Sandy is a real water dog. He would happily hike in pouring down rain, instead of watching it come down from inside the r•pod. We need the rain, but I was really hoping it wouldn't come during our camping trip.
We were camping in La Pine, Oregon, and later at Suttle Lake, 80 miles to the north beginning Tuesday and returning yesterday. We thought there might be some rain, but we didn't expect there to be so much. Wednesday was cold and windy, but there was very little rain. This was what we saw when we checked the weather on Wednesday morning.
We loaded up the pod on Tuesday, and drove south to the La Pine State Park, one of our favorite camping and hiking places, and only a fairly short drive from Bend. We planned to meet Jim there. He had thought he would wait until Wednesday to make the drive from Florence, due to a weather front that might have made things difficult going over the mountains, but the rain came through early (I guess) and he sent us a text Tuesday morning, saying he was coming today after all and planning to be at the campground about 4:00 PM. We almost arrived at the same time. We had adjoining campsites in the Middle Loop at the campground.
We had full hookups, so we took our small electric heaters along. I had planned to provide four meals, and Jim said he would provide one and the dessert for three nights. I made pizza for the first night's supper, because we could use the oven, and Jim was tired from his long trip. He poached some salmon for the next night. We provided the corn salad, bread and vegetables.
The following night we had a quiche. We ate in our trailer each night because the pups could stay on the bed, and with all the rain, they were sometimes muddy coming inside. The picnic table was out of the question!
Jim couldn't get his convection/microwave oven to work on the convection function, so I came over to see if I could get it to work. It worked fine for preheat and then cook. I showed him first, then I had him do it and I watched. I think he will be able to do it now.
We had planned to do as much hiking as possible, but not just the same trails. Jim had never been to Newberry National Volcanic Monument before, and it's just a short drive from La Pine, so we started out with that Wednesday morning.
The trail meanders through piles of basalt, or hardened lava flows. There were educational signs throughout.
We ate our lunch at the Monument and then drove back toward La Pine State Park, stopping at the Benham Falls Trailhead. Charlie thought he saw a sign saying the falls were only half a mile to the falls, but it was closer to three quarters of a mile.
On the way back, when we passed the place where he thought he had seen the sign, we couldn't find it. Between the two hikes, we had covered a little over three miles, which was a good thing, because then the weather turned nasty, at least off and on, as a series of heavy showers and thunderstorms moved across the area. We weren't sure if we would get in any more hikes.
Whenever we could get the weather apps to function (we had very limited cell service), we would check and see when the next shower was due. We managed to get a hike in between storms Thursday morning. We took the trash to the trash collection area and then took a longer way back.
Jim took off on his own in the afternoon to have a look at the river. We set out a little later and followed our usual route, which leads to the off-leash area in the park. (That creature resembling Dumbo in full flight, running toward Charlie with a ball in his mouth, is Dusty, doing what he does best.)
The dogs are familiar with this trail, but there are always new smells when you haven't been on it for a few months. Sandy knows where the water is, and he keeps trying to get us to take trails that lead to the river.
We found Jim at the watering hole (actually, an eddy in the river formed by a log lying out in the water). Sandy loves to swim out in the water to snatch a stick thrown by whoever has a stick handy at the time. Dusty likes to take the stick away after Sandy retrieves it, but Sandy is always ready for the next stick to be thrown. I love this photo, which caught Sandy mid-jump.
Jim had come from the other direction, and he had planned to go back to his trailer the way he had come, so when we joined him, it completed the circle for us. He wanted to show us where he had turned around and gone in the opposite direction, so the hike ended up being a little longer for us than usual. Our hikes for the day totaled 3 1/4 miles.
Friday we were moving on to Suttle lake, but we managed to get in another nice hike before it was time to leave.
In the afternoon we drove separately to Suttle Lake, north of Sisters. Jim had just arrived when we got there, although he had left quite a bit before us. We found a gentleman helping him back his trailer into a rather difficultly angled campsite. Our site was a pull-through, which made it easier. While we got settled in our spot, the same gentleman who helped Jim was now having trouble backing into his site, so Jim went to direct. In this time when there's so much animosity, it was great to see people helping each other.
Jim was looking for the best place to put his kayak into the water, so we walked along the trail next to the lake to check out the various possibilities. The biggest boat-launch site was at the northwest corner of the lake. We found some Canadian immigrant families there. Sandy was intrigued, but we kept him under control while we tried to get photos of them.
One couple had three children and the other had two. Obviously, the children all knew how to swim already.
Our hiking total for Friday was a little less than 3 1/4 miles, which seems to be a typical day of hiking for us.
At Suttle Lake, we didn't have hookups, so no electric heater and no microwave/convection oven. I fixed frozen individual servings of lasagne wrapped in foil (which I had prepared awhile back) and cooked them stacked in the pressure cooker. It works like an oven, only you reduce the cooking time by 2/3 after the pressure goes up. It worked, except I think the pressure cooker needs a new gasket, as it was leaking. I did the same thing the next night, only with Spanish rice and individually wrapped burritos. That worked, too. We had some sliced Pulla (Finnish Cardamom Braid) for dessert Friday night, and all the other nights on the trip, Jim provided us with ice cream bars from Hagen Dazs.
Saturday, Jim planned to go kayaking in the afternoon, but had time for a hike with us in the morning. Our plan was to hike around the lake, which is under four miles, stopping for lunch. Jim decided he didn't want to go all the way around the lake, but would go until he thought he had hiked far enough but still had the energy to turn around and go back. We set out going counter-clockwise around the lake. Jim left us to go back a little before we reached the point where Lake Creek comes into the lake at the northeast end, so not quite halfway.
We stopped at the beach and day-use area next to the Lodge to rest a bit. I ate part of my lunch, although it was a bit early, and Charlie ate all of his. Then we set off again on our trip around the lake. In some places it was very windy, but occasionally we would come out from the shade of the trees and get some sun in a sheltered place. Runners passed us in small groups from time to time, as did other hikers, sometimes with dogs. at one place a tree had fallen across the trail. A man was waiting there for his wife, because he knew she would need help getting over the tree. He helped Sandy and me get over the tree. Dusty had no problem getting over, and Charlie managed. When we reached the big boat launch area at the other end of the lake, we sat for a big at one of the picnic tables. I finished my lunch. Then we continued on, across the bridge over Link Creek and back to our campground. Our total mileage for the day (not counting taking the pups for potty breaks before and after) was 3.81 miles, so more than usual.
Sunday (yesterday) morning, Jim was gone before we got up. He texted us that he was cold and couldn't run his little electric heater. After breakfast, we took a short hike to the boat launch area again and then back, a little more than half a mile. Our total mileage for the entire camping trip, not including the potty walks alone with the dogs was 14 miles.
The trip was not without mishaps, however. On Thursday, the toilet clogged...again. This happened last year, and we started using thinner toilet paper. It was a big job to get it unclogged again. This time is wasn't as bad. The water didn't rise in the bowl when we tried to flush, but it didn't empty, either, so some water was getting through. Charlie had learned a lot from the last time, and he used my hiking stick to unclog it. we switched out the paper in the bathroom with special RV/marine toilet paper, and (fingers crossed) it has been working fine.
I had been lowering the table in the trailer to keep it from sliding around when we travel. It's a lot of work, and it's hard to set it up again. When we got to Suttle Lake and I was setting it up, I pressed against the hinge to straighten out the legs, and it took a chunk out of my finger. It bled a lot, but stopped quickly. I put a bandaid on it, but that came off in the shower after we got home. I think it will finish healing all right without putting on another bandaid.
Jim has his table braced on the floor with a piece of square metal tube so it doesn't move during travel, but you can still take it out if you want. We may have to do the same thing.
Yes, I did get some knitting done. The first sleeve will be ready for the cuff soon. Most of my knitting was during travel time or in the late evening, when we would watch a movie on the portable DVD player.
I may put the sleeve stitches on waste yarn before knitting the ribbing, and then do the other sleeve, so I can try it on with both sleeves and make sure the length is OK.
We have another camping trip with Jim next month.
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