ON THE ROAD JUNE/JULY 2021 (0REG0N DAY 2)

There would be no bike ride today and we would get our bit of exercise on a nature walk led by Neil who it the volunteer program coordinator for this campground.

A tiny bit more about the campground first. 1) Showers are free, and there is no shortage of hot water. 2) Garbage and recycling must be taken to the garbage and recycling place out past the check in booth. 3) Susan and I stopped at the Corner Store on the road to camp yesterday and purchased something I had read about, and we thought would be a good idea.

Here is the extensive recycling center that not all people follow the signs for — we saw milk jugs in the newspaper slot, and some boxes not flattened!! We find this the most organized and informative recycling we have seen. If having campers be inconvenienced just a little saves the State Park money to allow for free showers, we like it.

I had seen a post somewhere on a camping site that mentioned some sort of light ‘caftan’ for lack of a better word, as good for wearing to and from the shower. The Corner Store stop proved lucrative and we bought two. They are a delight and in this heat, a life changer. No standing to balance on one foot after the shower, not wrestling into underwear and clothing that is difficult to put on when your body is still damp, and dampening more as you dress, and cooling as you relax back at your site ;’-).

Keep in mind that neither of us is a “dress” person. So this is a stretch for us.

Susan wanted the blue one…

I got the orange-ish one…

OK, so that was yesterday. Today we had about maybe a half mile nature walk that took just about 2 hours!!! Did I mention it is hot here? We were in the sun a lot, and although Neil is a nice guy, he is lonnnnnng winded and told so many stories that I more or less tuned out for much of it, and some I could not even hear. Being one of only three of us, there was no way I could escape, so I sat uncomfortably and painfully on a rock for our final bit of ‘lecture’. 

Starting out on the little trail looked promising.

We learned (a lot) about the fire of 2015.

I found a painted rock.

We stopped to look (a lot) at the pond.

The most interesting part for me was the BATS part. We see the ‘Bat Hotel’.

On each “room” is a carving identifying it as for bats.

In each of these rooms, 40-100 bats will take occupancy. They enter from the bottom and there is a hierarchy as the older bats get the top bunk. As much as many of us dislike even the thought of bats, they are very beneficial to the environment, and we have these bats to thank for our bug free camping here.

Sitting on that uncomfortable rock is where we learned that we had been seeing Mount Jefferson — not Mount Hood. 

Here is Mount Hood.

ON THE ROAD JUNE/JULY 2021 (OREGON DAY 1)

BIKING THE “MADRAS MOUNTAIN VIEWS SCENIC BIKEWAY”

Our current adventure has us on our way to several different places and go three different states. Our first leg brings us to Cove Palisades State Park near Madras, Oregon. That puts us in Central, High Desert Oregon. This is where we meet up with the “Camping Sisters” — not to be confused with “Sisters On The Fly” which is the usual group we join for camping adventures. 

We met only a few of the other Camping Sisters before it was night fall and time to call it a day after our long drive from home. Sitting out for some last minutes of the day and enjoying the sunset.

Twelve hours later the sky and mountain looked a little different. 

Our route, on paper, is 29 miles all the way. We however, began the ride in the middle and rode up the hill (up the hill) to join the route at about the half way point. We had our first real views of the mountains, and there will be several pictures throughout this post ;’-).

The sisters, Mt Hood, and others — Adams? Bachelor? I am not familiar enough with them to name them.

All along, Susan and I have thought this is Mount Hood. It is not — we learned on our nature walk the next day what mountain it actually is. Look at next day’s post to find out ;’-).

Oregon does a fantastic job of routing bike ways and that is what they are called: Scenic Bikeways. The routes are all on the road rather than a trail, and some may be unpaved or partially so, and they are well signed with directional arrows. This is the third or fourth Bikeway we have ridden — of the 10-12 that exist.

Susan usually finds a heart for me — this time with a kiss ;’-).

Notice the car free roads as we move along the route. There were very few cars at all, and on some of the roads there were none.

More mountains…well, the same mountains but ‘again’.

The Lake Billy Chinook is right next to us for a while, but you must get off the route for just a bit to see it.

Passing by a few things that I could not stop myself from taking a photo of. 

I always wonder, and picture in my mind the family that once lived in these kinds of abandoned places, young and full of hope until things changed and they had to leave their home.

This canal has a gate that opens or closes to the connecting part of the canal depending on what the irrigation need is I suppose. This irrigation ditch is nothing different, but this caught my eye for a photo.

Horses and cows and goats sheep were our animals of the day. And this guy seemed to want to pose for me and I could not resist.

And then there was this geezer.

And this little guy.

The town of Madras is the official start of this Bikeway route and made it the halfway point for us. Susan balked at first because it was a longish downhill that we would retrace UPhill to connect back with our return route. But, she ended up going with me, as I was determined to not come all this way and miss part of the route.

We stopped in the town park to have a little rest (there had been a few hills to climb) and a snack. On the way back out of town we stopped for some interesting history.

Once someone had been convicted of a crime, the jail was directly behind the courthouse — no transportation issue. 

It is hard to think that someone was housed in the prison as late at 1961!



I don’t know what or who this “totem pole’ commemorates, but I found it interesting. Maybe Dancing With The Wolves?

We were both ready to end our ride, but we carried on and stopped in the town of Culver for a burger and milkshake just 5 miles from “home”. Did I mention — it is HOT here. The miles on paper would have been 29 — starting from camp and having a few little off the course rambling, we rode 33 miles with some hills and heat. By the time we got home we needed a rest before taking our showers!!! 

I love the Oregon Bikeways and would wish to do all those that are not “difficult or extreme” meaning very hard! 

ADDITIONS FOR OUR TWO ISLAND TOUR

A few others have posted some photos that I like to add to our SOTF outing post.

Four of our group opted to rent “mopeds” for the San Juan Island day. I have not ever seen the likes of these are mopeds before. They have a handlebar throttle and hand brakes just like a moped does, and a driver’s license is required.

Sure looks like fun — and they report having a blast.

Someone (I think Nese) got this great shot of a seagull following (and begging) our ferry. Fantastic photo of seagul in motion.

And Darlene was able to get a photo of a harbor seal or two on our March Point ride.

These are the heron that flew over us that evening.

SOTF TWO ISLAND TOUR (DAY 3 March Point ride)

Day 3, but no more island hopping for us as that part was done. This day was a free day to do whatever we desired — a walk, a shopping trip, sightseeing around Anacortes, beach reading, OR — how about a bike ride I said! Ten riders took me up on the bike ride idea and that took us around March Point for an easy and short (recovery) ride for the final day of this outing.

The Pacific Northwest did not disappoint. I have ridden on the Tommy Thompson bridge many times and have on occasion seen one harbor seal swimming nearby. Today there were THREE to entertain us by rolling over onto their back, or peeking up from the water’s edge, or diving and resurfacing. It was a delight, but I could get no photo of any of them.

As well, I have often seen one, maybe two, heron on the sandbar at low tide. Today we saw a flock — or is that a rook — of many. (I have learned they are called a ‘siege’ of heron.)

And the cows. I made a stop to view that vintage train car, and this time, with all ten of us watching, the cows (some with calves) came to get into the photo. That has never happened to me in the past, so I think all the animals were here today to welcome our guests ;’-).

There were some clouds today, but that seemed to add some depth to the views of our gorgeous mountains.

I was leading, Susan was my sweep, and “they” got a photo of us conferring.

And of Susan waiting for the last riders so she could continue her sweep role.



I stood for a while with the intent of getting a photo of each rider. I got three but the others were far back taking in other views and I gave up waiting. But we do have…

Sharon…

…Louise

…and Darlene.

Next stop would be the Dockside Dogs. We recrossed the bridge to continue on the Tommy Thompson trail for a few more miles to lunch where there were several choices.

Susan and I have stopped at Dockside so many times that we have gotten to kind of know Michael the owner. Here he waves to us all.

Lopez Ice Cream was open this time and we were sure to take advantage. Yummmmm

And just like that we completed another grand adventure. It was so nice to have this relaxing day after our two days of early morning ferry schedules and late after noon returns. Good planning on Darlene’s part to give us this day ;’-).  Back home we would have our individual dinner, gather together again, play a couple of games and call it a day. Our final evening together as we say our bittersweet farewells to new found friends.

One more gathering at camp… food and lots of stories were shared.

Girls just wanna have fun ;’-).