Late Spring Snow and we are going camping?!

Home in Rocky Point, Oregon
Current temperature: 40 degrees F, with melting snow on the ground.  Lo tonight: 30 degrees F with a chance of snow
Yes, we are going camping.  We are leaving tomorrow for the eastern side of Oregon, planning a combo boondocking/rv park trip to the high sagebrush desert.  We did plan to leave on Tuesday afternoon, but some severe weather warnings were a bit daunting, and we decided to postpone our little journey until the weather shifted a bit.  Good thing!  Yesterday afternoon the snow hit and by 5pm we had snow on the trees and even some snow sticking to the ground.  The weather report optimistically says that “with warming temperatures and longer days, the ground temperatures should be warm enough that the snow will not stick”.  Ok then.  It is now almost noon in Rocky Point, and true to the forecast, most of the snow is melting, but more may be coming tonight.
Mo is bringing the MoHo up from the shed to park in the driveway, ready for loading.  As much as we love having the place in Grants Pass, it sure is wonderful to have our rig right here when we are ready to travel.  No trying to remember what to take, what is at the cottage, what is in the MoHo.  Just walk outside, check the cupboards, and pack accordingly.  Nice.
Speaking of weather, my daughter who relocated to Texas last year has now relocated again to Grand Junction, Colorado.  Closer to me, closer to her son, and better jobs for both her and for her sweetie.  She drove north through Texas with a U-Haul the day of the tornados.  She missed them.  My son lives in Joplin Missouri, and while he was hit by the last big tornado
May flowers on May 22
there, the small twister that touched down in Carthage missed him by 15 miles.  Truck driver daughter and her husband are delivering jet engines to Winnipeg, and so she is also out of the line of fire. I just can’t imagine what those people in Oklahoma are going through.  Can’t imagine.
Mo and I watched the news, and said our thank you’s for the gift of living in a place without tornados, hurricanes, or major floods.  It can almost make you feel guilty for being so lucky in the midst of such horror, but I do feel lucky, and blessed, and sad for those people who have lost everything.  Of course, disaster can strike anywhere.  We live in Earthquake country, are surrounded by volcanoes that could decided to heat up at a moment’s notice, the wildfires of our hotter and hotter summers could strike anywhere, and of course winter can deal some pretty angry blows.  Nothing like a tornado though.  However, I often talked to people from hurricane country or tornado country who looked at me like I was crazy for living in earthquake country California.  It is all about where family is and what you are used to, I guess.




May flowers on May 19
Since we got home from Death Valley, we went over to the cottage and worked a bit, mowing and trimming and fixing up little things here and there.  I was treated to a Mother’s Day brunch by my Klamath Falls daughter and family, and Mo and I did our annual outing to the Taste of Klamath event in town that we have enjoyed for several years now.  Small town stuff, but nice, and it supports our local historic theater, the Ross Ragland. We are gardening, and until yesterday, the weather cooperated perfectly.  It has been unseasonably warm, with temperatures in the 80’s here at Rocky Point.  That is a lot more like July and less like May, but it made working in the yard an absolute delight.  80 degrees and sunny skies with a nice breeze is just about perfect as far as I am concerned. 
The only thing that seems to keep eluding us is a kayak outing.  On the days when it might be something to do we seem to always have something else more pressing taking up our time.  Ah well….eventually those kayaks will get on the water again. We actually planned to take them on this trip to the east side, but the weather predictions have us thinking otherwise.  Why load up the kayaks if it is going to be in the 50’s with possible rain?!  Nah…we will wait for better days.  I guess you could call us fair weather kayakers, although I do have photos from years past when we are on the water as early as March!
I did manage to get in on the Google Plus Hangout that Rick set up for us to learn a bit more about how it all works.  It was great fun seeing everyone online and joining in on the conversation.  I haven’t managed to do the Skype thing very much since I didn’t think I had the bandwidth.  Maybe I can manage hangouts now with distant kids and friends.  I hope so.
On our agenda for the next few days: Plush, Oregon, home of the famous BLM sunstone diggings.  Hart Mountain Refuge, home of hundreds of pronghorns and some beautiful natural hot springs and a small developed hot spring pool.  Summer Lake, Oregon, home to another wildlife refuge, more hot springs, and untold numbers of waterfowl. Ana Reservoir RV campground, on the Ana River and the reservoir, not far from summer lake will provide us with electric and water and a place to dump after three nights boondocking on BLM lands.  Should be a nice trip.  I don’t imagine there will be any kind of internet, or even phone connections to speak of, so I’ll just have to get caught up on photos and stories when we return to Rocky Point.
In the mean time, I thought it would be fun to put in a couple of photos from our very first camping trip to Hart Mountain back in 2004, before we had any kind of motorhome.  I think this may have been the last time we tent camped.  In spite of discussing carrying tents and sleeping bags in the motorhome for getting really out in the boonies, we have yet to actually do that.  Somehow the comforts of home win out.  I spent a bazillion years tent camping, and I do love it, but oh oh oh….it is so nice to have shelter and a bed off the ground.  If I could just figure out how to see the stars at night from the MoHo the way you can seen them from a tent it would be perfect.  My best memory of Hart Mountain is sitting by the campfire watching the stars come up right on the horizon, just as big and bright as they were in the entire huge sky.  It was amazing.

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