May 25th to 29th to the coast house and the annual pig roast

 For the first time since covid hit we gather at the coast house with neighbors and friends and spit roast a pig and recognize the passing of Rich, a long time member of this fun loving group.

May 30^th, Gill’s Landing Lebanon

We spend one night in a full-service site to clean out the tanks and get ready to put the trailer to bed for a while.  We are again right along the banks of the South Santiam River at Gill’s Landing in Lebanon.  We walk a mile into town for a brew and wood-fired pizza at the Conversion Pub where we find great dark beers and entertain the youngsters at the next table.  The next day we head for home and agree that we have had a great short shake down land cruise in TerraVia.  

 

May 22nd – 25th Alsea Falls

We are now in official test mode on the battery system, charging, discharging, jotting stats and trying to isolate what the issue might be. In the mean time we enjoy our very nice space (#15) in the campground after a young man vacated it for us. He had pulled in and set up “just in case” we did not show up.  Protocol is that you can do that the 2^nd day of a no-show but he figured he was fine.  He did politely pick up his camp, re-attach his trailer and move to a different space. “This is a very nice space,” he continued to explain.  We agreed, thus the reason we have booked 4 months in advance for the 3 nights.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Carl fishes and Pam reads, we take a nearly full day hike from the campground, along the Alsea River, and end at McBee Camp, a free private camp nearby.  On the loop back we hike to the river below the falls and Carl catches one “keeper” rainbow and releases other small ones.  

Steaks are grilled on the open fire bed of coals and life is good.

May 19th to 22nd Cougar Reservoir

On to Cougar Crossing Reservoir.  This takes us up a dramatic drive to the dam nestled between very steep, multiple rimrocks and fed by the south fork of the McKenzie River.  We find the small campground empty and unhook The Rig so we can explore the area and find somewhere to put the kayaks in the reservoir.  The campground is advertised as “at the upper end of Cougar Reservoir.”  That may have been true at on point but given the current, and obviously long-term low water level we are a good 2 miles from the upper end of the body of water, the only boat ramp also being high and dry.  

Not to worry, we explore upriver, with the plan to head over the top and into Oakridge.  We get near the top and it is still closed due to snow.  Plan “c” is to head to Hidden Lake and kayak.  That road has trees down. The logging operation helicopter and crew are camped just down from the trees but I guess it is not in their bailiwick to keep the road clear.   

In addition to not being able to kayak our electrical system for the last 2 nights, has drawn down so far that the battery protect gizmo shuts off power. We are able to take on enough solar rays to recharge the battery but the same thing happens the 2^nd night.   

We decide to pull up stakes and find a full hook-up site on the west side of Eugene.  We end up at a Lane County Park, Richardson, a delightful, well-spaced, nicely treed park along the shores of Fern Ridge Reservoir.  We take showers, take on some water, fully charge the battery, and empty the tanks in preparation for our 3 nights at Alsea Falls.

 We are now in official test mode on the battery system, charging, discharging, jotting stats and trying to isolate what the issue might be. In the mean time we enjoy our very nice space (#15) in the campground after a young man vacated it for us. He had pulled in and set up “just in case” we did not show up.  Protocol is that you can do that the 2^nd day of a no-show but he figured he was fine.  He did politely pick up his camp, re-attach his trailer and move to a different space. “This is a very nice space,” he continued to explain.  We agreed, thus the reason we have booked 4 months in advance for the 3 nights.

May 17th – 19th Olallie on the McKenzie Lower Loop

We leisurely take down the hookups and head out to fill the Rig’s tank and pick up a few odds and ends.  We enjoy lunch in the small town of Sisters, opting to not browse in the numerous shops that you find lining both sides of the street.  Instead, we have a nice Porter and fire baked pizza at “The Barn” followed by the smallest offering of ice-cream having pigged out the previous day on the medium at Cold Stone.

 

At Olallie we arrive at what is supposed to be a pull-through, river front site.  Instead, two gigantic boulders now block the pull-through and the site, at best, should be described as a “now difficult to back into” site.  Pam is able to maneuver the trailer into place, having backed many, many trailers in her youth putting up hay and ferrying horses and cattle around Washington County.  The neighbor says “well done” and we settle into a fantastic riverside space with the roaring McKenzie and sunlight filtering through the trees.

May 16th – 17th Redmond Expo Center

Jim departs for home with a couple of ideas about how to improve his Snark.  Carl and I head TerraVia towards Redmond, a very short drive, and our one night at the Redmond Expo RV Park to take on water and clean out the tanks.  Taking on water has a whole new meaning.  On ExTerra it would be a stressful, potentially dangerous situation.  In TerraVia it is a necessity and the generous 78-gallon tank allows us a lot of leeway.  We choose to carry about 30 gallons in the tank, plenty for our needs for a few days.

Our neighbor has just returned from 4 months in Baja in his nice pickup camper.  He has it taken apart and is doing some maintenance.  We yak for quite sometime about the places he has gone and what he encountered.  He puts into Mexico at Mexicali and then heads towards Loreto.  “Take your time, get into the slow-paced life,” he imparts.  We hike to the nearby Juniper golf course for dinner and a dark beer, actually, a German black ale, which is new to us but similar to a sweet stout.

May 14th – 16th Haystack Reservoir outside Madras

Haystack is a delight; one we would go back to.  We have another water side space with the reservoir in the near view and Mt. Jefferson in the distant view.  This makes for an awesome sunset.  We enjoy the catfish, which is good but Carl and Jim try some evening fishing and get skunked.  

We have a very nice day in the kayaks, abiding by out “2 hours, take a lunch break” parameter.  Then, with the thunderstorm setting up nearby we head back to camp.  All the gear is stowed before the literal downpour starts.  By the time it is finished we have a small pond fed by two little rivers going through our campsite.  Dinner is fresh stove top spaghetti and we all stay dry and well fed.  

May 12th – 13th 2023 LePage Park Columbia and John Day Rivers

 We depart home around 1230 enroute to our first stop, the TA Truck Stop in Troutdale to run our loaded trailer over a certified scale.  3140# on the steer axle, 3600# on the drive axle, 5540# on the trailer axles, total gross 12,280#.  

Then we head down I-84 to LePage Park on the Columbia River.  LePage is a US Army Corps of Engineers Park, one of many dotting the landscape and normally associated with water.  This park sits at the confluence of the John Day and Columbia Rivers.  We are in a waterfront space along the John Day.  Carl’s brother Jim has come along in his own rig to spend a few days with us.

We deploy our kayaks the 2^nd day and paddle and sail up the John Day.  Carl has a sail on his Hobie Mirage Drive kayak and Jim has a Super Snark, a small, 11’ sailboat with pontoons.  Pam is along with her Mirage meaning she has foot pedal paddles and of course, her normal paddle.  We go for hours, the theory being that when we turn around it is all down river with the current.  Right?  Not so Grasshopper. 

We turn around and the wind is on our nose ensuring that we will have to paddle all the way home.  Carl and Jim struggle with sails, not able to really use the sail to their advantage.  Unfortunately, one of the power boaters decides it is just fine to put up a series of wakes with kayakers nearby and soon, that, coupled with a gust of wind, upends Carl’s kayak and we have a “man in the water.”  Jim and I quickly converge on the spot. 

Carl has righted his kayak but is unable to re-enter it so we opt to try to pull him to shore, succeeding only in spinning in place.  Thankfully a savvy boater nearby decides that Carl has been in the water long enough and comes to the rescue.  He takes Carl aboard his boat and then Carl is able to transfer back into his kayak.  We make for the bank and follow it in the choppy, windy river back to the docks.  Lesson learned we hope!  We set some parameters and agree to stick to them for the rest of the trip.  

Carl and Jim catch some mighty fine catfish.