Harriman Spring – The MoHo and Other Traveling Tales

September Transitions, and some Fabulous Visits from Fabulous Folks

Current Location: Rocky Point, Oregon with blue bird skies and 41 Degrees F at 10AM

Deer in the back yard here in Rocky Point. Good thing I have a deer repellent that works.

It has been an interesting year for me. A time of decisions, transitions, changes, and progress. When my birthday rolls around, I like to take a few moments to re-evaluate. Turning 70 is a milestone, one that seemed an anti-climax after thinking I was “almost” 70 for so long that when it happened, it didn’t seem all that different.

I had a great birthday, made more so my social media, Facebook of all things. I love getting birthday cards, but the plethora of greetings that come my way from all over the country and even far parts of the world really add a celebratory air to the day, even one spent doing errands. Of course, the errands in town were topped by a celebratory cocktail at the luxe Basin Martini Bar right in Klamath Falls, and tasty tapas for supper. Lots of cards, fabulous presents, phone calls, a wonderful day. Lucky me.

More is on the agenda in the coming two weeks, but that story will come later. For now, my big job is to try to track what has happened and where we have been during the last few weeks since I last had time to write. Thank goodness for calendars and photos, or I wouldn’t have a clue where to start.

After our visit with Judy early in August, we spent much of the month working in earnest at the apartments and in Grants Pass. It seemed as though every day we were driving one place or the other with tight schedules, deadlines, meeting contractors and realtors.

The realtor part was a bit tiresome, because in spite of the fact that I sold my house on Painter in 11 days, the closing hasn’t been so timely. Once again we were delayed by the big California lender, with more requests showing up even after I had signed my part of the closing. After the last snafu, where we all decided to start over with a new lender and a closing date in December, some details shifted, and once again closing is imminent. We will see. Getting close to being done (16 of 35)

The rest of the projects were incredibly successful. The apartment painting project is at last completed, and looks great. Did the final walk around this week with our contractor, who does great work if always a bit behind schedule. The flooring project was completed through Home Depot, a process that entailed repeated trips to the store in town, myriad phone calls between shippers, installers, coordinator, schedulers and such. What a process! Still, the contractor also did a great job and we love the results.

The apartment is at last completed and ready for us to begin moving in some of our furniture. We have tentatively planned to have it habitable by November.

The Grants Pass cottage was also part of our projects. With the high heat and low water well numbers, we make it a point to return at least every week or ten days to spend 2 or 3 nights there. My biggest job is moving the single water hose, attempting to keep the few plants alive and healthy. The grass is doing fine with the daily watering at 2GPM that I have set up on a timer.

Exciting forthcoming project for the cottage is the installation of a new water holding cistern, scheduled in mid October. Once that is completed, we will be able to set up timers and sprinklers for more areas on the property without worrying about running the well dry. Grants Pass water is notorious for salts and iron, but we won’t bother setting up filtration systems until we have a new house to protect once we move there for good.

In the mean time, Mo is working on all sorts of projects, including clearing out the main part of the old building she plans to use as a workshop. She tore out the old windows to make more storage space, re-worked and removed a bunch of old cabinets to build a workbench, and managed to install a nice window air conditioner that Melody gave to us when she moved out of the Painter Street house. Yay!

On an earlier visit we cleared out all the old stacked carpets in the mud room, cleaned up and painted it, and Mo fashioned new frames for the door and window from some old wood she had on hand. Looks great. Every project we do at the cottage must be tested against our willingness to see it come crashing down when it is time to raze the cottage and build the new house.

Lots of wood working stuff over there to keep Mo happy for years to come!

I haven’t quilted a thing. The sewing machine managed to come out for a few days while I worked on my first quilted clothing project, a jacket I plan to use for traveling. It was so much fun, but oh my, don’t let anyone look at it too closely. So many mistakes, and I learned so very much about what NOT to do when making a quilted jacket. Photos of this little project will probably show up in the next posts which will be sometime after early October.

MoHo traveling has been on hold as well, with our last trip to Waldo Lake the last time we tucked away in our cozy rolling home. Both of us are getting serious hitch-itch, day dreaming about the time when we will get that baby rolling again for something longer than the trip back and forth to Grants Pass now and then.

With all the work we were doing, Mo and I still managed some fun times during August. Melody and her clan, along with the new guy in her life came out for a great family day/BBQ with us and we laughed ourselves silly playing Bocci ball on the very sloping lawn. Mo and I took a break to chase down the SuperMoon rising over the boat launch in Rocky Point, a quiet and lovely moment in the midst of all the busy days.

I spent a lot of time walking Mattie, who seems to think that our long walks are the perfect time to find the biggest thing possible to carry home. She carried this bone for more than 3 miles, and it was worth it, because I think two weeks later there are still remnants of it lying around the house.

Daughter Melody is one of the lead stars in the play Chicago, put on by our Klamath Falls Linkville Theater. I have tickets for the closing show in October, but decided that I had to see it before then, so I’ll be in the audience tonight, in the front row. I have heard my daughter sing “All That Jazz” for years, but never starring as Velma on the stage. I am thrilled!

As the month of September continued, however, all work stopped. For some reason, all our friends who had promised visits seemed to converge at once on Rocky Point in the first week of September. We knew Phil and Joanne were coming, and I had scheduled Jeanne’s visit for months. But suddenly Jimmy and Nickie were heading our way and I was not about to miss time with them. To add to the fun, an old friend from my working days in the 80’s in Idaho retired, and called to say she would like to stop in and say Hi. I hadn’t seen Marti in 40 years maybe? so of course I wasn’t going to say no.

Scheduling all worked out perfectly, in the long run, with one set of folks replaced by another set within hours, and sometimes overlapping.

First to join us were Phil and Joanne from Eugene. Our history goes way way back, to 1977, with some gaps in between, but you know how that can be with old friends. They came down on Labor Day weekend, and settled into the cabin before we had a make it yourself lunch of vegetarian wraps and fruit.

Our destination that first afternoon was a six mile round trip hike on the southeast side of Fourmile Lake, just west of Rocky Point near the Cascade crest and into the Sky Lakes Wilderness. We had a wonderful time on a lovely hike that meandered around Fourmile Lake with views of Mt McLoughlin, and a final destination of Badger Lake.

We earned our supper, and enjoyed the planked salmon, zuchinni rice ( a new recipe I love with shredded uncooked zukes added to hot rice, corn, black beans, and peppers), cole slaw from an ancient recipe Joanne remembers from the 80s, and my favorite dessert to make, a French Apple Gallette.

The next day was supposed to be hot, so we planned to get out on the water early. Phillip is a great cook, and I remember the days when we shared working weeks at the Forest Service work center and Phil would make huge breakfasts, eating three times what I ate and staying skinny forever. He is still pretty darn slim, but maybe the marathons have something to do with it. Hartwig making eggs before we left (1 of 1)

I made the potatoes but Phil scrambled the eggs with leftover salmon, cilantro and who knows what else. They were so good and I don’t even like eggs.

We decided to kayak from the main dock in Rocky Point, traveling southward toward Harriman Springs so that they could get used to paddling on flat water and not be out too terribly long.

We were treated to lots of pelicans and smooth silky water and Joanne, unused to all that shoulder work, did just fine. As often happens when we introduce folks to paddling, by the time we were done they were asking about kayaks. Of course, Joanne is hoping for a tandem kayak so she can ride in the back and Phil won’t know when she isn’t paddling.

Melody and Robert drove out from Klamath Falls just in time to see Phil and Joanne and take a little paddle of their own on the bay. Joanne and Melody figured out that they hadn’t seen each other since Melody was just 16!

That evening we decided to try out the Harriman Resort for dinner. The resort is still trying to get it’s sea legs and still doesn’t have a liquor license. Instead we shared a great bottle of wine before we left, and trundled down the few hundred yards to the restaurant.

It was an interesting experience. The restaurant is beautiful, and we all ordered halibut, which was quite tasty. However, Phil and Joanne are fish only people and the garlic mashed potatoes came smothered in a rich, dark beef gravy!! Now what chef puts beef gravy on a fish plate! The waitress was quick and accommodating and the offending gravy was gone when the fresh plates were quickly replaced.

We rounded out the evening with our favorite Racehorse dominoes before everyone crashed happy, tired and satiated from too much food and laughter.

I think I’ll continue the rest of the story in the next blog since this just keeps on going and I want to share all the photos.

Next: Jeanne arrives from Vermont and Nickie and Jimmy arrive from points north

July Fourth

In Rocky Point, Oregon Sunny and Clear Current temperature 70F Hi today 86F Low today 59F

I know I must say this every year, but I LOVE the Fourth of July. No reason that makes any sense, I love my country, but I don’t get excited just because she is having a birthday. I just love the day. I have “issues” around it. If I am somewhere my family is not, I will get as weepy as a kid at Christmas without Santa. My kids know this about me and just shake their heads. Even truck driving daughter Deanna has managed to surprise me with a July Fourth visit now and then from half way across the country. My kids remember two things, I am sure. Potato salad and sack races. They all hated those dang silly yard games that I made them play when we all got together for the holiday picnic.

Grandpa Lance with Matthew and Steven on the 4th at Tubbs Hill in 1986

Back when they were younger, and we all lived in or near Coeur d’ Alene, we would pack a picnic and hike around Tubb’s Hill to watch the fireworks over the lake. There are family stories that have grown to mythic proportions about those hikes to the lake, and then the hikes back around in the dark to the car. Just a couple of miles, with flashlights, and lots of people. It was fun. I was insistent that we have a picnic, no matter the weather, and there were some very wet, very rainy picnics on a blanket under the big red wagon in Riverfront Park. Our favorite family story includes a rainy hike around the hill and a place we dubbed Guacamole Cave, named for our snack entertainment while we waited out the storm on the way to the lake. My husband Lance was alive, my two little grandsons were just 3, and now they are both 30 years old. It was a different world and a different life, but we still have potato salad!

Guacamole Cave on Tubb’s Hill (our own personal name of course)

In recent years, since I have been in Klamath Falls, we have trundled ourselves downtown to enjoy the local parade, and then waited for the very late fireworks over Lake Ewauna, with varying degrees of delight. Sometimes the midges are out, sometimes the wind blows too hard for the big booms to make it high enough over the trees. Sometimes it is hot. Sometimes it is wonderful. This year I didn’t care how wonderful it might be, I just decided that maybe the potato salad and family games on the cool green lawn in the cool Rocky Point shade would be enough. It was. In fact, it was very nearly perfect.

Mo and I were recuperating in the quiet house this morning and she said to me, “You know, I think this was the best Fourth of July ever”. I couldn’t agree more. Of course, there was an extra little treat that made it even more special. I got to have TWO daughters here instead of my loyal youngest who lives nearby. My eldest daughter Deborah has returned to Oregon, and was here for the holiday. In fact, she is now settled into the cottage for the time being, as she readjusts her life and leaves Texas behind. She loved some of Texas, in fact she loved most of Texas, but other parts of the situation weren’t acceptable, and she decided the best place to be was home near family. Mo and I never intended the cottage to be a place to live, but we still have been fixing it up so it was perfect for Deb. We now have a caretaker, and with the third interview in the works for a local Grants Pass job, Deb may just be settling in to an even better situation in the near future.

Of course, with family coming, all the little places we have around for people to stay needed a bit of sprucing up. We spent several days over at the cottage working on details. Mo fixed doorknobs, made sure the plumbing was all working properly, made drawings of which plugs were on which circuits, and I raked. I discovered that those beautiful madrones, evergreen leathery leaves, drop big batches of old yellow leaves as the new leaves emerge, meaning I get to rake that acre in June as well as in the fall! Oh, wait….Deb is there now!

We also have the little cabin here at Rocky Point, next to the house, and it is a great place for Melody’s family to stay when they visit. It even has its very own composting toilet, a nice little kitchen and refrigerator, and hot water heater. We love having people stay there, and it is nice to open it up and freshen the air, and dust the cobwebs away.

Gardening has taken a big priority this time of year as well, and the flowers are just now coming into full bloom. The incredibly hot weather we had last week has dissipated and now we are back to cool nights and mornings and days in the low 80’s with bluebird skies. Ahh….perfect. Of course, with all these projects going on, quilting has taken a very back back seat in the list of priorities.

Melody came with her family the night before the 4th and we celebrated the beginning of the holiday morning with a big pancake breakfast. Even though the heat has lessened a bit, it was still a good idea to get out on the lake before the sun was high and hot, and we were on the water in the 4 kayaks before 9. It was a perfect morning paddle with me, Melody, Xavier, and Axel while Mo waited back at home for Deb to arrive.

We paddled south into Pelican Bay from the Rocky Point launch with a plan to continue into the Harriman Spring run and then back out through the marsh into Klamath Lake.

The spring run was gorgeous, and we saw pelicans, cormorants, lots of common terns, several great egrets, a few blue herons, Canada geese, and a beautiful osprey who posed nicely, and a beaver who was too fast for me.

Xavier has only paddled once before but by the time we finished our 2.5 hour trip he was leading the pack.

We couldn’t find our way to the lake through the vegetation, even though the water was high enough, but the wocus and rushes and tules were just too thick to paddle through easily so we backtracked to Harriman Spring.

When we returned, Deb was relaxed in the living room, and after putting the final finishes on the potato salad I went out for another 2 hour paddle with a different group. Melody and I went out with Mo and Deb and went the opposite direction, south into Pelican Bay and through the marsh back to Harriman Spring.

This time we made it through, but it was interesting to see just how different the trip can be depending on the time of day. The morning was still and full of reflections and the afternoon had fewer birds and a lot more wind. Both trips were wonderful and by the time we all got back to the house we were ready to fire up the bbq for burgers and POTATO SALAD! Yum.

On the previous evening we pulled out the Bocci Ball set and played some good games with Melody and the kids, so we were ready to redeem ourselves again with another round on the grass. Bocci is so much fun, very little equipment needed, just those balls and a place to throw them. By the time we finished the last game and Melody and her family departed for Klamath Falls, we all felt perfectly satisfied with our family fourth.

I didn’t hear a sound out here. Fireworks aren’t allowed in the forest, and even on the private land I think most folks care about the fire danger and don’t want to jeopardize our beautiful forest home. I love fireworks, but I surely didn’t miss waiting around until 10:30 at night for them to start, fighting the traffic, and then driving home around the lake near midnight. Deb spent the night here before going home. I can’t say just how much I missed her. Even though we were as close as the phone and email, Texas is still a very long distance and knowing she is just over the mountain is soul satisfying in a deep way. Two out of four kids close by is a pretty good ratio, I think, in this day of dispersed families.

We are now planning for a short trip next week when I will finally get to visit the famous Sisters quilt show. Roger and Nancy (Mo’s brother and SIL) will be sharing that with us, and after the show we will all go up into the Newberry Crater east of Bend for a couple of days camping at East Paulina Lake. Excited about that one. I remember the last time I was there it was raining, but I had a magical kayak trip one evening with fish jumping all around me and practically jumping into my boat. I also know now where the lakeside hot springs are located and plan to check them out.

I am still making progress on our plans for next winter, and with the help of some blogger friends have managed to get plans and reservations firmed up as far as the end of January and South Padre Island. The planning process, especially so far out in time, seems a bit daunting to me, especially with the necessity to know where we will be in February in Florida so I can make reservations there. We traveled all of Alaska for almost two months without reservations, but I don’t think that would be very smart in Florida that time of year. Of course, the Military Fam Camp in Key West, our most distant destination, doesn’t take reservations anyway, but I still need to have a general idea of when we will be there.

A couple of weeks ago I was incredibly stressed, going through all sorts of stuff with kids and such, and a friend listened to me saying, “I know it sounds trite, but it will pass”. You were so right, dear friend, it has passed. It all worked itself through, the daughter is here, the kids are fine, and I am back to enjoying my lovely little stress free life of retirement! Good advice!!