Sunny, mild, a bit windy.
This morning before leaving Winnemucca we refilled Lanoire with diesel at a Chevron station, refilled Elsie's freshwater holding tank at Flying J, bought groceries at Raley's, and then, just before leaving town, I remembered that I needed to buy a gallon of gas for the generator, so we went to yet a third service station and bought fuel for the generator.
We headed north out of Winnemucca on Hwy. 95, then turned northwest on Hwy. 140. Late in the morning we stopped on the side of the road and went for a hike in the desert, just to enjoy the sunshine and get some exercise. At Denio Junction we stopped to have lunch. And a nap ! We continued west on Hwy. 140 into Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge and eventually turned onto a two mile gravel road to Virgin Valley Camp, an unserviced campground with a warm mineral springs pool, and a shower house with warm mineral spring water.
The small campground was deserted, we had the place all to ourselves. We selected a site, parked and set up, then I went for a soak in the warm mineral spring pool. AHHHHH ! Afterwards we went for a hike in the desert. While Joanne prepared foil packages of steak, potatoes, carrots and onions I started a campfire. I cooked supper to perfection over the open fire. It always give me great satisfaction to do that ... and do it well ! Just before it got dark we went to take a shower in the warm mineral springs shower house, equipped with two showers. First time we've showered together in decades ! It was so long ago ... how long ago was it, Dan ? It was so long ago ... she still had two breasts. HA HA HA ! HEY ... if you can't laugh about a mastectomy after all these years ... !
Monday ; Virgin Valley Camp, Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge, Nevada to Summer Lake, Oregon
Mostly sunny, mild, windy, very windy at times.
This morning I had another shower in the warm mineral springs shower house, we dumped our grey tank and refilled our freshwater tank then left Virgin Valley Camp heading northwest on Hwy. 140. Not too far down the road, still in Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge, we took a one lane gravel road a few miles to see Big Spring Reservoir Camp. HMPH ! Dry lake ! In the last couple of days we've been seeing quite a few lakes that have dried up. I guess it's not just California that's battling drought.
Continuing northwest on Hwy. 140 we crossed out of Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada into Oregon. And the elevation changed a lot. We quickly descended from the 6000 to 6500 foot elevations of Nevada down to something a lot more ... normal. And the topography changed from scruffy high desert to forested mountains. It began to look like home around Keremeos, BC.
We stopped for lunch at Warner Canyon Ski Area, deserted at this time of the year. After lunch I napped briefly then we went hiking briefly. And ... < sputter > ... SOMEBODY threw a snowball at me ! HMPH !
When we got to Hwy. 395 we turned south for five miles to the town of Lakeview to refill with diesel then headed north on Hwy. 395 to Hwy. 31, then northwest on Hwy. 31 to Summer Lake where we stopped at a rest area to have supper and boondock overnight.
Very windy and chilly this evening !
Jeezum Crow ! ( learned that yesterday listening to NPR on the radio ) When I took Bo out at 10 PM, a blizzard was just starting. A ****ING SNOW BLIZZARD ! ! ! As I type this a few minutes later the wind is blowing so hard it feels as if the camper is going to get blown over. Thank goodness for duallies !
Tuesday ; Summer Lake to LaPine State Park, Oregon
As I'm beginning to type this ( at 7:30 PM ) it's beginning to snow heavily !
We had a slow start to our day. BECAUSE IT WAS WINTER ! ! ! ! !
We had a bit of a scary night last night. The snow blizzard was accompanied by very heavy winds, with VERY strong gusts, making the camper rock and roll. It prevented us from falling asleep for a few hours until the winds subsided slightly, and the camper stopped rocking and rolling.
We awoke this morning to ... snow covering the ground ! ! ! Joanne walked the dog and we all went back to sleep for a few more hours. By the time we were ready to depart the rest area it was 11:30 AM. The sunshine was melting the snow, BUT ... I almost froze to death refilling the fresh water tank.
We continued northwest on Hwy. 31. Within fifteen miles "winter" was over. HMPH ! Once again we had spent the night at a rest area near a mountain pass summit. I think highway engineers must intentionally design rest areas to be near mountain pass summits so that drivers can get off the road to escape bad weather conditions, which are always at their worst near the summits of mountain passes.
At the junction of Hwy. 31 with Hwy. 97 we turned north. AHHHHH ... Hwy. 97 ... the road to "home". We spent much of the afternoon in the town of LaPine. First we stopped at a supermarket and bought some groceries. Then we went to a laundromat. Joanne got our laundry into washing machines then we had a late lunch parked in the parking lot of the laundromat. After lunch Joanne went back into the laundromat to dry and fold clothes. I walked a couple of blocks to the library to use Wi-Fi to retrieve e-mail and post my weekly blog entry. When I was finished we left LaPine, continuing north on Hwy. 97.
But not very far ! Our destination for today was LaPine State Park, a short distance north of the town of LaPine. We've been here a few times before. It's one of my favourite Oregon state parks. On the way into the campground we dumped our black waste tank at the sani-dump station. We selected a site then went for a walk to the
self-registration station, and a walk around the campground. That was enough "hiking"... we were freezing ! Joanne asked me if I wanted her to locate my gloves and toque, stored somewhere in the camper. YES ! ! !
We decided it was much too cold for the campfire we had planned. Since we had an electrically serviced campsite Joanne dug out the little electric heater and Sully's "heater blankie". We fired up both and hunkered down ! Joanne and Bo cuddled on the bed underneath the heater blankie while I worked on the computer with the little electric heater blowing on me. BRRRRR ... my legs and feet are still cold !
Wednesday ; Sunny nad very cold < gnashing teeth in frustration over typing "nad" yet again >, temperature 22° F overnight, 39° F during the day. But no wind and bright sunshine mitigated the cold, making it a fairly decent day overall.
With a bit of mild persuasion from Joanne I decided to make this a "day off". No driving ! We had a late start to the day, and made it a lazy day, staying at LaPine State Park. This morning we went for a hike through an adjacent loop of the campground that is still closed for the winter season, and did a fun obedience session with Bo at the same time. After lunch I read ... and napped. Joanne did Sudoku puzzles. We went for another long hike, this time beside the Deschutes River. Late in the afternoon I lit a campfire. Joanne prepared a ground turkey meat loaf, wrapped it in foil, and I cooked it over the campfire. It was excellent !
Thursday ; LaPine State Park to Bend to Peter Skene Ogden Viewpoint & Rest Area, Oregon
Sunny nad mild. !)@(#*$&% Just what I needed when I'm already really angry !
< taking a deep breath >
This morning we left LaPine State Park and drove north on Hwy. 97 to spend most of the day shopping ... tax free ! We keep a list of things to buy tax free in Oregon. Twice a year ... once southbound and once northbound ... we shop for what's on the list. We shopped at Trader Joe's ( set a new personal record for amount spent at Trader Joe's ), Wal-Mart, an auto supply store, an RV parts dealer, and numerous auto supply stores and pharmacies that didn't have what I was looking for. AND ... we refilled with diesel. AND ... we had a vicious squabble that left both of us upset. And that lingered for the rest of the day. What we were not able to find in Bend would have to be bought further north. We headed out of town northwest on Hwy. 20 to find Tumalo State Park, our destination for tonight. When we got there ... the ****ing campground was closed. No explanation ... just "CLOSED" ! Well ... that really helped improve my mood, didn't it ? ! ?
So ... we continued north on Hwy. 97 to Redmond. Another Wal-Mart. Got more of what we were shopping for, but not all. And another auto supply store. Got what I was looking for there ! We continued north on Hwy. 97. We stopped for the night at Peter Skene Ogden Viewpoint & Rest Area between Redmond and Madras.
Friday ; Peter Skene Ogden Viewpoint & Rest Area to Grass Valley, Oregon
Sunny and warm, a lovely spring day in Oregon. We were both angry and upset from yesterday's squabble, and it continued to affect us until we arrived at Eilene's late in the afternoon when we had no choice but to "turn it off".
We left the rest area this morning and continued north on Hwy. 97 until arriving at the home of our 93 year old friend Eilene in the small village of Grass Valley, Oregon. But ... not her home for much longer. On May 1 she will be moving into a seniors' residence in The Dalles, a small city about an hour or so northwest of here. Two of her three daughters live somewhat nearby and were visiting Eilene today. Eilene and her two daughters cooked supper for us. Thank you very much, Eilene, Alice and Leta Ann. We boondocked overnight parked in Eilene's driveway.
Grass Valley is a small farming village. When I took Bo for a walk around the neighbourhood tonight after supper, he had his head down, sniffing, and did not notice that one of the neighbours had two horses in their yard. When the two horses saw a stranger ... me ... they decided to amble over and pay me a visit. Bo did not see the horses approach, as he had his nose down, and did not see them until they reached the fence and stuck their heads over the top rail. When Bo sensed something, and finally looked up, there were four horse legs about two feet in front of his face. He was so startled, and inhaled so rapidly, he choked ... and then tried to bark at the horses. But he was choking. So ... he did this strange "choke / snort / bark" routine. Too funny !
Saturday ; Grass Valley to Deschutes River State Recreation Area, Oregon
Sunny and warm.
This morning Eilene made brunch for us before we left her driveway. Thank you very much, Eilene. And while we ate brunch she suggested some scenic adventure routes in the area that she thought we might enjoy exploring. And knowing Eilene and her sense of adventure, we knew her recommendations were worthwhile. SO ... off we went.
We "backtracked" just a few miles south on Hwy. 97 to get to Hwy. 216 where we turned west. Along that road we found ... Eilene's childhood home, which had been a one room schoolhouse before Eilene's family lived in it. And given that Eilene is approaching her 94th birthday ... it's a pretty old house ! We continued on that road until we reached White River Falls where we stopped to wander around, viewing the falls and enjoying the lovely weather.
When we reached Hwy. 197 we turned north and drove through a picturesque area of grassy valleys and canyons. When we reached Interstate 84 at the city of The Dalles we turned east. I-84 runs east / west along the south side of the Columbia River, the border between Oregon and Washington. The final stop on our "adventure circle route" was Deschutes River State Recreation Area. We liked the campground so much we decided to spend the rest of today and overnight here.
We selected a site in the campground which was near full by mid-afternoon, and it's only mid-April ! At dusk there was only one site left, and that was a small site suitable only for a small rig like a tent trailer or truck with camper. We hiked along the Deschutes River. Bo was very happy to be allowed to wade into the Deschutes River, which Joanne prohibited a few days ago at LaPine State Park because it was so cold. After hiking I napped. Early in the evening I started a campfire and used the remaining firewood I had brought from Yuma. I had split and loaded into the truck camper enough firewood for two campfires ... I thought. By using it conservatively I made it last for four campfires.
I cooked supper over the campfire again. Joanne made a rather unusual "meatloaf". Back in Yuma I had purchased, on impulse, a can of chicken luncheon meat ... like a clone of "Spam" ( U.S. ) or "Klik" ( Canada ). I thought when I purchased it that I might be able to fry it up like a breakfast sausage, perhaps, or use it to make a hillbilly version of Eggs Benedict or something like that. Tonight Joanne mashed it, mixed it with diced onions, diced tomatoes, shredded brussel sprouts from Trader Joe's, added a dollop of ketchup, double wrapped it in foil and ... I cooked the "meatloaf" in the campfire. Turned out rather well ! HA HA HA !
After supper and the campfire were over, our friends Bill and Lynne returned our phone call made earlier today. I chatted with them briefly ... until the cell phone call "dropped" ... about their plans to visit us in a couple of weeks.
DSK
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