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/

Cave Junction, OR 9/24/06

After breakfast and checking the trailer load (see previous entry) we drove South to Cave Junction. It was a beautiful fall day and a nice, easy drive. We stopped at a county park along I-5 and made sandwiches for lunch. I love travelling in the RV.

We decided not to make reservations this trip. It's nice to see the park and surroundings before committing to spending the night. Plus we never know when we might want to move along. We'd done a little research online and we had our handy dandy Woodalls directory.

Anyway, we drove by one park (too empty, no trees) and then ended up at the Mountain Man RV Park a couple miles south of Cave Junction. It's a small, clean park with a mix of seasonal and overnight guests. There were no pull-throughs available so we got a back-in site. No problem with the trailer. There was a river behind our site and I found a couple of small rocks. We met several friendly and helpful people. Even got to play fetch with one of the dogs. We would definitely stay here again.
Dave spent time playing with his new cell phone and his new portable iPod speakers. Then we played a game of cribbage and 3 games of Trouble. Next on the entertainment agenda was watching 'The Doors'. We watched it on the laptop with the iPod speakers. It worked great. The laptop screen is bigger than our TV; plus we're able to sit close to it in the dinette. And the speakers meant we didn't need the volume up very high. Big improvement over the TV.

Camping in the Driveway, Parents leave town, etc...

I like driveway camping. It reminds me of camping in the backyard when we were kids. That was always so much fun. Especially when we played flashlight tag, late at night, when we were supposed to be sleeping. Sorry, Mom!

This first night, bonus night, of our vacation was supposed to be spent at home getting ready. Then we found out that Dave's parents were leaving for the winter during our vacation. So we decided to leave Friday night and stay at the bro-in-laws so we could say our goodbyes. It worked out great. We would have been driving through Vancouver on our way south anyway. It actually made our Saturday drive a lot shorter.

We arrived in Vancouver around 9:00. Had time to visit for awhile before retreating to the motorhome to sleep. We weren't exactly level... so we opted to sleep on the couch. We have several fleece lap blankets on the motorhome. Also a couple of stadium blankets. We used those instead of unmaking the cabover bed (too much work). Woke up cold Saturday morning. Turned on the furnace but no heat. Checked the fridge - it wasn't working. Duh! The propane was off. Oops. At least the food seemed OK.

Dave backed us out of the driveway. After several attempts the trailer went in the direction he wanted and we were off to meet the parents at Ihops. Then one of the bicycles decided to ride along the trailer instead of inside of it. Wow... can't believe we made the 2.5 hour freeway drive with the load intact. After resecuring the bike on the trailer we continued on to the restaurant. This time I rode in back of the RV so I could keep checking the trailer.

We had a good breakfast and great visit in a very crowded restaurant. Then we said our "See ya laters". It's tough when the parents leave for the winter... mine had left earlier in the week. Hard not to worry but I know they really enjoy the warm AZ weather, the fresh grapefruits and lemons, and the relaxed retirement lifestyle. Oh well. We are on vacation!

Dave spent some time checking and readjusting the trailer before we hit the highway. It's a beautiful fall day and we on our way to Cave Junction, OR.

Oregon Fall Vacation

That's right. We recently got back from our fall vacation. Spent a week camping in Oregon. Still love our RV. It's so nice to travel around with our own little 'cabin'. Anyway, I'll start posting on this trip soon. In the meantime... following are the locations and activities you can look forward to reading about.

Camping in the Bro-in-laws driveway.
Cave Junction; National Cave Monument, 90 minute Cave Tour, Mountain Lions.
Prospect; Avenue of the Boulders and waterfall hikes
Crater Lake, Bears
John Day Painted Hills
Digging Fossils in Fossil
John Day Fossil Beds
Root Beer Float in the best, funnest, Ice Cream Shop ever.
Boardman, bike ride, flat tires.

This was one of my favorite types of vacations. In addition to gorgeous scenery, we had time to read, play games, ride bikes, ride the motorcycle, and explore new areas and hobbies. We met lots of friendly Oregonians. Details to follow.

Mossyrock Park

We camped at Mossyrock Park on Labor Day Weekend. It was pretty crowded, of course. But what a beautiful park.

Somehow we had accidently reserved a non-power site. Boy, did we regret that. It was a hot weekend. Sure would have been nice to have the AC. We did have a great view of the lake. Another of our site's amenities was the 'BMX' track right behind our site. It was very entertaining watching little kids go round and round. Our site was plenty big enough for a large tent (the pup tent looked lonely).

Part of the 'BMX' Track.

Max showed us tricks.

We rode our bikes over to the Mossyrock Dam. It was a nice ride with very little traffic. We took the road on the way over and found a trail on the way back.

The swimming beach.

Another great weekend visiting with family, enjoying amazing views, and exploring new areas on our bikes. We are so lucky!

Why Can't I Camp Here?

No Camping

And it looked like such a nice spot. Tons of electricity available.

Thousand Trails in Chehalis

Both of our parents are members of Thousand Trails. Dave and I have stayed at a couple of the parks (Las Vegas and Verde Valley). But last weekend was the first time we stayed in one in our own motorhome. We joined my parents as guests.

It was a nice park (preserve) - most of the spaces seemed large. Our site was great.

We had fun playing pool.

My Mom and I puzzled in the Adult Lodge. It was a warm weekend and to be honest we think they might be having a sewer problem. There were some serious bad smells in a few areas. Other than that hopefully temporary problem the park seemed clean and well-maintained.

One major drawback - most of the sites are up a steep hill. Our bike ride was a lot of work (on the way back to camp). I know... exercise is supposed to tough.

Thousand Trails seems great for families (with kids that like swimming pools) and retirees with time to use it. My parents stay at Thousand Trails a lot and love it. I don't think Dave and I would get much usage out of a membership though. We like to go and explore different places and probably wouldn't use all the amenities offered.

RV Envy

Been awhile since my last post. Lots of overtime and a family wedding in Houston have kept us out of the motorhome. Everytime I walk by our RV I feel sad. It's time to pack up and drive somewhere. Hopefully we'll have time to go in the next couple of weeks.

I keep seeing RV's on the road and wishing it was me in the passenger seat! We saw RV parks in Houston and Galveston. They looked nice from the road.

Wouldn't it be nice to take a long cross country trip someday? We could stay at the RV park I saw near NASA. Or one of the 2 parks we drove by in Galveston. We could finally visit Glacier National Park and explore Colorado. Maybe even Yosemite and the Napa Valley. Someday...

Group Camping at Rainbow Falls State Park

Last weekend was our annual family campout. For the first time ever we managed to secure a group camp site. It was so nice to have our own place. We were able to string lots of tables together for our dinner. The fire pit was huge... plenty of room for us to gather around.

And the group camp was even cheaper than normal camping. $2.00 per person per night plus the $25.00 booking fee. What a deal. No extra vehicle charges!

This group site has no hookups. That was fine for most of us. My Aunt and Uncle had some problems because their trailer batteries were dead.

Another issue: My parents weren't able to get their satellite to work because there were so many trees. Speaking of trees - they did stay upright at this family campout (see my post "When the Tree Fell" from April 19th).

The last major problem of the weekend - my niece's phone was in analog roam. You can't text message in analog roam. So so sad.

Anyway, despite all the minor inconveniences of camping we had a great time. Played a few games (Monopoly, Trouble, and Dominoes). Some people swam in the river. Dave and I went for a couple of bike rides. Mostly though, there was a lot of sitting and visiting around the fire.

Scene from our bike ride.

This calf lives right behind the group camp and was very friendly.

Saturday night was the Navajo Taco feast. Great fry bread with chili and cheese and onions and lettuce and tomatoes and sour cream and stuff. Then we had strawberries, angel food cake, and whipping cream for dessert. Followed a couple of hours later with smores.

My great-nephew got tired of having his picture taken.

Family Campout Trivia:

23 people stayed one or both nights
4 others came for a few hours on Saturday
1 Class C
1 Class A with slides
1 Tent trailer
1 Trailer
6 tents
20-30 picnic tables

Current Project - Snapping the Sheets

Our Class C has the cabover bed. That's where Dave and I sleep. It's fairly comfortable and very convenient to have our bed out of the way.

The worst thing about the cabover is making the bed. There's no room to maneuver. Plus, even if you can get the sheets and blankets tucked in they come untucked with alarming frequency. Every morning it's a hassle to get the top sheet and blanket retucked.

I searched online and found a possible solution. Put snaps at the bottom of the sheet and bedding and snap them to the frame. I've got the snaps on the sheet (added reinforcement patch) and now need to install the snaps on the frame. If this works I will be very happy, and will continue with the blanket and comforter. If it doesn't work I'll try velcro. Check back in for an update.

Holiday Weekend Camping

Usually we avoid camping on the long weekends. Our holiday plan was to go to Eastern Washington and visit family. We were taking 3 passengers - leaving Saturday morning and returning on Monday. Plans changed, however, and we ended up at Dosewallips State Park. I know, it's the opposite direction of our intended destination.

We lucked into a spot with power and some privacy. Although there did seem to be a shortcut right at the edge of our site.

It was nice to camp with company. Dave's brother and nephew joined us on Saturday. Sunday, Dave's sister joined us. Our nephew camped in a tent with friends (on the other side of the campground). So there were 4 of us sleeping in the RV Sunday night. Seemed to have plenty of room and luckily nobody snores loud.

It was a good weekend. A little crazy with kids riding bikes around the campground (there must have been a sale on training wheels somewhere). Anyway, we stuck with our original plan of heading out on Saturday and returning Monday. So holiday traffic wasn't too bad.

Sunday morning Dave and I did a short bike ride. The roads didn't seem too friendly so we headed back to the campground and took a short hike. It was great to be out in the woods and away from the noisy campground for awhile.

Dilemma: We just came from the campground and we were not done walking.

So we headed off to Maple Valley

It was a steep climb - the benches came in handy.

Then we turned around and checked out Trails End.

Some people drove up to Lake Cushman and went swimming.

Later Sunday some of the group went clamming and oyster harvesting on the canal. I was fortunate enough to avoid both of those activities. I did have to see some of the shellfish. Gross. Food should come from a grocery store. Neatly packaged and clean. Preferably pre-cooked.

Speaking of cooking - there was a fair amount of that going on this weekend. We usually bring easy meals. But this weekend we had to pull out the portable stove while my bro-in-law set up his propane grill. Geez. I had forgotten that camping can take so much work! I thought it was all about the relaxing and exploring.

Our next trip is the family campout. We'll be staying in a group site. Can't wait.

Kalaloch - Olympic National Park

Last weekend we camped at Kalaloch. Our site (A27) was fantastic. No power, water, cable, or cell service. Just a nice private site with an amazing ocean view. How'd we get so lucky? It's because we made reservations back on February 5th.

Friday night we arrived in time for a walk on the beach. Lots of driftwood, and some rocks to explore. Then we unpacked the java logs. It was wonderful to experience the ocean sounds and the sunset from the comfort of our campfire. Saturday Dave took the bike off the trailer and we rode towards La Push. It was a beautiful day. This stretch of Highway 101 is very peaceful. We planned to hike out to Second Beach or Third Beach but there was no parking. Plus we were hungry. So we went into Forks (it was already 86 degrees) and had lunch.

We stopped at Beach No. 4 on our way back to camp. It was great... just a short walk from the parking lot. There were fishermen fishing, kids sand castling, and seals surfing. Dave even spotted an Eagle in a tree. Then I saw a 2nd one. Dave explored the tide pools while I looked for rocks.

Next we went to the Kalaloch Store/Lodge. Stocked up on ice and marshmallows. After dinner we had another fire and watched the sunset. Then I beat Dave at 2 games of cribbage.

Sunday morning we walked over to the Lodge and had breakfast while enjoying the view. Then it was one last walk on the beach before heading home.

View from Kalaloch Lodge.

http://www.visitkalaloch.com/
http://www.nps.gov/olym/pphtml/camping.html