Crater Lake to the 911 Call – 8/9/24 to 8/17/24
After seeing Crater Lake, it was time to drive the 138 miles to the Deschutes County Fairgrounds for our first-ever RV get-together, the Family Motorcoach Association (FMCA) 109th International “Adventure Peaks” Convention & RV Expo. Over 700 RV rigs parked on the fairgrounds grass and because we were “first-timers,” we were to arrive and get settled a day before everyone else. The first night, we got to see Tammy Wynette’s tour bus, on display by its 3rdowners. It still had some of her original pink lamps, rhinestone inlay in the cabinets, and original pink carpet – eek.
From Wednesday through Saturday, we attended many classes, went through vendor booths, walked new RVs on display (no, we didn’t buy a new one), and there was nightly entertainment. Though most attendees seemed to be from WA, OR, and CA, parked in front of us were 3 rigs with friendly folks from AZ who have a beautiful Magne Shade. It was over 10 years old and still beautiful (see right)!
Usually, we went to separate classes. Tom’s were mainly on tires, suspension, generators, and other mechanical issues while Paula learned about interior and exterior cleaning, and cooking with RV appliances. Three mornings, we both went to devotions at 8:00 AM and met some nice people. (Discovered one couple was friends with friends from our home Sunday school class in AZ!) Tom even got to share briefly one morning about Canyon Ministries. Since there were no water or dump facilities, we showered at the fairgrounds and were able to go 7 days (normally 4 or 5) without services, (though we did have 30A power).
Our biggest purchase was a Magne Shade (the price of the expo is minor compared to what you could spend while there). This is a shade with magnets put on the outside of the windshield in minutes and decreases the UV exposure and temperature inside the rig by ≥15°. Some are plain, but custom pictures are also available (see above). They are beautiful conversation starters no matter the scene. Owner Claire even gave Whisper a free dog bowl mat because she thought she was so cute! We had a great time.
After the week, we were back to traveling and drove a whole 17 miles to our next Harvest Host, our third alpaca farm, Alpaca Country Estates in Terrebonne, OR. You’d think we might be tired of alpaca farms but on the contrary, we have learned so much about them and they seem to become more and more endearing. Alpacas make us smile.
For starters, Alpaca Country Estates was a beautiful 200-acre property. From our site, we could see three Sisters Mountains, as well as several others. And then there were the 1,000 alpacas! There were alpacas everywhere – including several fenced fields, the nursery with about 10 mommas and their creas (babies), and 50 alpacas in the “last trimester” area due to give birth any day. There were several creas born in the last few weeks, and 2 creas just 2 days old. Owner, Nancy, met us at the store (more like a warehouse it was so big) with so many beautiful things! We admired several free-form needle-felted pieces (see right). There were felted pocketbooks, felted dryer balls, felted soaps, dog leashes, hats, sweaters, scarves, shawls, and of course, yarn, yarn, and more yarn! Paula told her everything was so pretty, but she would get more joy out of making these items herself. (She bought a skein of purple with 80% alpaca, 20% silk.)
Nancy showed us the roomful of alpaca fiber from this year’s shearing, each in their own bag, piled several layers deep. She showed us the small Ziplock bags of fiber she gave school children who visited (she has a soft spot for kids, having taught elementary school for about 30 years). At that, she asked Paula if she would like a bag full of fiber. Paula said astonishingly, “Really? Really? I would love that!” At that, we went to another building, and she let Paula pick out a large trash bag full of alpaca fiber – colors of browns, whites, blacks, tans, and more. Paula was ecstatic! Though she knows nothing about processing unwashed alpaca fiber, she is looking forward to learning lots of new skills.
Nancy toured us all over for about 3 hours. Alpacas sell for an average of $500 apiece for a pet alpaca (but you can’t buy just one; they must always be in pairs) to a highly prized alpaca Nancy sold for $35,000. Starting with just 6 alpacas, her husband died less than a year after they purchased the property and now, she manages all 1,000 alpacas, a couple of dogs, chickens, and several cats with only 5 employees. We think she’s amazing and felt like instant friends!
In the morning, we made our way back down to the barns to see if there were any new creas. Yes! One had been born in the early morning and still had not even stood up, which usually happens within 1 or 2 hours of birth! We were tickled. After that, we talked with Nancy one more time. Paula showed Nancy the last two things she had knit and told her she would like to make the combination cowl/hood for her for the cold winters in OR if she would like one and would pick out some yarn for it. Nancy agreed and also admired the Papillon Shawl Paula had worked on the past 2 months since we left home. Paula told her she was actually going to try to sell it. When she said she wanted it, we did some wheeling and dealing and ended up trading it for a needle-felted piece that was really unique and an alpaca ribeye steak. We each thought we got the better deal and were both very happy.
From Terrebonne, we returned to Chiloquin though in a different campground this time – Collier Memorial State Park. It was a lovely campground. We walked half a mile to the Collier Logging Museum, which was mainly outdoors with exhibits, equipment, and an historic cabin village showing what logging was like in the 1800s. We also saw the biggest chainsaw we had ever seen! pics
That afternoon, we drove the short distance to Spring Creek and kayaked with Whisper for about 1.5 hours. It was the clearest water we had ever seen other than in FL. pics
Before leaving, we did some trip planning. We had 20 days remaining with 1,300 miles to go (an average of 65 miles/day) before returning home.
Next stop was Henderson’s Line-up in Grants Pass, OR. They specialize in RV suspension, and we had them inspect our coach while we were at the expo. They confirmed what Tom was already thinking – time for new shocks. So, we spent the night in front of their shop with complementary 30A power. In the morning, they jacked up the entire >30,000-pound coach about 5 feet to do the work. All 4 jacks were wirelessly connected, and it went up with the push of just one button. Two hours later we were on our way back to the Oregon coast.
We camped that night in Brookings, OR at Harris Beach, a very nice campground within walking distance of a smaller beach than most we had visited in OR, picking a few blackberries on our return (which culminated in homemade ice cream). Rain began that night shortly after Tom grilled a wonderful dinner next to WOW, making for great sleeping that night. We were in the rain all day the next day as we crossed into CA, headed for an area where Tom had fished with his parents some 60 years prior. We drove around a little and found the spit where he fished before continuing to Redwoods NP and SP (the only NP which is also a state park). Though the weather was not conducive to any hiking amongst the redwoods, Paula got one of her prettiest patches yet for her fleece. We learned that redwoods are the tallest trees in the world (at 370’, they are taller than the Statue of Liberty) and are similar to sequoias, though sequoias are bigger in circumference. Redwoods can drink about 160 gallons of water per day but in the dry summer months can get up to 40% of their water from the iconic fog that blankets the area!
The rain continued for 37 hours before there was a hint of clearing skies! We had been blessed with great weather the whole trip so far, so certainly couldn’t complain but it was amazing how l-o-n-g it lasted. (Whisper wasn’t too happy about it, though she does also have a raincoat.)
From there we turned inland on Highway 299E toward Lassen Volcanic NP, our next NP. It would take us 3 days to get there (at our snail’s pace). We had a strange thing happen enroute.
As is Tom’s norm (and required by law in some states), when traffic backs up behind us due to our slower speed in our combined 60’ of rig and toad, Tom pulls over to let others pass as soon as there is a wide enough spot to do so. This was happening that day as we were on a curvy and hilly road amongst small mountains. Tom noticed a white van that would not pass; every time we pulled over, he pulled over. Other cars would pass, but he would stay behind us. We stopped for lunch at a rest area about 1:00 PM and he pulled into the rest area too. We had lunch on a picnic table. When we got in the coach and left, he pulled out behind us. Now this was getting unnerving.
Paula asked Tom if she could call 911 and he agreed, even though we had not been threatened in any way nor was he driving aggressively or anything other than mysteriously following us. Paula picked up her phone. No cell service. No cell service for miles and miles and miles amongst the hills. Finally, she got one Verizon bar, then two, and dialed 911. She told them the situation and that this car had been following us for 50-60 miles, where we were, and said she would like for a cop to pull him over and ask what was going on. Not wanting to stop at this point, we actually passed our campground. Within about 10 minutes as we neared the top of a hill, we saw what looked like a cop car parked perpendicular to the highway. We got closer…it was a highway patrol. We pulled over and waved him to us. He gave us a thumbs up; he had heard the conversation. Meanwhile…the white van pulled in behind us! The highway patrol waited for backup, then they both approached the white van. After a conversation, the white van pulled out, passed us, and drove away.
The story he told the cops was that he was from back East and liked to drive slowly and sightsee along the way. He had camping equipment in the vehicle, and nothing showed up when they ran a check on him. They told him if he wanted to sightsee, he should pull over. Then they told him to get out of there.
We both agreed, as did the cops, that the story might fly except for pulling into and out of the rest stop with us. We were able to turn around where the highway patrol had parked and returned to the campground, where we were the only rig there. Paula liked it when another rig finally pulled in so we weren’t alone (though we know we are never alone with Jesus).
You may know, and we now know…you can call 911 even when you have no cell service. Good to know!
Next stop, Lassen Volcanic NP in northeast CA.
Thanks for joining us!