Weekend at Millersylvania State Park

Went camping last weekend. It was so nice to get out of town! True, it was only a 45 minute drive from home. And it rained all Friday night and Saturday and Saturday night. But we still got some serious relaxation done. Saturday afternoon we grabbed the umbrellas and went for a wet walk through the woods. I slipped off a log and got a little closer to the marsh than I intended. Ended up with wet boots and socks.

It was a great weekend. We had power but no TV reception. So we read a lot and listened to our iPods (with the portable speakers). We played a few games. I won Cribbage and Trouble. Dave won Rummikub and Yachtzee. Somehow we managed to lose a NetFlix movie (The Sixth Sense). So - if any of you happen to find it let me know. I still have the envelope!

Sunday we woke up to sunny skies. Made unhooking a lot nicer.

Digging Fossils in Fossil

Disclaimer - The activities in this post are from Thursday, 9/28/06.

After a lovely cereal type breakfast we walked a couple blocks into Fossil. We stopped at the General Store and bought a Fossil Digging Kit. We knew this wasn't necessary but it was so dang cute. Plus, it's fun to be tourists. Our kit contained a bucket, a screwdriver, a hammer, and a brush. We added a couple of pairs of workgloves to our kit and were on our way.

We walked a couple of blocks more to Wheeler High School. There's a sign at the front of the school that shows the types of fossils that might be found. The fossil plant deposits range in age from 1 million to 32 million years ago. While we were there the hours were 9 - 5 Tuesday through Saturday. There was a requested donation of $3.00 per person.The fossil beds are behind the school on the far side of the football field.

It didn't take long for Dave to find his first fossil.

The interpreter (a lovely lady) showed us how to split the rocks to find the best fossils. She had putty knives that worked much better than the screwdriver in our 'digging kit'. The hammer did come in handy though. Our absolute best purchase was the work gloves.

We ended up finding quite a few fossils. Not perfect but pretty dang close. The interpreter said we were very easy to please. We got excited every time we found something remotely fossil-like. Apparently most people are a little pickier about their fossils. A group of grade school kids arrived for a field trip, so it was time to leave. We picked our favorite fossils (3 each), packed them in our kit, and headed back to the RV.

Fossil Digging Tips:

1. Bring water

2. Wear a hat

3. Wear sensible shoes (the hill is slippery)

4. Bring work gloves

5. Get there early (before the field-trippers).

Here's a link to an NPR story on the town of Fossil.

Crater Lake to Fossil

Left the Mazama Campground around 9:00. Took one last look at Crater Lake before heading towards Bend. While Dave admired the lake I had to walk over to take a picture of the fire sign.
Apparently you are only supposed to report unnatural fires. I really wanted to grab a piece of rock for a souvenier. But we were in a National Park right next to the road so I behaved.

We left Crater Lake Lake behind and headed towards Bend. It was a nice, peaceful drive until we missed the exit for the place we'd planned on camping at. Rather than backtrack we decided to head on down the road. Darned if we couldn't find anywhere we wanted to camp. Just kept on driving. We did stop at the John Day Painted Hills Unit. It was amazing. Unlike anything I've ever seen.

Then we continued on to Fossil. There were some steering wheel clinching moments (sharp dropoffs beside the road).Finally, we made it down and pulled over at the above fishing area to relax for a few minutes.

A few miles later we arrived at Fossil. This is the part of the trip I had been really excited about. Well, Fossil and the Oregon Caves. OK - Fossil, The Oregon Caves, and Crater Lake. Anyway, we tried to stay at an RV park/motel in town but it was closed. So we ended up camping at the Wheeler County Fairgrounds in Fossil. Only $18.00 a night including water, power, cable, and interesting neighbors (one has an old recliner outside his trailer). Anyway, it was a quiet, air-conditioned, night. Exactly what we needed after our long travel day. I couldn't wait to get up in the morning and dig for fossils.

Camping at Crater Lake (9/26/06)

Left Prospect and drove about 45 minutes to Crater Lake. It was another beautiful day. We got the last pull-through with power. Only 20 amp but it came in handy. It was cold at night.




Dave got the bike off the trailer and we rode around the lake. Crater Lake was incredible. The water looked so clean and blue. Took a side trip to Pinnacle Peak. This road was very rough - very glad we didn't take the motorhome.

The Pinnacles

After dinner we rode our bikes through all the campground sections twice. Pretty high elevation here so it was tough for me to exercise. Then we enjoyed some coffee log fire time.

Things to See Near Prospect, OR

First I just have to say... I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. I'll try to do better.

Back to our fall vacation... one of our stops was at Prospect RV Park just outside of Crater Lake National Park. We had planned on staying one night but the kind park hostess told us there was lots to see in the area. So Monday morning we hopped on the bike and went exploring. After about a mile we parked the bike and started hiking in the Mill Creek Falls Scenic Area. We ended up seeing 3 waterfalls and walking down to "The Aveue of the Boulders". Thank you, Boise Cascade, Thank you for sharing your property!

The trails were well maintained and marked. It was a perfect day.

Dave tested his new cell phone and Cingular service - it worked!

Avenue of the Boulders

I took time to make a small rock sculpture.

Next we rode up the highway a bit to see the Natural Bridge and the Rogue River Gorge. Incredible views. Took lots of pictures but the lighting wasn't very good. That's one of the disadvantages to sightseeing at noon on a sunny day. Anyway... we did convince a butterfly to pose for us. Just think - if we hadn't stayed at the Prospect RV Park we would have missed this amazing day.

Lunch was at Beckie's. We had huckleberry pie ala mode for dessert. I love vacation!

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. Watched "O" and reviewed the pictures from the day on the laptop. Life is good.

Things to do if you see a Mountain Lion

I can't believe I forgot to write about the Mountain Lions at the Oregon Caves. No, we didn't see any. But we did see lots of reassuring signs. Signs (computer printouts, obviously printed out recently on clean, white paper), attached to many trees and poles and buildings. These signs said something like If You See a Mountain Lion Report it to the Ranger Immediately.

Hmmm... That got me thinking about what I would actually do if I saw a mountain lion up close. My thoughts were something like this:

I would run like hell.
I would climb a tree.
I would scream.
I would probably have a heart attack.
I would look for a big stick or rocks.
I would scream until the ranger found me.
I would yell at the ranger for not having Mountain Lion Signs that actually gave advice on how to protect yourself if you saw a mountain lion.

After we got back I found the following link to advice on what you are supposed to do if you see a Mountain Lion - http://www.nps.gov/bibe/naturescience/dont_be_prey.htm

Oregon Caves National Monument

Sunday 9/24/06 - 2nd Day of Vacation

After a leisurely breakfast we unplugged and headed towards the Oregon Caves. We had received varying advice on taking the RV with attached trailer up to the caves. Our plan was to drop the trailer or the RV and trailer somewhere in Cave Junction. We stopped at the Caves Information Center in town. After talking to a ranger we decided to the leave the RV and trailer in the parking lot. It was another gorgeous day so a motorcycle ride sounded good.

The road from Cave Junction to the Caves is only 20 miles; but the last 8 or 9 were very curvy. It was fun on the bike - but we were glad we'd left the motorhome behind. The view from the parking lot is amazing. Too bad I didn't take a picture. We arrived just in time to take the next tour of the cave.

The 90 minute tour was great. There were lots of steps, and a few tight spots with low ceilings. About 1/2 way through the tour I felt kind of weird being 200 feet below ground. Especially when the people behind us started talking about earthquakes! It's hard to take pictures in the cave. Some areas you can't use flash. Plus our tour was pretty large and it was hard to get in the right position to take good shots. But still... it was worth it to see the amazing granite caves.

If you do the tour be sure to dress warm. The temperature in the cave year-round is 43 degrees. I recommend you go on a weekday... I'm sure it won't be as crowded.

After the tour Dave and I hiked up the ridge (Cliff Nature Trail). The views were incredible. Dave took pictures of Earl and his wife and then Earl took pictures of us. Thanks, Earl! Our adventures made us pretty hungry. We decided to have lunch in the Chateau Cafe. It's an old-fashion diner type cafe. The food was good and the ambience incredible.

The bike ride down was nice and a lot faster than it would have been in the Tioga. Dave had the bike loaded up and we were on the road by 3:00. The drive to Prospect was beautiful. Rode along the Rogue River most of the way. We started a new book on CD "Water for Elephants". It's very interesting.

Arrived in Prospect about 5:00. We stayed at the Prospect RV Park. It's very nice and clean. Large sites and friendly host. We really enjoyed the golf cart park tour and being able to pick our pull-thru site. No cell service, though (Sprint or Cingular).

Had leftover tacos for dinner. Tasty and easy. We read for awhile before watching the rest of "The Doors".

Oregon Caves National Monument http://www.nps.gov/orca/

Prospect RV Park http://www.prospectrvpark.com/