Goodbye Cape Blanco

2015 is in the can and so too is our stay at Cape Blanco state park. We'll head south from here, not sure what route but we do want to be in the Quartsite Arizona area around the 2^nd week of January.

Why Quartsite? Because a wise man told us we had to visit the big tent at least once now that we're full timers. An added bonus would be to get our Blue Ox tow bar serviced while we're down there. That's my story, I won't mention Quartsite lies pretty much in and on the way to Yuma which is where we hope to meet up with family.

I know I haven't written too much about Cape Blanco but there are good reasons, one of which is very few pictures. As I mentioned the weather has been extraordinarily damp this year so to protect our camera from the salt air, rain and all the other silly things a klutz like me can accidentally dump our new camera in we didn't take it on our sojourns. No camera on our walks means no pictures, no pictures means no ideas or things to write about. If it wasn't for the cell phone there would not have been any pictures at all.

So good reader, I present our final week of pictures, doings and things that went bump in night, few that they are:

High winds, hail and heavy rain brought down trees and sadly enough at our previous campground,  one of the camp host couples, Mike and Carol Welsh, had their beautiful Safari motorhome and Equinox toad struck by a split tree. Apparently Sunset Bay had been hit pretty hard - word has it they closed the park after evacuating everyone due to flooding and other weather related problems.

At Cape Blanco we didn't have that sort of damage but the work crews were kept busy cleaning up after the storms. That orange in the upper far right is Chris; we were the flaggers for the job.

Even our local porcupine did his best to help out.

Surprisingly even with weather less than amiable the campground still had a smattering of campers and cabin guests throughout the week. We knew if we saw a bundled up indistinct form shaped sort of like a human being, wandering seemingly aimlessly in the rain and fog, it was probably one of our campers and not Sasquatch. Proved more true when occasionally we could make out a muffled “hello” as they walked past. (Think zombie apocalypse bundled up for winter)

Just when it seemed we would never be dry again...

The Hughes House, a local historical landmark.

Hello sunshine!

The road down to the beach. The first picture in this blog entry shows where the road ends,













The horse camp entrance.

And some more horse camp area.

One of the areas we rehabbed, transplanting ground cover
that will fill in over the spring/summer.

Our position here was a new thing for the park and we've hopefully left a legacy of the usefulness of volunteers in positions other than as camp or cabin hosts. Our jobs varied from day to day – usually determined by weather or weather related events and each day we returned home with a feeling of accomplishing something good. Greg, our very own park ranger was a wealth of information about the area both historically and current events and he was a pleasure to work with and for – so long as I didn't try to keep up with him.

So, its off to the south we go. We heard though the forums of a possible opening down in Texas so who knows, perhaps a February gulf coast gig after a January in Arizona.

Hmmm, looking at the map we will have to go through the Napa valley – perhaps a stop or two will be in order.

Weather or not...

I'm pretty sure the gale that rolled over us late last week is related to that winter storm that struck the Rockies dumping all sorts of snow all over. Winds around the park were steady at 40 to 45 and there were some really stiff gusts roaring in like freight trains.

When it is stormy, our entertainment consists of a drive out to the lighthouse viewing area, parking and seeing if the winds will shift the car. We pretty much rocked to the full extent of the suspension and easily broke the 10mph speed limit letting the wind push us - uphill no less!

Surf watching is way better than anything on TV and the number of local visitors we have each day proves it true.

With the winds came several bouts of hail, frozen rain intermixed with the buckets deluge. We're very fortunate that we sit about 260ft above the ocean so the water does have somewhere to drain though despite the slopes, with the amounts we've received it builds up some respectable ponds and lakes in the campground.

Of course with wind and rain comes the downed trees that invariably fall across roads. Strange how it is across the roads, never alongside or even away from (must be a quantum thing like buttered bread always falling face down). As maintenance hosts one of our primary functions is to assist the park ranger in clearing access as soon as possible so the locals can get out here to let the wind rock their suspensions and be mesmerized by the waves. Wet, soggy, cold work that is usually topped off with a mug of hot spiced cider or cocoa to make it all worthwhile. We have an antique wood burning heater in the shop and on the cold, blustery days we use it to toast buns. Hmmm, come to think of it, the stove could probably toast bread too.

Not all of our chores consist of outside work. Chris and I have spent many hours simply straightening up the work shop and cleaning the work areas. This gives us ample time to chat about stuff, solve the world's problems and simply enjoy each others company. The nerf guns help – just a little bit.

With the passing of the most recent storm we now have some clear skies at night and with it temperatures are dropping. Hopefully we'll not see the freezing we saw at Sunset Bay but hey, this is Cape Blanco so just about anything can and will happen.

As I mentioned, we assist the park ranger in all sorts of tasks around the park and this week we will be working in the new lighthouse visitor center building up a photo wall and creating a few exhibits. 

So far we've got a solid start on the historical photo wall and some educational panels. If we stick to our schedule, the lighthouse visitor center will have a fresh, new look to it for the holiday opening in just three days!

We were asked in one of the forums we visit, "Why on earth would you choose Oregon in the winter, it rains all the time?" Not all the time, just most of the time but when you start getting tired of the gray skies and continuous rain, along comes a sunny day making it all worth while.

It is Thursday as I write this, our day off, and another storm has rolled in with rivers of rain and wind gusts seemingly just short of being able to blow the motherhome over. All the deer and rabbits have taken shelter and I do believe we'll do the same and ride it out with a movie marathon. You folks to the northeast of us are probably due for more weather heading your way in a couple of days; be safe.

Here's a little bit of trivia for you. Cape Blanco is the western most point in the contiguous United States. The lighthouse was built in 1870.

Adversity or Opportunity

Adversity

noun

: a difficult situation or condition : misfortune or tragedy

Yep, that about sums it up. Just before Thanksgiving Day we took the motorhome to a local dealer to top off the propane tank and as we were getting ready to leave, I got a “check engine” light on the dashboard. No other information, just that silly icon and the words. I wasn't too worried, the rig was purring nicely and nothing seemed amiss so we returned to the campground for the holiday.

The following Saturday we managed to get the rig into a local diesel shop to find out what the problem actually was and from the code determined it was a DEF (diesel exhaust fluid) heater line problem. Once again, since the rig was running smoothly with no problems and our cold spell had passed with no threats of freezing in the forecast we proceeded to Cape Blanco. Mistake, should have stayed in Coos Bay.

50 miles later, on the way in from the highway to the campground, the rig began losing power and wouldn't go faster than 50 mph. Even I got the hint there was something wrong, terribly wrong and I needed to park it quick. There are no real turn arounds before the campground so the safest, most secure place to park was actually in our assigned space (we also had cell service at the site – amazing!)

A call to Freightliner with a walk thru over the phone with a mechanic to check diagnostics (didn't know it had that feature) confirmed a DEF problem. There were additional errors which told them there was no way the rig was going to make it to a service facility; it was going to need to be towed.

Sure, no problem, simply send a tow truck, hookup and head on down the road. Nope, not going to happen. The tow truck was close to 45ft long and like all campgrounds, space was tight. We decided I would drive to the highway (5 miles) and we would hookup there. Oh, and the closest facility was a mere 190 miles away in Coburg, Oregon.

So, Wednesday morning we disconnected, started up, and then LIMPED on out to the highway at a screaming 5 mph. It was almost an hour before we met the tow truck and another 2 hours to be on our way with Chris and I following in our Jeep.

Now, why such a long story? You know the old saw about lemons and lemonade? Well, adversity is like that. Yes, we had to make a long trip following behind our home as it was being towed. BUT, without this little episode we probably would not have seen so many elk alongside the road.

Nor would we have managed to get over Cabelas for their wonderful in-store fudge.

The a boot scraper was a nice bonus as well.

The folks at Pacific Truck Centers were super friendly and completed the repairs (a silly loose wire in a connector) Thursday evening so we were all set for a Friday return and what a fantastic return it was! We got up in blustery rain and stayed in blustery rain until we hit Reedsport. There, the wind calmed down a bit and the sun came out; just in time for a breakfast stop at Leona's. An old 60/70's style diner and if you haven't had the country potatoes there, you really haven't had them.

An hour later we were back "home" near the beach in sunshine and a wonderful breeze.

So, a stressful few days filled with adversity. Or, was it simply a small glitch allowing for a very nice opportunity. I prefer to think the latter.

Kudos to Pacific Truck Center in Coburg. They understood very well they were working on our home, not just an RV. Also two thumbs up to Big John Towing out of Eugene. They drove the nearly four hours to meet us, then another four to get us to Coburg. A long fourteen hour day when you include the hookup and disconnect. John and Mike remained cheerful, professional and most important; patient.

Confessions of a Park Host

Our time at Sunset Bay State Park and our first gig as the Park Host is sadly concluding at the end of this week. A few months ago I posted about the time paradox thing where time seems to be a super sonic jet or a ruptured duck and November has been breaking the sound barrier daily.

Sunrise at Sunset Bay State Park

The one constant here is just how enjoyable our stay has been. I asked Chris if she had any regrets or any negatives about the job and she responded with a resounding No!. On reflection she did admit she regretted the job was only one month long and the negatives were parting company with our new friends. To be truthful, I have the same feelings. Here are our reasons:

1. None of the work was onerous nor difficult. Let's face it, you volunteer for the job to sell firewood, clean fire rings and answer campers' questions. In return the state gives you a premium site to park in with all utilities, more than adequate time off and the bonus: lots of gas powered toys er, tools, to play, er, work with. The capper is they give you a vest and hat to wear AND a neat (read that fast!) golf cart to drive around in. The kid in me is still giggling and I can't wait to go back to work each day.

2. Our co-workers: Mike and Carol and Mike and Terri (yea, it was a bit confusing at times). Both couples have way more experience than we did. I'm not quite sure they realize just how much information and wisdom they passed along to us newbees nor how much we really appreciated what gems they were.
   
3. Stephanie, our pet ranger (just kidding, she was our boss and the volunteer coordinator for the park). Made the job fun and funny. She and the other rangers trusted us to do our jobs and while they had a lot on their own plates, they were always there to ensure we had what we needed.

Notice how I haven't mentioned the scenery or the stuff to do? There was plenty of it but it is really the people you meet and work with who make the difference. The walks on the beach were just icing on the cake.

Seems I'm forgetting something – Oh yea, our wonderfully entertaining campers! If you look back on our previous blog posts I believe I've mentioned some of the shows we've seen when campers show up at a park and when they leave. As the hosts we had front row seats and I believe the only time the show slowed down was between midnight and 7am.

Did you know, if a soccer ball is kicked into a neighboring campfire it will send up sparks that twinkle in the dusk light? Even more so when the ball blows up. I'm not quite sure the screams were all in delight of the sparkly exhibition.

Throwing crab shells into your campfire is perhaps not a really good idea – especially when you have a window open in your rig – and the smoke is blowing in that direction. Another not so good idea is to dump water on the fire to stop the smoke blowing in. Did you know steam from a dampened fire behaves just like the smoke did and burnt crustacean shells really do smell worse when combined with steam?

Did you know firewood tends to not burn well if left out in the rain. Sorry, no refunds for faulty firewood.

Leaving your chips, cookies, snacks or for that matter any food out on a table or leaving your cooler top unfastened is really an open invitation for the campground raccoons. No, the park host is not responsible for lost food items or disturbed camp sites and no, we can not prosecute or arrest a raccoon. (To the one visitor from back east: No, we REALLY do not simply let the critters out of cages for the campers' benefit. They REALLY are wild and run free).

This final week was also Thanksgiving. Chris and I want to voice our thanks for just being able to do this thing called RV'ing. A special thanks for my sister and brother-in-law who drove 10 hours to spend Thanksgiving day with us and who got to share a bit of the entertainment.

Safe travels; we'll see you at our next stop: Cape Blanco.

Weather thoughts

Week two completed and oddly enough we're still having fun. You would think with the almost continuous rain and wind we would be a bit tired of it but the exact opposite is true. The rain comes in countless different styles and volumes and this variety is constantly keeping us on our toes with decisions such as wind breaker or not, slicker or lighter, boots or tennis shoes. Last Saturday it was a combination of all with some sunshine thrown in – sort of like one of those one person shows with all the costume changes.

Personally, I'm partial to the raining so hard it either gives you a concussion or bounces up from the ground and drenches you from the feet up. Chris likes the light misting type capable of soaking you to the point of drowning without you being aware of it. (She's partial to it because I'm the one who usually is getting soaked.)

For a change, the last storm brought hail or it was just frozen rain, not quite sure other than it stuck around a fraction longer than normal rainfall and the sound on the motorhome roof was distinctly louder (imagine head in a metal bucket with gravel pouring over).

Folks in Oregon do have an interesting sense of humor,(directly attributable to the weather I'm sure) at least the ones in the communities near us. We took a trip to Bandon the other day and came across street signs you just know were created tongue-in-cheek; names such as Lois Lane, Rocky Road and its cross street Winding. I just had to take a photo of this one:

Almost schmucked a deer yesterday. Little spike buck that decided walking in the roadway when the sun was out, the pavement wet and the glare horrendous was a good idea. Agent 86 said it best: “I missed it by that much!” Sorry, no pictures as I was a bit busy trying to stay on the road and keep my under pants clean.

Next week will be a trial by fire for us as we entertain my sister and brother-in-law for Thanksgiving. It will be the first time we've crammed 4 people into the motorhome for any length of time and also the first time we've attempted to cook a full, multi-course dinner with our limited facilities. We're looking forward to the cooking challenge and also getting back together for a visit.

Good news arrived this past week as we have been offered and have accepted a position at Cape Blanco for the month of December. This high on a bluff lighthouse and beautiful campground has been one of our goals and we were very fortunate to snag it. We'll be about 30 minutes from Gold Beach to the south and Bandon to the north. Here's a quick peek of the area:

No wonder there is a lighthouse overlooking this coastline.

A week in the life...

I can't believe a week has gone by so quickly. There must be some sort of quantum forces at work to protect us from good times overload.

The job of park host is to keep the campground clean and neat, assist campers and keep the rangers informed of anything unusual or potential safety hazards. We do not clean restrooms but do ensure they are well stocked. What this boils down to is a lot of gabbing with the campers interspersed with really easy meandering from site to site in a golf cart. So far we've only had one issue with a very confused woman (220 on a roller coaster for our dispatch friends) who fortunately we were able to reach out to some of her family and get her the help she needed. We can only imagine what the summer season would be like – I'm guessing hectic at best. I think we'll stick with the winter season. We may be hard pressed to meet our obligated 20 hours a week but that just leaves us with extra time for beach combing, trail walking and simply sight seeing.

Our first week has been a mixture of on and off again rain mixed with beautiful sunny periods which allow us to snag photos where the lighting is simply stunning. I thought it pretty appropriate to use the Cape Arago lighthouse to demonstrate.

Sunset Bay, while mostly devoted to the beach area does have some great hiking trails in the hills above and when you have a good amount of rain, a dark and mysterious forest and little glades thrown in along the walking paths you never know what or who you may encounter. A good example is this doe and yearling fawn black tail that walked out of the underbrush and began grazing.

We heard there might be an opening down at the Cape Blanco state park for the month of December. We'll be taking a drive today to check out the area and will probably apply. Christmas high on the bluffs of Oregon's western most point seems like the place to be. Just imagine the sunsets!

RV tip.

This one comes from a local RV dealer: When parked in a salt air environment for an extended period of time, treat your leveler jacks as soon as you drop them to assist in dispersing any moisture during your stay. Then, before you leave, treat them again before raising. They recommended a silicon spray such as WD-40 makes.

Reminder: Veteran's Day. Appreciate them.

Arrival

Sitting on the dock of the bay, watching the tide roll away...

Mr. Redding must have been a full timer. We had a week of downtime in Newport and found ourselves doing just about the same thing – only indoors. Temperatures have been in the mid to upper 50's and with the damp sea breeze it puts a bit of chill in the air.

Of course the chill has not slowed the bombing runs made by squadrons of seagulls nor has it prevented the local seals from their non stop barking. And having mentioned seals, there are two other aspects of seals I had thought I had left behind after serving on a buoy tender; fishy burps and seal poop. No words can adequately describe these odors so thick you can cut with a knife or so strong it peels paint. I'm pretty sure if you could actually find a container strong enough to hold the odor you would be required to have some sort of special hazardous material license - or become a global super power.

Okay, enough with the poop humor. (Unless it involves a black tank – that humor goes on FOREVER)

After spending the week in Newport we headed southbound on the 101 bucking a nasty headwind to arrive in Coos Bay the afternoon of the 31^st. Yep, we are trick-or-treating whether they like it or not.

All treats, no getting around it. We've got an asphalt pad with full hookups and a large yard with a very nice fire ring. Tall hedges around the perimeter of the site give us a bit of privacy – something I understand hosts prefer. I'll have to give it more time to see if its true.

Once we got set up we got to meet our coordinator and park ranger, Stephanie who gave us a brief but thorough orientation. Not sure how it happened but like our previous gig at Flaming Gorge we have timed it where Stephanie is off the first two days we work and we are working solo as the couple we are replacing headed out on our first day. No worries, we've now completed two days as Park Hosts and the roughest part was not being familiar enough with the area to assist our guests. While this is our first foray into camp hosting, Chris and I have already agreed this is something we can get used to real quick.

The Oregon coast in the fall and winter mean rain. It usually means wind as well but so far we've not had enough to even get a kite off the ground (knock on soggy wood). This are indisputable facts but what isn't mentioned is between storms when the sun does break through, you have some of the clearest air, bluest skies and beautiful scenery.

I don't have many photos of the area yet but over the next month I hope to show you more of this wonderful area.

What we have so far is the campground doe who hangs out at the interpretive center. She is pretty skittish when it comes to a camera pointed her direction. I manged this shot after sneaking around a tree with my phone held low. Quite funny as she will allow you to approach fairly close, talk to her, point at her with a finger and make a good amount of noise without any bother but as soon as you raise something that looks like a camera, she takes off.

We are off today so we'll head in to the towns of Charleston, Coos Bay and North Bend for shopping and to see just how much has changed since I was stationed here back in the late 70's. Funny though, everyone still dresses the same – rain slickers and flanel.

Trials and Tribulations

We're in Pacific City Oregon this week with no cell and certainly no WIFI. Our days consist of beach combing, staring at sunsets and visiting the local shops. Truly an idyllic life of leisure.

NOT!

When we have downtime such as this we are catching up on cleaning, maintenance and the countless other little chores that help keep a house on wheels running smoothly. Our first couple of days were filled with rain necessitating all indoor work which, in a 8 ft by 30ft space, doesn't take all that long and to be frank can easily result in homicide. To counter our self-imposed isolation and the resulting grumpiness, walks on the beach were mandatory. The staring at sunsets simply meant we got a late start.

So what do new full-timers do? In our case, we're are continuing to attempt to find and alleviate the source of a persistent random leak coming from around the base of our toilet. So far nothing has really shown up as the cause but yesterday during our walk a thought occurred to me – water pressure. (Note: In no way was my failure to pay attention to the waves and the resultant soaking have anything to do with this epiphany.) The leak we've had seems only to occur when we've been in a park with higher than normal water pressure and when I've neglected to put a pressure regulator on the line (I do enjoy a good shower massage). Today I'll be trying out our adjustable pressure regulator in the hope of coming to some sort of compromise between having a good shower massage and a puddle of water on the floor.

So now you have an idea of why we visit the local shops. Granted, in our case the local shops are labeled “True Value Hardware”, or “Art's Plumbing Supply” or any other shop that has “RV” in the name.

While driving down highway 47 we hit a bit of rough road and after about 10 minutes we both heard a metallic clang and a rattle coming from somewhere in the back. Chris and I looked at each other and we both came up blank as to the cause.

Sorry, I got ahead of myself a bit.

Since we've been on the road we've found we are able to quickly identify and/or categorize each and every rattle, creak, thump and clang in the motorhome. It has become sort of a game for us to be the first to accurately identify the source of each unusual noise based on the type and general location. These are the noises we can and usually do ignore. It is the unidentifiable that will cause me to quickly find a place to pull-over – hopefully before something serious happens. In the case of the metallic clang it was a good thing I did.

Our shower is very important to us as I've mentioned. Not only does it keep us clean enough for social interaction, the relaxing effect of warm water after a strenuous day driving is a prime contributor to harmonious living in a confined space, (Yes, I am wearing hip waders – funny you should ask.) Anyway, our shower door consists of 3 glass panels that expand accordion style to fill the gap. To secure them in a retracted state there are some aluminum and rubber brackets on each side. It was one of these brackets falling and the glass panels sliding loose that caused the unusual noise. Why this story? Well, if you had been paying attention, it meant we got to visit the local shops again! A short drive, a quick visit to the hardware store and after a few minutes to fix, we were back in business.

I forgot to mention how everything is interconnected. The problem of the shower door was a direct result of it being bumped numerous times while I was going in and out of the bathroom to try to fix the leaky toilet. Water from leak apparently trickled down and has tripped one of the ground-fault interrupts in an outlet in our basement. This outage has put the built-in vacuum out of commission. With no vacuum, the rugs have to be beaten and the floor swept. After my attempts to dodge, then delegate this duty, I've found a walk in the park and on the beach to be a prudent course of action.

Wonder when she'll let me come back in, its beginning to look like rain.

Exodus

A while back I wrote a little piece about the trials and tribulations of some when they first come into a campground. What I failed to mention was just how interesting it can get when people of all experience levels leave...

Departure days do not vary all that much and will usually fall into two categories. The first is experience level. The weekend camper will tend to leave on a Sunday or Monday in the case of a holiday weekend. More experienced campers, those clearly on an extended vacation or full-timers tend to leave in the middle of the week (this is due to traveling, weather, lumbago; its all quantum if you ask me). Now, I'm not saying all weekend campers can't be experienced but the good majority are those who are just beginning this adventure and yes, provide the most fun for the observer.

Take the guy who was two sites over from us. At first I thought he was a well experienced camper; he arrived on a Thursday ;backing his 34ft 5^th wheel into a tight fitting site just as slick as can be and was fully situated in a very short time. He talked like he knew what end of the stick to grab and was a really good neighbor. What gave him away was his departure last Sunday.

His disassembling of his campsite proceeded with nary a hitch or problem and he had quickly and efficiently disconnected the water, sewer and power. Upon prompting by a very loud, high pitched voice from within the RV, he also quickly and efficiently reconnected all three. I firmly believe it was the tone and pitch of the prompting that caused him to trip over the hose and bang his head on the slide for he really did not look that clumsy. I am also a believer (forged in the crucible of having done it once) in not disconnecting any shore-ties nor retracting leveling jacks without first ensuring my partner is not in the commode.

Our intrepid camper finally received the go ahead and re-disconnected all the connections like a pro; sort of. When disconnecting the water line it is always good practice to turn the water off at the spigot prior to unscrewing it elsewhere. Fortunately it was less than a gallon and mostly sprayed on his shirt. Frankly I didn't know you could hit those sorts of high notes in a falsetto voice. Oh, did I mention the temperature has been in the mid-fifties all week? And the water source out here is a mountain spring?

Having changed shirts and stowed all of the water hose, sewer hose, and electrical cable, our neighbor seemed all ready to take off. He backed his truck smoothly into the hitch and in no time at all was hooked up and ready for departure – sort of. Odd how you can forget to bring in a slide you've banged your head on about a hundred times in the past few minutes. Or maybe not since so much banging surely caused short term amnesia and a concussion.

Until this time I had never seen someone conduct a final walk-around by walking backwards. I'm sure it does give one a different perspective but I can't shake the feeling it also contributed to our departing fellow tripping over his stairs and landing in the puddle of water created by his water hose adventure. Yes, another high note was reached and I'm now pretty sure this guy was a past member of the Vienna Boys Choir.

It was sort of a let down to see this guy leave. For a while I debated on whether to get another cup of coffee and the lawn chair but he was just too fast and soon his tail lights were the only thing seen heading down the road – oh and that flapping curtain out the window.

Today is Wednesday and is one of our traveling days. After writing this I think I'll be especially vigilant in going through my routine and extra careful as well. Who knows who may be watching and recording my actions for their blog.

Farewell Flaming Gorge

 This past weekend really drove home the meaning behind “mixed emotions”. Sunday is our last day volunteering at the visitor center and during our 15 stints behind the counter and walking the grounds we have met over one thousand people. Not just counted, but actually met and interacted with. I know it doesn't seem like much and it probably isn't when compared to the more popular centers, parks and attractions however the uniqueness lies in the very nature of the meetings with our visitors.

Fishing the Green river.

Every person, couple or group we encountered was direct and personal. The small numbers allowed us to take extra time to share our own experiences and impressions of the area. We, and the visitors to Red Canyon shared a goal; we were all explorers and this commonality allowed for a much more personal approach.

Turkey Vulture warming up in the morning.

 

Balancing rock.

Our time here has now come to a close and it is time to say farewell. There is some reluctance in leaving for we have come to really love this little corner of our country but, I would be less than honest to say we are not just a little excited about our next adventure. So this is not a sad farewell, just a goodbye until next time. Oh, and there will be a next time. We have been invited to return next season and I believe we shall.

Over the past four weeks we have been more than fortunate to see a piece of America so few get to see. We've seen and interacted with the wildlife, introduced our country to visitors from all over the world and been an active part of the Flaming Gorge experience. We hope through our blog entries we've managed to share even a little bit of the magic this place encompasses. We leave you with more photos of the area and our visit to the Utah Field House in Vernal.

Perhaps our biggest regrets are those where we were so wrapped up in what was happening we simply forgot the photography. Things like the young sheep playing king of the hill on a small gravel pile in our camping area or the osprey taking a nose dive into the creek after snatching a salmon a bit too large. Of course we can't forget the “professional” drift boater who decided to launch not only his boat but the suburban he towed it with nor can we not mention the deer at the local lodge who would stand on their hind legs in order to rob the bird feeders or how about the 2 bucks having a tussle in the middle of the road. We're really sorry there are no pictures of these and so many other events. I'm afraid even if we had managed to snag a photo I'm pretty sure we would have only captured the butts

of the departing participants – human and animal alike. We both will dedicate ourselves to improve this situation though the outcome is seriously in question.

October is going to be a full month as we strive to meet up with old friends, reacquaint ourselves with the grandkids and tackle our errand list before heading to Sunset Bay state park outside of Charleston Oregon (fresh seafood – yum!!) to be camp hosts. Our having completed all of the training modules for this next gig can in no way, under any circumstances be indicative of our excitement and impatience to start. (Will anyone really believe that?)

Until next time, safe travels.