The Best Laid Plans and all that

Mo and I met in early 2003, when I was brand new to Klamath Falls and didn’t know a soul.  We discovered early on that we both like to travel and camp.  Mo had a sailboat at the time, and one of our first shared camping trips was to Medicine Lake, a short 100 miles south of Klamath Falls on the Medicine Lake Highlands east of Mt Shasta.  As you can see, in those days we camped in a tent and slept on the ground.  A couple of years later, in the spring of 2005, Mo bought the first baby MoHo and we again traveled to our favorite little lake to camp and sail.

By 2007, we had a new MoHo and had decided that launching kayaks was a bit easier than launching a sailboat, but again we traveled to Medicine Lake to camp.  The last time we camped there was during the fires in California in July of 2008.  We keep telling ourselves we have to get back to Medicine Lake, but somehow other destinations keep coming up.  In 2009 I was completing my final year of work.  In 2010 we traveled 7800 miles or so to the northeast side of the country, in 2011 we went to Alaska.

Finally!  We are going to Medicine Lake this week.  I have completed all my work assignments, the skies are clear, the snow has melted (Medicine Lake is at 7200 feet) and all is a go.  Until…as I said…the best laid plans.

Any of you who have followed this year read about the vandal attack last March on the MoHo when she was stored in Redding, California.  We have been mulling over and over about our options for this coming winter.  The one sure thing is that we want the MoHo OUT of Klamath Basin when the snow flies.  Neither of us is particularly interested in chaining up a big rig and trying to exit any of the snowy passes that surround us.  Mo started calling around, thinking maybe Medford, or possibly Grants Pass.  Well inside, or even covered storage seems to be at a premium in this part of the country.  There are no inside RV storage facilities in Medford, and the one facility in Grants Pass is full with no expectation of a vacancy. 

We could park the MoHo there, uncovered, for 35 bucks a month, but that would mean winterizing every time we wanted to go somewhere.  So where do we usually go in the winter?  Toward the coast, of course.  And South!  My least favorite route is through the central valleys of California.  Where is the banana belt of Oregon?  Brookings!  TADA! 

Mo found an inside storage in Brookings, not cheap, and about a four hour drive from here.  As we talked about it, however, even if we stored the MoHo in Grants Pass we would probably be driving to Brookings anyway.  Now back to the best laid plans.  Sigh.

September is almost completely filled up already.  I have a Colorado wedding, family coming to visit late in the month, a major exterior painting project on the books for mid-month, I will need to work next week, and our only free time seems to be right now.  Of course we want to check out the facility in person before we commit to six months of expensive storage.  Guess what!?  We aren’t going to Medicine Lake AGAIN!

Instead this afternoon we are packing up and ambling west to Brookings.  We love Harris Beach.  We have no reservations, and are planning on taking one of the first come/first serve sites.  We are taking bikes for the great bike trail and knowing that the rivers will be too low for paddling, we are leaving the kayaks behind.

This time I am packing long pants, sweats, shorts, jackets, sandals, ready for whatever the Oregon Coast delivers.  Forecast is for sunny, warm days, but it won’t matter, the ocean is always there, the rocky beaches are calling. Medicine Lake will still be there next year, I am sure, unless of course Mt Shasta decides to do her thing, but that isn’t too likely.  We have talked of moving to Brookings, and it will be nice to spend a few beautiful September days in one of our favorite places.

Author: kyotesue

Soil scientist/mapper working for 35 years in the wild lands of the West. I am now retired, enjoying my freedom to travel, to hike without a shovel and a pack, to knit and quilt and play, to play with photography and write stories about all of it. View all posts by kyotesue