No horses on sidewalk

We have been on the Ponderosa for the last few days. As we got closer to our really off the beaten path county park… Willow Lake… seven miles from Butte Falls, Oregon.. which boasts a library, cafe, general store and ball field…we began to feel like we were on a set for Bonanza. The road was full of open range signs and we passed guys on horses doing cowboy things, like rounding up cows and making them go somewhere else. The landscape got crispy in spite of fast flowing but shallow rivers.

And then there was our campground. This beautiful, small lake with a snow covered mountain in the background. In the swimming area, I could swim right towards this scene or could do a back and forth sideways swim with it constantly in my view. (I opted for both.) The first day the lake felt about Hartwell-like in Mayish, but it seemed a good bit cooler on the second day, probably because the outside temperature was under ninety. It was the most peaceful and quiet place we’ve ever been camping, at least, in an RV. There was almost no one there. There were a couple of Latino families at the farther end. Evidently, it is popular here for one or more families to reserve a site or two and everyone comes over for a supper party. That happened in our campground in South Beach (and also, in Emigrant Springs with an older white couple meeting their children and grandchildren… so maybe it’s an Oregon thing instead of Latino) This family was all there together as I guess visiting was not possible in such an isolated spot. I met a woman with beautiful long black hair, as thick or thicker than mine but longer trying to comb it in the bathroom. She didn’t speak any English and I discovered that I speak even less Spanish than I used to. It’s not only words in English that I can’t find in my brain anymore. I used to have at least 100 words that I could piece together in grammatically incorrect sentences, but I seem to have nothing left. For quite a while, I’ve been thinking that the pharmaceutical cure is worse than my disease. Anyway, back to my verbal path, there were very few of us, and at night it was the quietest place ever. No distant sounds of cars, no birds, no music, nothing. It was especially noticeable when I left the camper where we were running the fan to make my late night bathroom trips. It was a small lake, but there were paths, mostly for fisherman sites, around the lake that had so many beautiful places to stop and just soak in the scenery… or fish if that is your preference.

We did not make it to Crater Lake. It just didn’t seem worth the extra 200 miles of travel when all around us was so wonderful. We did make a few trips to the public library in Eagle Point for some necessary internet access. Love being out of touch but also love that the public library is there for you when you need it.

I also donated my hair while on our trip into “town”, Medford. It went to Wigs for Kids. I was wavering on giving it away, but Maura called that morning to tell us of her friend, mentor, professor and committee member who died of a really brutal form of brain cancer leaving four young children behind. None of my reasons for keeping my hair could top the opportunity to give it to a child suffering with cancer. It looks like I have had a super perm and I probably will need to cut it even shorter to keep the tammy flips away, but for now, I feel pretty light-headed.

We are traveling now to Chester, California. I must admit that I got a thrill seeing a sign for Sacramento only 299 miles away…. but Shosha is actually in Toronto right now so we have another two stops before we get there. We traveled South down Interstate 5 and then took a turn East towards Lassen National Park, although we are staying in a private campground with water and electricity and flush toilets and showers. We also just passed a sign that warned of severe drought. I can totally see how these forests can go up in smoke. We made a small, bug filled hike on the Pacific Crest Trail and there were dry fallen trees and limbs everywhere. (It smelled like a Christmas tree trail with all the cedar and spruce trees.) It was so hot and dry though that the dogs were letting me lead, not a good sign and the main reason for our walk’s brevity. Oh yeah, and we had an old man with us who is not overly found of the heat.

Not sure when I will post this as I think this may be another of those no service places, but whatever it is, it will be a place of thankfulness and rejoicing.