In the Woods
June 2-3, 2007
Belknap Hot Springs Resort
Mc Kenzie Bridge, OR
Our BBQ steak dinner at Casey’s was great. We met some nice people at dinner and also around the campfire that followed. This park is rated in the top ten in the country by Good Sam, and the rating is no fluke. Only 56 spaces, but half of them are along the river. Casey and Becky, the proprietors, are great people and work hard keeping everything clean and neat. We’ll be back to this place.
Saturday morning found us in Eugene. After unhooking the toad from the RV, we attempted to make contact with the owner of the house Janice’s grandfather built and where her mother grew up. He didn’t answer any of Janice’s phone calls earlier, but we drove by anyway. It was still a dive (compared to last year) and the ‘welcome visitors’ sign was definitely not out, so we moved on to our next stop, the Eugene Saturday Market—a combination farmer’s market and craft bazaar. ‘Bizarre’ might be a better description. Eugene’s left-leaning artisans were there featuring the latest in tie-dyed merchandise, including tie-dyed toilet paper. Many aged hippies, priced out of the Berkeley housing market, now call Eugene ‘home’. Only the hair color (now grey) had changed. White guys with grey afros and earth mommas with straight hair hanging down over paisley frocks. Selling pottery and photographs and “Impeach Bush” paraphernalia. Drinking the Kool-aid.
Belknap Hot Springs Resort
Mc Kenzie Bridge, OR
Our BBQ steak dinner at Casey’s was great. We met some nice people at dinner and also around the campfire that followed. This park is rated in the top ten in the country by Good Sam, and the rating is no fluke. Only 56 spaces, but half of them are along the river. Casey and Becky, the proprietors, are great people and work hard keeping everything clean and neat. We’ll be back to this place.
Saturday morning found us in Eugene. After unhooking the toad from the RV, we attempted to make contact with the owner of the house Janice’s grandfather built and where her mother grew up. He didn’t answer any of Janice’s phone calls earlier, but we drove by anyway. It was still a dive (compared to last year) and the ‘welcome visitors’ sign was definitely not out, so we moved on to our next stop, the Eugene Saturday Market—a combination farmer’s market and craft bazaar. ‘Bizarre’ might be a better description. Eugene’s left-leaning artisans were there featuring the latest in tie-dyed merchandise, including tie-dyed toilet paper. Many aged hippies, priced out of the Berkeley housing market, now call Eugene ‘home’. Only the hair color (now grey) had changed. White guys with grey afros and earth mommas with straight hair hanging down over paisley frocks. Selling pottery and photographs and “Impeach Bush” paraphernalia. Drinking the Kool-aid.
Next stop was a visit with Janice’s cousin Ron and wife Judi. We met them at their store where they sell every kind of baby merchandise imaginable from socks to strollers. Very nice stuff. Hard-working small-business people. The American way.
After a quick Costco stop (“polish sausage, please”), we headed to Springfield to reclaim the rig, where it reposed in front of a grammar school. Neighborhood dogs howled their greetings, including one that Janice thought was a seal. A kid on a bike denied that there was seal in the neighborhood. “Just dogs.” A lot of them, though. I’d be dialing up Hit-a-Pet if this was my home base.
Moving along up the McKenzie highway, we stopped at the RV parts store to purchase a vent-cap-sucker-vane to pull the black tank stink out of the rig when we are on the road. This gizmo goes on top of the black tank vent and sucks the fumes into the ionosphere. Unfortunately, the last one had just flown off the shelf, so I placed an order, and we headed up canyon, eyes watering as ‘aromas de las stinkos’ wafted from some mysterious location under the bathroom sink. (A big ‘thank you’ to the Village RV service department for their hard work on this problem. If there was a way I could send them a sample….)
The drive up the McKenzie River canyon was otherwise gorgeous with thick conifers covering the surrounding mountains and a rushing river running along the highway. Postcard beautiful. Arriving at Belknap Springs, it was a busy Saturday and all spots were full, save the one I had reserved, “11A”. We soon realized why this was the last spot available when I made reservations six weeks ago. It was the site of the former camp host located in the resort parking lot. Totally blacktop. A defunct (fortunately) dump site was across from us. After some discussion, they agreed to move us to another site up the hill for Sunday-Monday.
Other than site “11A”, the grounds here are beautiful. Meandering garden paths across the river with ponds and a panoply of beautiful flowers. Carly fell in the pond, but it was a narrow trail and she was sniffing somebody’s postcard.
Today was spent in the town of Sisters, about 50 miles northeast. Don’t know what the allure is, but this is a townlet (pop.1704) that we fell in love with a couple years ago and we enjoy returning to it. Even looked at some houses here, but we are just teasing ourselves. A nice place for a second home, but we are driving our second home and it stops at plenty of nice places!
We headed back to Belknap Springs, stopping at some spectacular waterfalls along the way for a little bit of riverside exercise. Our new space was ready, a cozy spot in the upper park across from a wide lawn. The weekenders have moved out and we are in near isolation. After a dinner of buffalo burgers and salad ala Janice, we walked down to the hot springs pool for a quick soaking in the 102 degree water.
After a quick Costco stop (“polish sausage, please”), we headed to Springfield to reclaim the rig, where it reposed in front of a grammar school. Neighborhood dogs howled their greetings, including one that Janice thought was a seal. A kid on a bike denied that there was seal in the neighborhood. “Just dogs.” A lot of them, though. I’d be dialing up Hit-a-Pet if this was my home base.
Moving along up the McKenzie highway, we stopped at the RV parts store to purchase a vent-cap-sucker-vane to pull the black tank stink out of the rig when we are on the road. This gizmo goes on top of the black tank vent and sucks the fumes into the ionosphere. Unfortunately, the last one had just flown off the shelf, so I placed an order, and we headed up canyon, eyes watering as ‘aromas de las stinkos’ wafted from some mysterious location under the bathroom sink. (A big ‘thank you’ to the Village RV service department for their hard work on this problem. If there was a way I could send them a sample….)
The drive up the McKenzie River canyon was otherwise gorgeous with thick conifers covering the surrounding mountains and a rushing river running along the highway. Postcard beautiful. Arriving at Belknap Springs, it was a busy Saturday and all spots were full, save the one I had reserved, “11A”. We soon realized why this was the last spot available when I made reservations six weeks ago. It was the site of the former camp host located in the resort parking lot. Totally blacktop. A defunct (fortunately) dump site was across from us. After some discussion, they agreed to move us to another site up the hill for Sunday-Monday.
Other than site “11A”, the grounds here are beautiful. Meandering garden paths across the river with ponds and a panoply of beautiful flowers. Carly fell in the pond, but it was a narrow trail and she was sniffing somebody’s postcard.
Today was spent in the town of Sisters, about 50 miles northeast. Don’t know what the allure is, but this is a townlet (pop.1704) that we fell in love with a couple years ago and we enjoy returning to it. Even looked at some houses here, but we are just teasing ourselves. A nice place for a second home, but we are driving our second home and it stops at plenty of nice places!
We headed back to Belknap Springs, stopping at some spectacular waterfalls along the way for a little bit of riverside exercise. Our new space was ready, a cozy spot in the upper park across from a wide lawn. The weekenders have moved out and we are in near isolation. After a dinner of buffalo burgers and salad ala Janice, we walked down to the hot springs pool for a quick soaking in the 102 degree water.
posted by Jeff @ 4:49 PM
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