Monday afternoon we pulled out and drove to La Pine, just south of Bend. Our fourth trip to the same campground. There are two reasons we keep going back. 1) It takes only about 45 minutes of driving to get there, and 2) there are some great hiking trails with water access, right from the campground.
By going before the Memorial Day Weekend, we avoided crowded conditions in the campground and on the trails. We found there were lots of empty campsites, at least in North Loop, where we prefer to stay.
I forgot there is a third reason we like this campground. They have a huuuuuuuge off-leash play area. We usually start out a hike with a stop there, so the dogs can unwind a bit and run off their nervous energy before we have to hike with leashes. Often there are other dogs there. People who live in La Pine drive the few miles to the campground to let their dogs play, so we often encounter locals. There's a parking lot for their use.
Tuesday was a bit cool, so we kept the pups' fleece jackets on them. We started out at the off-leash area, then continued on to the trail just up the dirt road. The trail we use most encircles the campground, so we're never too far away. We rarely catch a glimpse of trailers, though, so we can enjoy nature without the intrusion of man-made vehicles. We also don't have to turn around and go back in the other direction, which we do when we're at home and take the Larkspur trail.
The La Pine State Park Campground is on the left on this map. The off-leash area is even further to the left. Right below the off-leash area is where we get on the trail we took, heading south. There's another access point at the north end of the campground that doesn't show on the map. That's the one we usually take to get back to the campground.
The dogs waded into the water when we reached the beach at the river's edge, but they didn't get their jackets wet. The water must have been cold.
Wednesday was a bit warmer, and we decided to take a different route for a longer hike. Instead of heading south from the dog park, we went north. This trail had a number of other options along the way. Fortunately, the trails are well marked, and occasionally they have a weatherproof map display of the whole area.
We ate our lunch at McGregor Memorial Viewpoint. There is a picnic table there, but it was warm and in the sun, so we sat on the rock wall that encircles the Viewpoint. If you zoom in, you can see a mountain in the distance with snow on it.
Charlie is a stratigrapher, and this example of fine stratigraphy caught his eye.
From the Viewpoint, we continued on to Big Tree, where we found...a big tree. We've been there before but came upon the trail to it from a different direction. This part of the trail is called "Cougar Woods Trail." I expected to come upon a bar filled with ladies of a certain age, each looking for a young man to do her bidding. There's no telling why they named it that.
However, Big Tree is really big. It was struck by lightning and is no longer the tallest tree in the forest, but it certainly is the biggest around.
By the time we got back to the campsite, we had covered just under 4.5 miles and were ready to sit down.
Thursday we did our usual trail again, only in the other direction, which made for a nice change. It was cooler than Wednesday but warmer than Tuesday, so the dogs actually went in for a swim. Well, Dusty waded in the water and Sandy went in for a swim.
We're allowed to let them off leash at water access points, so they had a great romp on the beach.
Friday we prepped the trailer for our departure before taking a short hike. We started out at the dog park again. We knew we wouldn't have as much time, because we were leaving, but it was a nice day, and Sandy had a swim again. We thought to pick up some sticks on our way to the beach, so he had plenty of things to chase in the water.
We ran into a grandfather and two young kids on our Friday hike. They were all riding bicycles. We all had to pull off the trail to let a horse go by, so we had time for a little chat. The grandfather said they were staying in South Loop. I asked which site and offered to bring them some of my books. The little girl appeared to be the older of the two children, and she was delighted to get them. The little boy had a toy steam shovel with what looked like the face of a dinosaur.
The dogs seem to enjoy the trailer. Sandy especially likes being able to look out the front window. Not all R-Pod 171 trailers have that window. Our basil plant seems to like it, too.
Each day, the dogs were happy to have a lie down in the afternoon, after all the hiking.
Sandy had insisted on bringing his pal Lamb Chop along. He often brings her to bed with us at night, so we let him bring the toy along.
Check-out time on Friday was 1:00 PM. We should have pulled out at 12:45 PM instead of 1:00 PM. There was a line at the dump station, and we were at the end of it.
During this trip, we finally figured out where to keep our toaster where it would be more accessible: in the cabinet over the stove. We had been keeping it under the seat in the dinette. Since taking this photo, I moved it to the middle, between the baskets, because I take the baskets out more frequently than the toaster, and you have to take out whichever is on the right before you can get out what's in the middle.
I got some knitting done during this trip. I finished the Cables and Herringbones Cardigan for Pam (the doll).
She didn't come with us for camping, so I had to wait until we got home to try it on.
After finishing the cardigan, I went back to my "The Love of Spiders" shawl. Sandy evidently felt the need to supervise my knitting.
Anyway, it's getting to the point where it takes a long time to finish one row.
I spent Saturday doing laundry. Not just clothes, but also sheets, towels, rugs and even the duvet cover. (I didn't wash the down comforter, but I brought it into the house. You have to have a lot of room to put the cover back on it.)
The turquoise fake fur throw is just a yard of fabric. I didn't bother to hem the edges. It goes through the laundry with no problems, and the dogs love it.
I did NOT work on the new book. After a week of not looking at it, I'm hoping I can read through with fresh eyes and see it as if someone else had written it. It should be the same with the layout. I hope to send it to my proofreaders in another week or so. We have another camping trip coming up, and I want to be done with this stage of it by then.
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What's in The Doll's Storybook: This week's story from #TheDollsStorybook is Money in a Jar. Billy is despondent because he doesn't have the money to buy a new puzzle he wants, and the old one has become boring to put together. Veronika helps him plan what to do, and Billy helps Veronika, too.
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