Friends and more Friends

I have been so busy fishing, biking, and hiking here at Diamond Lake that is hard to find time to post. Our collection of friends has continued to grow. Joining Dan & Charlene and Jeanette and I here at Diamond Lake Campground on Sunday were Michael & Melissa. On Monday Gregory and Trudy arrived, followed shortly by Greg and Linda. Here is a photo of us all enjoying dinner together at our campsite on Monday evening.

Diamond Lake

I’m never sure how many people read my blog or care, but just in case a few do, I’ll post a quick update. We did make it to Diamond Lake on Friday with our friends Dan & Charlene. We have been so busy having so much fun that I haven’t had time to take many photos or post to the blog. Yesterday morning Dan & I fished and caught some nice fat rainbows. Jeanette & Charlene got in a three mile morning walk. After lunch we all road our bikes on the eleven mile trail around the lake, stopping for pie and coffee at the Lodge. For dinner we had fresh trout cooked on the barbeque. Today, Elkton friends Michael and Melissa will be joining us, and tomorrow more Elkton friends Gregory & Trudy will also join us. We have good Verizon service here, so we can be contacted easily and that’s what enables me to post this morning.

Catch-up-Day

Today is turning out to be a catch-up-day. Living on the road is fun and exciting, but some times it good to just take a day to get caught up with some of the details of everyday life. We started out with what we hope is a successful fix on the refrigerator in the motor home. Next was a trip to Fred Meyer for groceries and such. Then some time for me working on Cascade Ramblings and Jeanette paying bills on-line while we are parked in FM parking lot. Next we will be dumping the tanks, and hopefully a wash job of the motor home at Mark’s house. We spent last night and will tonight in a driveway of Mark’s neighbor. Tomorrow is on to Diamond Lake.

Lemons to Lemonade

Mark & Jeanette at Todd Lake Trailhead.---- Last night while camped at Elk Lake in our new motor home our refrigerator went on the fritz and refused to stay running. I got up half a dozen times during the night to restart it, and came to the conclusion we would have to abort our plans for hiking and drive into Bend to have it repaired. In the early morning we pulled up stakes and drove the motor home to Jerry’s RV Repair. We left it for the day and called my brother Mark to see if we could hang out with him. We were sitting around in his living room, kind at lose ends, when he said, “hey we could still go hiking”. A short discussion followed of ideas where to go, It took me a few minutes to shift gears from worrying about the motor home to consider having some fun for the day. Eventually Marks enthusiasm won out, he packed us up some lunches, and soon we were piled into his car and headed for Todd Lake.

Central Oregon

Those who know their geography will recognize the photo as the Three Sisters from the Eastside. This was taken this morning with the poor sisters devoid of their usual covering of snow. Yesterday we left the Willamette Valley and climbed up over the Santiam Pass to spend a week in the Central Cascades. We spent the night parked in the driveway of friends Dan and Charlene in Tollgate. Today we traveled on through Bend, up past Mt Bachelor on Century Drive and past Sparks Lake, Devils Lake, and Elk Lake. This afternoon I am posting from our campsite in Little Fawn Campground on the Eastside of Elk Lake. Amazing that we have Verizon service here! Tomorrow, Wednesday, the plan is to hike the Six Lakes Trail to Blow and Doris Lakes. My brother Mark, and our friend Dan will be joining us. By Friday we will move our set on to Diamond Lake.

Champoeg

This marks the spot where the historic vote took place in 1843 that started the process which eventually lead to Oregon becoming a state of the United State of America. Trappers, traders, and settlers, gathered outside of the Hudson Bay Store at Champoeg to take their stand, and after much heated discussion, voted 52 to 50 in favor of forming a provisional government. All 52 persons that voted for it are listed on this kiosk.

Buster goes to Butteville

We are out rambling around again in our new Holiday Rambler. At the present time we are set up in Champoeg State Park for three nights. Today we rode our fold-up bikes to the historic Butteville General Store on the bike path and let Buster run along with us. He has hiked with us to the Butteville Store and back before, but this is the first time he has run all the way, which was five miles! He loved it! Maybe he thinks we normally walk too slow.