Finishing all this up several days after returning home.
Woke up to the rustling a little mouse friend trying to get out of the garbage can, so we released him outside and hung up our food from the ceiling. When we woke up for reals, there was a light dusting of snow on the desert but we had stayed warm in our Gulf War-era bunker.
After an excellent soak, we used our trusty portable water kettle to make coffee & instant oatmeal (finally ran out of our own home roast so this was a purchase). Enjoyed talking with John the camp host and Darcia the office manager. Darcia told us to check out Harvest Host (free RV camping at wineries & such) and we told her about Plug Share (app that shows you charging options and lets you review them.) Played Set with Darcia’s kids (and gave them our game) then headed out into the snow.
We learned exactly how much range 30 miles of gravel uses (another third as much)…which made us glad for every mile of range we had put on overnight. Saw some huge rabbits, bright blue birds, quail and grouse on the way out. Sadly, did not get a view of the Steens because they were covered with snowy clouds, so we will have to come back in summer and take John for a ride on the salt flats.
We didn’t have driving issues in the snow, but we saw some folks who did (but they were sorting it out) and waved down another car to warn them about the congestion they were about to encounter. Those people told us “we just helped a guy turn his car right side up!” and sure enough, a few miles later we saw the skid marks. John had told us “be careful on 78, but once you get to Cove it’s easy” which was good advice. Flynn (our car) is good in bad conditions.
We were looking for someplace off the beaten path for our night’s stay, but when we charged in Bend and saw the very welcoming Marriott Springhill Suites right there and they gave us a better price in person than I expected, we decided to stay. Had a good walk & checked out the cute downtown strip & split a burrito. Hung out at the hotel bar for a beer, cribbage and some chatting with other guests & staff.
On Saturday we drove to Eugene. Had an easy time over Santiam pass and noticed much more rebuilding and new greenery along the McKenzie than the last time we had passed that way. Still hard to see and there are people we know who have not returned.
Brought Yumm Bowls to Mutti’s and had a good visit. Enjoyed watching the turkeys strutting around; there seems to be one hen and 5 males. She tends to ignore them while they display for each other. We planned to go to the Black Wolf Supper Club for dinner with Colin and Enzo and on the way were reminiscing about the Oregon Electric Station and how sad we were that they had closed. It turned out that BWSC now takes reservations which we didn’t have and the Old Spaghetti Factory has opened in the Electric Station building! So we pivoted and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. It is a marvelous space and I’m glad people are using it once again.
On Sunday we hung out with Mutti, made some soup for lunch & to stock the freezer, watched the SC women play Iowa, then drove home. Two hours up I-5 was the shortest drive of our trip and we arrived on a beautiful spring day with everything in full bloom. No food in the house, so walked to Hawthorne for cribbage and a burger at McMenamins right before the skies opened up and dumped some spring rain. Picked up groceries and then we felt like we were home.
Dylan’s Flickr Nevada-Oregon photos & Sandhill cranes. More will get uploaded at some point.
heidiola 