kyotesue

Lighthouses in the Rain

Current Location: Crescent City, CA 43 degrees F and overcast with more rain coming

The nice thing about planning at least two nights at any spot is the free full day to explore the area. I am not sure if good weather would make exploring Crescent City a bit more alluring, but in pouring rain, one day was just enough, with time left over for kicking back in the MoHo listening to the drumming rain on the roof.

As often happens, however, the weather gods were with us when we left mid morning to check off the list of “21 things to do in Crescent City”. The rain let up, and the heavy skies were magnificently interesting as we drove across the highway and down the road a piece to the Crescent City Harbor.

On Sunday, all was fairly quiet, and I am sure the inclement weather may have had something to do with that as well. It didn’t stop the surfers on Crescent Beach, however. One “thing to do” checked off: visit Crescent Beach. The surfers were determined, in spite of the rain. Mo and I wondered why they wear wet suits that make them look like seals instead of something hot fuchsia or fluorescent lime. At least a shark might not mistake them as easily for food.

We explored the Marina area, including the somewhat dicey looking Harbor RV Park. Crescent City is still an active fishery and there were many interesting boats in the harbor. There are informative signs and photos of the tsunami generated by the Japan earthquake in 2011. The high water mark was haunting as we looked back trying to imagine how far inland the surge extended. There were several surges with huge damages to the harbor. There were also images of the Alaskan earthquake of 1964 and the devastating effects that tsunami had on the town of Crescent City.

The Visitor Center was closed. Sunday is not necessarily a good day to visit a small town in the winter season. By the time we reached the end of the road, the rain had mostly stopped. The Battery Point Lighthouse view parking lot had signs for “event parking”. Our timing was impeccable. The tide was out and people were trekking across the rocks and up the hill to visit the beautiful little lighthouse perched on a rock, only accessible on foot when the tide is out.

We could see folks in the light area, but the main door was closed. I assumed it was a tour scheduled for the opportune moment of lowest tides. The residence for the lightkeeper is actually in the lower part of the lighthouse, and there are signs indicating that it is a private residence and the occupants shouldn’t be bothered. I am not sure how one would actually sign up for the tour, maybe the Visitor Center?

By the time we returned to the parking lot, the tide was already coming back up and I was glad for walking sticks and shoes that could handle the water. The rain started up in earnest. An hour later we would have missed both the low tide moment and the break in the heavy rain that poured most of the day after that magic little moment.

We drove out the Pebble Beach Road to the end of St George Point, where several signs noted that there was a huge fine for disturbing and archaeological site, but with no information as to why it was considered such. Searching the internet, I found a few scholarly papers discussing the Tolowa people who once lived in that area. I would imagine that if the Visitor Center had been open, we may have found more information available.

The Museum was also closed, and would have provided fascinating stuff, including the lens that once occupied the infamous Point St George Lighthouse, the one we see in the middle of the ocean from Harris Beach in Brookings.

At lunch, I saw a painting of the lighthouse, with a boat being lifted by a crane to the boat landing above the sea. An internet search yielded fascinating photos and the amazing story of the wild lighthouse set on a lonely rock with ocean on all sides. A scary place to be assigned in the days of lighthouse keeping.

Wiki tells the story a bit, but I would imagine there would have been much more at the museum or the visitor center. According to the internet, the light was decommissioned in 1975, but later relit. There have been helicopter tours that were available until some kind of regulation problem, but they are in the process of being reinstated. This is an interesting read~

We drove south along 101 in seriously heavy rain on the narrow road that led to the Crescent Beach Overlook and Enderts Beach, where we found a wonderful section of the coastal trail leading south along bluffs that rivaled those at Big Sur. Even in the rain it was gorgeous. We saw several hardy souls in rain gear hiking, even some young families. The rain was so intense I couldn’t even get out the camera and decided to skip viewing the overlook. Would love to go back to this spot and hike this trail in better weather.

Before returning home, we ended our explorations with a great late lunch at the Chart Room, off Anchor Road on the Marina. The restaurant was filled to capacity with people who all seemed to know each other, with many “hi’s” and “how are you’s” echoing around the big room with a harbor view. The fish and chips were stellar, enough for a full lunch and enough to take home for another full meal for the next day. For dessert, I finally found a blackberry cobbler that was runny and juicy and not too sweet or too sour, with the perfect cobbler crust. I was thinking after two misses back in Florence, that the only way I wasn’t going to get a gluey piece of gummy cobbler was to make it myself back home!

I would have liked to visit both the Visitor Center and the Museum and after our single day of rainy explorations, I think we have seen enough to entice us to return.

Shifting Sands

Current Location: Crescent City, California 53 degrees and raining

The title says more than you might think. Isn’t it funny how life sometimes can be a metaphor of itself? On the surface, the shifting sands that I refer to, are the famous Oregon Dunes. Our life is doing a bit of shifting as well, like the dunes, nothing stays the same.

Mo and I needed an escape. If we go more than a month without a MoHo getaway, that hitch-itch thing sets in and no matter the season, no matter the weather, getting on the road for a bit is a good thing. Just to change the daily scenery now and then keeps things fresh.

In spite of predicted rain, a trip to the coast sounded like the best plan. Even without a “real” winter behind us, the deserts east of Klamath Falls that we love are much too cold, and the wildflowers in the southern deserts are just too far away. Neither of us was up for another marathon trip south.

Instead, we decided to escape again to the Oregon coast and then travel south toward the beautiful Lost Coast region of Northern California. Some of the shifting dune life thing has to do with some surgery coming up for me in April. Nothing serious, but needed, and with the best surgeon for the procedure located in Springfield, we are making several trips there for pre-tests, consultations, and all the hoopla that goes along with this kind of stuff. Boring.

We spent a night at the mall in Eugene between appointments, and then quickly made our escape after the last early morning doctor visit. Eugene is just a little over an hour from Florence, and there are many campgrounds in that vicinity that we haven’t yet explored.

One of the reasons we wanted to stay in the Florence area has to do with the amazing kayaking opportunities. This time, no kayaks, for several reasons, predicted hard rain among them, and thinking about doctor visits and loading up kayaks didn’t seem to go together.

Checking the maps and the campsites, we decided on Jessie M Honeyman State Park. We have avoided this area in the past, choosing to stay away from all the ATV’s that come here for the dunes. With Spring Break beginning, we had no clue what to expect, but in spite of having no reservation, we managed to find a sweet little spot in Loop F, just down from the ATV loop H, completely booked and reserved and already teeming with ATV’s, big trailers, and lots of little kids and little bikes. It looked like great family fun.

We learned that unless you are actually camped in H loop, there is no public ATV access to the dunes via the trail that leads west from the campground. That limits the crowds somewhat. There are no ATV’s allowed beyond the H loop, and the background noise in the rest of the campground really is quite minimal.

Honeyman is a wonderful state park, second only in size to the huge Fort Stevens State Park near Astoria where we stayed a couple of years ago. At Honeyman, the trees are huge, but access to the ocean is across more than 2 miles of dunes, and not something to undertake lightly.

We didn’t even try, although we did manage to crawl around on the dunes a bit from the access trail near our campsite. Literally crawl, I might say. The dune was so steep I could no longer get up standing up and had to resort to climbing on all fours to get to the top. Fun stuff! Going down was interesting as well. Seems as though sandboarding could be fun, but for me not worth the effort of trying to get back up!

We spent a couple of days enjoying nearby Florence, once again exploring Old Town along Bay Street, having coffees on the protected patio of the Suislaw Coffee Company, and browsing the cute little shops. We also explored both North and South Jetty roads, enjoying the gorgeous beaches and sand dunes in the beautiful sunshine. Structure construction with driftwood seems to be a big “thing” on the north beach.

The predicted rains gave us a bit of a break on both days, coming only in late afternoon when we were through exploring and then again at night to drum on the roof with soothing sounds that make sleeping a treat.

On another day we explored the historic area of the park, with stone buildings and walls built by the CCC in the 30’s. There are three fresh water lakes within the boundaries of Honeyman State Park, and while small, they would still be delightful to paddle and explore the inlets and byways. There are actually more than 30 freshwater lakes nearby in the Florence area.

After a couple of days we headed south along our favorite stretch of the Oregon Coast, between Florence and Brookings. Just north of Gold Beach there are several huge wide graveled overlooks that just beg for boondocking, without a single sign saying “no overnight camping”.

We used one for a great extended lunch stop, listening to the ocean and watching the light change on the waves.

Our goal this trip was to stay in places we haven’t yet, but we couldn’t resist making a quick drive through Harris Beach State Park, just to see how full it was on this pre Spring Break weekend. Every. Single. Hookup site was either filled or booked, not a place to park anywhere. Don’t even try to get a place at Harris Beach without a reservation this time of year. Most of the sites were booked through the following week, so arriving on a weekday wouldn’t necessarily assure you a spot.

The sun was gorgeous for the rest of the trip south, with brilliant green everywhere and beautiful blue skies. By mid afternoon, when we arrived at Crescent City, there was still no sign of the coming storm.

There are three RV campgrounds near town, and we chose what appeared to be the best of them. Mo wanted to have a day to explore around Crescent City, something we haven’t done much in the past, simply driving through on our trips south. We settled in at Sunset Harbor RV Park, using the after hours/weekend check-in process. The park advertises free WiFi, but we won’t have access to that, or to the bathrooms because no one is around to give out the codes. The place is clean enough, and quiet, a simple stopover place while in Crescent City before we continue south on Monday.

In the mean time, we have a few plans for the rainy day ahead, including some writing and reading and probably a card game or two. At least it is a break from all the shifting sands back home.

Those shifts have to do with our plan to eventually live on the property in Grants Pass. We have begun the process. In addition, I have decided to sell my house in Klamath Falls where my daughter has lived for the last almost 8 years. She is ready to downsize and my granddaughter is ready for her first apartment. Voila! Mo has some apartments! Just a small group of units outside of town that she has rented over the years, but they needed a ton of work before the next renters could move in. We have been busy! And now Melody and Axel will be moving there and Mo and I will be doing a ton more work on my house in town getting it ready for sale. Hence the needed break!

Over the next couple of years, we will get Rocky Point ready for the change as well, and are already enjoying the process of looking at plans for the house that will eventually be our home in Grants Pass, land of no snow. Although Rocky Point seems to be the land of no snow for the last couple of winters, but that can’t last forever.

What Happened to February?

Current Location: Rocky Point Oregon at 35 degrees F and spitting snow mixed in the rain.

February used to be a really tough month for me. Back in the days of working and living in Northern Idaho, the sun was still low in the sky, the days were still short, the snows deep and tiresome. I had a tremendous dislike for the month, and when I would call Maryruth, my friend in California, all pissy about whatever, she would say, “Oh, Sue, it’s February. You will be fine soon”.

Somehow the old paradigm no longer holds. February can still be long and cold and tiresome, but not this year. I have no idea what happened to February. I have daffodils up in the yard, some even with buds on them. We haven’t shoveled snow even one time this winter. The tiny skiff that showed up on Christmas lasted for a long breath and was gone.

Last year we spent February exploring Florida, so that winter doldrums thing never had a chance of finding me. Last winter we had Abby and Jeremy with us as well. Still trying to adjust to not having them with us.

At the beginning of the month, Mo and I were thinking we only had a short time at home after our January travels to do some house projects before she would be leaving again for Beaverton for a couple of weeks caring for her brother’s dogs while he and his wife vacationed in Hawaii. We decided to paint Mo’s bedroom. It is a project that has been on the agenda for a couple of years now, and with all the goings on and traveling that we do, it just never seemed to get top billing.

Took us just two short days to get the job done, but going to town for paint was another day, with some color adjustments here and there before we settled on the pale spring green for the walls. Mo already had the Cranberry color chosen to match her original watercolor painting gifted by a friend a few years ago. We enjoyed the project. Felt good to be doing something around the house again that wasn’t just the everyday kinds of maintenance that a house in the forest always needs.

Immediately after we finished painting, a huge windstorm hit the Klamath Basin and knocked our power out for 19 hours. We pulled out the oil lamps, heated coffee and food on the wood stove and settled in for the duration. It was actually kind of nice, although I am glad it didn’t last any longer than it did. We were within minutes of packing up all our food in the freezer and heading over the mountain to Grants Pass and daughter Deborah’s freezer when everything blinked back on into brilliance.

The rain was needed, but again, it didn’t bring any real snow to our sadly deficient snow pack. The high winds and saturated soils did create a real mess. Many trees tipped right out of the wet ground and crashed on the power lines. The funny thing for us was that we were somehow protected in our little concave draw and the winds went right over us without causing any real trouble on our property. The worst damage was about 4 miles away where it looked as though a tornado had ripped through.

Another week was spent dealing with complex and tiresome business issues for Mo, with me acting as administrative assistant. Mo does the hard stuff, but I manage to keep the computers on track. I even figured out how to create some complex forms that were needed. That week flew by! It was almost like working again!!

Another tiresome time thing is an ongoing health issue for me. Not a big deal, but the surgeon I will be seeing is nearly 200 miles away over the mountain, and as things often go for these kinds of things, we have to make several trips before it will all be resolved. Tiresome, but I am glad it isn’t anything particularly serious, just irritating. And did I say Tiresome? Surgery in April, and recuperation will require no lifting of anything over 5 pounds for something like 90 days. I haven’t quite figured out how to put a stick of wood on the fire that weighs less than five pounds!

We enjoyed a day in Medford shopping for Valentine chocolate and having a late afternoon lunch at Olive Garden. And shopping at the quilt stores, of course. As I write, I realize that a big part of the past month for me has been finishing a quilt that I saw in Palm Springs when we were there and immediately coveted. I bought all the fabric and the pattern, and for once actually started on the quilt immediately, while the inspiration was still fresh and the fabric all new and shiny. Ocean Dreams in the Desert (2 of 4)

I call it “Sea Dreams in the Desert”. I started with an idea to make it a simple throw, but loved it so much that I decided to continue and make it a full queen sized quilt for my summer bed. First time doing something called a “pieced border”. I guess that explains what happened to February.

Mo left for Beaverton mid month, and on the same day my friend Maryruth drove up from California to spend 8 days of girl time with me. Her husband held down the fort at home, and Maryruth came loaded with her new sewing machine and lots of fabric for a quilt that she wanted to make. It was her first and she was excited. maryruth visits (3 of 13)

Sometimes in the past we have managed girl time, with a trip to a B and B somewhere, or a meet in the middle kind of visit, but this was different. We had a whole week at home just the two of us and our sewing machines. It was like a quilt retreat for two that didn’t cost anything. We went to Medford to the quilt shops, and had a fabulous dinner at McGrath’s Fish House. Maryruth ordered the mile high mud pie, but missed the “mile high” part, and we burst into incredulous laughter when her dessert arrived. What fun!

One night at home we cooked up a fabulous Thai Green Curry Chicken with Pad Thai and it was wonderful. I had never made a green curry from scratch, so that was a first. All the traditional Thai flavors of lime, tons of cilantro, lemon grass, ginger, garlic, hot pepper, and about a dozen other herbs and spices went into the curry that was so fragrant and perfectly sweet and spicy. Mo isn’t all that excited about Thai food and Maryruth’s husband isn’t all that excited about spicy, so it was a food cooking adventure for the two of us that probably won’t be repeated till we get together again.

We took another break from sewing and went to breakfast at our local Harriman’s Resort on Sunday morning. It was cold and windy, but the sun streaming in was gorgeous and the food was fabulous. Maryruth has a nice little Nissan Hybrid and will NOT drive in snow, so this was an extra special treat. In a normal winter, she would have been unable to visit during February.

Maryruth managed to finish her quilt for her mother, and I managed to finish putting the last big border on my quilt on the day that she left. It will take 9 yards of fabric to back my quilt. At 12.99 per yard, that was a bit daunting, in addition to the cost of having it quilted. I certainly wouldn’t attempt something this big on my own. Found a perfect batik online for 5.99 a yard so problem solved. maryruths first quilt (1 of 5)

With Maryruth gone, I now have five days to myself here at home, hoping to do some of the detailed chores that I don’t do when Mo is around. Who knows why. It is nice having alone time to catch up on details, but I will definitely be happy when Mo returns next week. Managing the fire alone is a full time job. It seems I am either starting, stoking, taking away ashes, or bringing up another load of wood all day long. Mo does most of the fire management when she is here and I help out a bit, but I can see now that what I do isn’t nearly enough.

Today I am dealing with “stuff”. We have a five year plan, and sometime during the next five years, I will have to move my stuff. I really need to get it more organized. I can’t believe how it gets away from me. I am fairly well organized, but there are places where that breaks down, such as the office drawers. I also have a couple of drawers for crafting, and of course I have bins of yarn for knitting and many containers of fabric for quilting. I am not quite sure how this stuff keeps multiplying, maybe it is those trips to the quilt shops.

So today, I decided that I would try to go through the office “stuff”. Most of it has been in a small set of drawers beneath my desk, but it seems that I never actually get into those drawers for anything. Scotch tape, scissors, a bazillion pens and pencils, who knows if they work, and a whole lot of other little thingies that I have no clue what to do with except I can’t quite bring myself to throw it all away. Ocean Dreams in the Desert (4 of 4)

I started the project, and then in frustration gave up. Here is the result! It is packed and ready for the next stop, and someday maybe I’ll get the nerve to try to figure it out one more time, or just throw it all away. I can hear you laughing from here. Ocean Dreams in the Desert (3 of 4)

As the evening progresses, the rain/snow/sleet spitting continues. Predictions of an inch of snow at our elevation for tonight, but I’ll believe it when I see it. Can you imagine, no snow all winter and it shows up at the end of February?

01-18-2015 Nevada City and Oroville and time with friends

Current Location: Rocky Point Oregon

no snow winter 2 (6 of 6) Talking about the weather is silly. There is no snow, there is no rain, there is no winter to speak of anywhere to be found in our part of the world. Crazy. The skies are cold but clear tonight. The thermometer might drop a bit below freezing before morning, but c’mon…is this really what January is supposed to look like in Rocky Point? no snow winter 2 (1 of 6)

It usually looks more like this around here in January.

Happy New Year's Eve But with snow like that I would be shoveling and blowing the pathways and complaining about the ice on the driveway. We were gone for three months in winter of 2014, and heard rumors that there wasn’t much snow then either, but it is surprising that the lack of snow is still persisting. Water? Snow pack? Drought? Those thoughts lie in the background as we enjoy the moderately warm, snowless winter. Maybe it will snow in April as it usually does. Just in time for Easter.

Leaving the gorgeous sunny skies of the Mojave Desert and Joshua Tree NP was tough. I needed to be home, but that didn’t make the journey any more enticing. As we approached the western slope of the Sierras crossing the Tehachapi Pass on Highway 58, we could see the thick blanket of gray brown smog/fog hanging low over the Great Central Valley. Didn’t look a bit different than it did when we passed this same way two weeks ago.

The distance to Orange Grove RV park from Joshua Tree is a short 200 miles. Of course we could have traveled farther, but why? Why go beyond the waiting oranges! I have to confess, I did take more than the loudly proclaimed one bag limit. Signs everywhere said that limit would be “strictly enforced”. I am sure they are talking to someone other than me, right? Maybe the signs are for those greedy people who might try to pick bags and bags of the sweet things and sell them on the side of the road. The sign wasn’t for me, the innocent little old lady from Oregon who just wanted an extra bag to share with friends along my route home, right? heading south_008DSC_0008

I remember blogland a long time ago when someone, can’t even remember who, “stole” oranges from a tree along side of the road. Lots of moral lectures resulted from that little confession. I am a good, mostly honest person. Just don’t let me near your orange trees.

The park was about 1/3 full when we arrived, but by dark every single space was filled. I would highly recommend getting a reservation if you are a big rig and intend to stay in the park en route or returning from the desert. Seems as though the snow birds have found it and keep it very busy.

Once again we drove north along I-5 on a Saturday, leaving at 6:30 AM so that we could get all the way to the Grass Valley County fairgrounds before nightfall. Just 370 miles or so, but that is still a long day for us. The fog was thick when we gassed up at the Bakersfield Costco for a measly 2.06 per gallon for regular gas. Who knows how long those prices will last, but we sure enjoyed them on this trip.

After a somewhat long and boring day traveling north, the fog lifted and we whizzed through Sacramento traffic onto the 80 and then north on Highway 49 to Grass Valley/Nevada City. The two gold towns in the Mother Lode country of California are not far apart. Our friends Jimmie and Nickie, are living in Nevada City, and in spite of their generous offer of driveway hospitality, we thought it would be smart to park the rig down the hill at the Nevada County Fairgrounds.

Visiting Jimmie and Nickie (47 of 49) It is a fairly nice park, as fairground camping goes, and in no time we were set up and on our way up the hill to Jimmie and Nickie’s lovely home on a lava cap ridge of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Just high enough in elevation to be out of the poison oak but not into deep long lasting snow. Perfect.

Nickie told me that when they walked into the house, within minutes, they knew it was the one. I had an experience like that once myself, when I stepped into my little bungalow in Klamath Falls back in 2002. Within 24 hours I had an accepted offer and that little home now shelters my daughter and her family after some delightful years sheltering me.

Nickie and I have kept up our correspondence after meeting in person a couple of years ago…neither of us could believe it had been two years since we met, but it has. Thank goodness for the blog where I could check out the original date of our delightful get together the first time. Walking into their home is so comfortable and their hospitality is wonderful.

I have seen photos of their canal walk, and was delighted to have Nickie suggest that we get a bit of movement in before dinner walking the canal. What a great place close to home to get in daily walks. The water was a bit low, but I could see what a shady retreat this pathway would be on a hot summer day.

Another walker took some photos of all of us together (thanks for this photo, Nickie), and the happy smiles on our faces just gives a hint at how much fun we were having.

Visiting Jimmie and Nickie (12 of 49) Later Nickie treated us to a wondrous supper of hand made spinach rolls smothered in her very own home canned marinara sauce, and a Caesar salad drenched in the fabulous dressing from the restaurant we had visited two years ago. Fresh steamed broccoli and artisan bread rounded out the perfect meal. Jimmie is so funny and friendly and kind, and he and Nickie are so much fun to be around. I just love how they treat each other with such love and respect. It is a joy.

My favorite part of the evening was listening to the stories of how Nickie and Jimmie met and their travels and how they found their homes. Flow! These two definitely know how to live in the Flow of life at its finest. The best indication of the great time we had showed on the clock when Mo and I finally drove back down the hill to the MoHo. It was almost 11 PM when we got to bed. Geez! We are early birds most of the time.

The next morning, with a brilliant sun bursting forth, we met again for a morning walk around the fairgrounds. Nickie has a great sense of humor, although the wet bleacher seats weren’t exactly to her liking, but she wanted a photo in the bleachers, so I obliged.

I also got a kick out of taking pictures of Nickie herding geese. She kept saying, “They love me!”. I am sure that they did.

Visiting Jimmie and Nickie (45 of 49) We drove the short distance to Nevada City and a wonderful breakfast at the South Pine Cafe. The food was incredible, and my choice was a lobster scramble with lots of mushrooms and avocados and Jalapeño Hollandaise! It was even good when I ate the other half for breakfast the next day! Once again, the fact that we were having a great time was evident as we lingered over our breakfast table long after the meal was finished. Hard to say goodbye to such great people.

Of course, we had other great people waiting for us in Oroville, so we buttoned up the rig and took the back road from Grass Valley to Oroville via a road that I would NOT recommend, but it was fun.

The sun was brilliant in Nevada City, but by the time we dropped down the hill just enough to reach Oroville, the fog was again shrouding the landscape. Spare me from California Valley fogs!! ick! That gray line you see on the horizon is the thick fog down in Oroville and the valley!

We camped once again at the Feather Falls Casino, not a cheap night by any means at $47 per night with no discounts. Still, it was an easy hookup, a nice park that we like, and just minutes from Maryruth and Gerald’s home up the hill. Readers know that Maryruth is my very best friend of more than 50 years. It is always wonderful to see her and her husband Gerald, and to visit their home.

Maryruth has a new sewing machine and has completed more decorating projects in her home that I wanted to see. After the look arounds, we drove down the hill again to her mother’s house, who has lived in Oroville for more than 50 years. It was great seeing the family, people I have known and loved as my own family for all these years.

Later, Maryruth and Gerald took us to their friends winery, The Purple Line Urban Winery, right in downtown Oroville, and we sampled some great wines, including something called “Red Panties”. We then ambled on to Papacito’s Mexican Grill and Cantina where I finally got my urge for some really GOOD Mexican food fully satisfied. What a great little place with excellent food! Their tortilla soup was the best I have ever had anywhere.

Once again we made it back home to the rig at a very late hour, proof of our wonderful time spent with good friends. In case you are wondering where the photos are for this part of the visit, Maryruth did that thing when I pulled out the camera…”Oh Sue…Really?!?!” So I put the thing away and didn’t take a single photo of our visit. Only once, and only for you, Maryruth. Next time I am taking photos!!

Because I honored Maryruth’s request, Instead of photos of Maryruth and Gerald and their wonderful home, the winery and the wonderful food, you get to see a photo of my daughter with her three little grandbabies, my youngest great-grandchildren.

01-15-2015 Joshua Tree Heaven

Current Location: Rocky Point Oregon Current temperature: 45 degrees F and clear

Can you see all the magical people in this pile of rocks? Look close.

When Judy (bird lady of blogland) and I were visiting, we talked about our blogging habits and one of the thoughts that came up was how important it is to write when everything is fresh. Some folks are diligent about this, writing everything on the same day in first person present tense. Others are the opposite extreme, waiting sometimes months to get back to a special trip with tons of information and magnificent photos.

I fall somewhere in between. If we are traveling, I try hard to keep up, but on almost every extended outing, I’ll get behind. Such is the case today. I am once again at home, sitting at the office window looking out through the forest, trying to slip back into how it felt to be camping in the dry sunny almost warmth of Joshua Tree National Park.

Mo and I love to visit Joshua Tree. In 2008, when we first brought the MoHo home to Oregon from Texas, we stopped for a a bit of exploring around the Joshua Tree campgrounds, and almost got ourselves into a tight situation on one of the Jumbo Rocks campground loops.

In 2013, even though we were camped at Desert Hot Springs, we spent some time exploring the National Park and loved every minute of it. I made a mental note that we should try to camp in Jumbo Rocks campground on our trip south in 2014. My planning wasn’t too great, however, since we arrived on New Years Day, and the campground, which has no reservations, was jam packed for the holiday.

We solved that problem with a terrific time boondocking outside the park just south of the southern entrance, within view of I-10. What a great way to see in the new year.

This year, we saved our Joshua Tree time for last. It was hard leaving Arizona after such a short time, but miscellaneous home issues required that we get back on the road north in short order. Finally, after all these years, we managed a night of beautiful dry camping in the Jumbo Rocks Campground at Joshua Tree National Park.

I somehow expected that in mid January, after all the holidays were over, the park would be quiet. While it was much quieter than last year, there were still many people exploring, and we were lucky to find a spot long enough for the MoHo when we arrived around 3 in the afternoon. With a short stop in Quartzite, I was still drooling over some of the new Class A rigs that we toured at La Mesa RV. In spite of all that glass, and all that space, I still love tucking my little 26 footer into tight spaces in national parks, state parks, and forest service campgrounds.

The campground is long, with winding roads and a few side loops, but the majority of sites are sized for tent camping. Sites that are large enough for bigger rigs are built parallel to the road, and require some forethought and jockeying to settle in properly.

We figured out that in order to get our slide out on the private side away from the road, we would have to park facing the opposite direction and accept the slight inconvenience of the doorway opening directly into the road.

It worked out just fine, but I wouldn’t have wanted to be any longer. There were a few big rigs in some of the areas at the far end of the park, but I would imagine that they had to wait around to get a site big enough to accommodate their size.

Both of us have always wanted to camp among the beautiful boulders, and with our windows opening up to a giant jumbled pile of wonderfulness, we watched the evening light shifting colors on the granite, and the next morning enjoyed the changing light of sunrise.

The night was cold, with frost on the car when morning broke. There were people in tents nearby and I was reminded of days camping in cold tents and warm sleeping bags, trying to keep warm making coffee over the fire. Such luxury. I snuggled back into the down comforter, enjoying the morning with no hurry to beat the sunrise. I planned to hike, but I didn’t need to do it while the frost was still hanging around.

The other interesting tidbit about Jumbo Rocks is the generator rules. Generators can be run from 7 to 9 am, from 12 to 2 pm, and from 6 to 8 pm. Different. We still had a good charge, even with our furnace running, but it was nice to top it off with an hour of generator time around 9 am before we took off hiking.

The hike to Skull Rock from the campground is well marked, however it was easy to wind between the rocks from our campsite until we intercepted the trail meandering east toward the attraction. At only 1.3 miles, when we found Skull Rock, we weren’t ready to quit, so Mo and I wandered around the boulders for a time, enjoying all the shapes and shadows of the crazy beautiful landscape.

What a wonderful place! In all our years passing by this trailhead, we had never actually seen Skull Rock. I had no clue until we almost ran into it that the famous face is very close to the parking area right on the main park road.

This section of Joshua Tree is filled with fantasmagoric boulders that people young and old love to climb and explore. It is almost like a giant jungle gym for grownups, or maybe not so grownups. We saw some teenagers doing scary things on high boulders that made me wonder if this park has a high incidence of injuries and rescues. We everything from old folks meandering around the rocks to the aforementioned teenagers, to professional free climbers with some equipment, and other climbers with a ton of equipment. Joshua Tree Morning (33 of 54)

Once again, we passed many sights on our way out that reminded us to put at least a week of dry camping here on the agenda the next time we travel south in the winter. Joshua Tree Morning (14 of 54)

As I was walking along behind Mo in the morning sunlight, I felt myself slip into a state of wonder that is a bit hard to fathom or explain. I was just so incredibly happy, so very much in that moment, so high on the light and the rocks and the sandy trail in front of me. I hope I can remember that moment at times when I am feeling low or bored with the everydayness of life in general. Moments like that are rare and wonderful. Most of the time I am in good spirits, but this was somehow different. Call it Bliss, I suppose, I was there!

We had a wonderful breakfast, a wonderful hike, and a wonderful morning to slip under the belt before we had to leave the clear beautiful desert behind us and head west into the foggy dreariness of the Central Valley of California. Only thing that made the drive tolerable was the anticipation of spending time with friends on our way home.

Next: Visiting Jimmie and Nickie in Nevada City!