WetWesties at McBee

We had a warm welcome from our first contact with the WetWestie crew. We joined a small group at a semi-annual gathering at an interesting little campground owned by Hull-Oakes near Alsea.

Fittingly, it was raining. Our makeshift awning made the weather a bit more livable. The campground, Hubert K. McBee Memorial Park, is located within hiking distance of both Alsea Falls and Green Peak Falls.

We hiked over to see Green Peak Falls, which I had never even heard of before. It is as nice as Alsea Falls. There is some amazing old growth along the trail to the falls.

Here is another suitable wet-weather vehicle we spied along the way.

Hard to believe, but another tan 1985 Westy piloted by Linda showed up! Long lost twins reunited? 

We felt warmly welcomed, and enjoyed visiting with everyone. It is nice to know there are others surviving with similar afflictions.

On Patrol at Crater Lake, a.k.a. Westy Outing #4

If our previous outings in the Westfalia were "shake down" cruises, we had our first fully crewed, multi-overnight "patrol" to Southern Oregon. It was a late-season trip that only homeschoolers and retirees can manage, and we had a lucky streak of glorious weather to make it all the more special.

We drove down to Crater Lake on the first day, with June and Smitty as escort. It had been a number of years since I had been there, and it was as beautiful as ever. The park was shutting down for the season, which seemed a bit strange in the unseasonable weather, but it was also very uncrowded, which we like.

After cutting our escort loose to do their own exploring, we headed south of the park to find a camp spot. We stumbled upon a gem of a Forest Service camp called Huckleberry Mountain. It was free, and we had it to ourselves, probably due to the fact that it was four miles off the paved road. We did take a wrong turn, and punctured a tire on the rough road, but it was well worth it.

We went back to Crater Lake for a second helping, getting Ann Marie "Junior Rangerized", and staying to watch the moon rise above the lake. We headed back for another night at Huckleberry Mountain, arriving near midnight.

After two nights of primitive camping, we tried the other end of the spectrum and spent $45 for a small patch of grass and warm showers at a KOA in Kalamath Falls. "For just one night?", I asked. "Yes," was the reply. "Hot show = happy campers", I thought. The following day we visited the Kalamath County Museum, and found an even crazier camp site at a hot springs in Ashland. That might need a blog post of its own.

The following morning we drove down to visit the Oregon Caves. The highlight of the tour was when the lights went out, and the tour guide had to hand out extra flashlights to everyone. The guide was quite apologetic, but everyone seemed to enjoy it

For our final night out, we stayed at the closest Forest Service camp to the Oregon Caves called Cave Creek. It was not free, nor did we have it completely to ourselves, but it was peaceful and a welcome reprieve after the last two "commercial" campgrounds.

The fridge gave us fits, despite all the work I've put in on it. The flat tire was irreparable, and cost $90 to replace. The severely under-powered van was also severely under-cooled and required a sense of humor, great patience, and a defroster on full blast to make the long climbs without a complete melt down. Other than that, it was a pretty successful cruise. We were all glad to be home. Running hot water and flushing toilets are quite a miracle!

Westy Outing #3

For our third outing, we ventured a bit farther afield, having gained a bit of trust in our steed. After touring the Tillamook Cheese Factory, we set out to explore the northern Oregon Coast.

We had heard it might be possible to camp on the beach at Pacific City. We found a couple of other Westies there, as well as "No Camping" signs.

We decided to play it save and drove north to camp at Cape Lookout State Park. It is a nice camp, very close to the beach. We survived a rainy, windy evening, qualifying us as members of "WetWesties", a group billed as a "Pacific Northwest Camping Society".

We found another cool beach called Terria del Marr. We did get stuck, as reported here, but had a great time anyway.


Only a full-blooded Oregonian could enjoy cold surf like this!

Loafing into Tillamook

Stuck in a Rut

We had a great outing to the coast last week. One incident deserves a blog post of its own. We got stuck on the beach.

South of Cape Lookout, where we camped, there is a beach called Tierra de Mar. It is one of the few places you can actually drive on an Oregon beach, and we spent several hours there building sand castles and having lunch. When it was time to go, I decided to drive down the beach a bit just to see how far it went. Unfortunately, we hit some soft sand and the van got stuck.

It wasn't the first time my crew has endured a stranding. Nor will it be the last. Here are my pearls of wisdom regarding getting a vehicle stuck and unstuck, which may or may not be applicable to life in general:

• Keep your momentum up. You are not actually stuck until you stop moving. Once you stop, it is significantly harder to get started again.
• Don't panic! Once you are stuck, spinning your wheels will only dig you in deeper. Stop and assess the situation.
• Relax a little. It is not the end of the world. Let some air out of your tires. It will help you gain traction.
• Accept help. Even if you are not sure you need it. People like to help. You may need it more than you realize.
• Be prepared. While a lot of people may be willing to help, they might not have the tools to do so. Four-wheel-drives seem to be plentiful. Tow ropes are not. I carry a tow rope.

A couple from Canada in a four-wheel-drive saved the day. Two other groups stopped to help (or watch the spectacle). The girls stayed calm. Another "Daddy Adventure" for the books. It was almost worth it just to get this picture here:

Painting the Hills

I still need to finish blogging our family reunion trip from August! On reaching Oregon once again, instead of following the freeway or taking Highway 20 through west through Burns and Bend like we usually do, we took Highway 26 with the John Day Fossil Beds as a major pit stop for our budding geologist.

The area provides a remarkable visible record of about 40 million years of change and a fossil record of plants and animals never seen first hand by humans.

The National Monument is actually made up of three "units", all within about an hour of each other. Our first stop, and the eastern most unit, was Sheep Rock, where the visitor center is located.  Ann Marie became a Junior Ranger after a bit of homework.

Robin also made friends with a hansom ranger. In addition to being a visitor center, Sheep Rock is also an active paleontological research center, and we were able to watch the live microscopic view on a screen as a scientist worked on extracting a fossil from rock. 

The Painted Hills unit is a bit farther west. There were several easy hikes with breathtaking views of colorful formations. We left the third unit, Clarno, for another day.

Here is a panorama I stitched together from five separate pictures using an open source program called Hugin. The fossil beds were an amazing stop, well worth the time!

Westy Outing #2

Ann Marie and I took the Westfalia back down to Camp Alpine again so I could help with the Blazer Day Camp. It is a bit more spacious with just two of us in it.

We spent Friday night at Alpine, and did water bottle rockets with the scouts on Saturday.

The second night we drove up to Marys Peak. We got to see the shadow of the mountain to the east. I always thought the Indians called it "Mouse Mountain", but apparently that was the mountain men's term for it.  The Kalapuya tribe referred to it as T'cha Teemanwi, pronounced "Cha TEE mahn wee", which means "the place of spirits".

The Indian name is quite similar to "Chintimini", which comes from a story John Horner wrote in 1900 about an indian princess who saved her people. There was a movement in the 1930s to rename Marys Peak Chintimini until it was realized that Horner's story was just that, a story. We were treated to a marvelous sunset with a crescent moon and Jupiter adding to the spirits.

The resident herpetologist captured and brought home three specimens. We picked up some crickets on the way home and will see if we can get them to eat, a prerequisite to keeping them longer.  We got back in time to clean up and go to Trevor's birthday party at Janeil's.

A Visit to Thompson's Mills

My dad found this "diamond in the rough" tourist spot and took us to visit the other day. Thompson's Mills is an Oregon State Heritage Site run by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. It only opened for tours in 2007 and is located several miles east of Shedd, Oregon.

The mill, originally called Boston Mills, used water from the Calapooia river to grind various grains and later, generate power. The mill, which was built before Oregon was even a state, had territorial water rights, giving them preference over the farmers. At one point, the farmers paid to have the mill electrified and paid the power bill during the summer so they could use the water for irrigation.

There were quite a number of interpretive displays. The girl's favorite was a miniature grinding wheel. It demonstrated the different states the grains go through and what they are used for. They also had a hands-on example of how the grains were moved through the mill via rotary screws, elevator belts, and gravity.

It never occured to me how many different products could come out of a mill like this. It ranged from rabbit pellets to pastry flour. There were recipe cards for each product, and chutes and valves were lined up to deliver the right ingredients to the correct areas.
Like Hull-Oakes Sawmill, various parts of the building were built at various times. In evidence were ax-hewn timber and rough-cut saw mill wood.


Here is a video which give an idea of what it would have been like in the mill while it was operating.

In all, we spent more than two hours there. It was a fascinating look at local history. We had a snack at the country store in Shedd before heading home.

First Outing in the Westy

We had our first shake down cruise in the Westfalia. The destination of course, was our beloved Camp Alpine. We had to share it with a Ward from Eugene, but stayed in Nauvoo and had that area to ourselves.

It was  beautiful evening with lots of stars. And glowsticks. And smores. With five bodies, it was pretty cozy in the van. I'm sure it is similar to the quarters on the space shuttle, with the exception that they can't open a window for fresh air or step out and stretch their legs. Ann Marie ended up sleeping on a mat on the floor, something she says she doesn't want to do again. Polly reported it was more comfortable than the cabins at Heber Valley.

The pond was drained, and with mom on site, there was no mud bathing or newt roundups. A new sign shows a small step in the relentless march toward "Heberness".

There was still plenty of wildlife to observe and play with. Ann fearlessly captured a small snake. Dad found a few lizard friends who were willing to pose for photos. This one eventually gave Robin a love bite before being returned to the wild.

We explored the Christmas tree farm area with an eye toward camping there in the future. The caretaker reports that they are fully booked for next season and have a waiting list. They are considering "doubling up" and having two girl's camps at once in the future.  A separate "family" camping area like Eldon is proposing would sure come in handy.

Griz, the camp mascot, came by to meet Polly after the other campers left and the caretaker let him loose for us. He seemed happy to see us, but I'm sure he does that for everyone he meets.

Another "having fun is hard work" picture. We drove to Alsea Falls in hopes of finding an open camp site on Labor Day weekend, but without luck. Instead, we continued on to Alsea, bought a half-gallon of hazelnut ice cream, and headed home to sleep in our own beds. A short, but successful cruise.

Family Togetherness on a Large Scale

The last Neil Y. Fugal Family Reunion was held at Heber Valley Camp in Utah. The camp is far larger than our local Camp Alpine, and can house thousands of visitors. Don and Lois are serving their mission there.

Our section had four cabins and two pavilions. Everything looked new, although the camp was built in 2003.

We were greeted and briefed on the rules by a missionary couple.

The food was great as always. Each family was in charge of a portion of a meal and one round of KP duty.

The first evening we had a talent show. A number of the nieces are very musically talented.

There were a number of activities to do. Robin is doing a rope swing, which both Polly and I tried. It was pretty exhilarating. There was also a zip line and confidence course.

Grandpa provided a number of fun crafts.

On the second evening, we had a presentation about mountain men by Jo's father.

We saw a number of deer and moose. The were unafraid of us and drifted through camp a number of time. Luckily we didn't meet any of the resident black bears.

The camp has a large pond, which we were granted exclusive access to for an hour.

Boy, having fun is hard work.