planning – The MoHo and Other Traveling Tales

09-06-2018 Preparing for Italy with just a Carry-On

I am not leaving till later in the month, but when I posted on facebook about managing to pack it all into just a carry-on, I got requests for how I did it and what I packed. I decided a blog post was the best way to handle that.

First, I have to say that I have to thank Erin and Mui from Two to Travel for all their wonderful insights about traveling, for web links and suggestions, and general encouragement. In the past, when I have traveled overseas, either with Mo or with my daughters, it has been with a tour group. Lots of good things to say about that method of travel if you want to see a LOT of stuff with help with all the details, including shlepping around the baggage and getting it into the hotels and back out again.

This trip, however, is with daughter Deanna, who prefers a more relaxing vacation, one where we stay in one place for a week or two. We have chosen to stay a week in Positano on the Amalfi Coast toward the end of September, and for two weeks in Florence during the first two weeks of October.

We found reasonable air fares after a few kerfuffles with already paid for Air Canada flights out of Vancouver, cancelled and converted to Lufthansa flights from Seattle, through Frankfurt, and on to Naples. Deanna and I settled on two Air BandB apartments, and transportation from the Naples airport to the Amalfi Coast and then returning to the train station in Naples a week later by the owner of the Positano BandB for a reasonable fee of 100 Euro each way.

Thanks to Erin, I used The Man in Seat 61 website to book the fast train from Naples to Florence for our two week stay when we leave Positano. We paid just a bit more for business class seats on the train.

Our apartment in Florence is overlooking the Arno River, just down the way from the Ponte Vecchio bridge, with a view of the Duomo from the terrace. The terrace which is on the third floor, no elevator. (remember that baggage thing?)

We will be in Italy during shoulder season, but a time still quite popular in Italy because the heat has dissipated some but the really bad weather will not have yet begun.

The weather, of course, makes for some complex packing. Warm enough for chilly rain, cool enough for 8o degree possibly humid days. Dressy enough for some fine entertainment in Florence, and comfy enough for hiking the Amalfi Coast.

I went to a packing class held recently at our local AAA office, by Anne McAlpin, “packing guru”. The class was fun, and I was surprised that even in our small town there were more than 100 people in attendance. I learned a couple of things, got some handy hints, but most of all it was about selling lightweight and useful travel items. I rolled my eyes at the sales pitches, but found myself purchasing a few goodies in spite of myself.

So, for those who wanted the detailed run-down, here it is.

My Carry-On weighs 4.2 pounds, and has spinner wheels on the bottom. I managed to get all of this packed into it. At first I used those ziplock packing bags, but discovered that they didn’t really change the volume as much as I expected, and kept stuff from slipping nicely into crevices. So I skipped them entirely, but I did use a couple of lightweight compression cubes, and am a fan.

Anne said something about 3 bottoms and 9 tops, and I have no idea what my ration is, but here is the list.

First, choosing what to wear on the airplane is interesting. I wanted something comfy, nice looking, relaxed, layered for fluctuation temperatures, and of course, the heaviest shoes, so this is what I chose. The jeans are my most comfortable and best fitting, but I hate that they don’t have pockets.

The shoes are surprisingly lightweight, and are my choice over my Keen hiking boots, which might still end up being the final choice. This same outfit will serve me well throughout the trip, I think, with the shirt being wrinkle free tencel and the scarf dressing it up when needed, and the lightweight long sleeved tee from REI serving as a warmth layer if needed later. Oh yes, one pair of those ridiculously expensive compression socks for flying, and maybe for hiking as well.

I found one of those killer down puffy jackets from REI, on sale 50 bucks! Much less than the 300 Patagonia version and it fits better than they did as well. A packing cube holds the down jacket and my packable black raincoat/trench. I packed a travel umbrella, and waterproofed the red shoes.

Another cube holds my nightgown, undies, bras, and power converters. Not too many of the undies since I am capable of washing them.

For our nice dressy event at “The Three Tenors”, I have a travel knit purple tank, matching cover-up and black skirt. For moderately nice dressing, I also have a rayon arty cover up to wear with the black tights or the black skirt.

I can dress up just about anything from jeans to the skirt with the spiffy stretchy black blazer jacket, and a wrinkle free white shirt.

For pants I have a pair of lightweight REI hiking/travel pants that will roll up, a pair of super comfy light denim capris, a pair of dressy black capris, and black tights.

I threw in a funky pair of black shorts and a black cotton lightweight shirt for hanging at home on a hot afternoon, and had to throw in a tee shirt just because.

Then just because I could, I also threw in another lightweight print top that can be worn cool and sleeveless (not to the churches!) or dressed up with the black jacket.

For shoes I have the red Keens, a pair of Taos very lightweight, very supportive denim sneakers that don’t look like running shoes. No photo yet of those. I had a problem coming up with shoes that would look nice with the skirt, and finally settled on a lightweight pair of flat sandals. Might be a bit weird, and not very Italian (they wear stillettos everywhere I think) but most of my dressy shoes have heels that I don’t want to have to wear walking from our apartment to the bridge. I also packed my very casual but incredibly comfortable black oofos for walking just about everywhere, even on cobblestones.

So, a List:

2 long pants 1 tights 3 capris 1 short

2 dressy tanks with 2 dressy cover-ups 1 dressy skirt 3 scarves

2 nice casual shirts 1 funky casual shirt 1 tee shirt short sleeve 1 tee shirt long sleeve

1 dressy blazer 1 packable down jacket 1 raincoat 1 umbrella

4 pairs of shoes, dressy sandals, funky sandals, red walking shoes, blue sneakers.

The one thing that could throw this whole thing out of whack is the need for some kind of more waterproof shoe, like my hiking boots, so I am not sure how that is going to work, but I’ll check again with the weather as the trip gets closer. Then again, wet sneakers wouldn’t be the end of the world.

Now for the “Personal Item”, which will actually be two, but the small cross body purse will fit inside the Baggalini tote for boarding the plane. In the purse will be my passport, ID, a small amount of US currency and a small amount of euros, for tips, food and such, and a credit card. The phone and a mophie charger, charging cord, and pen.

In the tote will be the laptop, laptop power cord, and a small a small cube containing my medications (not many), phone charger, extra batteries and charger for the Lumix camera (carried by Daughter Deanna) new nifty fast inflating neck pillow, ear buds, and inflatable seat pillow. I am hoping that my larger scarf will serve as a bit of a cover up while flying.

In another nifty little purchase is a TSA allowable packing cube (beats a ziplock, really) for the liquids on one side and dry food snacks on the other side, now required to be pulled out for security checks. I’ll have an empty water bottle ready to fill after going through security.

I won’t be taking a lot of toiletries, since I would imagine that there are some nice fun goodies that will be easily available in Italy.

Finally, around my waist, will be the RFID blocking money belt which with a bunch of Euros (already purchased through AAA), my medical insurance card (even though I will most likely have to pay and then get reimbursed) an additional credit card, and a debit card, all reported to the companies for traveling, and two of them with no foreign transaction fees. The debit card will have fees if I need more cash, but at least that will be a good exchange and I can get cash if I need it.

One last little tidbit of information learned at the class: I always thought making photocopies of your cards and passports was a good idea. Instead, she said to photograph them and then email the photos to yourself. Instantly available if you have internet access.

Verizon phone will be basically off, but I’ll pay the minimum International charge for emergencies, will download google maps of Florence and the Amalfi Coast for use offline, and have downloaded Google Translate in Italian for offline use.

I will also have printed receipts for the pre booked train tickets, pre paid museum tours, and our Three Tenors night in Florence.

Planning this trip has been really fun for me actually, minus a few stressful glitch moments. Much easier actually than trying to plan 3 months going to Florida next winter. Geez, what a pain! I was on the phone for 90 minutes last week on the first moment when the Family Camps near Jacksonville came open for our window of reservations. Somehow we got lucky, and got what we needed, but that is another story.

01-28-2018 South at Last

On Sunday morning the skies over Grants Pass were gorgeous. The often present winter fog was nowhere to be seen, blue was all around us, and a few puffy clouds toward the south were lined with gold from the early sunlight. A perfect travel day!

Our preparations for this trip were easy. We were basically settled into the new house and had all the time in the world to get ready. A day to wash the rig, a day to check fluids and tires on both the MoHo and the Tracker. Two days to pack.

Packing was interesting. For the first time in a long time, everything we have is in one house. If I can’t find my swim suit, I don’t have to wonder in which house it might be hiding. It is either here, or already in the MoHo. Then of course, there is the ever present question of exactly what to take.

It is chilly here, of course, it is still winter in Grants Pass. A much warmer winter than what we are used to in Klamath Falls, but winter nonetheless. It is really hard to imagine that shorts and sleeveless shirts will be all that we need, in spite of the predicted 80 degree weather in the southland. I packed some long pants, some capris, some shorts, and way too many long sleeved shirts. Mo did the same, but she is better at this than I am, packing quite a bit less.

Food supplies are always another question, but this time I had plenty of time to cook and freeze. For a week prior to leaving, I cooked big meals, and froze the leftovers, and we had nice containers filled with chicken enchiladas, bean soup, turkey soup, carnitas, and spaghetti sauce among others. The little MoHo freezer was packed to the gills for the three weeks ahead.

We left as planned within minutes of 9am, not a bit of traffic anywhere. On Sunday morning the freeway was basically empty, the skies clear and lovely until…ooops….as we drove south toward Ashland and the Siskiyou Summit, the fog settled in. It wasn’t really cold, and there was no snow. We had planned carefully. Only the day before chains were required over this pass and over Mt Shasta. We actually changed our departure date to miss the snows. Lucky us! Many times as we have traveled south for a winter respite we have had to drive through snow and ice and fog. This time it was only the fog, and it was a piece of cake.

In fact the entire drive was a piece of cake, all the way to Lodi, where we checked into our favorite little park at Flag City RV. It is clean, quick, a Passport America park, with level cement sites and everything we need for a simple overnighter on our way to and from the southern part of the state.

Within minutes of landing, we were hooked up and I had Mattie on her leash ready to go play in the wonderful, expansive, grassy dog park. UhOh. The beautiful expanse was now completely ringed by huge solar panels, so much so that the only place to walk was on the bottom of the storm water catchment basin, in the wet stuff at the bottom. Solar is great, but geez it is ugly, and it was claustrophobic walking in there. The person at the desk told me that they spent “millions” on the panels, and their power bills dropped from between $20,000 to $30,000 a month, down to $20. per month. All those panels power just the RV park, without any extra to sell back to the power company. She said they would recoup their investment in 3 to 4 years.

It was our first night out in a long time, and it felt good to be camping in the MoHo somewhere other than our front yard. California deserts, here we come!

If you click on a photo and discover you are in an album from another year, it is because I had to cheat. I didn’t take one single photo on this first day out, and a blog post with no photos is pretty darn ugly.

Writer’s Block

Current Location: Rocky Point, Oregon: nice evening after a gorgeous day

I really didn’t want to fall into the trap of trying to explain why I haven’t written. Kind of like writing in your diary, “Dear Diary…sorry I haven’t written”. Diary doesn’t care, I am sure. Every one of us who write these open ended online journals run into writer’s block now and then. This time it hit me half way home from our last trip. If you don’t know me from elsewhere, you might think that we are still lost somewhere along the California coast. If I were to return to my blog a year from now, trying to figure out where we were in April, I might be rather disappointed to see that we possibly beamed ourselves, Star Trek Style, from Eureka to Rocky Point. Trinity Scenic Byway (2 of 36)

There is so much going on at the moment in our lives that travel memories have taken a bit of a back seat, but that is another story. Maybe I’ll get to it eventually, but not right now.

In actuality, the last two days of our short little vacation were spent ambling along at a snail’s pace. We decided that Highway 299 would be a good route back toward home, over the beautiful Trinity Mountains and following along the gorgeous Trinity River. Called the Trinity Scenic Byway, the route is the main road that connects the upper Sacramento Valley to the California coast.

When we left Eureka, the fog was still hanging in over Humboldt Bay, but by the time we reached Berry Summit the fog was just a wisp in the wind shrouding the mountain but not obscuring the beautiful views. The day was brilliant, the skies gorgeous, the traffic minimal. Redbuds were in bloom and the hills were Ireland green. That springtime green thing in the coast range can be so incredibly vivid. Like no other green I have ever seen anywhere.

We had a destination in mind, a mere 100 miles over the mountain to the little town of Weaverville, where I had scoped out a small RV park. We were in no hurry, and stopped along the river for photos and views. A few miles west of Weaverville, we found a forest service campground and pulled in to check it out.

Not a soul in sight, and the camp host site was empty, but there were no gates to keep us out and after walking around a bit, listening to the river, we said, “Why not?!” Our tanks were empty, we had plenty of water and no need for power so we pulled into the sweet little spot, opened up the door to the sunshine and the river and settled in for a lovely evening. Three bucks with our senior pass. Much better than that 35 bucks it would have cost in Weaverville.

The next morning we rose at our leisure and ambled on down the road to the sweet little gold rush town of Weaverville. It was charming in the way that California gold towns can be, with interesting store fronts and historical signs on the buildings.

We visited the Joss House museum visitor center, enjoying the well done displays of the Chinese culture that thrived in Weaverville during the gold rush. Neither of us felt like waiting around for a tour, so we skipped the inside of the Chinese Temple.

Once again, we were reminded of the great contribution made by the Chinese to the development of the American West.

With no desire to continue east to a boring interstate, we turned north on Highway 3, following the western shore of Trinity Lake. The road was narrow and steep in places, but not unmanageable. We stopped to view the nearly empty lake and read the non existent signs. Sign vandalism is just stupid. Although perhaps not as stupid as damming a river and backing up a lake over miles and miles of placer mine tailings.

Now that the California drought has exposed the land drowned by the reservoir, I wonder if people who are users of the millions of gallons delivered annually to the California water project are at all worried about the lead and mercury left in those tailings. I still can’t figure out the mindset of certain news pundits who say the California water problem is due to the environmentalists stopping the building of more reservoirs. The ones already there have no water in them! Talk about a waste of money! Let’s build more dams so we can have more empty reservoirs? This drought is long term, and not going to end next week.

We did see several warning signs stating that in 42 miles or so, the road would be unsuitable for trailers. No problem. We have driven those kinds of roads many times in the past. After passing the little community of Coffee Creek, where we found nothing at all, we continued north toward Scott Mountain Pass.

We ignored the sign that said no trailers once again, and within a mile knew that had been a mistake. Picture a hairpin turn with a 15 percent grade. MoHo groaned up the hill and we managed to find a turnout on the very narrow road to unhook the baby car. Next time we will pay attention. This is not an easy climb, and definitely not a place to be towing. And no, there are no photos of these few challenging moments.

Mo drove on ahead with the MoHo while I followed along in the Tracker, enjoying the gorgeous views and the beautiful wild landscape of the Trinities. Descending into the Scott Valley is a treat, with a landscape of ranching and river that is the heart of the old west.

Our evening destination, a mere 80 miles north of Weaverville, was the tiny community of Etna, California. Just 20 miles south of Eureka, Etna is charming and quiet, and boasts a great little RV park, Mountain Village. A Passport America park, there were level sites, full hookups, and grassy spaces between rigs. With the park nearly empty, we enjoyed the late afternoon thoroughly. For a mere $16.00, we spent our last night before returning to the cottage at Grants Pass the next day.

That leaning oak on the left will have to go when the house is built. That is where the western wall will extend It has been just over three weeks since that day. In that short time we spent a few days working at the cottage. Mo managed to get the 30 amp to the MoHo shed and we mowed the acre that is greening up and growing fast. My scheduled surgery required a few visits to Eugene and those overnight trips are always more delightful with the MoHo. The one time we stayed in a hotel we decided, never again. taking a break from electrical work in the RV shed

After Eugene, it was time to bring the MoHo back over the mountain to her berth in Grants Pass. We missed having her at home and with winter behind us, it was time. Of course, the only winter we had this year showed up on Easter Sunday with 1/2 an inch of snow and then again on April 14 with another half inch. Crazy.

old fort road middle In the last couple of months, we have made some big decisions about the future, moving toward a final goal of building a “forever” home on the cottage property. I also decided that it was time to sell the little house I bought in Klamath Falls back in 2002. Daughter Melody decided that as a now single mom, she needed a bit less house to manage. She has lived in the Klamath house since 2008.

Melody and my granddaughter Axel each now have an apartment at the small complex that Mo has on the edge of town in Klamath Falls. working at the apartments (10 of 12) Mo and I put some time in refurbishing those apartments, painting and cleaning, getting carpets and flooring installed so they are all nice and fresh. It was hard work but also a fun project, nice to see the apartments all pretty again. Renters are not often much fun, and don’t seem to care about how they live. I am glad that we no longer have to deal with crummy renters who trash the place.

With Melody out of the Klamath house, it was time to spruce it up for sale. I had renters in there during the time I lived in California for my final working years, and it needed fresh paint when Melody moved in back in 2008! Again, Mo and I have been busy painting, fixing, repairing and getting the house ready for market. I am really hoping that the time is right, and that she will sell quickly.

working on Painter (16 of 19) It is a great little historic bungalow in an historic neighborhood in a nice part of Klamath Falls.

finished13 Early on during this three week process, I got a phone call from the two surgeons who will be working on me, saying that the surgery had to be rescheduled from April 13 to May 4, so I gained an extra three weeks to actually get the Klamath Falls house project done. At least hopefully.

Mo and I feel like we are working again. We leave the house every morning to go to one town or another, work all day, and drive home late all tired and worn out. After surgery I am not supposed to lift anything over five pounds for 3 months! Crazy. So everything has to be done NOW or it won’t get done, at least not by me.

So, writer’s block? Yeah. I think I have a reasonable excuse.

Who said planning is the fun part?

Clear warm evening in Rocky Point at 83 Degrees F

When I first imagined what RVing would be like many years ago, I pictured an idyllic ramble around the country, taking my time, staying wherever I felt like staying for as long as I wanted, and just picking up and leaving when I felt like it. That might work in the desert southwest now and then, but not so much for a three month sojourn through Texas and Florida and back, during prime season.

In the midst of all the other doings around here, I have been trying to get a handle on those plans. Usually I like this part, and open up the various apps that Nina discussed so well in a recent post, start up my old copy of “Streets and Trips 2011”, open up Google Maps and my Google Calendar, and start planning a route. Even for our trip to Alaska, this was a fairly straightforward process. We didn’t even make reservations for that entire summer on the road.

Florida in February is a completely different story, and as Sherry warned me, I should have started six months ago! I not only have to plan a route, I have to know EXACTLY when I plan to be in any particular place and make real honest to goodness reservations. Ack! How in the world can I be sure that I’ll be in Chiefland, Florida on a specific date when there are many months and thousands of miles between me and that date?

I have dreamed of a winter in Florida with my kayak in tow ever since I started visiting Bel in Ocala back in 2000. Mo and I got our boats to Florida on our cross country trip in 2007 for one magical float on the Silver River before we trundled on back west to buy the new motorhome in Texas and continue toward home. I have read the blogs avidly, ‘pinned’ campgrounds and rivers and events, and they created the beginning of my google map. The problems only begin when I try to link them all up, figure out the route and the miles and the DATES…and then make reservations. Only by now, I have been working on this for a few months, and I am too late for some of the places I wanted to go! Yup. Sherry was right. I should have started this six months ago, but somehow I was too busy TRAVELING then to be thinking about what I was going to be doing in 2014.

Before I go into the ‘plans’, I want to remember the fun things I have been doing NOW.

Would you eat dinner in this place? We did, and it was a fantastic experience. The Cowboy Dinner Tree used to be just that. It was a big old juniper tree out in the Oregon Outback near Silver Lake where they parked the chuck wagon for the cowboys. It has evolved a bit, and now people come from who knows where to fill this place up every weekend. Reservations required, two choices: chicken or sirloin. Dinner comes with salad, rolls, bean soup, potatoes, iced tea or lemonade (oops another choice) and dessert.

It isn’t cheap, and it takes two hours to get there. We rode with some local Rocky Point friends so the distance was irrelevant, and the experience was priceless. It is a “thing” and I am glad we took the time to do it. Although I brought the completely ridiculous steak home and made fajitas two nights in a row and then two more dinners from the chicken. Sheesh!

This week was bittersweet in a good way. I worked the very last time for soil survey. Sequestration and budget cuts and no federal budget all combined to end my contract career, so I retired for the second time. So I am really really retired now. Completely. It makes for some nice travel time, and is the reason I can manage to be off work long enough to take off next winter for three months instead of just a few weeks at a time. I’ll be poorer, but richer in time. I am pretty sure it is a good thing.

Another delight this week was a visit from Vermont friend Jeanne, (yes the famous adventure woman, Jeanne, that I have written about before). Only this time she brought along her sweetie, Alan, and he won Jeremy over in about two seconds and won me over about two seconds after that. Jeanne, you done good!! As did you, Alan. A pair made in heaven, or as all Jeanne’s friends say, a Danielle Steele novel. It is just romantic beyond imagination. He is a forester, she is a botanist, they both had basically given up on finding a soul mate, and they met in the woods at work! Isn’t that just incredibly perfect?!

We were on the water by 7 with beautiful partly overcast skies, perfect water, and lots of birds. Jeanne and Alan planned to see Crater Lake later in the day, but weren’t in too much of a hurry to miss out on pancakes and bacon for breakfast before they left.

After all the smoke that has been here, I was so glad to see perfectly clear skies by the time they got to Crater Lake, blue and smoke free and gorgeous. At least on the web cam. I had to keep checking to be sure that Alan’s first view of the lake would be wonderful. Jeanne wanted to show him all the cliffs she used to ski down when she lived here. Crazy woman.

Now back to the planning thing. Which is pretty much how that planning thing has been going. I work on it awhile, then something comes up and I get back to it later. Which is why I missed out on Myakka Springs and a couple of other places I wanted to see in Florida. Completely Booked!! We did manage to have a conversation with John and Carol from Our Trip Around the Sun who are going to be at Ding Darling Refuge on Sanibel Island and yes, I arranged a day, at 7 in the morning, when we will meet for a refuge trip that will hopefully turn up some spoonbills. Big on my bucket list. And yes, I have planned that specific day and specific hour from 3500 miles and six months away.

I know, I know. I have no right to complain. If you haven’t read Erin’s post about her plans for the next three months go check it out. That is planning on an Olympic scale! I think they have so many vacations nested in their vacation that it reminds me of those little Russian dolls. Ours will be just a bit simpler. We only have a simple vacation with a cruise vacation buried in the middle there somewhere.

We will amble through California, Arizona, New Mexico, and into Big Bend country in Texas, wander off to the coast at Port Aransas where I will get to walk the beach with Erin and watch her with that famous camera! We will continue east toward New Orleans, where we will take a 9 day break for a little cruise to the Western Caribbean, and after returning we will amble off to Florida for a month of kayaking and beaches. There is a saying about Florida, “I came for the beaches, but I stayed for the rivers”. Ahhhh. We will go as far as Key West, then amble back up the coast.

I have mostly reserved everything along the way. I think we will be in Blue Springs on Monday morning, March 3, at 10:02 AM. Or something like that. I know, the best laid plans can be severely disrupted, and I am trying to accept that with equanimity. Still. Those reservations are all prepaid, for Pete’s Sake! When we leave Blue Springs a few days later, I have no plans except for going north and west. I have no reservations. I have lots of blog posts about COE campgrounds and great places to see along the way, but we are going to actually stay loose during this part of the trip. For the month of March, we will just move gradually west and north toward home, following whatever route the weather and our mood dictates. I’ll let you know how that goes as well.

It is so great to have Deborah here to house sit for us while we are gone. She wants to keep the home fires burning and I’ll leave my truck with her so she can get back and forth in the snow. We will be bringing Abby, but I have decided to let Jeremy stay with Deborah for the trip. At least for now that is what I have decided. I’ll let you know how THAT goes as well. Sigh.

Lots coming up. More to tell, but this post is entirely too long so I’ll save it for later.

Next: MoHo interior renovations and we are soon off to the far northeastern part of Oregon!

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!!