Our group campground is again occupied, this time with a small group of adults, a few teens and 8 very well-mannered dogs. I am truly relieved. The Department of Fish and Wildlife have been building fish habitats along our Rock Creek area and are bringing in a total of 1,600 gigantic rocks to place in the creek. Half done, they traverse back and forth over our logging road depositing them above Rock Creek Campground on the creek side of the road.

Their presents make for more traffic per day than we normally see in a week. With the swimming hole and flush toilets across the street from the group campground, I am not happy with the thought of those heavily laden trucks taking advantage of the flat stretch of our road to catch up on time lost around the curves. Thankfully, one call to the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the truckers stopped to assure me they would slow down.

Our Tree Swallow babies have hatched, demanding bedside service from their exhausted parents who start providing a wide variety of bugs in the wee hours of the morning and continue on until after dusk.

One baby continually squawks and thrusts its head out the bird house hole when meals are incoming.

As July nears, we have less and less time to escape from Lone Pine. Soon our camp reservations will be back to back and our day off will consist of a quick trip for groceries in town, picking up the mail and hurrying back home.

Scrub day at the campground and watching The World Cup. That’s the plan for the day, plain and simple. Go U.S.A.

Our replacement neighbors for Mill Pond, Sandy and Dale, arrived June 30^th to replace Toby. They will remain dry camping next to us for a week until Toby, wife and family vacate the spot on July 7^th. Hope they remain for the balance of the season. Mill Pond workampers seem to frighten easily and wear out fast. Along with their arrival comes another social gathering to be held at Susan Creek Campground and hosted by our fearless leader Ariel. Signing our stipend forms will be combined with a Host Bar B Q and social gathering. Love me some social time!

John found a boomerang and decided to try out his skill.  Getting closer!

Trip to town in the pouring rain for a non-emergency vet visit and account set up, bath and mani/pedi for KatieBug, and a movie for us, our first time in a theater this year. John and I agreed…Jersey Boys show in Vegas, “Like Wow”. Jersey Boys at the movies, beyond “Fab”. Eastwood did an excellent job and even with the “R” rated words, enjoyable entertainment for those who “remember when”.

This morning we will surely get a soaking while cleaning the campground.  Rain refuses to let up.  Our warm up/dry off afterwards comes with a bit of World Cup action. Disappointing loss, only one chance left. That far from home, you would think the U.S.A. would be seriously charged up by the constant chanting of “U.S.A.” from the stands.

Very energetic boys in this weekend’s group. Flying through the campground on their bikes and scooters, kick ball game after camp set up, off to rifle shooting practice early morning, hiking Sawmill Trail and swimming afterwards. The chaperons will enjoy their quiet time tonight around the campfire. The church group was a dad/child campout, one being a son and dad from Fort Worth now relocated to Roseburg. We have been very lucky, four out of four groups so far have been respectful and left the camp in the condition we requested.

Hey, hey, up early today, get that mop and clean! Going to be a scorcher today…projected 95 degrees. Somehow I knew being in Oregon would cause unseasonably hot temperatures. It followed me to Alaska and now Oregon…I’m doomed to be the cause of extreme heat where ever we land. Scrub that floor, blow those leaves, wash that sink, stop for a breath and listen. No 21^st century noise. The only sound in the campground is the wind swishing leaves high above me and the tapping sound of pine needles somersaulting down and bouncing off picnic table tops.

Weird Indian Pipe sprouting up from the decaying stumps of pines. The plant depends on both the dead trees and fungus for survival. A parasite of both the fungus and the stump but not giving anything back to either, it does offer a food source for bumble bees. If picked, it turns black very quickly and can stain your hands like a dye.

Red Banded Polypore pop out of tree stumps throughout our campground.

Our fearless leader Ariel just announced that she will be leaving soon for a well-deserved year’s sabbatical. She will be missed!