Where are Rich and Cheryl?

We are happily sheltered at Whalers Rest, a private campground, until April 23 or when the governor changes her stay at home order. At the camp we have cell service and a site with a sewer hookup. We feel fortunate. Our next camp stop would have been in Pacific City. No cell service there and only a few sites with a sewer hookup. Doable, but much easier where we are staying. We are well and enjoying some quiet time.

Rain, Rain Go Away

Volunteering in the Welcome Center On a Very Rainy Day

February is a wonderful month to volunteer at Beverly Beach. Rainy, one day three and one half inches, but the rains bring the frogs. The male frogs arrive first and serenade us in the evening. Then the females arrive. At some point a blue heron arrives feasting each morning until most of the frogs leave. Then we start looking for frog eggs. It is such a joyful ritual; listening to the male frogs, waiting for eggs to appear.  

The Holidays

We are not used to so much sunshine.

Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving landing during the last few days of November and two days before we were scheduled to arrive at our next volunteer site, we elected to stay at the coast and not travel to be with family. A sad but sane decision. Thanksgiving day dinner was a pleasant community event at Thousand Trails RV Camp in Newport. We, meaning Cheryl, cooks a thanksgiving meal, also. This year it was very disorganized. A few items, the bread machine, rolling pin and ceramic baking dishes, remained forgotten in storage. Fresh baked  rolls were served post thanksgiving. A large glass mug was a good but slippery substitute for a rolling pin. Hey, everything was edible and tasty.

Solstice/Christmas

Christmas landing mid week meant another holiday without visiting family. All hosts at Beverly Beach have Christmas off which means the park rangers do the tasks normally assigned to hosts. Nine yurts were assigned to one ranger for cleaning. Rich, knowing nine yurts is too many along with all the other ranger tasks stepped up and worked cleaning yurts christmas day. The hosts gathered together christmas day for a pot luck dinner. Great food and friendship.

New Years

Ah, 2020. As a child looking to the future, I (cheryl) thought that the year 2020 would be a magical year. Will keep you posted.
Host orientation each month is on the first. 1 January 2020 found Rich and Cheryl arriving for host orientation at Beverly Beach at 9:00 a.m. No late night revelry. We watched Bohemian Rhapsody. A high energy but rather sad movie. A comedy would have been a more appropriate choice but are  watching the 2019 oscar nominated films as they become available to us at each host site. Hopefully, we will have viewed them all by the time the 2020 nominations are released.

Have a magical rockin' 2020. 

October 2019

Spirit Mountain. Photo taken from the site of the Ft. Yamhill bockhouse.

October found Rich and Cheryl volunteering at Ft. Yamhill State Park located near Grand Ronde, Oregon. A sweet site that we will return to in 2020. The fort was in operation for only ten years, 1856 -1866. An interesting piece of history. A small section of the Killamook trail, the inland route the indigenous people used to walk from the coast to Willamette Falls in Oregon City, borders the park. Fort Yamill was built to moniter the Killamook trail.

September 2019

Granary Tree. Acorn woodpecker food storage.

September. A lovely month as the maple leaves change color and begin to fall to the earth. Squirrels and acorn woodpeckers gather acorns. Humans return to school and work.

At Tou Velle State Day Use Park and Marina near Medford, Oregon, Rich and Cheryl gather mostly cigarette butts left by fishermen. Lots, and lots. They also gather confetti. Hordes of the stuff. Birthday confetti. Graduation confetti. Bridal confetti.

Two precious items gathered, two kittens. One we were able to reunite with its mother. The second, mother not found, we took to a no kill shelter. The little tyke spent the night with us. Mimi, our cat, nose bent out of shape went outside and refused to come in the RV.

We still think about the little guy and hope it is adopted by a good family.

Bend: Playing Hard

Peregrine Falcon

Choosing which places of interest to visit during our short stay in Bend was a bit of a challenge. First stop was The High Desert Museum. The museum is large enough that you cannot experience everything in one day. Raptors in Flight was our favorite. We walked to the exhibit area arriving near the end of the group. Location is everything. There were a few bench seats available so we sat there instead of on the ground. What we did not realize is that our seats were in front of one of the five or so "ghost"* trees where a handler puts food treats for the birds to encourage them to fly. Raptors would fly straight toward us. A few times, the leather strips attached to a raptor's leg, called bewits, would tickle Rich's hair. Close and exciting. The raptors are all rescue birds. We loved it!

Rich being goofy at the museum. There are seventeen miles of old lava flows in Bend. Astronauts have been known to visit and practice walking on the very rocky ground as seen in the background of the photo.  

Paintbrush

Lava Cast Forest, beautiful and stark, surprised us with a few blooming plants, butterflies, birds and chipmunks. 

The last lava flow at Lava Cast Forest was about 1300 years ago. Slowly, plants and trees are returning. Beautiful twisted downed trees show the creative resiliency of nature. Twisting allows the trees to retain water more efficiently.

The High Desert Museum and Lava Cast Forest were the two new places we visited.

We had an exciting moment while kayaking the Little Deschutes River. Not paying enough attention the kayak was heading toward a dead very dense bush. Not thinking we both leaned away from the bush and tipped the kayak over. Fortunately, the Little Deschutes isn't very deep, three to four feet, and is slow moving. We managed to get back in the kayak without tipping over again. It was an exciting kayaking experience. 

 The Big Flow, one mile of obsidian, and Lava River Cave, a mile long lava tube, are two places we have visited before and absolutely love. Lava River Cave at about 45 degrees in temperature was the perfect place to spend a 95 degree afternoon.

As our time in Bend comes to a close, we reflect on the many wonders of the earth and the stark beauty of the area. 

* ghost tree. My maternal grandmother called a standing dead tree, gray with no bark, a ghost tree.

Playing Tourist

Munson Falls


After three weeks of home maintenance projects we were finally had a week in Pacific City to play tourist. We visited Munson Falls located in Tillamook. Sorry about the picture quality. We forgot a good quality camera and our phone cameras are lame. 

Rich with the wild hair.

Cape Meares Lighthouse located in Tillamook, is the shortest lighthouse in Oregon.

Our next adventure takes us to Bend, Oregon. We are playing tourist for the month of August. In September, we head to our next volunteer gig near Medford.