Not all fun and games being hosts.  Last night the Wedding got a bit out of hand and the antifreeze kicked the noise and testosterone up a notch.  When John returned from reminding them it was time to skedaddle for a second time, things didn’t go well and my pointer finger was poised over the phone to call 911.  Don’t really know what good it would have done as it was late and the sheriff won’t come unless your life is in danger.

We have learned that as hosts, it is better to set the rules down and stand firm.  Next morning, send in a report that hits them in the pocket book and takes away their deposit.  Justice prevails…although we still end up cleaning the nasty mess before the next group arrives.

A quick escape to Roseburg this morning for more asthma meds at Roseburg’s Wal-Martian store, a birthday burger at Red Robin…Yummmm.…and back to Millpond.   A new group of 200 making up Team Roseburg Wrestlers and their families, hosting a fundraiser, selling burgers and holding a silent auction.  Our short escape caused us to miss the silent auction, darn!  Baskets of great “stuff” lined the picnic tables and I’m sure I could have found room in our rolling box for one small basket.

A work free, albeit chilly, day today.  Nary a camper or day use taker for Millpond so Crater Lake calls and we shall answer.  Up and over my roller coaster road to Hwy 138 and off to explore.

Cozy Steamboat Inn was our choice for breakfast to begin our day.  Warm and inviting dining area, the veggie omelet with Grandma’s Bread and fresh blackberry preserves was to-die-for confirming that this place will be a regular for us next year.

After a long pause in our drive to let workers clear a large rock avalanche off the road, we continued through the fog, stopping at Diamond Lake to stretch our legs.  Next year and better weather conditions will lure us back again but for now, we continued on to Crater Lake.

The drive to Crater Lake takes about two hours and, this being Oregon,  incredible views of the North Umpqua River with breathtaking scenic backdrops are a given.

Crater Lake is the remains of the erupted Mt. Mazama , was formed around 5,677 BC, is the deepest cleanest lake in the US and is surrounded by cliffs almost two thousand feet high.  After we drove through the North Entrance it would be another 20 miles before we reached the crater’s rim.

On the outskirts of the crater is Pumice Desert and the fog and clouds played light games with the toast colored expansive pumice dust nearly 100 feet deep, destroying all vegetation.  Beautiful but desolate.

Our first gaze at the Lake was brrrrreath taking…but the icy cold winds didn’t stop our hike up to the top for a best vantage point view.  At its highest point, the elevation is 7317.51 and the vision spreading out before you is incredible.

Back in the car with the heater on, we started along Rim Drive but within seconds, fog crept up the side of the rim and covered the road dropping visibility to a few feet.  Slowing to a crawl we stopped at the next pull-out and the fog drifted past us and evaporated as fast as it had appeared.

Tiny critters scampered up on the rock walls begging for food from anyone that came near.  Don’t know how my little visitor could have fit anything more into its puffy cheeks but it insisted on staying close by until I returned to the car.

A few more in and outs along Rim Drive, catching chills each exit from the car, until we turned towards the Lodge for something to warm and relax us before the return journey.

Crater Lake Lodge opened in 1915 but is lacking in ostentatious anything.  There is not a grand entrance or any interesting sides on the building’s outside.  In front of the Lodge were some peculiar trees.  No one at the Lodge, not even the Ranger, could tell us why they had that odd look.

The most grandiose it offers is a large stone fireplace in the Great Hall but the smaller fireplace in the lobby was far more detailed and had an intimacy and décor that warmed you immediately.

The outside porch of the lodge had a long row of rockers that overlooked Wizard Island in Crater Lake.

Down to the Mazama Village Campground area to check out the competition, none of it being as appealing as our BLM campground, then gassing up the tank for the ride home.

Just past the Pumice Desert, towards the edge of the park, was a large grove of Knotty Pine.  Had I a house, I would love a huge covered wrap around porch with railings and posts of Knotty Pine.

One required stop on the way back down the cliffs.  John promised we could stop at one of the dozens of waterfalls off Hwy 138, known as the Waterfall Highway.  I chose Whitehorse Falls with its wooden bridge and viewing platform jutting out over the North Umpqua River.   The area was cool and shadowy.  Walking through the woods, autopilot statement for safety in the wilds is… ”Hey bears, I’m not food.”  The roar of the falls drowned out humans hearing my every 15 second calls.  Happily it must have been loud enough for the notice of close by bears.

Back at Millpond the leaves on the trees have begun to change colors.  Fall has arrived, bats have left for their local hibernation caves, hummingbirds are searching out alternative provisions, mice continue to fall into our traps but our local raptors are scarce.  It has rained every day this week and no campers have visited for over a week.

Said good-by to all my seniors and Kitchen People at the Community Center while volunteering at the senior lunch, this being my last Thursday.  The Kitchen People are made up of me, Betty, Barb, Jackie, Steve and our fearless leader Helen with all but Helen being volunteers.  It was a fun experience, one that I shall resume next season.  Came home with a great assortment of fresh home grown veggies that none will bother to take home and cook but me.  How lucky am I that every Thursday I score delicious home grown veggies without any of the work necessary to raise them!

One final cleaning of everything Millpond.  All paths blown off, flush bathrooms cleaned top to bottom, vault toilets cleaned top to bottom, pavilion and tables blown out and washed down, all trash cans emptied.  It was cold and wet but we worked until dark and frozen before pulling in our slides and warming up inside.  Dinner, then sleep.  In the morning we are On The Road Again.

Today we pack it up and move it out.  Special order motorhome shocks arrived in Eugene, a few hours drive from Millpond, so we are off on another motorhome repair adventure.  Traveling down a twisting one-lane is enough to warrant our departure early evening, the alternative being early morning and meet ups with logging trucks and big equipment haulers.

We spent the night at the Elks Lodge, choosing it above the local Wal-Mart parking lot for the 50amp hook-ups and quiet location.   For $15.00 a night, it’s a TX size deal.  Up early the next morning for the 30 minute drive to Kaiser Brake and Alignment for our appointment.  Slight scare that the size of our custom Road King shocks were incorrect, but thanks to Mel at Kaiser, they were professionally installed and we rolled down the road noticing the difference almost immediately.

Early evening fog rolled in and concealed part of our zigzagging path back to Millpond in the dark of night.  It took us almost an hour to get LilyPad back under the security of our cover before the sky’s opened up and dumped buckets of water down, bombarding us and bringing with it bulk loads of leaves.  By morning, the leaves that Kenny pulled off our lawn and parking lot once again carpeted Millpond.   The Yin and Yang of Mother Nature.   Can’t have cool shade in the Summer without removing piles of leaves in the Fall.

I’ve been having a bit of a pity-party lately staying inside our rolling box hiding from the campfire smoke, without TV, for weeks at a time.  Mercifully John bought me a Kindle Fire to occupy my hours confined to our tiny space.   Even our escape to Brookings was short-lived and somewhat disappointing as Oregon allows beach fires all day and night so fresh sea air was only available in fleeting snatches.   As my cousin Kenny would say…send in the Waaaaambulance!

Our maintenance manager Kenny dropped by again bringing with him delectable fresh picked home grown tomatoes from his garden.   Our ranger Ariel brought fresh picked sweet corn and the wedding last Saturday brought over a huge plate piled high with bar-b-q beef, pork and fresh salmon.   We gratefully accept, and are thankful for, the many yummy perks.

Next year our covered area will be across the field and much bigger than our current.  They are laying asphalt in the morning so no worries about tracking stones into the motorhome during our four month stay.  I will be sad to give up my amazing backyard but a larger covered area will come in handy when staying the entire season.  Added to that is the amount of work being cut more than half and the ability to have multiple days off in a row.   Now that’s more like being retired!

Rainy day wedding this afternoon.  Masses of rain dropped this morning while the groom and friends built and set up a beautiful venue in rodeo décor.  Rain magically halted just as the 200 plus people arrived for the “I Do’s”.  Held off until early evening and by that time everyone was so full of antifreeze that no one cared.  Another 200 tomorrow and then peace will once again fall on our Millpond hideaway.

Up early to clean the campground to be on the road as soon as possible.  Visiting dad in Brookings is my birthday present.  Memories will be bittersweet as this is where Millie and KatieBug happily dashed across sand and sea together.  Now KatieBug will be solo.

We were expecting a nice restful trip but it was not meant to be.  John and I blew out the leaves before we left and didn’t wear masks so the dreaded “crud” got us both.  Stuffed up and hacking, the cool sea air was exactly what was needed.  The ride up was a bit foggy but every so often, clear views opened up as the road curved to reveal those amazing ocean panoramas so difficult to capture on camera.

Our ride to Brookings was lengthened due to smoke lingering in Grants Pass resulting in a pleasant meander up to Coquille then across to Bandon before turning South to continue down the coastal route.

KatieBug requested a rest stop at Sandy Creek Covered Bridge, built in 1921, and sniffed the area flowing with rivers of ripening Oregon blackberries beneath its wooden floor and skirting the creek banks.

Old Town Bandon is a quaint little ocean and river inlet community settled in 1873.  It sits along the coastal route to Brookings.  Lunching on a crab sandwich from Bandon Fish Market and wandering for a while, we continued on.

The Inn I chose in Brookings was cautiously selected.   Our regular Inn was not available and most of the motels in the area are old and dated.  I wanted A/C as we were marginally teetering on asthma attacks and Brookings can be Texas sticky hot, which was the case this week.  The Inn boasted having A/C, was recently updated and pet friendly.

Checking in early evening and turning the A/C to high, we remained dripping with sweat all night.  Next morning before breakfast we chatted with the owner.  After reading the multitudes of You-Better-Be-Careful-And-Follow-The-Rules-Or-We-Will-Charge-Extra signs, we were unhappy about paying full price without the expected A/C.

The owner reminded us that we were given a fan at 9pm, in lieu of A/C.  Remarking that road noise and asthma kept our windows closed, we were still dripping sweat at 3am, we again asked for partial refund.

We were told that we were being difficult, we were never going to be satisfied and to leave immediately.  For the first time in our lives, we were being kicked out of a motel room!  Stunned is an understatement.  Rushing to meet family for breakfast, John demanded an immediate refund for both nights and after being given the refund charge receipt, we threw everything into the car and left, dumbfounded.

Young people with heart pounding music from a door wide open throughout the night…still there.  Motorcycle men with idling Harley’s at 11pm…still there.  Lady with annoying barking dog…still there.  Quiet, asthmatic, sign obeying elderly couple, suffering from heat exhaustion all night…ejected!

As sure as bad luck ends, good luck provided us the last pet friendly room at Beachfront Best Western, our usual stay.  Breakfast with family was followed by sorting out our belongings, having been thrown into bags from the unexpected frantic departure at Motel From Hell.  We opened our sliding glass door to the oceans cool breeze, relaxed on the porch and enjoyed the calming sound of the waves.

Our day off was spent walking along the beach, enjoying meals with family then packing up early morning and leaving for our work camp retirement job.

Kodak moments along the way,  a shot of Isaac Lee Patterson Art Deco bridge across Rogue River built in 1932, the first concrete arch bridge.

Fishing boats at the mouth of the Rogue River busily interlacing the river, their hooks in search of incoming salmon.

Our visit to Rogue River Myrtle Wood Factory halted my yearlong search for unusual wooden charger plates as two custom made pieces are being crafted by owner Michael Merica.  After ordering, Michael proudly showed off his factory and work rooms in a private tour complete with Myrtle Wood history and a sneak peek of his specialty item production.

If anyone is interested, his prices are a steal, his work is masterful and Myrtle Wood is uniquely elegant in pattern and color, giving beauty to any item made from its rare wood.   www.roguerivermyrtlewoodshop.com

Returning to Old Town Bandon, we lunched at Tony’s Crab Shack on the wharf watching the locals crabbing then had desert at my favorite candy shop.  Cranberry Sweets is the number one attraction if you have a sweet tooth as they spread out dozens of samples for visitors to taste.  The variety of choices are so vast that almost everyone leaves with more than one pick of creamy goodness.  My gigantic sweet tooth wasn’t satisfied with samples so we brought home a few bites for future indulging.

Back home to unpack and busy the evening with cleaning the pavilion for a wedding Friday and a company picnic Saturday.   Sunday will be a day of rest…after we clean bathrooms of course.

Today is the one year anniversary of our life rolling down the road.  It has been a learning experience of gargantuan proportions.  Thankfully, after a few months, I was miraculously granted additional patience to live in this small space with John and our surviving fur baby KatieBug.   There was less of a certainty that I would endure this type of life during those first months.

Pro’s and Con’s are many and vary depending on where we are currently planted.   Generally, on the plus side is the ability to easily travel to far off places without the worry of  accommodations, meeting new and interesting people everywhere we are stopped, making new friends that we will meet up with again further down the road, the ability to leave if we don’t like our neighbors, continuing on through foul weather until we reach sunshine, being rid of property taxes and experiencing the joy of visiting family and friends we have not seen in years whenever the mood strikes.

The negative side involves areas that challenge my patience, i.e., abrupt complications with needed repairs, unhappy surprises at less than acceptable campgrounds, facing illnesses in unfamiliar towns miles from doctors or emergency clinics, work camping positions not entirely as portrayed, daily challenges of living tiny (or as some call it, minimalistic) and constantly making due, regularly adjusting and redistributing space, and being away from longtime friends and family.

And what of our Alaskan adventure?   There is no way out of the dust or smoke unless you climb aboard a cruise line, unpack once and enjoy gliding along the  beautiful Alaskan coast, with daily stops at all the main ports, all meals included, your room cleaned and bed made each day for the entire trip.  Hmmm. What to choose.  Breath dust/smoke/drive horrid roads/pay outrageous fuel cost/clean/cook?  OR…Cruise/unpack/relax/enjoy… well, duh!

So to all of you who did not think we would last out the year, tonight we are doing the “Told You So” dance under a brilliant starlight-against-midnight-black sky in our tranquil campground.  As for tomorrow, it’s back to cleaning toilets.

Big company party group at our pavilion and another church gathering at the group pavilion across the street.  Steady flow of campers Thursday afternoon, filling up both our campgrounds by Friday afternoon.   The weather calls for rain, not cheerful for the campers but an answer to hundreds of prayers from those of us who watch the progress of the ever-moving-closer-to-us wild fires.

Our car is packed and Portland bound to visit family and do some whole foods grocery store shopping.  We will work Monday, leave in the afternoon, spend Tuesday enjoying Portland and family, drive “home” Wednesday morning with an afternoon prep of the pavilion for a 50^th Wedding Anniversary gathering on Thursday.   I’ll not miss my “me” time on Thursday of volunteering at the Community Center Senior Lunch.   Smoke from local fires is due to hover over Portland for the weekend and optimistically will be gone by Monday when we arrive.

The back-to-school panic has begun with parents and grandparents merrily gathering up their little munchkins, two legged and four legged, to release them into the forests and creeks for one last splash of relaxation before all must return to the reality that is life.  Summer is quickly slipping away for another year.

There is a steady stream of two wheelers, a few with training wheels still attached, rolling along our campground trails, mounted by campers ranging in age of 4 to 80 something.  They pass by our host site, wave happily, then disappear for several hours.   As night falls, John sits outside and listens to the sounds of excited children’s voices spilling their wondrous adventures to their elders, their expressive declarations hang in the air of the campground until long after dusk.

Tar Baby KatieBug just leaped into the motorhome caked with pine tree sap and matted pine needles stuck, dude claws down to paws.  Comical Porcupine paws.  Not terribly happy with me as I explained the process necessary to remove it but doing so with olive oil helped calm the squirm and did the trick.  She is, once again, a happy camper.

Off to Portland this morning for a visit with my cousin Lyn, her son Kenny, his wife Deborah and their canine four legged family member Dot, a Boston Terror…I mean Terrier ;}   KatieBug enjoys the company of Gus (calm kitty extraordinaire) her first nose to nose association with a feline and patiently puts up with Dots guarded allowance of her investigative sniffing inside the house.  So far there have been few disagreements but quick lap time (John’s) is immediately enforced when Dots inner devil child suddenly emerges.

The years living with Millie have left KatieBug with a calm demeanor that is a joy when traveling or in a campground with other dogs.   Barking is not allowed unless someone knocks on our door and “quiet” is promptly adhered to upon request.  Saying “no” to the undesirable action long enough really does work, for dogs.  Children are a whole other bag of worms as confirmed by our campgrounds multitude of “Shhhhhhh’s” after 10pm quiet time.

Portland is full of quirky eateries and we plan to try another handful while visiting.  Deborah and Kenny work, so we happily entertained Lyn after requesting a few suggestions for places of interest.

Multnomah Falls, a short drive from Portland, is an easy walk.  Included are a few stairs ascending to uncover a remarkable view of both upper and lower falls.  The 1914 bridge hangs above the lower plunge.

Continue up and arrival at the bridge is met with the most refreshing mist that cools your whole being in preparation of the next step of the journey.  Pause long enough in front of the upper falls and continuing becomes a challenge with your inner Zen.

Lyn, John, KatieBug and I began one of the eleven switchbacks leading to the first view of the Columbia River.

Part way up we paused for a Kodak moment, Lady Madonna-Lyn in her cove.  Stepping into the cove to cool off, Lyn posed, laughing at being portrayed as the Madonna, then we pushed on up the steep incline to enjoy the view from the switchback.

Half way up the next switchback I gave up and took Geisha steps down the steep decent to the bridge while John, Lyn and KatieBug continued on to the sixth switchback.

Waiting at the bridge cooling down was a tranquil respite and an excellent multicultural people watching opportunity.   When we joined back up, lunch was our next priority.

McMenamin’s Black Rabbit restaurant, located inside a facility that was formerly a poor farm, was the choice for lunch.

The pictures leave much to be desired as, for some unknown reason, the camera threw a hissy fit and blurred all the indoor shots.

The food was only enjoyable due to the present company as the burgers were less than appetizing.  The concept and art works, however, were exceptionally interesting.   The review I wrote on TripAdvisor brought almost instant concern from Sean McMenamin and when the gift card arrives we shall give them the opportunity to redeem themselves.

Evening arrived, back to our hotel room to stretch out with a few minutes of TV before sleep brought an ending to our day.

Breakfast at Jam, another quirky fun people watching café.  When I asked Lyn to smile in an attempt to record the occasion, a young lady at the next table flashed me a monstrous grin and everyone broke out in laughter.

She then offered to take a picture of us all and her “smile” word was “be happy”.  Truly fitting.  The food was great, the people watching was greater, the company was the greatest.

Said our goodbye’s promising to meet up soon and left for Millpond.  Uneventful arrival back home, except for the Bitch I almost decked outside Target, and peaceful nights sleep.

Another damp misty morning perfect for elbow grease chores.  Saw the local Golden Eagle swoop down and snatch one of the four waterlogged corpses laid out free-lunch style.   An hour later a Raven dipped down for a meal and this time I had the camera standing by.  Aggressively, another Raven shot out of the trees in an attempt to steal the free lunch.

Amazing that the mice continue to walk the plank.

Our campground is at maximum capacity, as is usual for a holiday.  Impatient kids on bikes zoom around the grounds looking for adventure making walking through the area slightly hazardous.

My idea of harvesting wild berries resulted in keeping a watchful eye on berry laden tendrils crawling throughout the campground.  Unlike the crawdads, traps were not necessary so how could it not succeed?   Drives to town were prolonged as I strategically scouted the roadside, noting where each bunch of potentially juicy blackberries grew.  Oregon is known for their wild blackberries and, along with wild fresh mint growing outside our window, I knew my gathering skills would turn wild things into the makings of awesome Mojitos.

What a disappointment when I reached to pick the plumb berries alongside our lawn and was attacked by thorns that not only pricked, but welted up to the size of quarters by the time I walked across the lawn to our door.    SssstingStop to the rescue, followed by Benadryl producing a daylong dragged out feeling and a lingering itchy prickly puffy arm.  Another one of my brilliant ideas not ever to be repeated.

BINGO tonight at the Community Center, our first and last.  The drive home in pitch black was distressing even with fresh remembrance of our five win night.

I am volunteering at the Glide Community Center one day a week to serve meals to seniors and help with clean up.  It’s a fun group of oldies and with my white hair, I now consider myself to be one of them.   One couple just retired from traveling around the country serving as hosts for the state and national campgrounds.  They are settling in Glide and come to the senior noon meal every week.  We exchange horror stories, of which she has hundreds more than I.  It makes for an enjoyable relaxing few hours and I get some “me” time.

Back to Millpond, 30 minutes of snaking down skinny roads shared with huge 18 wheelers hauling 60 foot long raw timbers to the mills.  In the opposite direction, the trucks return with rear wheels piggy backed, up the mountain to load more timbers.  Thus far, they are better drivers than our campers who dash up and down the mountain taking up the entire road as they whip around the curves.

John and I take our cart down the hiking paths when we visit our neighbors and his tendency is to drive at top speeds to get to our destination.  It is something akin to Mr. Toads Wild Ride without Disney’s steel rails holding the cart onto the road and John is grinning from ear to ear as he zooms down the paths.   I hold tight to KatieBug so she doesn’t bounce off and jettison into the woods.   As long as John remembers he is driving LilyPad and not the cart when we are on the road again, we all should survive.

On the way to neighbor John’s, we pass another swimming hole, then stop creek side to check on our recently purchased crawdad trap for the fifth time in two days, all futile attempts.  Our first bate being a can of cat food with holes punched in the top, then bacon, neither catching anything more than leaves.  We yank it up out of the water with plans to return it on our next trip to the big city, pleading false advertising.  A few of our campers wade into the creek with tennis shoes, pick up rocks and snatch up the crawdads with gloves.  No thank you.  That looks more like painful twisted ankle than dinner.

Our early evening traverse to check the grounds pauses at the largest and oldest tree at Millpond, one they didn’t cut down in the 1930’s.  This is KatieBugs favorite “sniffy” place.  Millpond was a logging camp and decades ago they cut most everything in sight without thought to future needs.  Now you can see the multileveled green of replanted trees sprawling across the mountains.  Oregon replants and thoughtfully plans all logging.   What they did not plan was this years massive destruction from wild fires burning out of control throughout the National Forests.   If the burn continues, there will be a scarcity of timber to harvest 20 years down the road.

Waking up to another misty morning and a visit from Kenny, our maintenance manager, stopping by to check on the bat situation in the pavilion.  The new bat houses should be coming any day and they will be mounted in the pavilion’s surrounding trees.  Mr. Building-A-Better-Mouse-Trap guy is a story teller of gargantuan proportions and we look forward to his humorous engaging visits.  After morning comedy time with Kenny and the maintenance crew, we all return to work.   Back at the home site, a few persistent hummingbirds try to sneak by “Guzzler” for a quick drink.

This morning we pull up for a quick trip.  It is measure-the-shocks-on-the-rig day and we are driving LilyPad back up over the narrow zigzagging road to Roseburg for the first step.  Alaska did a major job of destruction on our motorhome.  It was a trip full of things falling down, snapping off, road grime everywhere and LilyPad is in need of a major clean-up ASAP.   Our pocket book is in for a severe beating as well.  When we arrived in Roseburg, John’s “professional” said he was not comfortable measuring the shocks and wanted John to help.  Excuse me?  Not when we are paying the bill!  He sheepishly directed us to a professional in Eugene, 78 miles further away from Millpond.  When we arrived, their shop was full of buses of all ages getting new suspension systems and I was very much at ease handing over the keys.  After measuring and ordering, when the shocks arrive, they will install them.   Hopefully these new shocks will soften future bumps in the road.

Nice quiet laundry day and a quick mop for the bathroom floors.  Big storm headed our way with high winds, lighting and hopefully, some rain.  Moved Ribbit out from under trees and moved loose things into our site storage room.  I am thankful that we are under cover as there are reports in Roseburg of winds up to 45 mph bringing down huge tree limbs.  Some of our campers left for home, most just shrugged their shoulders and said “with the fires, rain is a good thing”.   We waited up for the wind but it never came.  By 11 pm the storm still didn’t find us and only soft rain hung around.

Our afternoon rain has slipped into our evening.  Thankfully it delayed until the reunion party using the pavilion had departed and we fell back into hushed mode.  Tranquility is the norm at  Millpond but when it rains there is a Halloween like spookiness that sends chills up and down your backbone.  Gigantic gangly tree limbs dressed in thick green moss cast eerie shadows on the paths.  A canopy of vines high above the tree tops allow vaguely filtered light, changing the appearance of the park.  Predator birds flutter from limb to limb sharply expressing their displeasure of the weather.  Their piercing screams disrupt the silence and startle us as we drive through checking the status of site availability.  Our campers are huddled together for warmth, tent people in their cars, trailer people in their kitchens.  Thin trails of smoke from drowning camp fires are floating between the raindrops.  It’s one of those days I am glad we have our home with us wherever we are temporarily planted.

Another rain cooled day.  Most of our work is under cover so we don’t mind the wet.  I start towards the flush toilets and silently pray that campers have been mindful of the “leave nothing but footprints” code.   I may have seven toilets to clean over Johns two but the smell from mine is minimal while the odor released from his vaults is too nauseating for me to endure.  Besides, my work camping rule was never to do toilets, yet here I am with seven.

Ray and Karen, our Rock Creek host neighbors, stopped in for a visit.  They have just purchased a 26’ travel home with two slides.  Both are excited about having all that extra space.  I’m still amazed that they both survived thus far in a 19’ camper van.  They seem genuinely happy with their new rolling home.  As we sit and chat, our little “guzzler” is busy chasing newcomers away from his own private store of nectar then pauses to sit, waiting for his next challenge.

Our park is again overflowing with families for another full weekend starting Thursday night all the way through to Sunday.  The beauty of this campground is hard to photo.  The campsites are surrounded by trees and are tucked into their own semi private niches.

Our neighbor John has a large Christian crowd at his group campground.  Down at the swimming hole the shrill cold water shrieks echo around the dozen or so mini kids splashing in the water.  The sounds break into our quiet.  We have a wedding and our neighbor John’s group will use our small swimming hole for a baptism.  That’s 150 people by  the swimming hole, over two thirds being children, and 100 at the pavilion for a wedding.  It is nowhere near quiet for the next 3 hours.

Bats just came out and darted over our heads leaving for the night.  The bride and groom are off on their life adventure, the baptism has added another soul to the Baptist church and clean-up is complete.  Our forest ranger stopped to say “hi” before we begin our bounce on down the road to do our nightly potty room toilet paper check.  Hard to believe we have been here long enough to gather cob webs on our tire wells and under our steps.

Off to the Winston Police Department for fingerprinting to complete our background checks after work this morning.  Rest of the day is shopping, peeking into lots of resale shops and home to relax.

Dark clouds loom overhead and everyone is praying for rain as the fires in Oregon are quickly spreading.   The campgrounds, motels and hotels are at capacity surrounding the fire areas.  People are leaving their homes to get away from the smoke.  Not a wisp of smoke from the major fires has shown up here so far.  The trees in our area are so dense that it keeps smoke moving along its way higher up in elevation.

What we do have are mice.  Two fell into the condensation bucket we keep at the back of the motorhome and drowned.  John didn’t realize they were dead…thought they were just upright standing extremely still on their hind legs.  Might be time for John to get new glasses.

I had lots of mice/rat sticky trays and we dotted them around the site.  We bought highly scented herbal mouse deterrent packets and put them by the tires.  Our group campground host neighbor John laughed and said that he tried the trays but they carried them away.  Totally thought he was kidding until the next morning when we discovered that every single one of our trays were gone!  We are not amused…this means war!  Our motorhome is not big enough for more of anything with a mouth, no matter how small.   It’s time to get serious.

Kenny, our maintenance manager, advised us that mice and rats are a problem around this area but he had a solution.   It involved a bucket, a rod, one can (coke type), water and peanut butter.

Darn if that old Mississippian didn’t know exactly what he was talking about!  We caught two last night bringing our count to four.   John threw the water logged bodies on the side of the road and they were gone within the hour.  Something out there is enjoying the free lunch.

Evening has arrived and our large family reunion of 150 are still enjoying their camping experience at the pavilion.  They will be here for two full days and with the campground filled, it is busy.  Morning bathroom duty turns from a minor choir into actual work.   Sunday we have another large group so the pavilion will be bustling for three full days, as will the bathrooms.

I spotted a small fluffy dog running loose at the pavilion so I had the master of ceremonies make an announcement to all, please keep all pets on a leash.  The next morning, I noticed that the dog was again running around the area but they had followed my instructions.  The dog was on a leash…but no one was holding the other end.   Must be more specific next time.

John was up early as we got a complaint about some teens skate boarding through the campground at 6 am.  Quiet time is 10pm through 7am.  It was nippy this morning and the teens were nowhere to be seen.  I’m sure they were all tucked tightly into their sleeping bags sound asleep.  The campground was full of peace and quiet.  When John returned there were several more “free lunches” in the bucket for that critter who waits somewhere out there in the woods.

Saturday and Sunday are not days of rest for camp hosts.  Flush bathrooms first, touch up the pavilion then John cleans vault toilets, we check and clean campsites and clean up our cleaning area.  Not the fun part of the work camp experience so I’m not the happiest of campers this morning.  When I was 17, I worked cleaning motel rooms.  Guess I have come full circle.  Keep wondering if my witch powers, which John claims I have, include twitching my nose to accomplish feats.  If that were true, a few twitches of my nose and “poof” a day off!

KatieBug is totally enjoying this adventure.  She rides in the cart with John three times a day, has a huge backyard to play in and has her people with her almost 24/7.

While cleaning one of the vacant camp sites we spotted two little figurines watching us work.   It is truly amazing what the minds of children can conjure up when TV, cell phones and computer games are not available.

We have hummingbirds in the park.  Group campground host John has been feeding them and Karen, past host, had a feeder up by her bedroom window.  I took it down and moved it out  because it drew ants.  For almost a week, even the nasty noisy little one that chased all the others away had not returned.  Today several came back.  Got a picture of one but they are cautious so I’ll lie in wait some evening to get better pictures.  I was surprised that “Guzzler” didn’t fly, just sat and drank for a long time.

Just past the town of Glide is a large ranch that has several dozen Longhorns.   Seeing them is a happy reminder of back home.

Today is our day off, one each week, and we head to the big city of Roseburg.  KatieBug goes in for a mani/pedi/bath and we do lunch and grocery shop.

It rained today…thank you Lord!  I’m not sure if it helped with the fires but it couldn’t have hurt.  No smoke yet but they are getting closer to our forest and not under control.

We have arrived at Millpond Recreation Area, Oregon.  The long winding narrow two lane road on which our GPS led us was 15 miles of unnecessarily stressful travel.  Somehow the GPS thought they would do us a favor and reroute us on a shortcut.  There is no way to tell this GPS that taking a 17 ton, 43’ motorhome down narrow winding roads where we can only go 10 mph instead of a longer wide road at 40 mph is a better choice.   It looked mild enough at the start.  Ten miles in, we considered turning around as it turned into a heart pausing, edge of the cliff ride, taking twice as long.  We arrived a little shaken but safe and very relieved.

Karen and Steve, the current hosts, gave us the tour while we chatted about Tiffin Motorhomes, Quartzsite AZ, people we knew in common and what we would be doing for the next two months.  John and I will shadow them in the morning to find out what we are expected to do for our stint.  We walked around the park on paved paths, campsites were clean well-kept level sites, the pit toilets, or as the ranger likes to call them “vault” toilets…pits with a porcelain toilet bowl attached, were nicer than what the Scouts had while I was with Josh and Liz at camp.

The swimming “hole” is more of a river blocked up by kid hauled river rocks and maintenance workers efforts to form a relaxing float and swim area complete with picnic tables and shaded by giant trees.

The rustic pavilion has a river rock focal point fireplace, huge beams make up the ceiling and a long counter with a sink and running water.  The floor is cement and they have dozens of nice picnic tables covering the interior.  Bats have found the rafters over the fireplace but the park will encourage them to move to bat homes as soon as they have some built.  I could not imagine that a family reunion or a wedding would want to smell bat guano wafting through the air in such a serene setting.

There are “real” flush toilets near our host site and these are used when the pavilion is rented for weddings, family reunions and such.  Tiled, sinks, mirrors and they look much easier to clean than the “vaults”.  We walked back to their site to carry on our chat.  The evening ended with us following them back over the winding road for dinner at Munchies, the local fast food joint and only real restaurant within 20 miles.  The town closest is Idleyld and is an honest to goodness blink-and-you-will-miss-it town with a combined store/gas station and a tiny post office within a few feet.  Glide is another few miles down with a small grocery/gas/liquor store, a community center, a few small bars and one restaurant, Munchies.  The nearest real grocery is nearly 30 miles away.  Until we move to the host site we have no TV, no computer internet, no motorhome hook-ups and no A T & T phone.

Evening has arrived and it is so quiet you can hear the pine needles drop atop the motorhome roof.   Ahhhh.  To sleep, perchance to dream.

The sun rose, it is a wonderfully cool, peacefully tranquil morning, everything I had hoped this park would be, it seems to be.   I couldn’t have planned things any better had I designed it all myself.  No dust, only a smidge of smoke, peaceful, gorgeous area surrounded by nature, level paths for walking, a refreshing swimming hole, our own private covered site…If there are down sides, they don’t overwhelm the positives.  We do have to clean five campground toilets but the pay is exceptional for what is expected of us.  Drove into the big city of Roseburg for supplies, drank coffee at Starbucks so we could use our computers.  Looked around and found Wal-Mart, Safeway, Big Lots, Fred Meyers, Albertson’s and a fantastic cross between a Whole Foods and Costco/Sam’s called Sherm’s Thunderbird.  We will no longer be able to say “we can’t eat healthy because there are no well stocked grocery stores.”  No, we will have to find another excuse.

I found a place to volunteer a few hours a week in Glide.  They are always looking for people at the Community Center so I’ll be helping out with whatever they need done.  It’s close so I can do my host job, have a little fun and enjoy some social time in the community.

Grilled Reindeer sausage for dinner, relaxed, took a walk around the area then added another blissful night of sleep.  I wear ”Life is Good” shirts to keep the words fresh in my mind just in case circumstances are not “good”.  Now the words actually fit.

Woke early to see how weddings are handled at the Pavilion, drove two miles down our road to Rock Creek Park so Steve and Karen could introduce us to hosts Ray and Karen who live in a 19’ travel camper van for the season.  Not something we could ever do…one of us would end up smothered.

Off to the big city again for last minute supplies.  On the way home we stopped at Colliding Rivers, the local teen spot for cooling off and dare devil dives from the rocks.

Dinner was a meet up with hosts from four other parks in our district at Munchies. Listened to horror stories but it didn’t scare us off.  Thinking we may do this next year for a few months if things go well.

P.S.  Got a picture from Bill and Dorothy, our neighbors in Whitehorse, who went on to Homer Alaska on a bear adventure.  Great shot Dorothy!

Moved into our new site after John dry lubed the jacks in the parking lot this morning.  Stopped the loud grinding noise they gave off every time we put them down.  Our 50 amp hook-up is corroded but maintenance will fix that on Tuesday and we have been able to survive fine with 30 amp.

John and I unpacked chairs, pictures, pretty things and put out everything that has been waiting for us to stay in one place long enough to make LilyPad look more like “home”.   It may only be “home” for two months, but I’ll take anything that is longer than a week, no questions asked, and this place is easy to love.

Our cleaning consists of both bathrooms, the pavilion, the campsites and trash to pick up daily.   The pavilion holds a clean-up deposit so it is usually clean when they leave.  The campsites take about 10 minutes to check and pick up a few wayward pieces of trash and the bathrooms are wipe down counters and sweep for me, clean toilet bowls for John.   We don’t have to do any yard or lawn work and trash cans are only dumped when they are over half full.  Greeting and chatting, keeping the peace and head counts are the norm for the position and nothing either John or I can’t handle.  It’s a bit more work than the last place but the covered site, free laundry room, fantastic huge yard and awesome surrounding park area more than make up for the few extra hours.   Said a pre-good by to Steve and Karen and relaxed into another peaceful nights sleep.

First day of work so we were up early, said good-by to Steve and Karen, stocked up our golf cart and were on our way at 10:00 am.  By noon we were done.  We do have to refill the camp maps  and do a head count around dusk but it is a welcome ride through the peaceful campground in our golf cart.  Life is Good!

Got our work done early again and just before dusk we drove to one of the Steelhead fish spawning area’s to see them jump for food.  There is a young black bear in the area so we talk while we watch the fish jump.

No fishing here as the Steelhead are protected on this part of the river but we saw some orange things scurrying around…yum, crawfish!  No one said you can’t eat those!

Golden Eagles fly around overhead while we drive back to our site.  Dinner, then to bed so we can rise early, get our cleaning done and head to the big city for supplies, more paperwork and fingerprinting.

The US border is just ahead and we are so ready to cross over.  Totally enjoyed our time in Canada and we will be back but we have a new adventure as Camp Hosts awaiting us in Oregon so we roll on.  Got a little bit of a surprise when we stopped to declare.  Didn’t know that we are responsible for knowing exactly what is in our refrigerator!   We knew that citrus was a no-no, but there are many more items and it changes often.  This time it was liquor, citrus, avocadoes, grapes, bell peppers, tomatoes and, of course, fire arms and weapons.  We forgot that we bought bear spray in Alaska but it wasn’t mentioned as a no-no on the way out of Canada, just going in, so we were OK.   Very thankful that our border patrol customs agent was nice as I had just bought avocados and bell peppers.  The avocadoes were OK but I had to cut the stems out of the bell peppers and tomatoes and then she allowed us to keep them.

A day’s drive and arrival at another “No way am I staying here” campground that falsely called itself a “resort”.   Drove on for another two hours to find something more appropriate with full hookups.  We arrived at gorgeous Blackwell Island Park that sits on the river and wished we could have stayed longer.  Paved level roads, Friendly staff, great neighbors, this park is a definite stop on our return to the area.   Would love to stay a few weeks to kick back and relax, take long walks on the paths by the lake and look out over the water.  The park has clean everything…laundry facilities, showers, sites and a half dozen highly rated restaurants close by.   We spent a relaxing evening doing laundry and taking long showers without having to pay for the water.  Nice being back in the good old US of A.

Slept late as check out time was noon, then drove to our next stop where we will be close to family.  We are staying at a little state park just a few minutes from our cousins.  A little scary snaking down the narrow entrance and exit roads that overlooked the river far down in the ravine.   It is a small, clean and quiet state park, Riverside State Park, Bowl and Pitcher.  Cousin Bob and Brenda are our generous hosts.  They caught trout that morning and grilled it for us the same night.  Yumm!  After dinner we drove the few miles back to LilyPad and slept fitfully through the night…no trains or traffic noise…whoopee!

KatieBug is off to Petco for a bath and a mani/pedi this morning and the rest of the day we will spend visiting family.  Brenda and I have similar camera’s so she’s coaching me on the finer points of up close and personal shots of birds in her back yard.  They have feeders out and Quail families, Yellow Finch, Blue Birds and a variety of other tweets visit the feeders daily.  That also means that it is a prime hunting ground for birds of prey although we didn’t see any.

Back to the LilyPad for house cleaning and other daily life chores to complete while we are settled for a few days.  Tried to replace the wiper arms but they sent us the incorrect parts so repair will be saved for later.  Cleaned the outside of the motorhome and car, got paperwork faxed for our host position in Oregon…then on to additional mundane household choirs.  Can’t get out of it even when living in sticks and bricks but there are always a few extra things involved with living in a rolling box.

After a few days it was time to get back on the road.  Wagons ho and off we go to the park dump to empty our tanks.  This time the “it’s always something” was a plugged up dump at the park, after John had already started dumping the black tank.  I’m very thankful that’s John’s job…eww, stinky!!  Closed our black tank back up, rinsed off and went on our way.  Stopped at a highway rest stop dump and were able to finish the job somewhere along the Columbia River.

We arrived for our last overnight, a 5 star RV named Hee-Hee-Illahee-RV-Resort in Salem, Oregon.  Pulled in, settled for the night and could not believe my ears!  I heard crystal clear whistles from trains.  Asked and found out that they run all night.  Focusing on our next two months being tranquil, now just hours away, makes sleep interruptions easier.