2008 – Week 17

Tuesday, August 19, 2008:
When Daisy and I walked this morning, we discovered that the storm had done quite a bit of damage to the trees with numerous branches on the ground. However, it was much cooler, and we modified our plan to be at the door of the Oregon Trail Interpretative Center when it opened at 9:00am. We decided to complete our blogs for the last week and publish them. We arrived at the Interpretative Center at 11:15am and spent 3 hours inside reviewing all the exhibits. The detail of the exhibits was the best we have seen. No clean clothes on the emigrants, the oxen with flies on them, the vocal renditions of the stories that began as we approached the individual exhibits were the most realistic we have seen. The Center really focused on the hardships of the travelers. 10% of the travelers died while on the trip.

We learned about the value of oxen as compared to mules and horses as pullers of the wagons. For the record, oxen are castrated beef cattle and sold for $25 each while horses cost $200 each and mules $100 ea. Oxen walk at 2mph, the same as the emigrants as they walked across the prairie. The oxen can eat anything whereas the horses and mules are more sensitive and often required feed to be brought for them in times of unsuitable food sources. Oxen can be eaten, if necessary, but them the owner loses some of his pulling power. As I said, we spent 3 hours inside the building and then were going to see some of the actual Oregon Trail. We parked the RV, got out, read the signs and started to walk in when mosquitoes attacked me. I must have killed 25 of them as we beat a hasty retreat back into the RV. Enough of that, we headed into Baker City to the US Bank office where an exhibit of gold found in the area was displayed. The largest nugget was the Armstrong nugget found in 1919 and weighing 80.4 ounces. That is hardly a nugget as far as I am concerned. We went food shopping, filled up with gas, tried to buy peaches and washed the RV to remove the dirt from last night’s storm. Time to leave Baker City and head west on OR7, the Journey Through Time Scenic Byway. We drove about 20 miles and found the USFS Union Creek Campground in the Whitman National Forest on Phillips Lake on the Powder River. This is a great campground with Ponderosa Pine Trees all around and native grasses growing beneath them. The campsites have all the amenities we could ask for, but for some reason the Campground was almost empty. I’ll try to find out the reason tomorrow. According to my map, the west end of the lake is filled with dredge tailings so I am making the assumption that gold was in this area. I’ll probably never get Susie to leave. We walked around, and had steak cooked over an open fire, plus marshmallows for dessert. Everything was wonderful until Susie dropped a melted marshmallow and then stepped on it. We wondered what that sticky stuff was on the linoleum floor. The clouds were thick and no stars visible. There were some rumors of rain, but we’ll see.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008:
A few showers during the night, but not enough to dampen the ground beneath the trees. It is so quiet here. When Daisy and I took our walk, there was no one else moving around, but when we came back, the nearest neighbor (200 yards away) had packed up and moved on. We had a lazy morning, eventually moving on at 10:30am and heading west on OR7. As discussed before, the west end of Phillips Lake was dredged for gold, and the tailings are visible from the road. The dredge tailings area was 5 miles long and one mile wide. The operation recovered $4.5 Million dollars before the gold ran out in 1959. We climbed over the southern end of the Blue Mountains, topping out at 5,269 feet at Dixie Pass before heading down into the town of Prairie City (elev 3,800 feet). Most of the features of the land around Prairie City end with the name ‘Gulch’. It was hard to tell if the brown area was in agriculture, but the green area was mostly in hay and cattle. Off to the south was the Strawberry Range and Strawberry Mountain Wilderness. The town of Prairie City was interesting to look at as we drove through to get to the USFS Office (where they tried to be helpful, but didn’t have the info we needed) so we decided to drive back and walk the stores. There was an old hotel, an antique shop and an art gallery. The stuff was pretty pricy, but all claimed they had customers from across the US. The true test of a town were missing, a Dairy Queen, a Radio Shack, a self-storage complex and a NAPA Auto Parts. We had thought it would be fun to have lunch in a restaurant but decided it would be healthier to it in the RV. We drove on west to the town of John Day, which had 3 of the 4 requirements, missing only a self-storage facility. But what John Day had to make up for this deficiency was the Kan Wah Ching Heritage Site.
This building was the only remnant of the Chinatown section of John Day. At the height of the gold rush in the area, John Day had the largest Chinese population in Oregon, and it numbered 3,000 compared to the 1,000 whites. The owners of the building were 2 Chinese, Doc Hay, an herbal doctor, and Lung On, a businessman. The building walls were of stone construction and generally resistant to fire and attack. The doors and window shutters were made of iron to stop bullets attacks that often occurred at night. These two men had families back in China, but never returned or brought their families to the US. Lung Ho died in the early1940’s, and Doc Hay in 1952 at the age of 89. Lung Ho was the first car salesman in this part of Oregon. Doc Hay treated both Euro-Americans and Chinese in his clinic and was so highly respected that he was invited into the Masons. Both were wealthy and yet because of the non-existent relations with Communist China, the estate never reached the family and was eventually transferred to the State of Oregon. These two men are still buried in the local cemetery, very unusual because in those times the remains were generally sent back to China. Their wills plainly stated that the remains to remain in the US. We secured a campsite in nearby Oregon Clyde Holliday SP then returned to the Clark County Fair. At supper we sat with a family of four and exchanged tales. The parents live in Bellingham WA, one daughter taught school in the immediate area and the other daughter was a veterinarian in New Zealand. She had gone there after graduating from veterinary school. The entire family met for Christmas in New Zealand a few years ago and toured for 3 weeks. Sounds like a plan to us! There was an auction of fresh award winning pies to support the fair and a talent contest. The room was packed and most seemed to have a good time. We returned to the campground for the night around 9:00pm. It has rained off and on all day, and more of the same seems to be expected for tomorrow. There are rumors that the temperature will drop to 38 degrees tomorrow night.

Thursday, August 21, 2008:
The rumors were false. The temperature just managed to get below 60 degrees, but the wind was from the north and seemed colder. Susie drew like the devil in an attempt to get caught up. She caught up with the pencil work and is about 50% done on the pen work. Hopefully by tomorrow morning, she’ll be caught up. We left the SP at 11:40am and headed west on the Journey Through Time Scenic Byway US26 until we reached Dayville where the Byway turned north on OR19. Just at this point, there was the Mascall Formation Overlook from where we could see the Sheep Rock Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument (JDNM). We proceeded into the JDNM and went to the Visitors Center where there was a wonderful set of exhibits explaining what we saw outdoors and why this area was important. Due to earthquakes, erosion, etc it is possible to see 9 distinct layers of earth, spanning 54 million years and having a thickness of about 3 miles (if they had not been pushed, pulled, tilted etc.). These layers from the earliest to the most recent are: Clarno Group, John Day Group, Picture Gorge Basalt Group, Mascall Formation and Rattlesnake Group. During the Picture Gorge Basalt Period, there was, on the average, a major lava flow every 8,000 years that completely cover the area at least 17 times. Due to the exposure of 54 million years of dirt, there are many fossils and the paleontologists have access to an almost continuous 40 million year fossil record of animal and plant life, and this must be one of the best places in the world for exploration. The search for fossils began in the mid-1860s, 6 years after Charles Darwin wrote his book “On the Origin of the Species. Reverend Thomas Condon was an early Oregon settler living on the Columbia River in The Dalles, and he was interested in fossils. He came into the valley in 1865 and discovered fossilized tortoise shells and bones. In 1870 Condon sent a box of fossils to Otheniel Marsh of Yale University, the first US Professor of Paleontology, including a small three-toed horse. Yale University launched an expedition in 1871, but Marsh stayed for only a week. However, during that week he convinced two of Condon’s best collectors to work for Yale. By the way, Marsh took credit for discovering the small three-toed horse head. Over the next years, numerous paleontologists came to the area, threatening to strip it bare. It is interesting that during this time, only the skulls were considered important and so that is all they collected. On December 1, 1916, the Blue Mountain Eagle (newspaper of Jay Day OR) suggested that perhaps it was time for the government to become involved and place protections on the area. They finally did in 1975. After viewing the exhibits, we moved to the outside and viewed the numerous bluffs and different colored layers of rock with a new appreciation. We drove to visit the James Cant Ranch House that was constructed in 1918. It is quite large, having 7 bedrooms and overlooks many of the rock formations in the area. James Cant was a very successful sheep rancher in the times where there was conflict between the cattle and sheep owners. We continued north, stopping at Cathedral Rock, a portion of the mountain that slid down into the John Day River, diverting it. We continued on to the Foree Area where we took two short hikes to the view the John Day Formation capped by the Picture Gorge basalt. We saw a paved airstrip and water ponds so we believe it is used by USFS for firefighting and other emergency uses. The John Day River and individual wells provide ample water for irrigation and much of the area grows alfalfa for the cattle during the winter months. We continued north to the spot on the map named Kimberly and found that it is a fruit growing area. We’ll try to buy some tomorrow. We pulled into Bureau of Land Management Lone Pine Campground for the night. This campground has 4 sites and is now 50% full. The sun went down behind the ridge at 6:45pm, and the temperatures dropped. We were planning to have a fire, but it was too cold. We have noticed that the cottonwood tree leaves seem to be a bit weak. The North Fork of the John Day River is nearby so they should have plenty of water so maybe it’s just a sign that cooler weather is coming. We went outside last night around 10:00pm to view the stars. There were no lights on the ground or clouds I the skies so the visibility was good. The moon had not yet come up, but we could tell that it was there as there was a dull glow in the east. Susie stayed up to color her book and a bit later the moon was visible and so bright that it overwhelmed many of the fainter stars.

Friday, August 22, 2008:
Happy Birthday Susie! The sky was clear and the temperature 55 degrees. Once again we were slow getting started, helped in that direction by our neighbor who visited and gave us a sales for a product that he was promoting as part of his business. Daisy swam in the North Fork of the John Day River before we left the Campground at 12:15pm.
We immediately stopped at a farm for some fruits and vegetables. We continued west on the “Journey Through Time Scenic Byway” using OR19 to the town of Fossil, then OR218 west. We stopped at the Clarno Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. The material in the Clarno Group ranges in age from 54 to 37 Million Years Old.
We were looking at the Palisade Ridge and were able to climb to it. Susie sat on a rock that was 44 Million Years Old, and this made her feel very young.
We saw a petrified tree and log in the rock. It was hot and dry, and the three of us needed lots of water. We continued on OR218 to Antelope and then took an unnumbered road southwest to the City of Madras hoping to get into The Cove Palisades State Park. Unfortunately it was full so were went a bit further south on OR97 to a KOA. On our left were the Cascade Mountains and 2 large peaks. We thought one is Mt Jefferson (25 miles west) and determined later that the other was Mt Hood (about 70 miles north). We immediately showered and went to an ice cream party sponsored by the Owners. We met a older (even older than us) couple who spend the summer in Homer Alaska and the winters in Reno NV. She was from Newfoundland and married in 1947 at the age of 19 so we figured they must be in their eighties. They were fun and had a million stories to tell. He has survived heart surgery and she cancer so nothing seems to bother them. As the sun went down, it cooled off, and the conversation broke off.

Saturday, August 23, 2008:
This morning, when I looked out the window to check the weather, there was Mt Jefferson (elev 10,497 feet) in the distance. When I walked Daisy I could also see Mt Hood and took a few pictures. This is farm country and across the road is a cattle ranch with Black Angus in the pasture, but they didn’t seem interested in Daisy and me. We left the KOA at10:30am and headed south on US97 towards the town of Redmond OR. We had just started when we passed over the Crooked River that was spanned by three different bridges. One was a railroad bridge, the second the new US97 bridge and the last, and middle bridge, the old (but not oldest) highway bridge. There was the Peter Keene Ogden State Park plus a Rest Area on the south side, and we pulled in. We walked to the edge of the river and found that it was 300 feet straight down. The river had carved its way through volcanic rock and the walls on the south side were vertical, but the one on the north had sloughed away a bit. Peter Ogden was instrumental in rescuing the survivors of the Whitman Mission, and the City of Ogden was also named in his honor. In 2006, we visited the remains of the Whitman Mission and wondered why the US Government would waste money on the site. However, during this trip, there have been numerous references to the Whitman Mission, and we have become more sensitive to the importance of the site. There were also 2 information boards about a Rex Barker, a native of the area. He was an USAAF aviator stationed in the Pacific during WWII and was the person who killed Japanese Admiral Yamamoto, the planner of the Pearl Harbor attack by attacking his airplane as it flew north from the Philippine Islands. He stayed in the Air Force and while testing a Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star jet fighter, flew under the old US97 and railroad bridge. Remember the highway bridge was less than 300 feet above the surface of the Crooked River. Susie saw a pinto colored pack mule, but I missed it. She said she had never seen one before. We went through the town of Terrebonne where they were holding a town fair and then to Redmond. We stopped for camping supplies and gas before heading west on OR126 towards the town of Sisters, named because of the three Sisters Mountains, North Sister, Middle Sister and South Sister (changed from Faith, Hope & Charity) that top out above 10,000 feet. Leaving Redmond we headed west and noticed that the town was growing quickly in that direction. The development stopped abruptly at a major electrical sub-station that was probably built 30 years ago in a location that the planners thought would be safe. Not anymore! The town of Sisters has been around for a long time, but all but a few of the buildings are new. It is a retail town with numerous stores and restaurants. We continued on US20/OR126 to the northwest for 10 miles and turned right to follow the Metolius River into the Deschutes NF in search of a campground. The first 3 or 4 were full, and we began to be concerned, but finally found a site in the USFS Pioneer Ford Campground. It is on the river. This campground was the last available and there was a sign just beyond the entrance stating “Road Closures Due to Fire Activity”. After we were settled in, we could hear the chainsaws and occasionally smelled some smoke (not sure it was the forest fire or the campfires). When we talked to the Camp Host, he said on Monday night he could see the glow of the fire at night behind the ridge to the east. We had a campfire and invited a family over after supper to gab. The parents, Paul and Risa, were visiting their daughter, Tara, who lived in Portland, and she brought them camping or the night. It was the first time for them. They visited for about 45 minutes and then we all went to bed.

Sunday, August 24, 2008:
The temperature went down last night, and it was the coldest in a long time. We had our coffee and went across the road to talk wwith Paul and Risa for a bit more. We knew they were from Massachusetts but nothing more specific than that. Sometime during the conversation, Paul mentioned that they lived in Marblehead MA, and I said that I knew a fellow there who was one of my sailing instructors when I was growing up. He asked the name, and I told him John Van Dusen. Paul said he lived just down the block. I gave my card to Paul who promised to pass it on. Unfortunately, last year for the JAYC (Jr. American YC) Reunion, Doogie didn’t respond to all attempts to get him to come, and we asked Paul to tell him that he missed a great party. We move campsites to one that overlooks the Metolius River, then took a 6-mile round trip walk along the river, with the turn around point being a fish hatchery. Every time Daisy found a place to swim, she jumped in. It took us 3 hours to make the hike, including a tour of the hatchery. We didn’t take lunch, a bad mistake, so by the time we returned to the Campground, we (all 3) were really hungry. Susie made a great lunch, and I gave Daisy a biscuit (about all I can do). After eating we dragged our chairs to the river, and I planned to cool my feet down to stop any swelling. I managed to cool my feet off, but the water was so cold that I couldn’t keep my feet in it for more than 30 seconds. It is very fast flowing, maybe 5 knots, and absolutely clear. The sides of the river near the fish hatchery are volcanic walls that the river has eroded over the years. In the deep parts is a clear blue. I decided to run the generator to recharge the house batteries and after about 20 minutes it stopped. There is sufficient gas, so maybe the fuel filter is clogged or an electrical problem. We sat by the river and several times people came walking down the path at the edge. Daisy has jumped up and barked furiously. Perhaps we shouldn’t have been so close to the path. At 5:00pm, we noticed that the sky began to darken, and we wondered if a storm is coming. We started a campfire and cooked dinner outside.

Monday, August 25, 2008:
It was a grey overcast morning when we got up. I took Daisy for a walk, and when we returned, Susie decided to check the water temperature in the Metolius River. When she returned, I guessed 45 degrees, but it was actually 40. We should have had a dry-suit on Daisy yesterday. She is sore today so it will be a day of rest for her. There was a VW Camper in the Campground, and it was dark last night. We thought the people had not returned by the time we went to bed at 9:30pm, but this morning there was activity around it so all is well. Another camper stopped after I asked about her dogs that were in a bit of a scrape with 2 much larger dogs last night. They were fine, and we began talking and found that they are headed to Boston generally following US20 the entire way and then returning on the southern portion of the country. Susie overheard the conversation and came out to talk about Ohio and her experiences as a child living during the summer on Lake Erie. She (Linda) went to get her husband (John), as it was apparent that they and we are doing generally the same things, and they would like our input. It turned out to be a two way street as they gave us many tips also. I think we had the better deal as John came back a bit later and told us of a better route than the one we planned for today. He told me to go back to the town of Sisters, which we had to do to get cell service to call Onan Generator and a campground in Lakeview OR for the rodeo, and take the OR242 section of the McKenzie Pass-Santiam Pass Scenic Byway west through the Deschutes NF, across the McKenzie Pass (elev 5,325 and Willamette NF. The signs along the road stated “Narrow road, no combinations more than 35 feet”. I naively thought the signs were directed towards logging trucks. As we continued along the road became narrower. As we were approaching McKenzie, we came across the edge of a 65 square mile lava flow that was the result of several eruptions of the peak now known as Belknap Crater. We parked the RV and jumped out only to find the temperature had dropped to 56 degrees with a strong wind from the NW. We were not dressed warmly enough, actually not even close, and stayed outside a very short time. We continued along and at McKenzie Pass stopped to visit the Dee Wright Observatory
that was constructed by the CCC in the 1930’s. Unfortunately, there was a weather front coming through with low clouds and some rain so we were not able to see most of the surrounding mountains. We did walk through the lava beds and learned about them. We have seen lava beds before, but this one was much rougher with large rocks on the surface. These rocks were formed when the top of the lava flow cooled and the surface hardened, only to be broken apart as the still liquid lava below continued to flow (similar to Hawaii). While we could not see it, the information boards indicated that below this rough and tumbled surface the lava was solid. There were very few trees in the lava area, and the ones that were there were stunted. Not a good growing area.
We continued west, finding and following the Blue River towards Eugene where the Onan shop is located. It was a long way down a narrow and curvy road to get into the valley where the roads were wider and more level with much better visibility. We arrived at the Onan shop, having been told that there was a RV park across the street. Well, that was true except that it was the manufacturing plant for Monaco RV’s (much bigger and expensive than ours) and when they heard we had a Winnebago they said we couldn’t stay there. We went to Outback for Susie’s late birthday dinner, returned to the Onan shop and parked on a gravel area so we can be there for our 8:00am appointment to fix the generator. I saw a large hay field that had been recently cut so we may try flying my model airplane again tomorrow.

2008 – Week 16

Tuesday, August 12, 2008:
43 degrees this morning with bright blue skies at the North Fork John Day Campground in the Blue Mountains. Susie, Daisy and I took a short hike this morning to try to stretch out Susie’s back without much success. We spent some time with our neighbors talking about wildlife and conservation in general. The camper next to us was walking around in camo gear and, according to the neighbors we were talking with, is out hunting for a bear. He left the campground around 10:00am with a rifle in the front seat of his truck. It made us think that walking around in the forest may not be a great idea. We left the campground at 11:30am after Susie took Daisy for another swim and headed east on USFS Road #73, the Elkhorn Drive Scenic Byway. We climbed over the Elkhorn Range with a top elevation of 7,392 feet before winding down into the Powder River Valley. On the way down, there was a sign that warned of road construction, and when we arrived at the traffic control point, the signalman indicated some shoulder and road widening work. As we followed the traffic signal truck through the work zone, it was a lot more than that. A portion of the road must have collapsed as they were constructing a new retaining wall on the downside of the road. The trip through this section was especially rugged, as the bulldozer had not done a very good job leveling the dirt and rocks. We crossed I-5, and went to the town of Union OR. AAA said there were some Victorian houses worth seeing. What we saw was a town in its death throes. We estimated about 75% of the stores were closed and had been for a long time. Before we saw the town, we had asked at the Post Office if there was a place to eat. There was some hesitancy in the answer before the postmistress said the hotel would be best. We walked down towards it, but before we arrived, we decided that this was a bad idea. We jumped back into the RV and headed to La Grande. Driving from Union to La Grande, we entered the Grande Ronde Valley. It was a very productive area with almost all the fields full of wheat that was being harvested. There was another crop that was still under irrigation, but neither Susie nor I could identify the plant. We drove into La Grande, stopping to gas up the RV and at the USFS Office to investigate camping along the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway (OR82). They were very helpful, probably the most helpful we have encountered. Leaving there we found a restaurant, had lunch and started to head east on OR82 but were stopped by the sight of a Dairy Queen. We continued to the east through the towns of Elgin to the Minam State Recreation Area. This is a primitive campground without electricity or sewer and is located on the Wallowa River. We found a spot out of the sun, but it was also out of the wind so we moved. Directly behind the campground on the other side of the river is a 500 foot tall bluff that makes a nice backdrop and funnels the wind across the campground. We took Daisy for a long swim to try to tire her out. There is a herd of deer in the area so it may be a long night, as Daisy will probably be barking continuously. Clouds are moving in, and I thought I heard some thunder, but nothing seems to be happening. Susie just told me it was 10 days until she turns 65 and that I am going to suffer!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008:
Daisy and I scared up a blue heron on our walk this morning. I took her to the river for a swim, but she wasn’t interested so we continued down the road where we scattered a half dozen deer. Back to the RV for breakfast. We had soft-boiled eggs, sausage and the last of the donuts. We prepared to leave, and Susie took Daisy for a walk down the road. I assumed that she would follow the road so when I was ready off I went, planning to pick then up. I drove about a mile and realized that something was wrong. Usually she carries a walkie-talkie, but not today. I had to go a bit further before I dared turn around. When I got back to the campground, there were she and Daisy. She had taken Daisy for a swim, and I had missed them. Off we went, following OR82 along the west side of the Wallowa Mountains. These mountains peak out at around 8,300 feet, and there was still snow visible. We stopped at the USFS Center in Enterprise and received information on road conditions and viewpoints of Hells Canyon and the Seven Devils Mountains that are located in Idaho adjacent to Hells Canyon. We moved on to the Wallowa Lake Oregon State Park located at the south end of Wallowa Lake (elevation 4,400 feet) and were able to get a spot for 3 nights. We didn’t do much when we settled, and Susie was able to rest her back. We did take Daisy for a walk and then swim in the lake. As we were walking home, it became evident that due to the way the Park is tucked into the mountains that the sun would disappear around 5:00PM and leave us with a reduced light level. Thank goodness we don’t need to rely on the battery for electricity. Someone off in the distance was playing a trumpet as if practicing for a concert. With so many people here, I think we can expect almost anything to happen. We haven’t been in such close quarters in a long time. The temperatures are comfortable, not like last week, so we are glad we delayed a few days to come here. We are debating whether to take the aerial tram to view the sights or do a bit of driving on the back roads to see down into Hells Canyon.

Thursday, August 14, 2008:
Daisy and I took a walk and a swim (Daisy swims) before breakfast. It was another clear and beautiful day. We had showers and then breakfast after which Susie lay down for a bit to rest her back. She had taken another one of my shoulder pills, and they seem to work really well on her. Around 10:30AM we headed to the aerial tram and reached the top of Mt. Howard (elev 8,250 feet) at 11:15AM. On the way up, we noticed that most of the pine trees were very tall, but skinny. These were named subalpine firs. The trees on west side were stunted due to the west winds blowing across the lake and up the canyon with great force. There are several trails up there, and if you take them you get to see in all directions. We were about 3,700 feet above the surface of the lake with a great view of the Wallowa River Valley to the west, the Wallowa Mountains to the south and west, Hells Canyon and the Idaho Seven Devil Mountains to the east and the high desert to the north.
We were able to see the glacial moraines that formed the east, north and west sides of Wallowa Lake. We walked all the trails and had lunch at the little restaurant at the top. The altitude and apparent lack of oxygen must have affected the staff because all sorts of strange things happened: dropped plates, wrong orders, missing food, etc. Ours was OK, but some of the other clients had real problems. We called Meredith and Diana to check in because we had great cell service up there due to the line of sight to Joseph. We also called Todd Johnson to ask of the results of the Lightning NA’s. Our heartiest congratulations to Allan Terhune and his team plus all the others who participated. Todd asked where we were. We told him, and he found Mt Howard and then the little building that housed the restaurant and cable car terminus. We waved, and he said he saw us (good luck since it is not real time). We were very lucky to see a Rough-legged Hawk, a bird that spends the winter mostly in the US between Canada and Mexico, but spends the summer in north around the Artic Circle. It is a very different bird in that it can hover by flapping its wings. It was this characteristic that brought him to our attention. A second was the Clark’s Nutcracker that eats conifer seeds at high altitudes. There is a white bark pine tree here that is very different from the white pines in the east. The ones out west have very short needles. We have seen this bird before in Jasper British Columbia. We stayed at the summit for about 4 hours just having a very relaxed time. We came down and stopped at a store with our favorite Tillamook ice cream. Back to the RV and a nap to overcome the effects of sugar-shock before taking Daisy for a walk and swim. We bought some firewood and had hoped to have a fire tonight, but there was a talk on the Nez Perce Indians and the Yakima tribe in particular. We went to the talk, a bad mistake. It was awful! We went back to the RV and discovered about a dozen kids riding their bikes in the dark making all sorts of noise. It wasn’t long before they all crashed.

Friday, August 15, 2008:
Daisy and I took our walk, and while we were gone, Susie discovered that there were 10 bicycles around the trailer. Now we are sure that all kids weren’t from one family because the trailer was pulled by an extend pick-up that can carry only 4 people. Goodness knows where the others came from. We took showers and then went to catch a bus that would take us into town. It was hot today, and Daisy was much better off in the RV under the trees and protected from the sun. The word is that the temperature is going to be up for the next 2 days. Portland OR is to be above 100 today. The town of Joseph is definitely a tourist town. There are numerous restaurants and 4 bronze foundries to cast art.

There are a few T-shirt shops and card shops but we suspect that most of the town goes to sleep in mid-October and awakens in mid-April. There is a small ski area in the National Forest, but not very challenging according to the locals. We returned to the RV and did a few loads of wash. The bus driver told us that the kokanee, land-locked salmon in the Wallowa Lake, have started their run upstream in the Wallowa River. The female salmon turn bright red, except for the dark grey head, and are easy to see in the shallow water. He also told us that there is an osprey nest nearby and the young are learning to fish. We never did find the ospreys. We had dinner, the leftovers from our lunch in town, started a fire and cooked marshmallows over the fire. We had another RV move in next door. It was one of really large ones towing a Jeep station wagon. We were surprised he could get in the spot.

Saturday, August 16, 2008:
This morning we prepared the RV for tomorrows exit from this wonderful area. We talked with a SP Volunteer this morning. He comes from the Texas/Oklahoma Border and volunteers in Oregon SP’s during the summer. He said the first snowfall occurs in mid-September above 7,000 feet elevation and another before the end of the month at an elevation of 5,500 feet. After that, anything can happen which is why the town shuts down by the end of September. We also had to change campsites to stay the extra night. When we were done, we drove the RV to the small (very, very) town of Imnaha about 25 miles to the northeast of Joseph. It is the last town before we had to make a decision to keep going east into Hells Canyon and drive to Top Hat, the best viewpoint into the Canyon or turn south and take a road just to the west of Hells Canyon. Both roads were gravel, so I went into the only open establishment, a combination grocery store and bar. Sitting at the bar were four people, and there was one bartender. I asked about the roads and two of the men at the bar said the southbound road was a beautiful drive except for the last few pothole-filled miles. The bartender said road to Top Hat was a good gravel road after the first 5-6 miles, but getting there required the navigation of a narrow road and 15-18% grades. She was really pushing for us to go up there. The men were silent on the issue. After talking to Susie, we started up to Top Hat, went about 1/10 mile and turned around. We then took the southbound road following the Imnaha River upstream. The Imnaha River was the winter home of the Nez Perce Indians before they were forced onto the reservation in Idaho. It was an interesting river with dormant grass hanging on the exposed rocks, giving the valley a fuzzy look. With its washboard surface, the road would have been great for anything than an RV. We went about 3 of the 20 miles before turning around. We didn’t have enough baskets to pick up all the pieces that would have fallen off. A few years ago, not knowing any better, we would have done it. We headed back towards Joseph, but took another side road to Salt Creek Summit. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that we would take the same route tomorrow as we left the area. Salt Creek Summit (elev 6,100 feet) is a snowmobile rendezvous for the area, plus a remote headquarters for a search and rescue team. During the summer, it is an OHV center. The road is only plowed to this point during the winter. As we drove to Salt Creek Summit, we realized that we were looking at an area that was consumed by a fire forest fire about 15 years ago. Then looking at the map, we realized that we had overlooked this area from the top of Mt Howard when we took the cable car to the summit. We were actually only 8.5 miles from the Wallowa Lake SP, but what a hike that would have been. We returned to Joseph, visited a shop that served many purposes. It was a small restaurant, glass sculpture shop, served espresso and ice cream. We put some gas in the RV, bought some groceries and headed to the same ice cream shop we visited the day before yesterday. I dropped Susie and Daisy of at the bridge over the Wallowa River before parking the RV. I was in the new campsite for only 5 minutes before the sun went behind the mountains at 4:35PM. We had another campfire, and because we were still full of the Tillamook Ice Cream, dinner was cheese and crackers. Our fire slowly died, and as we watched the stars come out, we saw the space station (or a satellite) streak across the sky. We were looking for shooting stars, but none were visible. It was very hot today, but now that the site is sheltered from the sun it has started to cool. I heard from a ranger that it was 103 degrees in Portland, and a camper said it was currently 107 degrees in her hometown in Idaho. We are hoping that this wave of heat will be gone by Monday. Tomorrow we plan to drive south and then west to Baker City on I-84 to visit the Oregon Trail Museum and then look at a large gold nugget on display at a local bank.

Sunday, August 17, 2008:
Today was to be one of travel back west to the Cascade Mountains. We cleaned the RV, packed up walked Daisy and left the campsite around 11:30am. Susie was taking Daisy for her last walk, and I had turned on the radio, for what reason I’m not sure, and found that NOAA was broadcasting on a FM station. I didn’t listen too carefully until I heard the words “severe heat warning”. The temperatures in the areas were to cross were expected to be 95 to 105 degrees. Susie and I agreed that we should stay in the Park if they had a spot. This s a very popular place, and it is full almost every night, from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. They had one, and we settled in. The maintenance man came around to change the sewer connection, and now we are fully connected. We read some, napped some, called Kimberly and Brian and took Daisy swimming in the Wallowa River. It was amazing how cold it was. Daisy didn’t care! We saw the osprey circling over the lake, but didn’t see it hunting. The temperature in Pendleton OR, about 60 miles from here, was 105 degrees. We didn’t hear how high the temperature was in Joseph. As soon as the sun went behind the mountain at 4:45PM, the temperatures dropped. For dinner we had a cold salad using a can of the tuna fish we bought in Garibaldi a few weeks ago. To refresh your memory, it was a small tuna caught, cooked with all the natural oils and canned locally. The difference in taste was significant, and we’ll be looking for more when we go back to the coast. By the time we went to bed, it had cooled down considerably, and the wind direction had changed to the north. I am hoping that the heat spell has broken, but we’ll check tomorrow morning.

Monday, August 18, 2008:
When we awoke this morning and took the morning walk, the temperature was noticeably more pleasant. There was a buck at the breakfast table of a family nearby trying to have breakfast. Around 9:00am, the wind began to blow, and the thin wispy clouds were moving north. We left the campground and headed into Joseph to get some breakfast in a WiFi equipped café. The café was decorated in a Coca-Cola motif and looked quite spiffy. The food was good, but the owner needed about 6 hands because he was training new help. The food was delicious, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen an omelet served with such elegance. We both had about 50 e-mails, most of which we don’t need to respond to. We completed the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway, stopping at the Hells Canyon Overlook near the south end of the Hells Canyon NRA. The view just about blew us away.



The rock formations are varied in color and material, and it is easy to see the effects of the various tectonic plates that have been push, crushed and folded. It was hot on the top at elevation 5,550 feet, but it must have been much worse in the bottom along the Snake River (elev 1,200 ft). This area is a softer Grand Canyon. There are animal tacks through the area, but we didn’t see any wildlife. Early morning and dusk must be when they travel. As a side note, we saw cattle standing in the middle of the road, probably wondering what we were doing in their house. We continued on and stopped at the National Oregon Trail Interpretive Center just to the east of Baker City. We arrived at 4:00pm and that would have given us plenty of time to visit since it closed at 6:00pm. However, when we opened the RV doors, we found it would have been impossible to leave Daisy inside. We continued on to Baker City and checked into a RV Campground adjacent to I-84. We plan to be at the Interpretative Center when it opens at 9:00am tomorrow. We started to wash our clothes and noticed a big black cloud to the north. The campground owners said it was mostly smoke from the forest fires in the mountains to the northwest. However, there was lightning and thunder and Daisy banging at the door so we figured rain was on the way. It was, but not for long. We looked at NOAA on the internet, and there were several areas of rain to the north of us. Hopefully, the water will dampen down the fires. Looking at the National Interagency Fire Center website, we discovered that where we are now is the location of a 6,000 acre fire. It looks as if we’ll need to go a bit further north to get around it. I went outside the RV after the rain stopped and the sun was out and the temperatures had dropped. Good sleeping weather. Wow, sunset here is 7:51 pm and sunrise is 5:58am. Quite a change from a month ago.

2008 – Week 15

Tuesday, August 5, 2008:
Wind must have been from the west this morning as all the planes taking off from the airport flew just a bit north of the RV Park. The AAA tow truck came at 9:45am, looked at our RV and said he had hoped it was a small one. I pointed to the one next door and told him that was a big one, ours was small. Back to get another truck, and he hauled us to a Peterbuilt & GMC repair shop. This one is is open from 6:00am on Monday to 4:30pm on Saturday, nonstop. The problem turned out to be a bad starter was replaced. Back to the RV Park where we didn’t do much of anything. It was hot with the wind from the west. We had salmon, bought frozen in the San Juan Island Farmers Market, on the George Foreman grill. I decided to look at the weather forecast for the northwestern part of Oregon, and it indicates temperatures in the high 90’s for 4 days. We are changing our plans and heading to the coast again. It may be foggy at times, but at least it will be cool. NOAA has ‘red flag warnings’ from southwest OR down the center of CA for a good distance. No rest for the firefighters who have been doing a good job at containing the large CA fires. All their hard work may be for nothing over the next few days.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008:
We confirmed our decision to head west, but also to stop at the Apple store to get Susie a new battery for her laptop. The mall was one of the new designs where all the stores face on a public street, creating a ‘town’ atmosphere. The battery was covered by warranty so that was painless. Next it was time for a very late breakfast so we walked down the street to a bakery and filled ourselves with quiche and fruit. Next errand was to make copies of the documentation on the ferry incident to make our claim plus buy more dog food for Daisy. After all this work, we needed coffee and somehow 2 pecan rolls jumped into the bag. OK, enough boring errands and we headed west on US26 to the Pacific Coast. On the way there we passed through farmland and the very green forests on the Coastal Range Mountains. Timbering is taking place here, but the areas have been replanted and are growing. If done right, it is really just agriculture. Once we reached US101, the Pacific Coast Road, we turned south and through the town of Cannon Beach. The town was active, clean and well maintained. What was unusual, or so we thought, was that, unlike the Jersey Shore and the Delmarva ocean beaches, the houses were built right on the water in several areas. In other areas the houses are on the bluffs along the coast and are probably safe from the tsunamis, infdrequent as they may be. We continued south on US101 and spotted a 30ish couple trying to get a ride. There were in a car pull off area, and we thought they had car trouble, something we’re kind of sensitive about now. That wasn’t the case, they had hiked up a mountain and then came down on the other side and didn’t really want to hike back over. We drove them into town and then tried to get a spot in the Nehalem State Park. Unfortunately it was full, and we were turned away. As most of you know, we generally don’t secure reservations as our plans often change, but this is only the second time in 6 years that we have been turned away. The Park Rangers were most helpful, giving us a list of other places, and we landed in the Bayview Jetty County Park about 15 miles south. The drive along US101 is great. There were several seastacks and long stretches of beaches. There was much activity on the beaches, but not much swimming. There was a low cloud layer that obscured the tops of the Coastal Range. We walked the beach, picking up some trash. There is an actual jetty and it protects the single inlet to Tillamook Bay. At the end of the jetty is a light with a horn that will probably blow all night. We might be a bit cranky tomorrow morning. We spent a bit of time trying to figure out what to do for the next few days while we are waiting for the heat to subside. There are numerous state parks along the Oregon Coast, but not many with camping. We are thinking that we may need to change our plans again and stay in Oregon a bit after Labor Day when the children are back in school. We have two couples in the two adjacent spots. One couple lives in Spokane WA but have a spot in a Yuma AZ park for the winter where they take their RV and trailer. The other couple lives in Newport OR, a bit further south than where we are.

Thursday, August 7, 2008:
Daisy and I took a walk along the north jetty this morning. Susie and I spent time with the neighbors and received great information about Oregon and where we should head while here. They have save us from one unpleasant spot and confirmed that we are mostly on the correct path. I made some camp reservations to make sure we have spots for the next several days before we get into the mountains in northeast Oregon. We took Daisy for another walk, prepared to go to the Tillamook County Fair to watch the ‘Pig n’ Ford’ race. According to several people this is a ‘can’t miss’ event. These are Model T Fords, stripped down to the frame, and require both hands and both feet to operate. At the start of the race, the driver grabs a pig and puts it under his arm, runs back and crank starts the car (pig still under his arm), drives around the track, gets off the car, returns one pig and takes another, then around the track again to the finish line where the pig is placed back in its pen. There were 10 cars and thus 2 heats of 5 cars each. Today was the first of 2 days of eliminations with the final race on Saturday night. The winner is crowned World Champion. I was thinking that this would be a great event to bring to the Maryland State Fair. We watched the judging of heifers and sheep raised by 4-H Club members. The judge seemed good, but best of all he was kind and gentle with the kids, praising them for their efforts. We also saw a dog agility contest (Susie does this with Daisy) that was great fun. Agility is a program where dogs climb steep ramps, go over teeter-totters, jump through a tire, weave through a set of vertical poles, go over jumps and through tunnels (some open but others with a cloth chute that prevents the dog from seeing were he is going). Actually Daisy did one of the exercises when she walked up and down the top of a sloping concrete barrier wall to take a look over the Pacific Ocean. Some of the youngsters had done some training, but others were doing it for the first time. The judge here was great and helped the kids (and dogs) along. In the end she awarded everyone a blue ribbon to the cheers of the spectators. We looked at all the new tractors and saw the biggest manure spreader we have ever seen. They need them here because this area of Oregon is the largest dairy producer in the country. The county produces more than 25 million gallons of milk a year and most is made into natural cheddar cheese. If you have been in the supermarket and saw Tillamook cheese, it is made here in Tillamook OR. We went to get some fish and chips at a restaurant that uses local fresh fish. It was closed for service, but Susie asked if they could do takeout, which they did. We sat in the RV and had dinner before going back to the campground.

Friday, August 8, 2008:
We spent the morning talking with our neighbors, learning more about Oregon and where to camp. They had a nice fire and that cut the chill. Even Daisy came over to get warm. We said good-by to our neighbors, left the campground at 11:30am and went into the town of Garibaldi on Tillamook Bay where we bought fresh fish for dinner. We had the chance to buy a whole tuna (a small one about 10 lbs) but we didn’t have room in the refrigerator. We drove south into Tillamook and had lunch at The Blue Cheese Factory. It wasn’t really a factory, but served good food, with an outside petting zoo and a field full of old rusty tractors. From lunch we drove further south and toured the Tillamook Air Museum.
We had seen most of the planes before, but the building was a WWII hanger for lighter than air craft (blimps) used to patrol the Pacific Coast for protection against submarines. I don’t think the threat to shipping from submarines was as bad along the Pacific Coast as it was along the Atlantic Coast. The hanger is 1,072 feet long with a height of 192 feet and a clear span width of 296 feet. There was enough space in this wooden structure to house 8 K-ships (class of LTA craft) each with a length of 291 feet. We watched a movie from the History Channel that depicted the last 24 hours of the war with Japan. From the US side, there was a raid by 174 B-29 aircraft on the last remaining oil refinery in Japan. This was the last offensive operation against Japan. From the Japanese side, there was an attempted coup against Emperor Hirohito by a Japanese Army Major in an attempt to stop the announcement of an unconditional surrender at noon the next day. The coup failed partially because the city of Toyko was blacked out due to the B-29’s flying overhead to bomb the oil refinery. We had not seen the film before and were not aware of these events. From the Museum we went to the Tillamook Factory to watch the process of cheese making. Unfortunately all we could see was the packaging of large blocks. It was a bit like looking at the inside of one of the hydro-electric plants we visited, things are happening but you can’t tell what. However, this plant also makes Tillamook Ice Cream, and we had some. Probably we will go back tomorrow because it was really good. We checked into a campground where we’ll stay for 2 nights before heading east. We drove 25 miles today.

Saturday, August 9, 2008:
Contrary to what NOAA forecast, we awoke this morning to broken clouds and sun. We decided that we should drive the 32 mile long Three Capes Scenic Route that starts in Tillamook and ends in Pacific Harbor. Our first stop was at Cape Meares lighthouse, constructed in 1890 on the top of a 200 foot tall headland. The lens was a “First Order” Fresnel Lens (the largest one made) made in Paris and shipped around Cape Horn where it was hoisted up the cliff with a crane made from local timber. The light lens is octagonal and shows red for 5 seconds, white for 30 seconds, red for 5 seconds and so on. The light source was a five wick oil lamp and was visible for 21 miles on a clear night. This lighthouse was decommissioned in 1963 and replaced by a low maintenance automated system that produces 57,000 candlepower. The original lighthouse was heavily vandalized before “The Friends of Cape Meares Lighthouse” took it over and restored it as much as possible. Unfortunately the Fresnel lens was damaged and is missing some of the pieces of glass. This lighthouse is just one of several on the Oregon Coast that is open for viewing. Another attraction at the site is the Octopus Tree. This tree is a gigantic Sitka Spruce that the local First Americans believe was forced into the shape and performed service as a “burial tree”. I’m not sure of this as we have seen trees with a similar shape and no mention has ever been made of any connection with the First Americans. Anyway, the circumference of the main trunk at ground level is 50 feet. On the way back to the parking lot, we saw a young girl with her mother crouched down with her drawing pad. She was drawing a picture of a banana slug. She had previously drawn a picture of the Octopus Tree. She told us that if she wanted to draw a picture, and didn’t have her pad with her, she would blink her eyes and take a ‘memory picture’. We drove on south with Netarts Bay on our right. Noticing several cars off the road, we wondered what was going on and stopped. Susie spotted three different groups of sea lions resting on various sandbars. They must have been waiting for the tide to turn and bring the fish into the bay so they could eat. After watching them for about 15 minutes, we drove towards Cape Lookout.
We were looking for a scenic place to park to eat lunch and about half way to the top of the Cape, we found a wonderful spot with a great view to the north. We saw the same seastacks we had seen from Cape Meares, but from the south. The beach was long and wide with breaking waves. We had lunch and continued to the top of Cape Lookout. We suddenly found ourselves in the clouds until we started down again. Suddenly, we were in an area of sand dunes and then numerous OHV (off highway vehicles) appeared. It turns out that this area is the Sand Lake Recreation Area, a tract of 1,076 acres that is operated by the US Forest Service. While we are not necessarily in favor of these vehicles, they don’t seem to be doing any more damage than the strong winds in the area. We watched for about 15 minutes, then continued south where the next surprise was a beach that was available for cars, trucks and Waverider PWC’s (personal watercraft) to ride the ocean waves. It was quite a sight as they leaped over the waves, sometimes crashing and burning. Several of the riders wore crash helmets. We continued south to Pacific City, rejoined US101 and headed back north to Tillamook. We stopped to view the Munson Creek Waterfall in an Oregon SP. A bit further north we stopped in the Latimer Quilt Center to view some of the crafts then went to Tillamook Cheese Factory to get more ice cream. Darn, it is really good. All through the day, it rained off and on, but whenever we wanted to stop and walk around, it seemed to have cleared. It certainly was a much better day that NOAA forecast, and we were very happy about that.

Sunday, August 10, 2008:
Not quite as much sun this morning as yesterday, but still acceptable. This was a travel day where we positioned ourselves for a stay in the Wallowa Mountains and Hells Canyon NRA in the northeast section of Oregon. We left the RV Park at 9:30am and headed south on US101 to the town of Beaver WA, stopping on the way at the Fred Meyer store for food and coffee (which Susie got for free from Starbucks because they didn’t have the decafe we wanted). We passed a herd of elk grazing contently in the fields surrounding the Air Museum. We turned left (east) on a road that was marked as paved so we thought we were good. The road also showed up on Gabby Garmin. We went about 25 miles and came to a fork in the road (as Yogi Berra said ‘If you come to a fork in the road take it’) One of the forks was closed for an automobile hill climb event, so we took then other one, which Gabby confirmed we should. Another few miles, and the paving turned to gravel. We meandered through the Tillamook State Forest and privately owned land that was being timbered. The road we were on was a logging road and generally followed the Nestucca Scenic River for about 20 miles. We drove into the mountains to an elevation of about 2,550 feet before starting down. It was a beautiful drive, but I’m not sure what we would have done if a vehicle came from the other direction. We were in 1st and 2nd gear most of the time. Just as we were about to despair, we came to a real paved road and went through the town of Carlton to McMinnville, the location of the Evergreen Air Museum. When we had refilled the gas tank near McMinnville, we determined we had averaged about 6 mpg through the forests. That hurts, but other RV owners experience that every day. The Evergreen Museum was the brain-child of Captain Michael Green Smith, the son of Evergreen International Avaition founder Delford M. Smith. Unfortunately he died in an automobile accident before the Museum was opened to the public in 2000. The centerpiece of the museum is the ‘Spruce Goose’, the wood seaplane designed and built by Howard Hughes. The critical dimensions of the aircraft are: fuselage length 218’-8”, wingspan 319’-11”, maximum fuselage height 30’-5”, height of the tail 79’-4”. There are 8 Pratt & Whitney 28-cylinder engines producing 3,000 horsepower each. The four-blade propellers have a diameter of 17’-0”. For comparison purposes, this aircraft is larger than a 747. The federal government spent $18,000, 000 and Howard Hughes $7,000,000 to fund the design and construction of the aircraft. There were other planes in the Museum, but the main purpose of our visit was to see the ‘Spruce Goose’, and we were not disappointed. We left McMinnville and headed north on I-5 and then east on I-84 to the Maryville State Park WA where we have been before. We arrived here about 7:15PM after having driven 223 miles. Daisy was able to take a swim in the Columbia River, so she is a very happy puppy. The sun went down over the hills at 7:30pm and with the breeze, the evening was very pleasant. We had a good night sleep.



Monday, August 11, 2008:
I took Daisy swimming again this morning in preparation for a day in the RV. We filled the water tanks and emptied everything else. As we left the campground, we stopped in a fruit stand that sells fresh fruit from its own orchard. They have irrigation rights from the Columbia River, and the fruit showed it. Susie and I don’t think we have ever had as much fresh fruit as we have had on this trip. With the exception of the Tillamook ice cream, we have been eating pretty healthy. We filled the gas tank and once again headed east on I-84 about 40 miles to OR74, the start of Blue Mountain Oregon Scenic Byway. This road runs through State and National Forests to the town of Baker City OR. The northwest end of the route was through farming areas with an elevation increase from sea level to 1,965 feet in Heppner. In Heppner, Gabby failed us. The main street was closed so we tried to maneuver around the blockage, and Gabby tried to get us to drive through a very substantial concrete dam. There seems to be a problem with automobiles in town as we saw one that had rolled down a bank and crashed into a power pole, and another that was picked up by a logging rig with jaws used for gripping trees. It picked up a car off the street and dumped it in a dump truck. Susie and I looked at each other and said it was time to get out of town. The road into the Blue Mountains followed a small stream and a valley that became more narrow as we approached the high point of 5,500 feet at the west edge of the Umatilla NF. There was a road sign at the entrance to the forest stating the road was only open from June 15 through October 15. We drove through the Blue Mountains at an elevation of 5,000 feet. We saw a road sign that directed us to an aspen information center that turned out to be a 3’ by 5’ sign explaining whey there was a fence around the aspen trees. Bet you don’t really want to know, but the aspens were decimated by fire and animals so the fence was erected to keep the animals away. We descended into Ukiah OR and stopped in the USFS Station to check out camping sites and any other useful information. The lady who helped us was a resident of Ukiah, and told us about the bears and cougars in the area. According to her, cougars have been seen in town, not often, but they’ve been there. We thought that bears in town are dangerous enough, but cougars are at another level. She also told us of the large forest fire that pretty much surrounded the town in 1996. The trees have reseeded themselves and are now about 10 feet tall. It will be a long time before they can be harvested. We continued east into the Wallowa Whitman Forest looking for the campgrounds. We must have missed the closer ones and had to continue further east than planned. As we were driving along, enjoying the scenery, Susie said ‘Look a fox, no it’s a coyote, NO ITS A COUGAR!” This was one big handsome animal. It was crossing the road, saw and looked at us for a few seconds before returning to the trees bordering the road. We drove slowly by and were able to see it about 20 feet from the road as it moved off. We both agreed that now we have seen one in the wild, that enough. We continued along, made a wrong turn, backtracked and found the USFS North Fork John Jay Campground. It is on a small stream, and Daisy was able to swim. The sky is bright blue, the wind from the west and the temperature very comfortable 65. There are no railroads, interstates or streetlights, only the half full moon, so we should sleep well.