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?)
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.
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.
posted by Jeff @ 12:27 PM
1 Comments
1 Comments:
What's with all this changing of the clothes? I, of course, had this fleeting vision of my brother and his bride cavorting on the shores of Crater Lake in the buff. Hmmm. This trip may be more "revealing" as the days go along. We will hold down the fort in sunny Calif, where sweatshirts are just a memory... Only things cavorting are Koi and canaries, but they do go at it!
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