A Story in Pictures - What's Blooming

NEWS FROM LAKE WEBEGONE

  

Trailer as Infirmary, or Coughing in Paradise

WEEKLY WEATHER REPORT FROM CAMP WEBEGONE

Weekly High: 75.4
Low: 36.9
Wind Gust High: 5.6
Humidity: 32% - 87%
Rain: .21 inches

RICH'S NEW FROM CAMP WEBEGONE

So Friday it rains, and I - in my great wisdom - decide to put up a tarp, which is a fascinating project of trees, ropes, stakes and angles. Enthralled by my ingenuity, I ignore that the rain is soaking through my long-ago ineffective raincoat and the two shirts and a t-shirt underneath. Hours later I note how I feel chilled and finally get into dry clothes. Still in the “we be campers with a closet" idea, I do not turn on the heat until Cheryl is shivering and I put on the generator for the first time since we arrived. I spend the rest of my time trying to dry my shirts over the fire and finally trudge to bed. 

Well Tuesday, already on the edge of a bad cold, we head to Medford for our Marathon (we've got to figure a better way) shopping trip. Interspersed with a laundry load and a great visit with Mike and Diana (my brother and sis in law), we find ourselves just before closing at 7:45pm eating our Caesar Salad at Costco (actually a good dinner). We arrive home late, put away essentials, and the cold begins. Not the temperature, the other kind.

Since that Tuesday a week ago, I have been fighting and losing a chest cold, and yesterday we drove to Shady Cove where we found a great Nurse Practitioner who diagnosed Bronchitis. And I am now on the mend. Now I'm able to write this, which I could not have done yesterday..... An informative look at my vulnerability and capacity for bad judgment.

And coughing in amongst the trees and somehow both lamenting and celebrating that this is a cool place to be sick. But also a cool place and thence comes the trailer as infirmary. We have slept in the trailer every night and will until the cold exit (Cheryl is now fighting hers - we hope more successfully than I). We now are running the generator every night (luckily out of ear shot of other campers), and being low on energy have now watched 10 of 12 episodes of Garrows Law. It has been a real introduction to Trailer life, which has the advantage of heat control and easy access to essentials, like water and peeing. We look with anticipation toward returning to the tent and fires and waking to sunrise, but we now greatly appreciate the upside of having a trailer along for the ride.

In Sickness and in Health,

Rich 

 
CHERYL'S NEWS FROM CAMP WEBEGONE

One day as princess Cheryl sat in her sanctuary, a frog approached. The frog told princess Cheryl that if she she kissed the frog, he would turn into a handsome prince. Princess Cheryl, greatly daring, kissed the frog. And lo, the frog was transformed into Prince Rich Charming. Prince Rich and Princess Cheryl lived happily in Camp Webegone...until Prince Rich Charming became ill. At that point he was transformed into a toad.

. . .

This may sound a bit harsh, but prince Rich Charming thought it was hilarious.

Cheryl

Dog Days of August to a Cold October in a Flash

WEEKLY WEATHER REPORT FROM CAMP WEBEGONE
 
Weekly High: 75.4
Low: 36.9
Wind Gust High: 5.6
Humidity: 32% - 87%
Rain: .21 inches

NEWS FROM CAMP WEBEGONE

There's nothing like the cold when you're out there living in it. It was 37 degrees when Rich and I woke up Friday, June 13 'bout 7 AM. 37 degrees with a soft Oregon rain falling. The high for the day was 52 degrees. I'd give anything for a cup of room temp., 65 degrees or so, water. The drinking water was so cold that it upset my stomach. Drinking heated water upset my stomach. I think my brain froze from breathing.

Crater Lake had blizzard conditions. Birds came down from the mountains.  To stay warm I wore:

Thermal top and bottom;

Purple fleece hat;

Flannel shirt;

Fleece vest;

Fleece jacket;

Black down coat;

Black heavy sweat pants;

Wool socks;

Black gloves.

I was a walking Michelin girl.

Eventually, early to mid evening, Rich fired up the generator and we headed indoors to the trailer, turned up the heat to about 60 degrees which felt toasty.

This cold spell was wedged between a warm spell and a hot spell. The hot spell has not arrived yet, but we are looking forward to thawing out when it does arrive.

Rich's comment: my wet cotton tee shirts took a long time to dry - three days.

Cheryl

Working Day Rhythms

NEWS FROM LAKE WEBEGONE

Cheryl and I have created a rhythm on the days we work for the camp. Wake up with the sun between 6:30 and 7:00 (today it was close to 7:00 as it was 42 degrees this morning. After relieving our bladders (another reason we get up), Rich makes a fire and Cheryl fixes breakfast. So far, we have cooked all our meals outside. 

Mostly we live like we live when camping. The trailer is a closet with water and a refuge when - like tonight - it is raining. We can fire up the generator and heat the trailer either with our gas heater or the little portable heater. But I digress.... So after we eat breakfast, we often sit and play with the fire until it uses up most of the wood. (We build small fires.) Around 9 we start cleaning the latrines. It is pretty easy as we replace toilet paper, sweep and clean if needed.

We have a day use center that Rich calls the Day Care Center. The day use center draws a lot of people, and it is about a ½ mile away from our camp. Rich rides there in the morning, and Cheryl starts cleaning latrines that are closer. There are 9 in all. The whole process takes about an hour. 

After that, we will check out empty campsites and make sure they are clean. For the first 3 weeks we have been catching up on general maintenance as there was no camp host here last year. We have now raked all 17 sites, and it is now easier to to keep them ready. Some of the sites are quite popular, and so we will catch them when we can.

Around 11:00 to 12:00 we are done for the day and fix lunch. Afternoons are time to deal with our own camp site - chop wood, carry water, read, sleep, move the chair to shade or to sun depending on the temperature. We often take a walk. Once a week or so, we drive up to Union Creek 1.5 miles and get some water from a well in an old Forest Service Camp. It is right next to Becky's restaurant where we can get a slice of pie or go to the ice cream store. (Rough life, huh?)

Around 5:00 we start dinner, eat and read or do crosswords & sodukus until around 7 pm when we do the rounds. We make the rounds sometimes on our bikes, sometimes walking. Its our job to check that people have paid, record information and meet and greet people. Have struck up some highly interesting conversations. Yesterday we met some folks that live not far from us in Portland. Told us of a housing development going in below the Market of Choice. Thought it funny to connect here in this place with them. We have met a man who lives on the same street with Rich's brother, people who knows friends of Rich etc. Always a fun walk and adventure. It is about ¾ of a mile walk.

When we get back Rich usually builds a fire and we read until it gets too dark. Then we sit by the fire, play with our fire sticks and let it burn out around 10:00. Then we get ready for bed. Usually in bed by 10:30, often drop off to sleep quite quickly.

There are variations on the theme, bathing, getting water etc. But the pace is not rushed, and we have ample time for rest. So far we have not “had the time” to devote to some of the entertainments we brought, like games and projects and videos to watch on our laptops. We have not read a paper in three weeks. I would say the rhythm and spaciousness and the gorgeous place is suiting us quite well.

Rich

Bug Juice

NEWS FROM CAMP WEBEGONE

Rich squished a small spider on my side of the bed.

Cheryl

Chery's Little Misadventure

WEEKLY WEATHER REPORT FROM CAMP WEBEGONE

High: 76.5
Low: 42.0
Wind: 1.6 - 5.4
Rain: 0"
Humidity: 35%-82%

NEWS FROM CAMP WEBEGONE

It all started because the pit toilet is waaay faaar away from our campsite, and I don't like walking over there at night.

So, what to do at night? It was a dilemma that I figured could simply be solved by purchasing a bucket, a night pee bucket. Now, I'm a bit cheap frugal when it comes to spending money. I was willing spend a dollar at Dollar Tree for a bucket, and the Dollar Tree is about a 45 minute drive to Medford.

A 45 minute drive to purchase an item that costs a dollar is not cost savings, so I prepared a shopping list of items to purchase at Fred Meyer and Dollar Tree. It was Senior Tuesday at Fred Meyer after all. I planned a lunch break at Starbucks and hoped to post the first blog there. Life was going good. The F150 truck is easy to drive.

And then I reached a tee in the road on the way home. There's no tee on the way home. Which was when I realized I was not on Hwy 62 anymore. Oops! Big oops! I have no idea where I am or how I managed to get there, and I had been driving for 1 ½ hours. Oh boy, that's 1 ½ hours back to Medford and 1 ½ hours to get back to camp. That puts me arriving back at camp about 8PM, a bit past dinner time.

At last, I find out that I am traveling on Hwy 140. (By the way, Hwy 62 and Hwy 140 are not marked when you are traveling east, the direction I was traveling.) I pull to the side of the road and, lo and behold, I have cell phone service!

I call my son, Aaron, and say, “I'm lost.” Second time this year he has navigated me to my destination. Long story short, Aaron told me where I was, and gave me three possible shorter routes to get back to camp without going all the way back to Medford. All in all, I felt the universe had my back. I had cell phone service, there was a rest area for a desperate pit stop and at Fred Meyer I had purchased one of those cell phone chargers for your vehicle that you plug into the cigarette lighter. Fortunately, because I had a very low battery. I arrived back at Camp Webegone about two minutes before Rich was going to call out the cavalry.

You know, it was a nice day for a drive with plenty of time to reflect on life, the universe and everything. (Three hours of time, to be exact)

Cheryl

Living off the Grid with Batteries

NEWS FROM LAKE WEBEGONE

FROM RICH: Some people get excited about the idea living off-the-grid. No electricity, hauling water (we estimate that we - eg Rich - will carry a metric ton of water this summer), pit toilets etc. And it's a great idea.

But, well, we realized the other night that we are now living with batteries. The three big batteries in the vehicles - the one in the truck and the two with the trailer are rechargeable (we have a generator for that purpose). And then we have 9V batteries for the smoke and co2 alarms. And 12 AAA batteries for our four flash lights, and two computer batteries, two Nook batteries, two cell phone batteries, a weather system that has at least 12 AA batteries, three cameras that have batteries, a hanging light in the tent that has 4 AA batteries, one bike with a light which takes batteries, a rechargeable battery in our electric toothbrush, and shaver and trimmer, a head band flashlight with batteries.....

Ten years ago we would not have had most of the above. We would have had a car battery and batteries for a couple flashlights! And that's it! I had always looked at the big packages of batteries at Costco and wondered who might use all that many batteries.... 

Hmmm. Next trip to town, guess what we are buying!

Convenience and technology that's fueled by batteries. It is interesting to think about how electricity has changed out lives. First we were tied to wires, and now we are tied to batteries. 

And, I would not change it. It is too damn convenient. But on the other hand, we can no longer maintain the illusion that we are living wholly off-the-grid. We just take the grid with us in the form of batteries. And tomorrow we go to Prospect and can plug our lap tops into the electric outlets of the library and charge our puters so we can do e mails and send out rambling blogs to our community...

Right now I sit in camp with the sun creeping into my shady spot and use up battery time. It is a pleasant 70 degrees, gorgeous day. Tonight I get a fishing lesson from a man in camp who has been coming here for 35 years. Promised me I would have trout for dinner. (That will be another blog).... Life is just too hard.

VISITORS WELCOME!

NEWS FROM LAKE WEBEGONE

We'd love to have you visit us at Natural Bridge Campground, whether it's a day visit or overnight(s). We'll be at Natural Bridge Campground thru Labor Day. You can just drop by, but we'd appreciate a little warning. Natural Bridge Campground is located in a beautiful wooded forest, filled with peaceful serenity, birdsong, riversong, and big blue sky.

If you choose to stay over, here's what you need to know.

• The campground has 17 spacious sites. You can choose your own site or join us. We have no neighbors. Yes!
• May and early June temperatures range from 40 – 80 degrees. July and August can reach the 100's.
• You will need to pay the extra vehicle fee of $4 a night.
• There is no running water so be sure to bring some. If you have an appropriate water filter, the Rogue River is close by.
• There is no electricity.
• There is no cell phone service whatsoever at the camp.
• There is a spare single bed available in the trailer for guests. Please bring bedding or sleeping bags.
• Our days off are Tuesday and Wednesday. We will do our shopping in town, check phone messages and check email on one of those days. If we are off site when you arrive, just settle in.
• There will be a few times we will stay overnight in town. We'll keep you posted when we know what those dates are.

Hope to see you!

Camp Hosting is What You Make Of It

NEWS FROM LAKE WEBEGONE

Only two days into learning the ropes, we are finding the service part of our stay here to be quite rewarding. Our Ranger (who works Friday through Monday) works long hours and obviously does this out of caring about the people and the forest he is working in. It is inspiring. 

So far, meeting, greeting and helping newcomers to the camp fits our temperament well. And, at least for now, the routine of checking out the latrines and campsites feels grounded and simple. It will be interesting to see if that feeling continues through the whole summer.

Amongst our residents, we have had several campers who have been coming here for years and seem to be delighted to have a camp host. As it turns out, apparently there was not one here last year. 

They also lament the fact that we are not well-compensated for our labors. But, this is a Forest Service camp, and it is struggling under cutbacks. They are short-handed and have had to economize, so we do not get any compensation for our labor. But we knew that coming in, and we deliberately sought this kind of off-the-grid experience.

Here, there is no electricity, no water, and no dump stations. We do not have wifi or cell service. Living off-the-grid in this way, that is the experience we wanted to have. We chop wood for our fire and carry up our own water, and we find that satisfying. Of course, we do not have to prepare for a long winter! Ask me that again, if we did!

First Visitors

NEWS FROM LAKE WEBEGONE

30 May 2014, Saturday

FROM CHERYL: We're having a quiet evening, when the roaring sound of a diesel engine assaults our senses. The truck, traveling at a brisk and intense pace, pulls into our campsite.

I think it must be an emergency. And, yikes! The nearest medical facility is an hour away from the site.

But no, whew. Instead, out jumps my cousin Howard accompanied by his wife, Cathy. It's a surprise and welcome visit from family, and they come bringing gifts of wood and Jiffy-Pop popcorn. And a shared meal and fine conversation ends our first full day on site.

Rough Take Off and Landing

Special Note: Blog posting failure. Apparently, public wifi here is not strong enough to post text or photos on the blog. We have enlisted the help of my son, Aaron, to post the emails that we will send him.

Back to the blog.

WEEKLY WEATHER REPORT FROM CAMP WEBEGONE

Weekly high: 73.9

Low: 43.2

Wind gust: 4.3

Rain: 0”

Humidity has been about 80 percent.

NEWS FROM LAKE WEBEGONE (apologies to Garrison Keillor)

So, leaving Portland at 5pm in rush hour traffic while pulling a trailer. Our progress was a bit slow, to say the least. Stopped at The All American for food, and it lived up to its name. Bleh. But it was easy to find a parking place there, and that's become an important issue, what with the rig. Currently developing a new skill to scope out where we can go. (There was a near-disaster on the second day when we stopped for a bathroom break at an Arby's and Rich erroneously tried to pull around the take-out line. Close call on that one.)

The first time you do anything it takes 3x as long as planned. Looking back, we probably should have started prepping everything and loading the trailer two days earlier, as the initial take off time was 3 hours after we planned. Not to mention, several things got left in the dust and several things that we packed (we think) have not emerged from the chaos of our trailer.

“Rich, did you pack the gigantic package of paper towels?”

“Do we have the solar lights?”

“Oops, only brought a small bottle of olive oil.” That, when we use olive oil daily instead of butter.

And so on.

BLACK AND BLUE, BUT WE'VE ARRIVED

Rich bashed his thumb lifting up the stairs to the trailer, and on Friday, Cheryl wiped out

Geriatric Gypsies

on her new bike that is designed for someone at least two inches taller, adding another gash to accompany all the others on her left knee.

But we're here.

We arrive at our camp host site and someone is camping there, so our day for landing is delayed. That's meant we are still in process of finding, stowing, and setting up. But, our guest spot for the evening was a riverside site, which was gorgeous. Our host site is away from the river, so this was a very nice bonus.

SPECIAL NOTE FROM RICH: I would say we are happy, as all of the above was just part of the process. When I returned from Haiti (or was it just before I left?), Sue Liss gave me a diary with the saying “We find our way one step at a time.” That has been a mantra for us, these past several months. And we are holding to it, as we move forwards on this journey.