September 1st through September 13th, 2014 Meet up lunch with BLM Hosts, Last Wine Tastings, Final Waterfall Hikes

Breakfast at Idleyld Lodge on this lovely cool morning with our Susan Creek Campground Host friends. They are the first hosts to depart from our group of BLM campground hosts but we will meet up again in Corsicana, TX, their next workamp position, in the land of “best fruitcake in the country” baked by Collin Street Bakery.

The owners of Idleyld Lodge, Ron and his wife, are owner/operators of this blended bed and breakfast/café/bar and event venue. Ron is a friendly unconventional entertaining character, a real go getter. They purchased this Lodge last year just before we arrived for our hosting position at Mill Pond Campground and have nearly made it into the black, an amazing feat in this blink and you’ll miss it, almost a town, in Idleyld Park Oregon.

Idleyld Lodge

The four of us, and a friendly tag along camper couple from Susan Creek, dined together enduring the playful taunts from Ron at every possible verbal opportunity. He memorized every order, teased us by purposely mixing up each order as he repeated them back, then delivered to us all exactly what we ordered. After breakfast, he broke out his card tricks, amazing us and everyone else in the café. When asked about his “magic balls” (we were told to ask) he produced three red sponge balls and was able to transfer them back and forth between he and guests, through closed fists, with just a tap. A most pleasurable, engaging and delicious breakfast.

Owner Ron and card tricks

Back to the campground to prep for our incoming group. After chores, an email from Ray and Karen inviting us to a joint farewell host lunch at Elmer’s in Roseburg was accepted with just a confirming mention to John. Any social time is eagerly sought after and a chance to spend an enjoyable few more hours with Ray and Karen before we all head our separate ways was a priority event.

Soon our flock of cheerful campground hosts will end their volunteer stints and go forth, each in their own directions. Ray and Karen volunteered down from us at Eagle Rock last year and hosted the other group campground this year.  Ken and Will, hosts for Eagle Rock this year, and Dyana hosting at Tyee, were all gathered together by invitation from Ray for a farewell lunch at Elmer’s diner in Roseburg and the best of us showed up to chat and wish each other safe travels.

End of season Host Lunch

The journey to Roseburg, being 45 minutes away from our campground and the closest major town, gave us the opportunity to pick up supplies and check out the few remaining wineries left on the Roseburg Oregon Wine Tour Circuit.

After several people told us we must stop at Hill Crest Winery, the oldest Estate Winery in Oregon, we detoured from grocery shopping and drove to our 14th Oregon winery.

Hill Crest Vineyard

Not ever having ventured out during harvest time, we had no clue how they kept the birds from eating the grapes until we opened the car door and heard loud booming shots echoing from every direction about 20 seconds apart. Being a Texan at heart, logic told me gun shots meant hunting so I paused with the door open, told John “I hope someone isn’t shooting in our direction” and bolted into the tasting room. We all had a good laugh when the wine hostess told us about the air cannons used to scare the birds off the grapes. Impressive wine tasting room, friendly dogs, beautiful drive out. Wine likes and dislikes are very personal and neither of us enjoyed their offerings so nothing returned with us to LilyPad. That being said, Hill Crest Winery would not have lasted this long if it didn’t have a large following of wine connoisseurs, many entering while we tasted and were taking home cases.

Hill Crest Tasting room

Last, but certainly not least, was the very charming Melrose Winery, its friendly wine hostess and the pack of sweet lazy fur family members. Great blends of interesting reds, happily chatting hostess, warm inviting tasting room, we took home another impressive red and paused to pet pups before departing.

Melrose Winery

The winery overlooked a peaceful grassy lawn that served as an event area and tables were placed outside on the porch to enjoy a glass or a bottle of wine or microbrewery beer.

Melrose Event Area

John was in need of additional quantities of Kruse Farms awesomely delicious tomatoes. Picking direct from their fields, we haven’t tasted tomatoes this full of flavor and firm to the bite since our bicycling trips along Chico’s farming field roads back before we were married, over 42 years ago. Tomato sandwiches are on the menu for every one of our lunches next week.

Kruse Farms  Best tomatoes ever

Musical notes floated around the Market, accentuated with banjo pickers and strumming guitars while the shoppers carefully chose their produce. We have enjoyed purchasing the wonderful fresh and flavorful veggies and fruits from Kruse Farms Market, one of the best produce shopping experiences in Oregon.

Music and fresh produce

Back at Lone Pine, our campers are settled and the next few days are ours to enjoy, minus the few minutes a day it takes us to sanitize the vaults, replace toilet paper, smile hugely and repeat continually that we are at their service for whatever they may need to make their camping experience enjoyable.

This being our last month, we planned to visit the few remaining easy and moderate hikes left on our dwindling list of Rogue-Umpqua Scenic Byway waterfalls. An early start immediately after chores took us down an extended dusty dirt road that brought us to an easy footpath stroll to Warm Springs Falls, said to be remarkably consistent with its 60 foot flow fall. Ribbit was hidden under dust upon arrival.

Arrival at trail to Warm Springs Falls

The foot path leading to the falls was lined with gigantic wild Rhododendrons that bloom June and July.

Wild Rhododendron

The Warm Springs Creek thunders over a columnar basalt formation into a mossy arena below. Being a football field away did not deter the spray rising from the tumbling cascade and dampening us with a cooling mist.

Warm Springs Falls

This being my birthday, I chose to revisit my favorite waterfall, Clearwater Falls. The path was permeated with soft soil and thousands of intertwined roots stretch across the walkway and snake into the crystal clear waters that flow from the falls. The waterfall appears to be erupting from a wall of fallen tree trunks, steal gray rocks and green mossy roots.

Clear Water Falls

The waters that pool below are, in places, four feet deep but so clear your eyes believe it has no depth at all.

Clear Water Falls from trail  4 ft deep water

Home again, home again, to bid adieu to our outgoing group.  Enjoyable church gathering of families that departed leaving the campground as all should, taking nothing but pictures, leaving nothing but footprints. Sanitizing and cleaning out the fire pits was the only chore required and as they drove out, they handed John a personalized Thank You card for keeping the campground spotless and providing them with the friendliest of camping experiences. Times like these truly make hosting a worthwhile volunteer adventure.

Lone Pine Thank You Card

Nighttime draws near.  I am positioned near the edge of our driveway, rocking in my rocker lawn chair, gazing up at the rapidly darkening daylight sky’s, black little bat wings fluttering at sonic speeds narrowly missing my head, more still awakening and whizzing sporadically past to begin their nightly munching on the zillions of miniscule flying snacks speckling the air.

The stars begin their appearance, one piercing light after another until the sky is a sparkling mass of radiant twinkles. Slowly our group of deer step from the wooded area that surrounds us and strut boldly onto the expansive gravel parking lot. They pause, watching me for movement, their eyes luminous in the near dark, then continue on across, bounding over the wooden rails, to the ball field with its green blades of grass still growing from their nightly watering that will continue until the season ends. Not a man-made sound is heard until our air conditioner breaks the silence.  Peace and tranquility among natures forest creatures in the middle of the Umpqua National Forest.