On several separate occasions we have camped next to ‘gentlemen’ who have had a bit too much of the ‘good stuff’ and have boisterously stated for all to hear for hours on end that all they wanted was (and I quote, so excuse the profanity), “a God Damn Mother Fucking Hotdog!!”, after which they fell sound asleep and snored like freight trains coming a barreling down the tracks.
So, tell me…what is it with drunks and hotdogs?
At another campground, we camped near a family with a screaming baby. We pondered whether the baby was channeling the drunks and just wanted a hotdog.
Oregon has become a bit of a black hole for us, a beautiful and amazing black hole filled with many new friends, but a swirling vortex nonetheless. So, it is somewhat ironic that we found ourselves driving down beautiful Route 380 today right into Post, Oregon…the claimed center of Oregon.
A few weeks ago, we almost made it to Idaho, but the Oregon vortex decided we should make a quick trip back to the Oregon coast to visit a friend with a medical emergency. Now, we have once again started back toward the Oregon border and Idaho…perhaps this time we will find a way to break free of the black hole’s gravitational pull…beam me up Scotty!
We decided to take a westward turn and visit old friends on the Oregon Coast. It was great to spend time and catch-up!
We watched the Kite SurfersDance across the waterAnd fly through the air!We searched for agates, and other cool rocks, on the beach.And we sat around the fire just enjoying each other’s company.
Also known as “Shit! I Hit my Head Again Life!”. While the Wee Rover was getting her ‘heart transplant’, we rented a U-Haul van to give Van Life a try.
Pros:
My head is now bigger from hitting it so many times and Darrin says it knocked some sense into me (wishful thinking on his part).
You can sleep inside…good for Grizz Country.
We didn’t have to set-up a tent
More people than usual gave us weird looks…and a wide berth
It would have been nice if it had rained, but it was hot and dry.
Cons:
It is hot and stuffy
See 1 under Pros
It is claustrophobic
Did I mention my head?
Caveats:
We didn’t have a raised roof van
We didn’t have our fridge (had to use a cooler which was awful, our fridge was well worth the money)
We didn’t have any windows for ventilation
Etc., etc., etc…..
So, in conclusion…I don’t think we will be switching to a van any time soon…at least a U-Haul low roof van (I think I still have a few bumps on my head), but maybe we will try one of those fancy Sprinter vans someday😁.
Not bad space for a Uhaul. The cage at the front did make me feel a bit like an inmate…probably doesn’t come standard in a Sprinter Van.For $20 a day it was a steal considering we could sleep inside and drive around…like a motel and rental car all in one.
Actually I was able to help…M let me hold the can of paint while she worked her magic! She had the great idea of painting a message on the “junk drawer”, after seeing a similar bumper sticker, informing trailing vehicles of our status. I think it looks great!
A little painting in between swims…still in the 90’s!Tada!
One thing we have been needing was a bit more work space while in camp. Remote camping without a table means things like shaving, food preparation, and cooking mostly happened on the rear door’s folding shelf. It’s worked fine, but some improvements were needed. The problem was our loose rule that most things need to have more than one use. I had thought about bolting a simple plywood sheets to the side of the rover prior to leaving, but couldn’t justify the single use as a table. So, we found the waffle traction boards. Good for bridging a ditch, recovery from being stuck in sand or mud, as well as a table for cooking, shaving and drying clothes!
We turned our fireplace into a machine shope to bend brackets for the new wings.They came out perfect!Tada new wings…in their travel position.As a kitchen…A shaving station…And even a good spot for drying clothes!
So D’s bud Mike gets him into hammock camping several years before we hit the road. The reports were that hammock camping was comfortable, with the following caveat…you have to fiddle, adjust, level, refiddle, readjust, relevel, over and over! Then if everything came together, it was super!
This week, we camped at a major launch point for raft trips on the Rogue River. Coming from a canoe camping background our first thought was how much crap they were piling onto each raft. The 40 mile trip, for a single rafter, from what we observed, may require: (2) 5 gallon jerry cans of water, instead of a simple water filter, a 4 inch thick waterproof mattress, cot, tent, chair, bbq, a couple of coolers, and several bins of food and gear…well you get the idea (aka ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ as one rafter told us laughing)!
All of this is piled on the beach, then the real fun starts. It seems, from our observations, that everything from the pile, must, go into, and out of the raft at least 3 times before the raft is ready to launch! In, out, lashed down, unlashed, removed, replaced, lashed down.
The people who we spoke with who were “really, into rafting” would start the process the night before. They would get the raft all set up as noted above, then repeat it all over again in the morning. The key take away was, on a raft that could carry 4 to 6 people, a single person can bring as much as they could pile on. On a river without any portages, that may not be too bad…no weeks of canoeing on pb&j for this crowd! Perhaps they have the right idea!
We pulled into a threadbare forest service campground near a river. Our hope was of finding an out of the way place to camp for a few days where we could cool off in the water to beat the 90+ degree heat. One of the five sites was occupied with what looked like a deserted homeless encampment. Two tents were hanging open, clothes strewn about the ground, assorted items on the picnic table, etc…We grabbed a site to ponder what to do? Stay or go? Then we found the beach! We jumped in the cool clear river and decided to stay!
Later in the afternoon a stick figure emerged from a tent in the transient campsite. My first impression was a young Charles Manson! No kidding! “Doc”, our nickname for him, was looking to bum a cigarette. We gave him some water instead, after which, he then spent 20 minutes giving us the lowdown on everything. Doc had issues, somewhat of a hair trigger, but seemed harmless. A family pulled in to swim and a youngish woman emerged from the same tent. She made a beeline for the family looking for water. Like a bee to a flower the “Hermit” only came out of the tent when a new car came in to ask for water. “Tiny” at close to 300 pounds, the leader of the group, the “Cougher”, and the “Nice One”, who we think was the “Hermit’s” sister, returned from town later in the day in an old beater. Five of them in the two tents, living on the fringe, but harmless.
The next morning we went swimming. Doc and Tiny were jumping off the rocks into the pools. The Cougher is coughing, the Hermit is hiding in the tent, and the Nice One is floating on a tube chatting away. Around noon, and swim number 3, a couple of large Hispanic families arrive, about 25 total. They set up sun shades, barbecues, and tables for an afternoon at the beach. A fun group. We chatted, swam, and had a fun day.
The next morning was almost a repeat with the exception that the group that arrived with the sunshades and barbecues were primarily skinhead white guys, kids, and moms with American Flag bikinis, and all were dropping the f-bomb every other word. Same as the day before, we swam, chatted, shot the bull about how nice it was there. Then we start to notice the tattoos…white power, swastikas, a few tear drops (from our understanding showing that they had killed a person). Everything was fine and we had another nice day, if a bit unsettling.
Another repeat the next day, except it was broad spectrum family day.
We also had a wide array of campers come and go from young teenage couples to a 12 year old overnight birthday party to a Macaw named Quiggley and a nice family from Utah.
What remained constant was how nice a spot it was to cool down in the beautiful river at the most interesting beach (and campground) yet.
The beach! The water was cool and crystal clear. Great for the 90+ heat.You can see the remnants of last year’s forest fire. This area was completely closed off last summer.The Black-tailed Deer are very friendly. This one is trying to see what the Stellar Jays found so interesting on the table.
The drive in should have been our first clue.The afternoon of day 2…not too bad.The afternoon of day 3. I’m starting to sense a pattern.We thought day 4 was going to take down our tent and tarps. The hail was giant marble size and came down with a fury. I am happy to report we survived with no damage!
