Day Two (Mon - Aug 22):

Yesterday, we came close to running out of gas. We missed filling up in Klamath Falls but fortunately we found a tiny gas station at a place that doesn’t have a name, at the junction of Hwy 97 and 138. The gas price was better than we expected for such a remote place.

Arriving at Diamond Lake campground, we changed our site from a reserved one to one that was a first come first serve kind of site. This new site is more shady and private and it was easier to back into. It is for a larger group and has a double wide parking spot.

We love this campground it is so beautiful with all the trees and lush carpet of waist high greenery, dotted with wild flowers including: Indian Paintbrush, Yarrow, Buttercups, orange/yellow Columbine, and something that looks similar to Golden Rod, all around the campsites. The site we turn down has a beautiful water front view but was a lot more open to provide that view and thus less private.

In the evening the lake sparkles and glitters, which, Heather guesses that it may be why they call it Diamond Lake. It is peaceful here. We decide we are going to stay here another night and give up a night in a Portland hotel. It will mean not seeing Portland but I think the kids are happy to do that.

An eleven mile bike goes around the lake. It is supposed to be generally level to make a nice ride. After riding my bike to the ranger station, about a mile, I decide to stay at the campsite and take it easy while everyone else goes ahead and ride around the lake. Maybe it is the elevation that is wearing me out. Plus it is nice to just relax after getting everything ready all week.

This is a place that we would defiantly stay at again.

Last night we did dinner real easy, Mountain House meals. Tonight we will cook tin foil dinners, beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, cream of mushroom soup, and seasonings wrapped in aluminum foil and cooked in the coals. We will fry up some doughnuts for lunch.

Continued…

We fried the doughnuts for dinner. They were a hit! Only they were made into drop doughnuts of a sort as there was no way to roll the dough out and they were a bit sticky.

The campground here in Oregon is about three miles long and runs between hwy 138 and Diamond Lake. There are two country stores at each end. The north store has a lot more to offer, but the south store has a counter to serve scoops of ice cream. There is only carton ice cream at the north store.

Five miles was the length I covered today riding up to the north store. That makes about seven miles total today if you count riding down to the ranger stop. It was a good day. Everybody else did the eleven mile loop around the lake. Then the boys continued to ride because eleven miles was not enough. They ran errands to and from the store. One errand was back to the north store for a carton of ice cream that we didn’t pick up because we figured we would pick it up at the south store, but they didn’t carry any cartons of ice cream so o back to the north store they went.

Around the campfire this blog came up and so I asked what things they thought I should make sure to include. One was the bear the other the explosion. First the bear story, along the lake bike ride, Jacob came across a bear. Not a large bear, but not so small that you would be concerned about a momma bear. The bear apparently ran across Jacob’s path, not too far from Jacob and climbed a tree. All the other riders saw the bear, less than ten feet away, though, not as close as Jacob. He mentions that it is weird because on another bike ride not too long ago he saw a different bear. Bears must mean something to him.

The other experience the children wanted me to share is the exploding ice cream. When H opened the ice cream the ice cream literally popped out of the container. There must have been quite some pressure in that carton.

Now it is getting cold. It is time to hit the sack.

Day One continued...

Not having access to internet means entries may not be posted on the day they were written. Every attempt will be made to post each day’s entry.

Day One continued…

The lady at the visitor center at Midland was very helpful. Apparently we chose a weekend of some bike gathering at Crater Lake so our plan B to get a hotel in the area is pretty slim. We will be camping at Diamond Lake campground for one night. The children will get the chance to show off their abilities to make and break camp.

We traveled this morning through Redding, California and up through Lake Shasta. It is a beautiful area with pointed hills covered in rich green pines and a deep blue lake surrounding them. I suppose it is really a reservoir since there is a dam. We will have to come back to this place to camp.

For lunch we stopped at a town just below Weed. The local KFC/Taco Bell was fresh. The bathroom wasn’t the best but it worked. The children wanted us to stop and get a t-shirt that says “I <3 Weed”*. About thirty minutes away Dad mentioned that we needed to pick up stickers from the places we visit to plaster the sides of our trailer to cover all the unwanted writing on the sides. The “I <3 Weed” would have been an interesting start of our collection but we missed it by “that much.”

Our trailer is the main reason we got our late start. I had planned on taking bikes on this trip and the bike rake only holds five bikes. Not enough for everybody and besides we have camping items to take along. Uhaul had a trailer we could rent but Hubby would rather put that money towards owning one rather than travel around with “Uhaul” plastered all over the trailer. So instead of renting Hubby found an old enclosed motocross trailer on Craigslist for $500. It came home with a rats nest and a few holes in the wall; then Hubby with his bounteous talents put a beautiful new floor in with hooks everywhere to tie things down. Not sure of the condition of the tires, hubby got some new ones and Jennifer packed the bearings. Something she learned to do at college.

Prior to heading out, all of the children helped get the house super clean so the house sitter could enjoy their stay at our home. Thank you soooo much A.

Back to today’s travels… after lunch we traveled up Hwy 97. As soon as we crossed the Oregon border the landscape changed from the hilly mountains to a vast valley, probably an ancient lake bed.

Klamath Falls is the town past our friendly visitor center. Interestingly there are no falls in Klamath Falls. It is understood that their where some small falls prior to the dam being built creating a lake that makes the falls no more.

*PS, <3 means “love” or “heart” such as I <3 N Y. If you put <3 in your status on Facebook you will get a little heart instead.

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It is a late start. Friday was the first day we had a reservation at the Diamond Lake campground, only thirty minutes from Crater Lake. It is now Sunday morning. Yesterday afternoon I called the ranger station to let them know we wouldn’t be there last night so they could let it out for one night if someone wanted the site. I missed calling them in time on Friday and I was afraid I might lose the whole reservation. We had the site reserved for three nights. Setting up a tent for the one night remaining will be a chore so I’m looking into other options?

The original plan was to head up to Portland, Oregon for two nights after Crater Lake, only thirty minutes from Diamond Lake. I’m wondering if we should somehow camp for fewer places and spend more time at each place. I’m not sure if I did good planning? It has been awhile since I’ve had to do this much planning for quite some time.

Day One (Sun - Aug 21):

We are on our way. Found a small WiFi spot at the Midland, OR information center/rest stop so I am able to put in a quick note.

We are heading out to Crater Lake, we are a few days behind schedule. But life is good and the kids are great!

Camping Meals

When I first mentioned this camping idea to hubby, he hated it. Not that he does not like camping, he just hates the packing, loading, unloading, packing, loading... and so on. And he seems to have the greatest aversion to packing all the cooking supplies: stove, pots, pans, propane, grill, food, cooler full of food, box of snacks, and so on.... Working through the communication barrier I came to realize that his idea of camping is easy food: beef jerky, chips, soda, and fast food when we are on the road. I know that is NOT going to work for me.

So the question is: how do I convince hubby that cooking meals outdoors can be a big part of the adventure? Some people choose vacation places just for the food. We can eat gourmet over campfire and it can be FUN!

A few years back I came up with a system that helped make camping meals a lot easier. Here it is:

Before any thing is to be done I make a list of meals that the family likes. Next I take each meal and write it out into three lists. First list: items that are in a can, jar, or box, spices, and condiments that I take from home. Second list: items that will not keep that I will need to purchase at a grocery store prior to cooking such as dairy, fresh meat, produce, and breads. Third list is made up of what camping equipment will be needed to make it; will I need one pot or two, a cutting board, or special items like a colander or grater? And do not forget a can opener.

On a yellow 5x7 paper I write out each meal. What the meal is goes at the top and the way to cook it in corner, like: camp stove, fire/coals, grill, or even dutch oven. If you need a recipe then up can copy it and paperclip it to the list. Then the list is sectioned off with three sections: what I bring in the food box, what I will purchase on the trip (this becomes my shopping list during the vacation and simplifies that headache), and what equipment I need at the bottom. This last list was added after I forgot a few items. It also should make it easier to not bring what I do not need. Hubby will love that.

Example:

Camp stove

If something uses extra water such as pasta or 'boil in a bag' rice I would note it up here. (not a good choice for a campground where you have to pack in your own water.)

Beef Stew

(items to bring in food box/cooler)

1 can corn

olive oil

salad dressing (for optional salad)

spices:

bullion

salt and pepper

minced onions

(items to purchase on road)

stew meat

potatoes

carrots

celery

onions

baguette/or soup bowl

mixed salad (optional)

(no need to buy if I have it left over from the night before)

(equipment to bring)

large pot with lid

cutting board

knife

can opener

utinsels: ladle, large spoon

(I do not put camp stove in this list since it gets redundant)

There it is. Takes a little time to begin with but simplifies things on the road so you can spend more time at that beautiful waterfall. Note to self: when I get back from camping put list in recipe file binder so I do not have to remake them. I thought I saved the previous ones but they are not where I have looked.

It was good today... 22 meals planned out. Now I have to figure out which ones we want and which days to cook them. Some campgrounds do not have fire pits so tin foil dinners wont work there. And somethings take more time to prepare so those need to go on a lazier day when we are "hanging" at the campsite. I do need to figure out a few more lunch ideas.... hmm.

Deciding Where to Vacation?

Ancient years ago we lived along the borders of Idaho and Oregon, about a days drive to the Pacific coast. One of the summers was spent loading up the family and camping gear and driving to the coast.

Drifting wisps of memory flutter in the vision before me...

Following the snaking river to it's gaping mouth which swallows the ocean whole, we travel from place to place, campsite to campsite searching but not finding. High competition campgrounds force unreserved sites to be impossible to find especially on the weekend. Searching becomes the chore of each day.

Meandering along the coast to see wonders we have never before laid eyes on. The cusp of the forest where rainfall is measured by feet, not inches, this is the furthest we were able extend our journey for we need to retract our steps and hurry home to the busy-ness of everyday life. We had been stung by the beauty of the canvas before us. We would return, even the very next year to feast on the beauty that we had only sipped this time.

But time does not bring us back. No, it throws us to the other side of the world, well, really just the other side of the states. But, the other side of the world or other side of the states it did not matter; our lives are rooted where our feet do trod. The East has no lack of spells to cast our eyes, mind, and heart to the magic found in a place rich with history and wonders of it's own.

Now we see that the East must have provided the antidote for the sting that had captured our hearts so long ago. For even though we return to the place our mothers gave us birth, the desire to return is gone and it will be ten years before that coal is bellowed and the heart begins to stir to say that we have forgotten something and need to remember, to find, that wisp of memory that is so dim. Is this memory fading or maybe it is becoming stronger, coming back to be rediscovered and to bless that secret promise to return?

Side note

As a side note and reminder to myself... I need to take a picture of my piece of mountain and use that as my backdrop... not sure how to do it, but learning new things and figuring it out is what life is all about!

Family vacation in the works...

Since the kids all came home a few weeks ago I've been planning a family vacation. Something that will make memories. Good ones of course.

Jennifer came home on July 21 from serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was gone for 18 months and the only contacts we had were letters, emails once a week, and 45 min phone calls on Mother's Day and Christmas. Okay we sorta cheated and did a kind of a chat with emails a few times. I knew when she generally would be on the computer writing her emails so I could get on about that time and we could chat via email, but only for a few minutes. Her email time was limited.

Heather came home from school right after Jennifer. Classes ended on July 23, so Dad picked up Jen from the airport then had to turn around and pick up Heather from Idaho. On a side note I came down with a high fever the day prior to Jen coming home... Dad had to get the house ready by himself, which he was really sweet about, and I missed seeing her at the airport.

I thought things would be crazy with everyone home, but so far it hasn't been too bad. Granted we only had a few days with everyone since Jacob had scout camp the following week and Jennifer is gone to a friends wedding. The best part of having everyone home is when each child takes a different area of the house to clean. They did a great job for Grandma flying in to see Jennifer's talks in church. Jen had two meetings to speak at, her home ward where she grew up and the YSA or Young Single Adult branch that she currently attends. Grandma's visit went well.

But back to the topic... there is a little voice whispering, "family vacation." I don't know if this will be the last opportunity that we will be able to vacation together or maybe it is just the spirit guiding me to do something that will help reconnect the family to each other after these past few years of going separate ways. Whatever it is I will do it!

Now I'm not talking a weekend jaunt, I'm hearing two weeks, even three weeks if I could get away with it. Something that will push us together and force us to get along and reconnect!

(Thank you Karen for helping me with my spelling :)

While talking to my sister-in-law, who happens to LOVE the vacation places we are going, realized I needed to blog our adventures these two weeks. But as I was pondering on this today I realized I should blog the preparations that I've been working through. I don't know all the reasons why, but we don't have to understand it all to do the right thing. Writing will be a bit of a stretch and challenge, I'm not used to blogging every day which is what I will need to do to get it right. Time wipes away too many thoughts and feelings if it is not written down right away.

So this is my commitment... to write every day on our vacation and the blessing that comes from this....hmmm... I will be knowing I'm doing what the Lord wants me to do for whatever his reasons are. (I learned this commitment pattern from my returned missionary... ask for commitment then promise the blessing that will come from keeping that commitment. She has some other words for it but the idea is here... and I like it!)

And my goal (not a commitment :)... is to write a poem and share it here on the blog while on vacation.