isn’t Early Enough…

Monday, 6/1/15

It’s the beginning of a new week and a new month—we’re going to start ours by checking out the Mountain Man Museum that Chris had heard about.  We slept late after our late night movie-watching, and got breakfast/ready to go by around 9:30.  The museum was outstanding—lots of interesting history and beautiful artifacts, including lots of Native American intricately-beaded bags, moccasins, shirts, everything!

After we finished oohing and ahhing our way through that, it was time to head for Teton National Park.  What an incredible drive of amazing scenery!  We tried to stop as much as we could to record with film but it was challenging at times to get over with the trailer, so we couldn’t capture everything pretty—and a lot of it was!  More oohing and ahhing.

Then we went about the biz of finding a campsite which was made challenging by the fact that it was “still early in the season” so the more out-of-the-way campgrounds that we tend to prefer were closed.  We managed to get a space in the furthest north open campground, Colter Bay, and did just fine as “dry campers” there since we had plenty of propane and fresh water on board (the full hookup spots were all taken).  Bet it’s quite the overloaded (populated) place as the season progresses.  We’re glad we’re early!

Distant thunder and cool breezes started in as we drifted to sleep with our audio book.

Tuesday, 6/2/15

Today’s goal was to find a “base campsite” in/near Yellowstone where we could park the trailer for a few days, unhitch the truck and do our sight-seeing, hiking, fishing, from there.  We spent a disappointing morning looking for “just the right spot,” graduated to “any spot that’s available that looks okay” to “ANY spot, period!”  The fact that we timed this vacation to include Tetons/Yellowstone early in their seasons meant that we were early enough to see some lightning, thunder and hail, but not early enough to avoid the kinds of crowds that normally make Chris and me cringe.  Amazing how many people swarm this place this early—can’t imagine what it’s like during the peak—aghghghgh!  Don’t want to find that out.

So the swarms make it hard to find a place but we managed to snag the last spot in a far-from-wilderness campground, but have decided to let go of our ideas of what camping is about as we enjoy the beauty that is Yellowstone.  Went ahead and committed to 3 nights here in “campground city” and got settled, unhitched and explored parts of Yellowstone.  Wow—the beauty is absolutely breath-taking at times.  We had fun capturing some of what we saw on film.

Fight fire with fire:  when life gives you crowded campground lemons, make satellite-TV lemonade!  We decided to make do with our situation by setting up the satellite dish, closing up the windows to pretend we were somewhere else—and watched a nature documentary.  Then we broke out the Scrabble game…fun.

During the game, I could tell Chris was troubled by the way we had to position the trailer and truck in our spot.  The space—being the last one available—was actually too small for both and we had to go through quite the contortions to back the truck in at an angle against the trailer in order to free up the road for vehicles to pass.  Also, the trailer, being at a downward slope, was not as secure/stable as Chris wanted—he was fearing that the trailer might drop and the truck would get damaged (he promised we would live through such an event but was bothered by the possible threat of property damage.

So, before it got dark, we decided to fortify the trailer—went to the office and bought a box of firewood so that Chris could pound in enough of it to stabilize things.  Satisfied that the trailer was now stabilized, we went about the biz of backing the truck up out of the road and trying not to hit the trailer—a very frustrating time!  We ended up back at the office, seeing if we could rent another space (we saw the space across from us had been vacated earlier that afternoon) just to park the truck in.  No luck—all spaces had been reserved by late-comers.  Our only option was to park in overflow parking and hike the 10 minutes back to our trailer.  Guess that’s what seeing the great places costs sometimes!

Whew!  Back to warm up, finish our Scrabble game, drink coffee, and turn in.

Wednesday, 6/3/15

WOW!  The frustration we had finding a place to camp has paid off BIG time today—couldn’t keep the truck going hardly at all before stopping again for wildlife or beautiful scenery.  Here’s a list of wildlife we saw in order of their general appearance: 

grizzly bear, bull elk on road, bison, sheep, antelope, elk cows, wolves (5 of them working on a bison kill), coyote, buffalo stampede on the main road, rocky mountain goats, mule deer, black bear, 5 big bull elk in the grass

The whole drive through the northeast section was exceptional—Lamar Valley our favorite, hands down—awesome views, vistas, wildlife.  No words can do it justice—antelope and bison coexist in green lush surroundings everywhere.

After Lamar Valley, we decided to explore the rest of the upper loop.  The hot springs at Mammoth were a big hit—couldn’t film enough of the intricate patterns and colors.  Then the town of Mammoth was full of elk just walking through the city, laying comfortably next to buildings—different!

After all of that awesomeness, we ran into a bad stretch of road construction, complete with long delays—no need to return to this part of the loop!

Our day was capped off by the surprise 5-pack of big bull elk on the way back to camp which we filmed and watched for a while.

The weather was perfect all day—couldn’t ask or plan it any better!

Thursday, 6/4/15

Be Bear Aware! 

The signs are everywhere.  When Chris got his Park fishing permit, the guy there said he doesn’t go fishing anywhere without bear spray.  And ever since our mama-grizzly-with-2-cubs-close-encounter in Alaska, I’ve been very bear aware…like bear phobic almost…at least when it comes to walking in grizzly bear woods without bear spray.

Chris doesn’t believe in bear spray (might partly be the $50 price tag but also stories of its ineffectiveness in Alaska), and is of the philosophy “live a little—have some adventure…don’t come to Yellowstone and be afraid to get out of the car.”  He’s fearless.  And I’m a ‘fraidy cat, I guess.  That’s why this morning, he’s off early (5:30 a.m.) into the 35 degree cold to fish and I’m back at base camp sleeping in with the cat.  Okay, so the 35 degree thing and the promise of lots of mosquitoes didn’t help either!  I’m thinking “good trade”—except for the fact that he’s enjoying some pristine solitude in nature and I’m surrounded by the campground city.

Oh well—good chance for me to get caught up on trailer cleaning chores (some badly needed), reading, writing.

Our plan is to explore the rest of the lower loop (Old Faithful) except the part where the road is closed, and to check out permit requirements and trailer parking possibilities for a Grebe Lake hike/fishing for grayling adventure Chris wants to try before we leave the park tomorrow.

After cleaning up the place, I felt like a walk, so I took off towards the marina.  Had an excited bit there where I saw the rental boats (the day is gorgeous again—perfect day to be on the lake!) and inquired about them at the store.  They do rent boats…just not until June 15^th.  Dang!  I told them I was enjoying my little escape from “campground city” and they laughed, then told me about a pretty shoreline path that I really did love.  I saw Chris go over the bridge while walking so I headed back to hear the fishing report…

…Not good…not even a bite.  We breakfasted up for our new adventure/trek today and wondered what we would see.

Well, we SAW some cool things but probably the least exciting thing we witnessed was Old Faithful.  IT was throbbing with people and touristy build-up and the actual blast-off was rather anti-climactic.  I’m sure some people just can’t get enough of hot springs and crowds—Chris and I CAN and DID.  But we got some good photos of the neat colors and various “fire holes” too.

We enjoyed driving and laughing at the weird stuff we like to laugh at (I love it when Chris puts voices to animals we see—we have Gary Larsonesque fantasies about animals taking smoke breaks and then taking turns to pose and give the tourists photo ops—ha-ha!!) and then got treated to a fox hunting in the woods on the way back.  Later, we had adventures around getting photos of signs we decided we needed for our “movies”.

Back at camp, we showered and had dinner, then began planning our next day as we travel to Cody.  It turns out that the direct route to Cody means skipping Grebe Lake and Chris’ first grayling catch.  He’s more than willing to keep that on his bucket list in order to skip a lot of extra travel hassles.

We took time to relax and head into our packing-up routine tomorrow.  I promised Shoppie we’d try to get her a better view tomorrow.  She seems to be as tired as we are with “campground city”.

Friday, 6/5/15

Got all loaded up and chores done to get on the road towards Cody.  Got treated right away to a herd of elk lounging off of the road and had to stop to film, naturally, then got to see some Rocky Mountain Sheep on the hillside next to us, but they were in a bad spot for us to stop and take a picture; we’ll just have to keep that as a memory!  Said goodbye to Yellowstone, headed onto Cody, and enjoyed the beautiful drive.

We found a pretty little camp spot next to the Shoshone River, unhooked the truck and headed into Cody.

Our plan was to just check on the hours of the Buffalo Bill museum, and we ended up taking in the place on the spot.  Entry is good for 2 days (they expect you to take 2 days, and you do), so we got in a lot of great stuff today.  There aren’t enough superlatives to do this museum justice.  We started in the Plains Museum section and couldn’t ooh and aah enough—so many intricate bead works and tools—wow.  Then Chris focused on the ammunition section and I focused on the art one.  When we caught up with each other, we had things to share and ended up appreciating it all.  The exhibits are so well put-together—truly amazing.  It would take weeks to fully absorb and take in all this place has to offer, honestly.

After spending half a day in the museum, we stopped at Cody’s Walmart and picked up some items needed grocery-wise and an RV part needed.  RV life involves various necessary repairs and such:  (1) refrigerator—fixed now (had to get it cleaned out); (2) drainage of tanks—couldn’t empty all the way out so we had to figure that one out; (3) The cap broke on the drainage tank—Walmart had that part (yay)!  There’s always something, and as long as the fun and adventure outweigh those headaches, it’s worth it.  So far…it is!

Shoppie greeted us when we returned and then dove under the covers at the first thunderclap.  Oh well…she knows what she has to do!  Ate a light dinner (Chris and I had taken in Buffalo burgers at the museum so we could last), and studied the map to see where we might end up tomorrow.

Camp neighbor Larry Roberts came over and introduced himself.  He and his wife are from Salem (he actually worked with and knew Chris’ dad, Bill Preuitt), retired to Wyoming and love it here—more sun, fewer people, simpler.  He made it sound so attractive until he got to the grizzly bear danger part.  His wife has been charged, his friend has been mauled and he cited several instances of tent campers being eaten.  He doesn’t go anywhere anymore without his 44 mangum.  “These grizzlies here aren’t anything to mess around with.  Alaskan Browns will leave you alone mostly, but these Wyoming grizzlies have a whole ‘nother temperament—they’re nasty, mean, and will come after you!”

Maybe just visiting here is just the thing after all.

Saturday, 6/6/15

Up and ready to go by about 9:00 this morning.  Thinking we might stop again at the museum on our way out of Cody, which we do—got some great shots of more things that we had missed yesterday. 

We decided to head toward Greybull on a road that looked like it had better camping possibilities.  Got some shots of the beautiful scenery that is Wyoming and Shoppie worked her way into her morning nap (she was asleep after she put herself in her box this morning—what a crack-up!).

On past Greybull, the scenery got spectacular.  The lighting wasn’t ideal for filming but we kept taking pics because it was so awesome—painted hills, wonderful spectacular rock formations and big mountains surrounding this gorgeous canyon.  We crested the pass at 9,000-foot elevation and then found a neat little campsite near a creek in the woods—quiet!!  Got settled and into a game of Scrabble.  Shoppie’s enjoying the view!

Sunday, 6/7/15

Started out early (just woke up early—partly due to Shoppie who decided it was “up time” at 5:30 a.m.) and got treated right away to 2 moose sitings and filmed that—wow!  Great start!  Then we went through some more marvelous scenery and a harrowing road down (complete with signs at the beginning of it—“9 crashes per year, 1 fatality—steep grade!”), especially a bit of a nail-biter pulling a trailer!  But we made it and even had a chance to film some of it—whew!!

Once we were down the Big Horn Mountains, we made our way to the Little Bighorn Battle site and we were awed by that.  We drove the tour road and walked lots of the battle sites.  Chris is contagious with his enthusiasm for history like this.  I eat up all of his stories and accounts.

After our exploration there, we began the happily anticipated “fairly easy” task of finding a camp spot on the road we had chosen towards Idaho.  More beautiful scenery of Montana—big skies, green lush valleys—gorgeous!  We were almost giddy at the camping possibilities that lay ahead for us!

Until…we drove and drove and drove—and we’re talking miles and miles—without one camping indicator.  As it got later and later for finding such (6:00 p.m.) we finally stopped for a potty break and lo’ and behold, Chris found some state recreation spots right next to the pull off we chose…AND…it was right on a lake!!  Best camping view of the whole vacation so far—wow!!  Shoppie, who like all of us was tired from a long day of travelling, gave her approval by prancing around the trailer and looking intently out each window for her new “kitty television” views.  Nice!  Had showers, supper, plugged in a movie after dark, then slept like babies.

Monday, 6/8/15

Slept until about 6:30 when Chris got up because the sun was shining into his face.  Took a walk and took pics (Chris, like Otto Premenger, directing where the best shots would be to capture our beautiful campsite—“We’re making memories!”  He exclaims, “We’re filling up the bank!”—love that guy!).  Got back to the trailer, had breakfast and then prepped to get on the road again, Shoppie hopping in her box as if to say, “We’re on the road again!”

We appreciated more amazing scenery—first the endless green hills, then mountains, blue, blue sky, trees, nice creeks/rivers—absolutely perfect.

Gassed up in Townsend, and then headed north for Helene then Missoula.  Enjoyed beautiful Montana until Missoula where we had to find our way to 12 East into Idaho…wow.  These folks need better signage there, as we twisted our way around streets and almost missed some turns because signs were obscured behind trees.  Breathed a sigh of relief after we got out of that mess, and the beautiful Clearwater highway over the Lolo Pass was every bit as awesome as we remembered it from 10 years before when we went to Glacier National Park—100 miles of no traffic, the beautiful Lochsa River, and beautiful “aahs” around every corner!  We took a nice nap/snack break at one of the fishing pullouts along the way, then drove into Powell campground and set up early enough to play Scrabble and relax in the woods as the beautiful day wound down—even a little too warm—whew!  Went to sleep to the wonderful Lochsa River roaring nearby.

…And woke up to assist Shoppie the Chaser/Pointer cat once more to take care of yet another mouse that had sneaked on board.  Got back to sleep and she continued to patrol.  Quite the excitement for her!

Tuesday, 6/9/15

Another gorgeous day and our drive is very pleasant.  Chris thinks Shoppie’s wondering what the mice are like in Washington...but that will have to wait until another time, as it turned out.

Today’s drive through the rest of the Clearwater Mountains, all along the Lochsa River, was voted best 100-mile drive ever—best book-listening road EVER.  It was so great, we were feeling like we just couldn’t top that and decided to head closer to home for tonight.  We drove all the way to an Oregon gorge camp spot on a reservoir, and had a last night of relaxation.  Headed home the next day and we ended up timing it well…we just missed a big traffic jam mess with a forest fire in the area.  Way to go, gang!

Can’t wait to see what other excuses we come up with to see more stuff!  New family, new places…can’t beat that!

Toughing It Out Again...

Eastern Oregon Fix, April 2015

(Chicahominy, Page Springs, Krumbo Lake, Catherine Creek, Unity, Clyde Holliday (John Day), Detroit Lake)

Camping Makes You Feel Younger...Until...

Ah, time for a Maiden Voyage for the new truck.  Last year, our poor Ford F-150 almost didn't make it up the passes pulling our 23-foot trailer (the floor of the truck would get so hot, my feet couldn't touch it while riding, that's how hard the poor thing was working).  This year, we traded the F-150 in for a Super Duty F-250...a truck more meant to pull such things as trailers.  Our cat Shoppie even seemed more comfortable in its cab…no strange straining noises from the engine…ahhhh, the pleasures of upgrading!

Wed 4/15/15

Starting out, we have that refreshed ready-for-adventure, ready-for-anything feeling that a person can have.  This knowing full well that after a few weeks of camping, one can FEEL younger because of, well, getting away from it all, until one looks in the mirror and realizes that for some reason, some cruel joke has been played over yea these many years…you don’t actually LOOK younger when camping; in fact, your face can take on a whole new kind of old leathery-looking appalling at times.  The conclusion is that you feel younger until you look in the mirror!  We should all follow the advice of a dear friend of mine when she told me, “Darcie, after a certain age, it’s important to just not look in the mirror anymore!”  Ah-hah!!  Got it.

A shift in camping definitions...

Arriving at our overnight spot at Chicahominy, I’m reminded of how much easier camping is for us now.  You know, for years, we tent-camped and truck-camped and felt virtuous about our experience and appalled by those who would not rough it as we did and appreciate nature by being "at one" with it.  We did try out small motorhome (Class C) camping for a couple of years there but went back to tent/truck camping because we liked being able to drive around and explore places more and the motorhome just wasn’t practical for that.  I think it was in Alaska in 2007 when we were tent-camping that we finally realized we wanted a better alternative (and that it was probably going to be the last time we opted for the ol’ tent)...aching backs, fighting the elements...our "at one" days were just not as fun as they once were.  Now with our trailer, we stop and set up in about 15 minutes—no problems if it’s rainy or windy outside—and if we feel like driving about, we can unhook and do that, no problem.

Our main goal for our first night was to crash.  Chicahominy was pretty muddied up and low, so Chris didn’t even feel like trying to fish.  Shoppie, ever the camping cat, gladly obliged our “crash” plan; she’s a trooper when it comes to sleeping.

Thur 4/16/15

 We headed to Page Springs, stopping in Hines/Burns to gas up and get propane.  The weather is beautiful…Chris went fishing as soon as we set up and I stayed back to enjoy camp, read/nap.

Phone Karma is Phone Karma…

Chris and I have resisted smart phones for years and don’t pretend to be real big phone users—it has undoubtedly saved us money over the years, although we do miss out some because of the lack of connection.  Chris is happier being less-connected and is after that “ahhhh” feeling of being out of touch with the world when on vacation anyway.  One time, as we meandered our way back to the correct path we originally wanted to be on, I commented that maybe we might not have gotten lost if we had had a smart phone to which he replied, “That’s part of the FUN of the adventure—getting lost!” 

Anyway, the following recount will surely make most people eye-roll and shake their heads.  Enjoy and bless you and your connectedness!

For some reason, our Trac Phones were not connecting at Page Springs, even though they had last year.  I wanted to keep more in touch with my family this year—my sister to stay updated on Mom and Dad, Mom, who is in a care facility and Dad who is battling cancer and chemo— and was bummed that I couldn't call.  

When Chris got back from fishing, we decided to test out the Satellite Dish to see if it still worked and ran into a re-activation issue that required us to contact Direct TV, which of course we couldn't do due to the cell connecting issue.  He and I drove around trying to get a signal (no luck), then Chris spotted a phone booth in the small town of French Glen.  I’m thinking, “Really?”  He hops out and picks up the phone—dial tone!  He dialed the 1-800 number for DirectTV and got through—unbelievable!  The good news:  our satellite issue was fixed.  The bad news:  I still couldn't get a hold of my Dad from the phone booth—didn't handle out-of-state non 1-800 numbers (we would need to order up more services when we returned to Salem).  Dang!

Fri 4/17/15

Chris was up early to go fishing and I opted out of the early morning chill out there.  We had gone to bed at 9:00 and he was up and out at 5:00, so I thought I was going to get up—nope!  Slept for 2 more hours—guess it’s what I needed!  Went about the biz of “trailer routines”—fed/tended the cat; made the bed; exercised; washed my face; tidied up the kitchen; dumped the garbage.  These all sound mundane/routine as I write them down but somehow, in the boondocks, it gives me a sort of giddy feeling to “play house” in the outdoors with limited stuff.  This applied to our more rugged tent camping and truck camping years as well when the chores were more primitive.  I remember one fall tent-camping trip when cleaning up the Coleman stove with a wet paper towel made my world all complete somehow.  (And I can just picture my cosmopolitan friends eye-rolling about now, saying, “That poor girl—she needs a facial and a Broadway show—now!”)  Friend Connie Biddinger summed it up well (they snow-bird down to Arizona for 3-4 months every year in their 5^th wheel):  “It makes you realize how much you can live without,” commenting on the limited amount of supplies and clothes you can have on board, even with the bigger rigs.

What Camping Makes You Face…

Camping does have a way of getting me back to basics, which is good for me, especially this year, a year of becoming painfully aware of my physical shortcomings.  It forces me to appreciate simplicity and focus on what’s really important in life.

So today was about the peace and quiet and surrounding beauty that is Page Springs.  I took off on a walk in the amazing weather (I actually got sweaty/too hot!) and enjoyed a wonderful feeling of solace and serenity.  Chris and I returned to camp about the same time and decided to head out to look for good footage to augment our Malheur movie.  We have enjoyed creating “best-of” 17-minute videos of our various trips to post on YouTube during the winter and have wanted to beef up some of what we have with our newer HD cameras.  We have lots of great composition shots already, but we’re beginning to appreciate the quality we get with HD film now—so more bird pics are needed!  More P Ranch shots…a good excuse to mosey around and enjoy the scenery.

We returned to a great meal provided by Chris’ catch—2 fresh trout—yum!—and watched a DVD when it got dark then listened to our audio book while falling asleep.  So much for “basics” some of you are thinking.  Yeah—I know.  Camping is a LOT easier now!

Sat 4/18/15

Okay, time for me to join this Krumbo Lake attack.  It’s another gorgeous (seriously—didn’t need my long underwear afterall!) day—beautiful, calm…but really slow fishing.  We turned our attention to bird sounds and shots while waiting for any action.  Chris is so in-the-moment and loving every minute—such a great example!—meanwhile, the quiet has given yours truly too much time to think and I ponder the fact that I have to avoid the sun because of my latest melanoma gouge and tiptoe carefully because of broken bones and bone loss issues—blah, blah, blah.  Chris snaps my pity-party back to reality with one line:  “You just have to enjoy what you can.”  And with this one line, I’m reminded to count my blessings—so much to be thankful for, really—Get over it, Darcie!  Good grief.

So, no fish.  No problem.

We took the long way home along Patrol Road and enjoyed getting some HD shots of birds on the way back.  We played Scrabble, cribbage, showered then took another drive—nice!  Supper, movie, bed.

Sun 4/19/15

Today we head out for Mann Lake.  We took the southern loop route and came up along the Alvord desert—very enjoyable!  Mann Lake was uncharacteristically packed with weekend fishermen when we arrived at noon—thank goodness people thinned out by 3:00.  His buddy Steve Biddinger was already there and met us in his shorts and T-shirt—that’s how hot it was!  Chris did some fishing/catching and I read until the other parties (Steve Fossholm, his wife Lori and her brother Todd) arrived.

Chris had wanted to make a lasagna feast so we got that all prepped (lasagna, salad, garlic crescent rolls) and it was well-received.  Chris was anxious to get back out to fish and so was Steve B. until he learned the Blazers were playing.  The rest of the gang watched a little of that (losing to Memphis), then building a fire sounded like more fun.  The Steves got a great fire going and we all sat around and jawed until dark/time to turn in.  Chris and I played cribbage then fell asleep with our audio book once again.

Mon 4/20/15

Chris was up and out to fish early.  I had what I thought was some kind of cold coming on—only to find out later it was “desert nose” allergy/whatever—so I thought I would stay in until I saw how gorgeous the morning was and headed out for a walk with the camera.  I found Chris just in time to film him catching the biggest fish either of us have ever seen here at Mann.  He measured along his fishing pole so he could get an accurate measurement later (turned out to be 22”—not quite the 2-footer he’s salivating for).  Steve B. caught up with us and we chatted as Chris fished.  We headed back to the “point” (close to camp) to try some casts there.  The sun is actually a little too much—can’t believe this weather!  I manned the camera while I read to record the catches as long as I could but had to give it up to go find some shade at only 9:30 a.m.!  Chris continued to have a ball fishing and the flock of pelicans flew right in front of him about 10 minutes after I left.  Dang!  Missed my shot!

Had fun sitting/talking in the shade, then Steve B. cooked up a wonderful dinner (barbecued pork, pesto noodles, salad).  We still ain’t sufferin’!  We migrated to the campfire once again (nice) followed by watermelon dessert provided by Lori F.  The Fossholms had brought some of our past Eastern Oregon and Alaska movies to share with her brother and we had fun re-living those.  Fun times.

By the end of the movies, I was pretty much not able to breathe and opted for drugs so I could sleep.  Chris also devised a pan of boiling water/towel tent so I could breathe in steam at 5:00 a.m. when I couldn’t breathe again, which helped a lot.

Tue 4/21/15

I slept a little more after Chris left for his early morning fish and got cleaned up and tidied the place.  Still congested but feeling good and it’s yet ANOTHER gorgeous day here—absolutely amazing!  Will have to try a walk--!  Ended up meeting up with Chris at the far end and walked back with him.  We breakfasted then Chris fished some more and Lori and I visited.  Surprisingly, our conversations don’t involve much about fishing—I know that’s a shocker.  She went to make preps for supper and Chris returned.  We started to fall asleep for a nap, but a knock at our door woke us up.  As it turned out, this disruption was for a very good cause.  To appreciate this, you need to know about the Thomas Buoyant legacy:

Chris’ first time fishing at Mann Lake included meeting a fellow avid fisherman who introduced him to the Thomas Buoyant lure.  He claimed nothing else worked the magic that this lure did at Mann Lake.  He passed one of these lures onto Chris and he became a rapid convert after catching multitudes of the beautiful Lahontan cutthroat trout found at Mann.  He wanted to know what he could do in return for this amazing favor and was told to just do the same as he saw fit.  Kind of like the fisherman’s version of Pay It Forward.

So earlier that day, Chris had seen fit to pass on one of his TB lures and it was received in much the same way that Chris had received his.  That was the knock on the door—a thank you from a happy, successful fisherman—and it made us smile.  Then we were wide awake again, and at a too-early-for-evening-fishing hour.  We wound up taking a walk up to a ridge above Mann Lake.  It was a pleasant little hike with a good view but since the weather has been so good for so long, it was a bit hazy for great picture opportunities.  He and I got back and then went to the far end so that he could try to catch his 2-footer.  And I’m still trying to get footage of pelicans in flight in HD.  Neither happened, but it was fun enough.

Lori Fossholm threw together a great spread (home-cooked sausages, including German-style ones that Todd made), baked beans (Todd again—excellent stuff), corn-on-the-cob, sauerkraut…yum!

Another great campfire and Lori provided dessert again (caramel corn) which was perfect.

When Mann Lake Blows You Away…

Then Mann Lake decided to show its colors in terms of wind.  Wow.  The weather changed like magic and the wind picked up such a ferocity, we all had to go in.  Shoppie took to her travel box and looked like she was pleading with us:  “Time to move to another place?”  She didn't come out much until the next morning when it died down for a spell.  Chris and I watched a movie while the refrigerator got charged (our refrigerator was having issues which we couldn't quite figure out—dust? Elevation?—and we had to run the generator for a while in order to make sure our food didn't spoil) and then turned in.

Wed 4/22/15

Windy night, but we slept well—tried to morning fish/film but the wind picked up again and sent us back in for breakfast.  Chris made pancakes and sausage—nice!—then we said our goodbyes—Steve B. left first, heading back to Dallas.  The Fossholms headed out not long after towards Yellow Jacket Lake.  We were in no hurry—in fact, Chris decided to make one last cast while I caught up on journaling/reading.  We’re heading up to Bates and Catherine Creek—unknown territory!—to check out one of Chris’ possible hunts this fall.  Shoppie migrated from her travel box to under the covers—burrowing down as the wind howled out there—and I wondered how Chris was managing with fishing in this stuff!!

Well, okay…so Chris had some luck out there and there was a break in the wind.  It’s beautiful again and he’s waffling back and forth—do we stay or go, stay or go…??  We finally stayed.

While we were out fishing/filming a group from Baker came up for a lunch break (they’re camped at Page Springs) to see Mann Lake and they had a weather report for us…going to be like last night and today—i.e. few breaks but mostly wind through Friday—“Then on Saturday, some rain and snow!”  Chris decided this meant fighting out the storm as follows:  bake cookies, play Scrabble, and nap.  Got the okay from Shoppie to proceed.

Chris fished some more and I read…we finished the evening out (with wind howling) with a light supper and movies.  Toughin’ out the storm…

Thurs 4/23/15

Remarkably calm at 5:30 a.m. and Chris is ready to try one last fishing before we head for Burns then Bates today.  I headed out to try and film him about 6:00 (I take longer jumping out of bed when it’s chilly outside).  It still wasn’t windy…yet!  I headed out and WOW.  WOW is about all I can say…definitely worth toughing out the extra night!  It was cold at first…in fact, so cold that Chris thought something was wrong with his fishing line and it turned out his guides were icing up, making it impossible to cast!  His hands were so frozen, I ran back to the trailer and got him our handy-dandy hand-warmers that we had gotten at the State Fair.  THEN…sun comes out and warms things up and it’s always astounding to me how absolutely beautiful Mann Lake can be sometimes.  The winds must have blown away the dust or haze and the mountains shined against brilliant blue sky.  Chris didn’t get any bites worth reporting but we still enjoyed being out there.  And I even got some pelicans taking off into flight, which was exciting.

When Wrong Turns Turn Out Right…

A family had arrived the night before and it seemed fitting to leave the place to them to enjoy.  We got about the business of breakfast and packing up.  We were on the road by about 9:30.  Got chores done in Burns with the sad lack of cell phone service once again; we managed to try and fail at various available options to communicate but then when we got outside of Vale (after taking a wrong turn to reach Bates)—voila!  Cell service and I got it long enough to talk to Dad and text my Sis.  Whew!  Felt so much better to connect.  Nice.

Stopped for burgers and gas in Baker City and got to Catherine Creek campground about 6:30 or 7:00.  A longer day of travel than we had planned but it worked out—the campground is absolutely beautiful.  And as it turned out, our wrong turn, which made us miss Bates, saved us in the long run as we found out on our way back that the Bates campground was closed still.  Hah!  Can your smart phone do that?

We enjoyed a campfire then came in and enjoyed a rainy evening with a movie.  After that, we fell asleep to the sound of the creek and the rain…and slept like babies.

Fri 4/24/15

Wow—slept in until after 8:00 and enjoyed the sunny morning with breakfast.  And Shoppie seemed extra excited by her creek view.

Went exploring the Catherine Creek hunting unit today—no hurries.  Had a beautiful drive (including Union and Cove) and a nice little hike through the woods but no real visible trailer possibilities should he draw a tag here later.  Hmmmmm.

We came back, had showers, dinner, watched a movie and turned in.  Tomorrow, we’re planning to take a look at the Keating area.

Sat 4/25/15

Up at 7:30 this morning (still feels like sleeping in)—dressed, breakfasted, and took off for what promised to be a long day checking out Keating—hoping for more camping options for October/November.

It was another wonderful day of driving and exploring new territory.  Saw 4 elk at one point, turkeys, and a whole lot of pretty, but again, not good for camping access in the future.  Rain started in and we headed back to relax on the trailer—get some supper, watch a movie—tough life!  Shoppie’s toughing it out too—was burrowed in under the comforter and when I dug down to find her and say hello, she just started purring (loudly).

Sun 4/26/15

Slept in again, beautiful morning—had breakfast and got ready to go…easy day, just going to Unity Reservoir.  Found a pretty spot with a view of the lake and have the place pretty much to ourselves.  Set up and enjoyed another relaxing spot.  This is a beautiful and well-maintained campground with all of the “fixings”—nice to be off-generator for a while with quiet (no pump) unlimited fresh water—feels like a vacation from the vacation!  Showers, supper, enjoyed lots of swallow and geese action…slept great.

Mon 4/27/15

Got up earlier today in the cold (20s or so) and Chris is trying out the fishing here at Unity.  It’s amazing how warm it can feel once the sun comes up—beautiful morning, lots of great bird sounds.  But, alas, no fish.  Off we go—next stop, Clyde Holliday State Park (one of our favs) in order to scout out other units for Chris come fall.  He really wants to spend over a month over here and work 2 different hunts perhaps—mainly the month of October.  We’re looking at how that will work out.  We took a drive up into elk territory which meant lots of bumpy roads and tomorrow we look at Magone Lake.  Beautiful day out—came back and had a great dinner, enjoying the breeze and cooling evening.  Chris fell asleep by 7:00, which gave me time to journal and read before turning in.

Tues 4/28/15

Up and out for a long scouting day today—beautiful mountains, perfect weather.  We stopped at Magone Lake and Chris fished a little, catching a single trout, while we were entertained by a loud woodpecker.  We checked out the camp spots there and continued on.  Saw white tail and mule deer and ate road food (nuts, cookies, cheese sticks) while we drove.  We stopped several times and took some pretty little walks looking for elk and/or elk sign.  We thought the weather was supposed to get bad today—nope!  It was gorgeous!  Off came the long underwear—whew!  Spent part of our drive-about talking about all of our years together and all of the adventures we have had.  It was a fun way to usher in our anniversary (#16) and 20 years together (April 30^th).  Ate dessert, napped, relaxed…another gorgeous evening.

Wed 4/29/15

The trip is winding down and one of our favorite things to do as we contemplate heading home is our “lazy morning”—which involves coffee in bed while watching a movie.  Shoppie, the Camping Cat, is also celebrating because she thinks she has scared off a mouse that got on board.  Chris thinks it was the “thud” of her weight when she jumped off the bed that scared it the most.  At any rate, we gave her lots of praise.  We relived one of our favorite movies—“Lonesome Dove”—and then Chris got inspired to cook up a “proper breakfast” complete with eggs and potatoes, and the rainbow trout he caught yesterday—wow!

We had a nice drive to Detroit Lake after packing up.  There’s not much lake to speak of and no people, we love that—got the place to ourselves!  Chris got Shoppie all worked up by feeding the ducks right outside her window…she enjoyed that.  I was able to get through to family, so that was nice to get updates.

Dinner, relaxation, turn in…

Thur 4/30/15

It felt like being in the middle of a Sci-Fi movie to me—so bizarre but quiet and barren here at Detroit Lake.  Chris fished and I got up and around in time to meet him coming back up.  Chilly but nice in a—bizarre—way!

Breakfast and a slow easy drive back to Salem to get unpacked and back to our lives there.

Until the next adventure when we tough it out once again!