Video of Favorite Spot on the Rogue River - 2016 View

Rogue River 2016

Cheryl's News from Camp Webegone
Friday, June 10, 2016

Rogue River by Natural Bridge

With a rainy winter and a moderate amount of snow (below average though), the Rogue River is very full with lots of ruckus, rushing, turbulent water.

Rogue River by the footbridge 2016

The photo I took last year of this spot, the large rock was not covered with water.

Weather Update: We have had a little bit of everything. A few days of extreme heat, humidity and mosquitoes. I was miserable and began to question why I was volunteering at Natural Bridge Campground. That passed and was followed by a one-and-a-half to two hour thunderstorm that included lightening, rain and hail. No mosquitoes though. Yeah! My bites have bites. Today we are chasing sunny spots to warm up. The high will be about 63 degrees. Tomorrow morning should be in the high 30's. Extreme heat to extreme cold. Think I'll stay in the trailer tomorrow morning. One of the challenges and joys of Camp Webegone is experiencing the weather first hand. A sunny warm day is indeed a great joy.

Our First Week in Paradise

Cheryl's News from Camp Webegone

June 3, 2016

Weather: Sunny and warm each day

White Iris

May is the time of the white flowers. In the tree canopy, dozens of dogwood trees are in full bloom. Vanilla leaf blooms cover a large part of the campground. False solomon seal blooms dot the forest floor. There are hundreds of white iris is bloom. There is the odd bit of color in bloom, three calypso orchids. 

Calypso Orchid

Warm sunny days, cool nights, vistas of flowers in bloom and dappled forest light. We are in paradise.

Cheryl's News from LaPine, Oregon
May 24, 2016

A brief update to let you all know our whereabouts for the summer.

Rich, Mimi and I will arrive at Natural Bridge Campground in southern Oregon Wednesday, May 25, 2016.

We will be staying at Natural Bridge until the end of September, October 1 at the latest.

Visitors welcome and greatly appreciated. If you plan to visit, give us a heads up.

Mimi camping in LaPine. She hates the harness!

Cheryl's News enroute to Camp Webegone

May 24, 2016

Lava River Cave, Bend/Sunriver area

Rich, Cheryl and Mimi enroute to their summer camp at Natural Bridge stopped and camped for seven days of vacation in LaPine, Oregon. After resting for a few days they were ready for an adventure and visited the nearby Lava River Cave.

Rich descending into Lava River Cave

There really are no adequate adjectives to describe the cave. AMAZING, amazing, amazing is as close as it gets. The cave is just short of a mile long. A tiny section at the end of the cave is about four feet in height. A small section in the middle is about five and a half feet in height. The rest of the cave is 58' in height. At it's widest, 48'. At no point could I touch both sides of the cave.

Cave wall

And DARK. No light what so ever. Rich and I were very lucky. For about 20 minutes or so we were the only folks in the cave. We turned off our flashlight and lantern, twice. Standing beside each other I could not discern even a tiny speck of Rich. Dark. Standing in total darkness in the womb of mother earth, we listen to drops of water falling to the cave floor. Drips behind us, in front of us, beside us, and one discordant drip landing on Rich's jacket. The music of mother earth. The song of the cave.

Heceta Lighthouse from Cheryl

Cheryl's News from Heceta Lighthouse

March 31, 2016

View looking south from Lighthouse

Having participated in many tours, I had a clear sense (in my mind, at least) of what makes for a dull tour. And one of the key variables, to me, was always how connected the guide was to the audience - how the guide engaged them and determined what is of interest to them to hear about.

Okay, so, public speaking is not my forte. I bumbled along. It's way more difficult than you even imagine. And then there's the gaffe. With impromptu public speaking, there is always the moment you make a gaffe. It's like it's inevitable. So, mine was saying: “ the lighthouse keeper and his wives.” Oops!  

By the end of our stay, though, I think I had reached a point where I was able to give a reasonably interesting tour of the lighthouse. Thankfully, whew.

Prior to arriving at Heceta Lighthouse, I had, of course, imaged what our job would be like. I imaged that we would be indoors for our shift. This is not the case. Rather, we are outdoors unless we are giving a tour. As you may recall, March has had above normal rainfall. Rich and I scored again - volunteering outside during heavy rains. 

During heavy rain, at least there is a nearby staff building where we can be out of the rain and warm up. For the most part, though, Rich and I and the other volunteers (there were three or four of us), we stand outside. Stand outside in sun, rain and wind. We dress appropriately. On cold and wet days, I wear so many layers I can barely bend my knees or bend over. 

Hecta Head Lighthouse Nautilus looking up the stairwell

Now, as our time at Heceta Lighthouse comes to an end, there is a little bit of sadness leaving an area of such stunning beauty and leaving the other volunteers. Amongst those volunteering for the state, the volunteers form a community. A much needed community/family as we each travel across the USA, for the most part estranged from our families.

Even though we leave Heceta Lighthouse with heavy hearts, Rich and I joyously look forward to the end of May when we return to our usual summer camp at Natural Bridge Campground - the place that has become our Summer home.

Cheryl

Trailer Life

March 19, 2016

In more personal news, back in February we briefly considered getting a larger trailer. Tight quarters here, you know.

But after looking for a while at what was there, we decided we like what we have, and we can do a few modifications to address some of the needs we were looking to meet. And anyway, we have gotten more adept at maneuvering ourselves around the tight quarters of the trailer. Plus, we are always finding ways to store things that works better.

It feels good to make that decision, to have that choice complete and the path ahead clear as we begin preparing to embark on our journey to our next destination.