In the Woods

May 30, 2007
Westfir, OR

Casey's RV Park

I think we have arrived at RV nirvana . (Click here for a bird's eye view). The Willamette River rushes by about 50 feet from our rig. A very clean park with a lot of well-deserved ‘10’ ratings at www.rvparkreviews.com. A bonus is that there is a nice 9-hole course about 6 miles away. (Honest, Janice, I had no idea….) We are here a day earlier than scheduled, but our overnight yesterday at the Tri-City RV Park in Myrtle Creek left us wanting to escape the heat and I-5. We will be here ‘til Saturday morning when we head to the McKenzie River via Eugene.

Speaking of Tri-City RV Park, not since I was fooled on the internet about 10 year’s ago (when we wound up staying in a condo in Kauai that was a destination place for German nudists) have I been misled by carefully angled photographs and slick verbiage. Tri-City, a brand new park on old 99 across from Sue’s Bar and Dancing Club, was pretty much all pavement . Nice hook-ups, but about as sterile as a park and ride lot. Very weak on the ambiance. Bill the manager asked me for names of fellow RV’ers to send advertising postcards to. Fellow roadies…know that I didn’t give you up to Bill. No postcards in your mail box from Tri-City. If you are ever cruising up or down I-5 in the area, and you are really desperate, this is your place!!!

The day had started so well, with a phone call from ‘Tony”, the service manager at Village RV, which had recently disallowed my reimbursement claim for the batteries that died in Mexico. Tony (and his boss, the GM) were on the receiving end of one of my ‘special’ letters regarding the subject. To make a long story short (and it isn’t as long as the heralded microwave oven replacement campaign of 2006), they succumbed to my persuasive prose and the ‘check is in the mail.’ However, Village may have had the last laugh, as their guaranteed repair of the black tank fumes venting into the RV while on the road was a dismal failure. Today’s journey was breathless. Thought I was back in Baja.

Another highlight yesterday was the fact that Tuesday was ‘Senior Day’ at the Myrtle Creek Golf Course. Cart, green fees and a bucket of balls for $37.00. This is a course with swooping drops from rolling hills. Played with Ken, a chain-smoker employed at the local Indian casino. Between puffs, he really smoked the ball. It was a mediocre round for me. In keeping with past practice, no scores will be divulged on the blog, to keep any future wagering on the up and up.

On the way today we succumbed to an ice cream stop at Peggy’s Café at Rice Hill. At 10:20 a.m., it was the earliest I had eaten an ice cream cone in my life. The server assuaged my guilt, advising me that she has 7 a.m. regulars. A huckleberry cheesecake and a blackberry cone . One scoop each on a sugar cone:$4.50. Later bought gas at $3.25 a gallon (a lot of it!), and actually thought, “Good price!”. The attendant (remember, they gottta pump the gas in Oregon) advised that just 6 weeks ago the price was $2.25 a gallon. Are we all stupid or what?

One of the unfortunate benefits of having internet on the road is that I can review the travails of my beloved SF Giants. It’s time to get rid of Armando Benitez, who as the ‘closer’ relief pitcher has blown 2 of the 3 last games. How can a team hope to have any chance for success knowing that Armando will give it away in the late innings? Somebody please dial up Luigi “The Sniper” and tell him that there are some good upper deck tickets for him at ‘will call.’

Janice received an encouraging e-mail from her publisher today wherein she was advised that the company is excited about her book, etc, and it is moving into lay-out and editing processes.

As we head north, our intentions are to be in the Portland area (we’re coming Fritz and Dee!), followed by Coeur d’Alene, ID (daughter, Julie has a triathlon June 24), then Glacier NP, Waterton NP, and then Calgary (for the Stampede). After that, we’ll trickle down through Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, then to Colorado, including stops at Estes (Rocky Mountain NP), Evergreen (Janice will see me swing a golf club for the first time), then Colorado Springs, Canon City, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Durango, Mesa Verde, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Las Vegas and home, by August 15. Please forward any sightseeing or adventure suggestions along the route to jeff.marschner@sbcglobal.com. You’ll get a postcard if we go there!

Back on the Road

Heading North

May 26-28, 2007
Memorial Day Weekend

Rogue River,OR

We arrived at Valley of the Rogue State Park off of I-5 northwest of Medford after about 7 hours on the road. We had scouted this park before and it lived up to expectations, despite being at full capacity the first two nights. ( A fortuitous hole in the tree-canopy allows this satellite internet posting. Such may not be the case in future forested campgrounds.)

On the drive up, Janice took the wheel at Maxwell and safely guided us for the next 100 miles or so, finishing just north of Redding. It had been over two years since she was in the pilot's seat. I took over to navigate the Shasta Bridge and guide it through the time warp as we left the world of ‘flatlanders’ who lived 'down below.' Lake Shasta was covered with houseboats and powerboats, who fought for room as the drought-challenged lake showed plenty of naked dirt above the shoreline.

As I-5 crossed over the upper Sacramento River near Castella, I was able to glimpse upstream towards my fishing hole of 40+ years ago. I would spend all day sitting on a rock letting my bait (salmon eggs or an unwary grasshopper) drift downstream and would return to camp with a creelful of beautiful rainbow trout. This is my 'special place' that I have 'visited' in my imagination often throughout the years.

Further up I-5, Mt. Shasta loomed over the landscape. The snows are already beginning to thin.

Sunday was a day spent in the vicinity of the Upper Rogue. Morning church services at the Trail Christian Fellowship were inspiring. This is a large church in the boondocks, but it was full. Carly snoozed through church in the back of the car, with partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid-70s keeping her comfortable.

Next we headed in the direction of Crater Lake, stopping at a new hilltop residential development where the absence of any new houses or people allowed us to change clothes on the run. Nothing new for me, having mastered the technique in many golf course parking lots, but it was a new experience for Janice.

It was a gorgeous day, although the temperatures dropped a bit as we traveled east, gaining in altitude. Of course, I left my sweatshirt back at camp, so it was a bit nippy.
Rather than lunch, we opted for a pie stop at Beckie's Restaurant. Fresh huckleberry pie a la mode. Scrumptious!

We killed some time at the nearby state park, with Carly getting in a mile or so of fairly level hiking. For a geezer-dog, she did quite well. We needed to work off the pie, as an early dinner in Shady Cove was looming.

After a quick re-dress at out secret hilltop changing space, we headed towards Bel-Di’s, a reknowned dining place along the Rogue River where we had enjoyed one of our most pleasant meals during last year’s Oregon adventure. We relaxed at our window seat watching rafters and fishermen cruise by. Janice (again) had fried prawns. I opted for the day’s special---crusted halibut. Unfortunately the meal was not up to our expectations---the prawns deemed ‘ordinary’ and the large chunk of halibut made me wonder whether the ‘special’ was because somebody had a freezer-full of fish that they wanted to unload. Sorry, Bel-Di’s, but you’ve seen the last of us. (Lurking in the back of my mind was the fact that, according to a web-link I checked out, Bel-Di’s scored 87/100 on a health department inspection. That’s ‘passing’, but it makes you wonder where they lost the 13 points. Was it just a few mouse turds or what?)

Along the way back to camp we spied a farm where they were growing giant marshmallows—or is that hay???

Today is a ‘down’ day, with nothing momentous scheduled. Decided not to fight the crowds in Grants Pass at the boat races. Repaired a leaking connection at the water pump. Just enjoying life on the road.

Interim Entertainment Between Trips

Here's a western vignette. Click here to view.