The MoHo and Other Traveling Tales

The Applegate Wine Trail

applegate wine trail I enjoy a good glass of wine, two buck chuck or a really fine glass of Pinot Noir, it’s all fun. I spent a lot of years in California, and went wine tasting with friends in the Napa Valley when tastings were free. I am certainly not educated about wine, and usually have to read the label to know what I am supposed to be thinking when I taste something. My palate is just barely sophisticated enough to recognize oak-ey, which I love, and a few others now and then. Going wine tasting always seems to be a bit more than I want to tackle on my own, and Mo and I will drop into a tasting room now and then if it isn’t pretentious and looks like fun.

Enter our neighbors and friends, Wes and Gayle. We couldn’t ask for better neighbors, but I am a bit sorry that they are only here in the summertime. The advantage of this is that we can visit their gorgeous Tucson home during the winter months if we get down that way. Having them here in the summer is great for selfish reasons as well, since they are our house sitters when we are gone and Wes does a mean job of taking care of the lawns.

Wes and Gayle know how to travel and how to have fun, and one of the things they do periodically is travel the Applegate Wine Trail between Medford and Grants Pass. We all decided to spend a sunny summer day together enjoying the beautiful vineyards and wineries on the Applegate. It was fun for us since Wes did the driving and they both know the area well, including which wineries we wouldn’t want to miss and which ones might be something to save for the next trip.

beautiful gardens at the Fiasco Winery I spent most of the day in awe of the incredibly gorgeous blue skies, with just enough puffy clouds to make it interesting, breathing in the fresh air and trying to capture the brilliance of the summery moments with my camera. I couldn’t capture the smell of the grape vines, and hard as I tried, I couldn’t capture the feel of the summer breezes filled with the fragrance of rich soil, moist riverbanks, lush flowers, and leaf heavy maples, oaks, sweet gums, and all the other unnamed deciduous trees we can’t grow on our side of the mountain.

Of course, the happy ambience created by a few tastings of vino certainly added to the warm, fuzzy feelings that I carried around with me all afternoon. Spending time with good friends doing happy things was wonderful as well.

We started at the southern end of the valley, near Ruch, Oregon, just a few miles west of Medford and Jacksonville. Valley View Winery was one of the first in the Applegate, and while the website says it was first established in the 1850’s, the attendants mentioned that when they opened their tasting room in the early 70’s they were one of only 4 wineries in the valley. Now there are 20 and more coming every year.

inside the Fiasco Winery is a very nice raked gravel floor I discovered that the websites tell what the tasting room policy is for tasting fees, which might have been nice to know ahead of time. Wes and Gayle thought that almost all the wineries they visited a couple of years ago had no fees, however things have changed as the Applegate catches up to the rest of the wine tasting world. Still, a few had no charge for tasting, and a few refunded the tasting charge with a purchase, and the standard $5. fee was certainly less than the $25 and more fees in Napa or Sonoma.

While searching about for the winery links, I also found this little treasure about Tasting Room Etiquette. Might have been a good idea to read this before we embarked on our day trip!

there is a book, After a lovely flight of whites and reds, and a purchase of a 2006 Anna Maria Cabernet, we ambled on down the road to the Fiasco Winery. I am not quite sure how the name came to be, but with another tasting fee and an attendant who wasn’t quite as personable, we decided that we were happy enough to check out the tasting room and move on to the next winery.

The best part of Fiasco was the winery dog, and in their tasting room shop was a little book called “Every Winery has a Dog”, with some great photos and stories of the companion dogs that many wine makers seem to have. We even met a few more as we continued on our way.

The prettiest winery, a new one called the Red Lily, just opened last fall With a few stops in between, we came to the newer and incredibly lovely Red Lily Vineyards . Only opening their tasting room last fall, they have been making excellent wines for several years from their own vineyards around the valley.

The grounds were gorgeous, and the attendants delightful. We tried a taste of their beautiful and tasty Lily Girl Rose and decided it would be the perfect choice for our picnic wine for the day. I am still wishing that I had purchased a few bottles of that lovely summer wine, but I’ll know where to find it.

Gayle had come prepared with a wonderful spread of cheeses, crackers and flat breads, amazing gourmet pickles, olives and a feta olive oil garlic spread she had made, all with fine little dishes and pretty napkins. The winery has a delightful picnic area by the river with shady tables and a bandstand for music. They even provided us with a bucket of ice and glasses to enjoy our purchase with lunch.

After our relaxing and tasty repast we ambled on up the highway to Gayle and Wes’s favorite winery, the big old barn housing the tasting room for Bridgeview Vineyards and Winery. With no tasting fee here we enjoyed a flight of excellent, very reasonably priced wines, and discovered the great Pinot Gris and Dry Reisling that the valley had made famous. After another purchase of some nice wines, I walked around in the vineyards trying once again to capture the feeling of that air and light. Impossible.

and a winery cat In our happy haze ( the girls, not the driver!) we continued north along the east side of the valley to Wooldridge Creek Vineyards and Winery. We had all decided that perhaps we had tasted enough but that didn’t dampen our enjoyment of the beautiful grounds and tasting room. Again we met a winery dog and even a winery cat.

Passing several more vineyards, we stopped in at Troon Vineyard to check out the digs and appreciate the beautiful gardens and vines. Skipping the tastings for the rest of the afternoon was just fine. After awhile it all starts to run together and I have no idea how you could keep on tasting all day. Must take practice!

We ended the afternoon at the Schmidt Family Vineyards , another of the oldest in the valley and possibly the most beautiful gardens of any of them.

The tasting room was constructed in the old roundhouse for the railroad that once traversed the property and was gorgeous.

The porches were cool and inviting, with views of the gardens and many comfy chairs and tables set about for relaxing with a glass of wine, or just relaxing and enjoying the conversation and the views. Once again I tried to take photos of the breeze. I am sure some great photographer knows just how to do this, but not me. Still, when I look at the photo, I remember that warm breeze even if no one else has a clue.

I took a LOT of photos, and if you want to check them out they are here.

Here is the google map of our little day trip in case you are ever in Oregon and decide to do a little wine tasting in the lovely Applegate Valley.

our map with wes and gayle We are now packing up for our three week jaunt to Colorado, South Dakota and Wyoming and by this afternoon the lush green of Oregon will give way to the wide open deserts of northern Nevada as we head east on curvy Highway 140 and then south to Winnemucca. Yay! We are on the road again!!

From the Heart

“It shifted from being written directly to my family and friends to something with more explanation and less from the heart, if you know what I mean. “ “paying too much attention to the reader community and not enough to my own preferences. “

Words this morning from a trusted friend brought me up short. I know the feeling, and I fight it sometimes. Case in point: my last post and this one. There is enough going on around here that I have some things to write about, some life to share, and yet I found myself liking the way the last post looked so much that I didn’t want to upstage it with a new one that wouldn’t have those photos of my pelicans. Now just how silly is THAT?! Mo said, “Well, why don’t you just put the pelicans up on the header photo?” Yeah, ok, I’ll do that, and yet the thoughts behind why I didn’t want to write a new post were still somewhat interesting to me. Sounds like I may be slipping into what this friend described in that last sentence I quoted in the first paragraph!

My Goal: write from the heart. Write about stuff, explain stuff, but keep the heart in it. Write as if I were writing to a trusted friend. Of course, some stuff I wouldn’t even write to a trusted friend so I won’t write that part in here. Those parts are saved for private journals that even my kids will never see. The good thing about this goal is that when I go back and read (and I DO go back and read my own blog), it will be entertaining and fun, and will help me remember not only what I saw and what I did, but how I felt about it. At least that is the goal.

Personal journals, on the other hand, can be incredibly depressing to read later. I journal a lot when I am angry, depressed, or just plain falling apart. Not fun reading. On another note, I don’t seem to have a lot of personal journaling going on now as I did when I was younger. Life is less full of angst and worry and frustration. I guess after 66 years, it is about time, right?

I think especially of this kind of “from the heart” writing when I think of Sherry’s story of David’s journey. I have mentioned them often enough that anyone who reads my blog has probably found theirs. Good news today with 8 million stem cells in his collection! Then, again from the heart, Laurie Brown’s eulogy to her Dad. Semi-True Tales of the Road has been one of those that stands out so far above so many of us that it is hard to see it wind down a bit. The only blog I read for years, I still always watch for a post from Laurie. Many folks mentioned her great campground reviews, but when I think of Laurie, I think of great food stories, seriously funny moments (aka Desert Hot Springs), and the clay oven.

Speaking of bloggers, last week brought us another blogger meet-and-greet treat, with Merikay and Craig visiting our world. They spent a long time hiking the trails of Crater Lake, many that Mo and I who live an hour away have never traveled. Then they camped a couple of nights right here in Rocky Point, giving us the chance to get Merikay and Craig out on Recreation Creek in the kayaks.

I love showing someone how much fun it is to get out on the water in a kayak and this was no exception. We had a perfect day with water smooth as glass for our morning adventure. Getting into a kayak for the first time can be a bit daunting, and once out on the water, it sometimes takes a few moments to get used to that wiggly feeling. Within a short time though, that feeling goes away and your body settles into the balance much like it happens on a bicycle. We had a nice, short paddle for their first run, and I do hope they will try it again. It is such a great way to get up close to the birds and feel a silence on the water that is hard to find any other way.

A little benefit of blog meet-and-greets are the photos! Loree has photos of Jeana on her blog since they met up as Loree traveled east, and we got a great photo of Loree on Jeana’s blog as well. Now isn’t that just fabulous?! Somehow the photos that others take of you are quite a bit different than the ones you might put up on your own blog.

Later that afternoon I invited Merikay and Craig to the house for supper, along with our closest neighbors, Wes and Gayle, our Tucson friends who live here in the summer. We had appetizers on the porch, dinner inside at the dining table, and dessert back on the porch, all accompanied by a few different wines supplied by each of us. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, especially since hostessing a meal is a favorite thing for me to do. I was having so much fun I forgot to take photos of the table, the food, and my guests. I guess that is a good sign.

Fourth of July was wonderful. I do love the Fourth, not for any particularly patriotic reason, but for its ability to bring up happy childhood memories and to create small town joys. As I spent the morning making potato salad and meltingly perfect chocolate cupcakes, I remembered my foster mother, who loved all holidays and taught me to appreciate them with huge church picnics, decorations for everything, and always always great holiday food.

With Melody and family in town, Mo and I drove in for the celebrations. Klamath Falls once again scheduled the holiday parade for 5 in the evening, ending in Veteran’s Park, where the fireworks were scheduled to go off at ten pm when it is finally dark here. It is much nicer to have a later parade and only have to drive to town once. When the parade was in the morning, it was harder to figure out what to do with ourselves while we waited for the fireworks twelve hours later.

This time, the parade was nice, but I still wish we could get more marching bands to come. There was only one. Parades need music! There were lots of red white and blue decorations, however, and the Shriner guys in their little cars always make a parade seem like the real thing. Of course, seeing my son in law and my grandson representing the Klamath County Sheriff’s department was a treat. Kevin is a reserve deputy, and Elric got a big kick out of being in the cop car in the parade. UhOh. Elric is now Xavier, but I keep forgetting. I have no clue why teenagers think they have to change their names, but I am trying to get with the program. Seems to me that Elric is enough of an interesting name, but n-ooo-ooo. He has to make it more interesting! He is 13. What can I say…

Hillary/Axel (remember that other name change I mentioned in the last post?) spent most of the time between the parade and the fireworks volunteering for the face painting booth. Terrible me, I can’t remember what the booth was promoting, but it was some sort of socially redeemable venture, I am sure. We had fun watching her and as the evening wore on, the line grew exponentially. Word was getting around that she was painting some fairly radical faces, unlike the typical butterflies and such. Well, with a name like Axel, who would expect butterflies anyway?

By the time the fireworks started, we were all starting to get fairly chilled, but the bugs weren’t out this year so that was a blessing. Why don’t I remember that even if it is 90 during the day, the air will require sweats, jackets and even gloves by ten pm. I hate to say it, but when the fireworks began we were pretty disappointed. It may have been because of the high winds that evening, but once again the big booms couldn’t seem to rise above the trees lining the lakeshore at Veteran’s Park.

It made for some interesting photos, especially with the full moon rising right where the big fireworks were exploding, but it also made for a few unhappy folks hanging around all evening waiting. Next year we may just give it up and go check out the fireworks at Lake of the Woods, closer to home for us, but not part of that small town Klamath thing that we love.

I guess the small town Klamath thing means there isn’t enough money for a big town fireworks show.

The Delights of Traveling Close

Something wonderful happens when summer finally arrives. The family is nearby, the porch is inviting, the kayaks are waiting, the flowers are blooming. Ahhh. It takes a long time for summer to actually show up in this part of Oregon, but when it does, it is worth the wait. While most of the country swelters and much of the west in on fire, here the mornings are still cool, the nights chilly enough for a comforter, and the daytime temperatures are in the mid 70’s. That is a Rocky Point summer.

My daughter was blessed with a three day weekend and if you remember how life is when you are all working full time, it takes a couple of days to catch up on chores at home. The three day weekend gave her a chance to play, and this time their version of play was a night at the Casa del Sol (our little cabin by the house), with burgers on the grill, marshmallows in the wood stove, and a morning on the water with mom. Somehow busy-ness gets in the way of recreation, and I have only had my grandkids out in the kayaks a few times. I love seeing the look on Hillary’s (who is changing her name to Axel but I still am not “there” yet) face when she gets on the water. She loves it. Melody kept exclaiming, “This is amazing, Mom, this is amazing!”. Grandson Elric chose to hang out at home in the cabin with dad and when Melody, Hillary, and I returned we were treated to a great late brunch cooked up by the son-in-law and grandson.

Good things do come to an end, and the kids headed back to town. Of course, for Mo and I it didn’t matter that it was Sunday night. Mo wandered off to a place we have wanted to camp for a few years and never remember. She called me and said, “Why don’t you meet me and Abby out here at Eagle Ridge, and maybe bring some supper?” Great plan again!

The last time we were at Eagle Ridge we still had the sailboat, and the winds were challenging as usual on these mountain lakes. Once again I remembered why we decided kayaking was easier than sailing! It is a lot easier to launch a kayak than a sailboat and even with all the paddling, it is a lot less work. Eagle Ridge is a Klamath county campground about half way between town and Rocky Point, maybe ten miles from home for us. There are a few primitive sites, no charge, no dump, no amenities except a great view of Shoalwater Bay, a launching dock, and sites right on the water.

The road to the park is about 4 miles of rough gravel and dirt, with not a few bumps, but the MoHo handled it just fine. No one else on the road to kick up gravel to worry about. Except for a couple of fishermen in the early evening, we had the place to ourselves.

Shoalwater Bay is on Klamath Lake proper, and the native algae that our lake has made famous was in evidence. Great kayaking, but probably not something to swim in. It is perfectly safe, but green. I think there is a Blue-Green algae company that is still making a good profit from Klamath Lake. I guess it is the reason our lake is so gorgeous and not surrounded by development. John C Fremont, back in 1857, said this lake wasn’t fit for a horse to drink. The algae is supported by all the natural phosphorus in the lake because of all the volcanic ash from Mt Mazama (Crater Lake) deposited several thousand years ago. The ambient phosphorus load is a big point of discussion about our lake, especially when trying to determine how much phosphorus is coming from the agricultural lands on the Sprague River which feeds the lake.

If you want to see incredibly clear blue water, just head up the hill to Crater Lake. Merikay and Craig are hiking there this week and have some really gorgeous photos of all that blue clarity. Notice, however, that all that clarity doesn’t do much for the water birds. On the other hand, here on Klamath Lake, water birds are everywhere. My favorite, and in my opinion the greatest of all, are the American white pelicans. They winter in Mexico and South America, but every year in March they return to Klamath Lake and the first pelican is the sign that spring is coming, much like the first crocus. They have a 9 foot wing span, and fly in formation much like fighter jets. I suppose it is my favorite part of kayaking around here, coming upon a raft of pelicans and watching them fly. I especially love the black wing tips that don’t show until they are airborne. I don’t often put in a slide show, but I do think this one is worth the band width. Check out the pelicans that we found on our paddle.

https://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf

We watched the sunset over the bay, and found enough old driftwood to built a nice campfire on the beach in front of the MoHo. I heard recently that Oregon is the only state in the west that doesn’t currently have any large active forest fires. Notice all that green grass and moist vegetation. Of course, it won’t be like that later in the summer, but for now having a campfire was delightful.

The night was silent except for the lake breezes and dark until the moon rose. Not a soul around, and just four miles from the highway. Nice.

Morning came slowly with Eagle Ridge directly east of us, and the dew was thick on the windows. We even had to turn on the furnace for a few minutes with morning tea as we watched the day lighten. Deciding that breakfast back home would be nice, we drove the few miles back to Rocky Point and cooked up a nice Sunday breakfast (even though it was Monday) watched the news, and got ready for our day, much refreshed and renewed by our little side trip.

The flowers are starting to bloom more and more, and I am enjoying the gardens now that the heavy labor of May cleanup has dissipated a bit. We had another load of juniper delivered, and it is piled high in the MoHo shed, so the big job of splitting and stacking has begun. July is about good weather and having fun, but it is also about getting in the firewood, spraying the deer repellant, and mowing the lawns.

We keep driving to Grants Pass, thinking that someday when we are “old”, we will settle over there out of the snow into a better growing season. I looked around last week at this beautiful place and said, “No”. Let’s just stay here till we have to go into a home somewhere. Worst case scenario, we have to pay someone to help now and then with the hard stuff. But every time I drive to town, or over the mountain to the “other side”, and then return I feel my breath quicken at the sight of that murky lake below in the sunlight. I am thrilled by the birds, the silence, the clear sunny skies, the forest. It is home. I guess that is why we have a motorhome after all, we can leave in the winter, we can travel if we want to, but we have home right here. I don’t want to give it up, even for a growing season that would let me have more flowers.

A parting thought here, one that came to me last week as we were traveling home from Oroville:

Sometimes, when riding in the MoHo, memories wash over me in waves. Maybe it is the vibration, maybe the changing scenery flying by. Somehow the complexity of my life flows by me like the trees rushing past, ephemeral, hard to catch, hard to track. I was once known for my phenomenal memory, spitting out dates like “Oh that was on a Tuesday in 1987”. Memories used to be like individual stories, with a beginning and an end, solid and real and separate. Lately, as life gets more and more full, and the memories begin to stack up, they are becoming more fluid, overlapping each other and flowing by in complex scenes, just as rich, but somehow with more flow. I wonder if that is what the old folks in the rocking chair on the porch are experiencing, that magical, colorful flow. I like it.

South to California

Hitch Itch. Full timers get it, folks with an RV parked in the shed get it too. The past couple of weeks have been focused on work and home chores, and we both knew we wanted to get in another local camping trip before we head for Colorado at the end of the month. Medicine Lake comes to mind first, a favorite high mountain destination, but we thought there might still be snow there this early. Then fate stepped in with an invitation to a retirement party in Davis, California for a colleague. We thought about it a bit and finally came up with a plan. Oroville!
There is a big lake there, nice campgrounds, my best friend and her husband are right there, and it is just a two hour drive to Davis so I could go to the party. Calling the State Recreation Area phone number for reservations, we were shocked to find that electric hookup sites (no sewer) at the Bidwell Canyon Campground cost $45.00, plus the reservation fee. Geez. California parks are too dang expensive. So I looked around a bit and came up with the KOA RV Park that is adjacent to the Feather Falls Casino and for $37.00 got a nice site with full hookups, free WiFi, cable TV and a heated swimming pool. Hmmm, not such a bad idea. We figured that we could go to the lake for kayaking without paying that crazy price.
Sunday morning we decided to drive to Grants Pass to check out another possible MoHo property and then travel south on I-5, a route we rarely travel between Medford and Weed. The day was gorgeous and cool, with a bit of cloud cover and the drive was perfect. I always smile when bloggers post the photos of amazing Mt Shasta, and decided that I didn’t need to stop once again to take one more picture of “the mountain”.
The trip was wonderful and as always it feels so freeing to be in the MoHo on the road. I said to Mo, “It isn’t just going somewhere that I love, it is the movement, the feeling of being on the road, the scenery sliding by, the skies ever changing”. I guess I like that hum and vibration somehow. Sounds completely silly to me when I write it, and yet I do know the feeling. Bet others do too.
When we arrived at the KOA we were pleasantly surprised, but not before a moment or two of confusion. You see, there are two casinos in Oroville, and I thought we were somehow going to the one that is on the road to Maryruth’s house. Instead, the GPS kept trying to send me south of town to a completely different area. Turns out we really DID have the reservation south of town and not on Maryruth’s road at the Gold Country Casino.
Once settled in, we discovered what I think is the best KOA we have ever seen. I often avoid these parks because they seem expensive and crowded. This one won a Presidents Award of some kind and I can see why. The sites were absolutely, perfectly level concrete pads, surrounded by large lawns, with a wide parking area along the road in front of your site for the toad. There were picnic tables and plenty of shade under our very own lovely oak tree. There were even two dump outlets on the site, one in front and one in back which we so appreciated. So many parks are set up for just 5th wheels and pickup trucks and the dump is completely out of reach of a motorhome.
The grounds were beautifully manicured, the swimming pool clean and heated, with an adjacent holding pen for your dog, the hot tub fresh and hot, and the clubhouse cool and roomy. The store and office had a great supply of anything you might need. With the KOA club card, which ended up paying for itself after all the freebies, got us 20 bucks in free casino money in addition to the 10 bucks we got with our site. We were also informed that a simple phone call would bring the casino shuttle right to our camp site on demand. Right to the site! Ha! The funniest part of this story is that in the four days we were in Oroville, we never managed to get up to the casino and our coupons went unused.
On Monday, we decided to explore the Thermolito Forebay area, a part of the huge Oroville Dam complex of water management systems. The forebay was a perfect place for kayaking since there are no motorized boats allowed. It’s really nice not to have to compete with jet skiis and bit boat wakes and noise. I really love the MotionX GPS app for my iPhone, mentioned by Rick recently, and have used it now for several kayak paddles. It is fun to see just how fast we have paddled, how many miles we have covered and where we have been on the map. It even links photos to the sites and then I can upload the track to Facebook or send it via email. Just tickles me no end. Of course, another quirk of GPS is the excellence of X and Y and the complete goofiness of the Z factor, elevation. We discovered to our surprise that on our nice little lake the elevation changed by 30 feet while we were out there. Too funny.
I have had a few questions from readers regarding how hard it is to get in and out of the kayak so I made a quick video of the process, just for laughs. I am still trying to figure out how to get the video to embed without any luck, so may just add the YouTube URL in case you want to see it. If I can do it, anyone can!

Maryruth and Gerald came out to our little shady campsite that evening and we all went up to the Feather Falls Brewery where we were able to use the other coupons that gave us a discount on food. After dinner when we thought about playing the slots we all thought better of it and just went back to the campsite instead. Tuesday was our day to visit at their home, to see all the beautiful garden work that Gerald has done, and enjoy some of Maryruth’s legendary cooking.
Often Oroville can be unbearably hot, and just the week before we were there the temperatures were in the triple digits. For us, instead, we had beautiful skies, not a speck of smog or haze, and temperatures in the mid to high 80’s. Couldn’t have been more perfect.
On Wednesday Maryruth took us out to her sister’s houseboat for an afternoon on the water with lots of good food and drink. The shuttle picks up passengers at the marina and takes you right to your boat, and even let us bring the dog. We settled in with sunscreen, comfy chairs, and good conversation with a view of the water all around us. Abby and I both even managed a good swim. Mo was a bit concerned about getting her back on the deck of the houseboat, but in nothing flat, with a little encouragement, Abby learned how to climb that ladder right back up on the boat.
Thursday morning we decided to explore some other areas for kayaking, including the Afterbay and the Diversion Pool. The big lake itself it fine for kayaking as well, but not nearly as interesting. The last time we were there we encountered a lot of wind and boats, and there is a large area of houseboats near the launch that require navigating through before you get to some more open water.
I left Mo in the shade of the oak tree mid morning to go meet my friends in Davis. There are so many people that I know from California, and it was so good to see everyone. Dean Burkett, who had a position in Chico like my position in Oroville had also come to detail and map for me while I was there and we developed a great friendship.
When I had my retirement party two years ago, Dean gave up a 22 year tradition of attending a rendezvous to come to my party instead. You can bet I wasn’t about to miss his retirement send off! I also got to spend quality time with the other two “Sue’s”. We are all a rather interesting phenomenon in California, all GS-12 managers, all in California, and all named Sue. In a career choice that at one time didn’t have many women, this is particularly funny. We called ourselves “the three Sues,” Sierra Sue (me), Coastal Sue in Arcata, and Valley Sue in Davis. Plus we all have kayaks! The three sues kayak trip is still in the works, but we keep talking about it. I still sometimes get emails meant for one of the other sue’s and they get mine. It IS a funny thing.
I stayed much to late and arrived back home to the KOA far too late for Mo and I to attempt to gamble away our coupons as originally planned. Instead we got a few hours sleep before taking off the next morning by 6:30 AM. After all, I had a quilt class in Merrill, at the Tater Patch and couldn’t miss it. It was the final class in a group of three that I have attended. We decided to leave early enough to take the back route home, via Highway 70 along the Feather River, north to Lake Almanor and Susanville, and then on to Merrill. It was a gorgeous drive over a road I haven’t seen for more than 40 years and I loved every minute of it.
We arrived in Merrill just a few minutes before my class started, unhooked the baby car so Mo could go on home, and I managed to finish the series without falling asleep at the machine. Let me tell you I was one tired puppy when I pulled into the driveway in Rocky Point that evening, glad to be home and completely satisfied with what turned out to be a really great week.
Next up: an amazing kayak on Shoalwater Bay and camping at Eagle Ridge just ten miles from home!

Over the Mountain

Isn’t that somehow a metaphor for life in general? One mountain after another to climb, sometimes in search of entertainment, or warmer weather, or cooler weather, or to find what isn’t on this side that may be on the other side, to cross summits that seem insurmountable, and then suddenly there we are, over the mountain. I’m old enough to remember that old song “The Bear Went Over the Mountain”, and I have been over many of them, both physically, spiritually, and metaphorically. It’s a climb, but the other side of the mountain usually has great treasures and rewards. I am thinking of Sherry and David as I write this, climbing their own huge mountain, right there in Florida where there are supposedly none to climb.

We went over the mountain last week, and even as lovely as the world is around Rocky Point, there was stuff on the other side that we wanted to experience. For once it wasn’t just a much needed trip to Costco that drew us over the pass. Not far west of Medford is the small historic town of Jacksonville, Oregon. Jacksonville stands completely on its own merits, with lots of cute little shops on the picturesque streets, and neighborhoods full of cute little Victorian cottages and Craftsman bungalows. If I chose to live on “the other side” I would choose Jacksonville, except of course everyone else has had the same idea, and I can’t possibly afford anything remotely near Jacksonville. Beside, Josephine County and Grants Pass have the lowest tax rates in Oregon, much less than Jackson County and the Medford/Jacksonville world. Someday we will move to the other side of the mountain for good, but in the mean time I appreciate every single minute of my mountain home. Snow, winter, mosquitoes and long treks to town notwithstanding.

In addition to its lovely setting, Jacksonville is home to the Britt Festival, this year celebrating 50 seasons of concerts under the stars. The shows run from June through early October every year and the lineups are often legendary. The music is eclectic with all sorts of genres represented and Mo and I try to see at least one show a year. Often we choose blankets on the grass where we follow the tradition of a picnic pack filled with wine, cheese, crackers, and grapes. This year we decided to see Melissa Etheridge, a crazy rocker lady I have always loved and Mo didn’t much care about. It was a great show and I had a great time and Mo even enjoyed Melissa’s incredible musical talent on the 12 string guitar and piano. The audience was mostly on their feet during the last 1/4 of the show.

Of course, Jacksonville is maybe 90 minutes away from home, but what better chance to spend a little time in the MoHo. We thought it would be a lot more fun to go home to the rig than drive over the mountain after wine and music so we planned a couple of days at Emigrant Lake just east of Ashland and not far from Jacksonville. Paul and Nina reviewed this great Jackson County Park a few weeks ago in April when the crowds were still nowhere to be found. When we thought of the idea, it was already too late to make a reservation so we decided to take our chances.

The week beforehand was a long and crazy one, with a full fledged field review in progress for my survey. I worked long days with Chris and the crew and then on Thursday Dave Smith, the regional leader in California (and my old boss) came up to visit with the Oregon crew. It’s probably too complicated to explain all this, but there is a huge reorganization going on and the Klamath Falls office is to become part of a completely different region, one headed by Dave in California instead of the leader in Portland. It is an administrative and technical nightmare coming up, supposedly put in place to save money, but no one has a clue how that will actually happen. All to begin on October 1.

But back to the trip to Britt. I had the review going so Mo had to do all the loading and hooking up and packing since I was gone long hours. Then, on Friday, I begged off the last day of the review because I had a quilt class…clear down at Tater Patch in Merrill (about 1/2 hour south of Klamath Falls). Now this is a really big deal because I had to prepay for the class months ago, before the review was scheduled and long before we had tickets for the Britt. No skipping this one! The class fills up right away and the waiting list is long. I had my three months of waiting and was really looking forward to it.

Confusion set in as we tried to figure out just how to manage being in three places at once. Finally settled on a scheme, and I drove the Tracker and kayaks to Klamath and then to Merrill early in the morning, and Mo left for Emigrant Lake with the MoHo and the animals early enough in the day to get a site. Or so we thought. When I finished my class at 4pm, a message from Mo said the park was full, it was in the high 90’s so boondocking with the animals was out of the question, and she was settling in to Pear Tree RV Resort along the interstate…with full hookups, lots of pavement, and freeway noise. Hmmm. The park served its purpose, but was so unexciting that I neglected to even take a single photo while we were there.

Now leaving Merrill at 4 meant I had just two hours to get to over the mountain to Ashland, find Mo and the RV park, change clothes, and then get to Britt by 7. Whew! It was one of those crazy kind of days that I remember from having teenagers who often had to be in two cities (Spokane and Coeur D Alene, and we lived in the middle) on the same day for different things. I am definitely out of practice for that kind of thing!

Somehow it all came together and we managed to be everywhere we needed to be when we had to. After the show we meandered along Old Stage Road right back to our little waiting home and I slept like a rock in spite of the freeway noise. The next morning we left the cat safely in the air conditioned MoHo and drove the few miles east to Emigrant Lake with the kayaks. Ahhhhhh……..

The lake is one that is easily visible from the interstate when driving from California into Ashland, and I have seen it for years and never actually driven down to look at it up close. In this part of the state, most of the lakes are reservoirs, but the water was still high enough that we didn’t have that ugly reservoir brown ring to look at. We found a free launch site at the southwestern edge of the lake, and while a bit muddy, the launch was simple. The lake was lovely, and that was actually a surprise to both of us. We had glassy water in the beginning, but a slight breeze came up, just enough to keep us cool and blow away any bugs.

We paddled along the southern grassy end of the lake and then north to the campground so well reviewed by Nina. On this day however, every site was full with most sites already reserved for the following weekend and some even for the weekdays. We left the kayaks at the beach and walked the campground, checking out the various sites and the views and decided that a weekday visit might be fun and would give us a chance to check out the eastern arm of the lake that we didn’t feel like doing this time.

By the time we got back to the rig it was mid afternoon and the temperatures were hitting the high 90’s. The park had a swimming pool, spa, club house and all sorts of other amenities, but the cool depths of the shady RV felt awfully good to us and we just settled in for naps and a movie and an easy supper. I didn’t even have any knitting or a computer with me and had to really relax. It is amazing to me just how relaxing it is to get away like this, as much as we enjoy our home and our space there, somehow cozying up in the MoHo is so different. No chores, no schedule, nothing at all that we have to do except kick back. ahhhhh……again.

sites at Emigrant Lake Campground We took our own sweet time getting back on the road Sunday morning, leaving the MoHo on the northern side of Medford while we ambled up to Grants Pass for another look at property. Still hoping for that perfect site to build an RV shed and store the MoHo in the winter. While we haven’t found anything yet to fit the bill perfectly, we have a ton of fun exploring all the nooks and crannies of the small southern Oregon town. By the time we got home on late Sunday afternoon we felt as though we had actually “been away”.

Another week of work for me ahead, with quilting homework in the evenings, a day-long quilt class on Friday, and then we will head south into California next week for another nice little camping trip at Lake Oroville with friends and fun and kayaks.

I wrote most of this post last Sunday, and it is already Thursday afternoon and this blog is still waiting for photos. I can hear Mo outside mowing while I am in here plunking around on the computer. Sometimes I just have to get away from numbers and spreadsheets and maps and data and refresh my brain with a little bit of memory making. So in go the photos and with the push of the “publish” button, up goes another memory.