On the morning of Saturday, April 30th, we decided to get a good breakfast at the Taprock Northwest Grill (https://taprock.com/), right on the Rogue River. Martha had the Bacon Jam Breakfast Burger and Walt enjoyed the Lodge Benedict. We then went to browse at the Grant’s Pass Glass Forge on G Street (https://glassforge.com/). Martha made an appointment to come back to try her glass blowing skills on Monday. We visited the Grant’s Pass Growers Market (http://www.growersmarket.org/, and finally cleaned the Jeep. That evening we attended a performance of Becky’s New Car at the Barnstormers Community Theater (https://barnstormersgp.com/). This is the oldest continuously running community theater in the country (70 years). In the play, Becky Foster is caught in middle age, middle management and in a middling marriage – with no prospects for change on the horizon. Then one night a socially inept and grief-stricken millionaire stumbles into the car dealership where Becky works. Becky is offered nothing short of a new life…and the audience is offered a chance to ride shotgun! We really enjoyed the show. It shows you that you never know what little gems you’re going to find in these communities.
We took our dogs for a nice two mile walk on Sunday, May 1st, at the Reinhart Volunteer Park(http://southernoregonfamily.com/lets-go/reinhert-volunteer-park-grants-pass/), along the Rogue River. In the afternoon we did laundry including the big dog bed from our bedroom floor (it was starting to smell) and our comforters. Nice to have all that be clean. We also called the Lake Lemolo/North Crater Lake KOA and learned that they were open, and the roads were clear. They are at about 4,000 feet and had over three feet of snow two weeks before. We feel confident that we’ll be able to travel there on Tuesday and enjoy the scenery of Crater Lake National Park.
We spent the morning of Monday, May 2nd, relaxing at the motorhome and working on the blog. We then returned to the Grant’s Pass Glass Forge where Martha took a lesson in glass blowing and made a nice globe. Using a hollow metal tube, she picked up molten glass from the furnace, then sprinkled color chips for a “winter blizzard” theme on the molten glass. She then put the glass back into a furnace where the color chips adhered to the glass. Taking the tube out of the furnace the instructor attached a rubber blow tube to the metal tube. As Martha blew into the rubber blow tube, the glass expanded to a nice round 3” to 4” diameter. They then used more molten glass to attach a footer and put the globe into the hot box where the glass is allowed to gradually cool off overnight. We were leaving the next day, so they agreed to ship the globe to our next destination.
That evening we went to El Molcajete Mexican restaurant (https://www.molcajeterestaurant.com/). We sat outside on the porch and enjoyed a nine piece mariachi band. The food was great, the Platillo Mazatlan (seafood) for Martha and a Molcajete Burrito for Walt. It was a little bit cold on the porch, but the food and music were worth it.
We followed the Rogue River northeast on Tuesday, May 3rd, into the Cascade Mountains. We really should have planned this stop after going to the Oregon Coast, so that we would be in the mountains about a week later, but when we were planning our trip, we assumed that we would need to be in Colorado on May 15th. When that date changed to May 23rd, we added the coast leg. When we approached 4,000 feet in elevation, we began to see snow drifts. The highest point on the drive was about 5,400 feet and there was significant snow. Fortunately, the roads were clear and the forests were very nice.
We passed the turnout to the south entrance to Crater Lake, drove past Mt. Thielsen and Diamond Lake and continued north to the Lake Lemolo/North Crater Lake KOA (https://koa.com/campgrounds/lemolo-lake/). The campground is in a pine forest on the edge of Lake Lemolo, a reservoir on the Umpqua River. The lake sits at 4,100 feet elevation and the view is dominated by Mt. Thielsen to the south. In summer, this is a very active area, but right now there are only four campers in the park. There are snowdrifts throughout the camp, some blocking access to some campsites. It was rainy when we arrived, so we setup camp and settled in for the night.
Wednesday, May 4th, was a gorgeous day, bright sunshine and no clouds in the sky. We took the dogs and drove south to Crater Lake (https://www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm). As we climbed on Oregon 62, there was more and more snow. The road began to feel like bobsled run with the high snowbanks on either side. Crater Lake sits at 6,500 feet, one of the highest points of the Cascade Mountains. All of the weather systems, moving east from the Pacific Ocean, pass through and dump lots of precipitation including 40 to 50 feet of snow a year. The National Park Service keeps the road to the south entrance and up to the rim open year round, but does not attempt to plow the rest of the roads until the snow ends. If they clear the rest of them by the 4th of July, they are pleased. We walked up the snow bank to edge of the caldera. The view was spectacular. The reflection off the water was so pure that you almost couldn’t tell where the shore was, just cliffs upside and reflected downside. We went into the Rim Village, had some hot soup for lunch, bought some t-shirts, a souvenir for Owen and the obligatory refrigerator magnet. We drove the west rim drive to Discovery Point (about 1 mile), the farthest point they have plowed. There was a great view of Wizard Island. The lake was formed 7,700 years ago, when a violent eruption triggered the collapse of a tall peak. Scientists marvel at its purity—fed by rain and snow, it’s the deepest lake in the USA and one of the most pristine on Earth.
It rained all day on Thursday, May 5th, so we stayed in the motorhome doing computer work. Walt had wanted to go soak in the Umpqua Hot Springs, about 10 miles west, but not in this horrible weather.
We were supposed to stay at this campground until Saturday, but the weather forecast was for freezing temperatures and one to three inches of snow on Friday night, so on Friday, May 6th, we left early to travel to the Oregon coast. We crossed the top of the Cascades in heavy rain, through beautiful forests. We descended into the Willamette River valley and took I-5 through Eugene (home of the University of Oregon Ducks), then turned west on US 20, through Corvallis (home of the Oregon State University Beavers). We crossed the coastal hills and arrived at the Pacific Ocean in Newport, Oregon. Turning south, we arrived at Seal Rocks RV Cove (https://www.sealrocksrv.com/). On the drive from Newport to Seal Rock, it was pouring rain, which then continued while we were checking into the RV park. As we were a day early, the campground put us in site 39 because site 43, where we were to be for our stay starting the next day, was full. We were a bit hassled setting up and did not notice that our living room slide out had impacted and pushed over the electric box pole – Crap!!! The campground managers came and surveyed the damage and made the decision to put us, up the hill a bit more, in site 1, for the duration of our stay. We moved, set up, got takeout seafood from Luna Sea (https://www.lunaseafishhouse.com/home/luna-sea-fish-house-seal-rock/) and settled in for the night.
It was still overcast, but promising to clear on Saturday, May 7th. Walt spent the morning exploring the area, driving south five miles to Waldport, buying gas for the Jeep and then driving 12 miles north to Newport. In the afternoon, Walt took Bess for a walk on the beach. You had to walk to the bottom of the campground, cross US 101 and then take some stairs and a little trail. The beach was magnificent. It was a small cove extending about 200 yards from Elephant Rock and the Seal Rock Recreation Area (state park) on the north, past the entrance of Hill Creek emptying into the ocean, down to a rock headland to the south. While we were on the beach the sun was trying to break through and it turned out to be a fairly nice afternoon.
Just offshore were a great many large rocks against which the waves were breaking. The campground had given us a tide schedule booklet so that we could see that low tide was about 11:00 AM, about the time we arrived. Bess and Walt crossed Hill Creek on boulders near top of the beach (Walt did, Bess just waded across), and walked alongside Elephant Rock and up the hill to the Recreation Area. There were bird nesting grounds and scenic overviews. We returned to the beach, crossed Hill Creek near the low tide level and walk down to the tide pools that are exposed at low tide. There were sea anemones, mussels, barnacles and other sea life. In places there was a brownish foam. Bess thought that this foam was sand and was very surprised when she tried to walk on it and instead splashed into a tidal pool. When they returned, Bess definitely needed a bath, so Walt gave Joon one also.
Sunday, May 8th was another very raining day, so we went grocery shopping at the Wal-Mart in Newport. We also went to the Newport’s Historic Bayfront (https://www.discovernewport.com/bayfront). This is the historic port and now restaurant and entertainment district of Newport, right on Yaquina Bay.
We spent the morning of Monday, May 9th doing computer work, including the blog, and in the afternoon we went down to the beach and the tidal pools. We didn’t want to give the dogs another bath, so we left them in the motorhome. It had rained all the previous night but, was now clearing. We started to joke about how this was a very nice place “when it stops raining”! The low tide was now at 1:30 PM. We talked to some people who were gathering mussels in the tidal pool for dinner and to a couple, who lived in Corvallis, who were fishing and enjoying the beach. We tried to cross Hill Creek at the tide line and would have been successful, but for a “rouge wave” that took us by surprise. Walt was doing a fast backpedal to escape it, but the wave soaked Martha to mid-calf. We walked up to the Recreation Area and then back to the campground via the road (US 101).
It finally stopped raining on Tuesday, May 10th and was a beautiful day. We drove south to Waldport and had lunch at the Flounder Inn Tavern (https://www.facebook.com/The-Flounder-Inn-114946181872959/). Very good sandwiches. We then drove further south through the village of Yachats to Cape Perpetua in the Suislaw National Forest (https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/siuslaw/recarea/?recid=42265). The Cape Perpetua headland is the highest viewpoint accessible by car on the Oregon Coast. From this high point, we enjoyed views of the Cape Perpetua Marine Reserve and the rugged and rocky shore where the power of the ocean is evident as it meets the coastal temperate rainforest.
We walked to the West Shelter, a stone shelter, built by the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) in the 1930’s, that overlooks the ocean. The CCC had a camp at Cape Perpetua where the young men lived and built much of the infrastructure of the Suislaw National Forest. We went the Visitor Center (closed) and hiked down across US 101 past the remains of the CCC camp to the tidal pools and the spouting horn blowhole. We saw Cook’s Chasm (named for British Captain James Cook, who landed on the Oregon coast in 1778, naming the headland for Saint Perpetua) and the Devil’s Churn. The blow hole, the chasm and the churn are all fissures in the coast through which the tide surges, especially at high tide and during storms.
We went to the Bayfront section of Newport again on Wednesday, May 11th for a two hour Marine Discovery Cruise (https://www.marinediscoverytours.com/) of the Pacific Ocean and the Yaquina estuary. Along with about 25 other passengers, including a school group from Harney County, Oregon, we cruised through the estuary and set two crab pots. We sailed out past the breakwater and into the Pacific Ocean but, did not see any whales or other interesting aquatic life, so we returned to the estuary and emptied the crab pots finding five Red Rock Crabs. Newport is known as the Dungeness Crab Capitol of the World, and much of the Newport fishing fleet hunts these. The Red Rock Crab does not contain nearly as much meat and is not as well prized.
During the cruise we talked to several of the chaperones for the Harney County students and learned that Harney County is the largest county in Oregon, and the 9th largest county in the United States, by area. However, the population is only 7,800 people. Burns, Oregon, is the county seat and has the only high school. As the population is very dispersed, with ranching and timber being the main occupations, the K-8 schools are very small, many with only six to eight students and one teacher. When these students enter high school, it would be up to a two hour commute, so they attend the Burns High School on a “boarding school” basis.
After the boat voyage we ate lunch at the Clearwater Restaurant (https://clearwaterrestaurant.com/). It was very good but expensive. The restaurant is right on the waterfront above the “sea lion docks”. These are heavy duty docks onto which about a dozen sea lions were sunning themselves. When they wanted to, they could make a lot of noise (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv42XszXd9I).
It poured rain all day on Thursday, May 12th, so we did laundry and relaxed.
We left coastal Oregon on Friday, May 13th, retracing our route to Corvallis and crossing the Casades Mountains again. Right when you turn onto US 20 in Newport is a sign that says “Boston, MA, 3365 miles”. We don’t plan to go that far on US 20, but we will be traveling on it all the way into Idaho. We stopped for lunch at Subway in Lebanon, OR, one of the nicest Subways that we have ever been to. Martha was so impressed that she took a picture of the smiling employees. We climbed up into the Cascades on a winding forested road on a cloudy day, paralleling the Santiam River, and reached the crest of the mountains at Santiam Pass (4,817 feet). There was still plenty of snow up this high. We descended the eastern flank of the Cascades, through Sisters, Oregon, and arrived at Bend/Sisters Garden RV Park (http://www.bendsistersgardenrv.com/). This is a really nice park with concrete pads and lots of trees.
We spent Saturday, May 14th looking around Sisters, Oregon. This is a little town just east of the mountains with great views of the, still snow covered, Cascades. The buildings are all freshly painted and made to resemble a western town. It was a very pleasant place to browse. We helped sustain the Sisters’ economy (the Chamber of Commerce should give us a medal), buying the obligatory refrigerator magnet, western wear for Owen (a checked western onesie and a pair of cowboy baby boots), decorations for the motorhome, a paracord bracelet for Walt, a bottle of “Beer Olives”, a loaf of sourdough bread and some great scones (broccoli/feta and bacon/cheese). We have friends, Kevin and Evelyn, from Tucson that live in Sisters. We tried to connect with them, but they were dealing with Kevin’s mother who had fallen, so we realized that we would have to see them again in November.
Sunday, May 15th was a day to do some RV maintenance and upkeep. It turned into frustration as Walt couldn’t find several of his tools, GRRRRR! He did clean out the kitchen trap, air up a low tire and solve the problem of draining under the coach (the fresh water tank was filled to overflowing). That night we peered into the sky to see the Blood Flower Moon eclipse in southeast.
We left Bend/Sisters Garden on Monday, May 16th, traveling east to Burns, OR, in Harney County. The landscape is a “high desert” with few trees and lots of low lying scrubs, such as sagebrush. The road was mostly straight with a couple of climbs through ranges of hills. We arrived at the Bosch’s Big Bear RV Park (https://boschbigbearrvandcampground.com/). This is a small (10 space) RV park on a gravel lot on a hill overlooking Hines, Oregon, just west of Burns. We spent a quite night.
We awoke very early on Tuesday, May 17th, to travel further east toward Idaho on our way to Colorado. We drove on US 20 east through the Malhuer River valley. The canyon drive was very pretty with the river and rounded hills surrounding us. We had several long waits at road construction zones, transitioned from Pacific to Mountain Time on the east end of Harney County, OR, and crossed into Idaho just east of Ontario, OR. We passed by Boise and arrived at our next stop, Mountain Home RV Resort (https://www.g7rvresorts.com/rv-park/mountain-home/), in Mountain Home, Idaho.