Good-Bye Smith Rock

NEWS ALERT: I am a Slacker! Not only has it been 2 months since I last posted... This blog post was started 9 days ago!


September 2nd

Yesterday... After 10 weeks at Smith Rock SP, our time was up... we had to relinquish our post as Park Hosts.  The September host had come in the night before, and he was just waiting for us to move out!  So we did... we moved 35 miles to Jasper Point campground at Prineville Reservoir SP.  This is the place we were at last September and October, and didn't want to leave.  We have resumed our post here as Host/North Shore Patrol... BUT only for 12 days! 

We have accepted a "job" offer at an RV Park in Redding, Calif.  We had been looking for some place to go for the Winter months, and at the time of this offer, we had 4 other offers as well.  But because of distance (only 150 miles from my parents and our house... and only 350 from where we are now) the price of fuel, and the present uncertainty of America as we have known it, we think this is the smartest move for us right now.  Besides... we get Wi-fi and Cable TV (we let our DirectTV go) AND they pay us!  We could use some extra income right now.

It's been so long since I have posted to our blog... I'd better share a little about our time there.
Here are some of the highlights:

On the day of my last post... we had a surprise visit from a blog follower.  Lori, with Luci, live nearby in Redmond.  It's always fun to meet fellow bloggers.  Unfortunately, she was leaving town for a couple months, so we were unable to plan another get-together.

 

We enjoyed a few get-togethers with fellow hosts.

This was our July group of hosts...

Sally and Dale (left) Barry & Joyce (right) 

 

We Painted...

 

 

We Stained...

 

We even got some help from Jake (Jeff's son) to finish it up.

 

We walked the trails....

 

We hiked the trail at Steelhead Falls one day...

 

We picked up grandaughter, Raven, on the motorcycles and went for a ride, and then to lunch...

 

 

 

Friend, Ginny, rode her Harley up from Grants Pass to spend a few days with us.  So one afternoon we checked out a few of the area's 11 brewery's.

 

We enjoyed several get-together's with family...

 

 

Grandaughter, Journey, stayed with us a few days. What a joy she is!

She forced us to make faces for the picture...

Cousin Chuck with girlfriend Christine, road their sporty bikes over for a visit...
and we all met Sister Bonnie for lunch.

We even got Dizzy for a couple days again...

Finally in August, one host couple came in with Dogs! Until then, nobody had dogs. So I was happy to meet Charlie and Bandit. We had some fun times with Al and Sandy too.

Madras had its annual Airshow (before this,we didnt even know they had an airport!)

so we made it a family event with Raven and Jake.

It was definitely a small town Airshow... this may have been the highlight!

We had one last Harrah with Hosts, Al & Sandy and Fred.

Fred's friend, Phil, was visiting from N.C. and Scott, the park manager, joined us.

I'm sure I could find more to say and show of our time at Smith Rock, but it has taken me 9 days to do this much!! NOW we are getting ready to leave Jasper Point!

Thanks for checking in... whoever you are!

 One of our blog followers even sent us an email yesterday to check on us...

It's nice to know someone out there is remembering us... Thanks Dwayne!

 



Smith Rock SP

Lovin' our time here at Smith Rock...

Taking in the smells and scenes along the roads of Central Oregon from the seat of a motorcycle.

A visit to Painted Hills... not Painted Canyon or Painted Rocks, both to which we've been, but... Painted Hills.

A stop at the Crooked River Canyon. 

 (this is the same river canyon that is out our back door... just several miles down stream.)

A surprise visit to a dear friend from a long time ago...

Cove Palisades SP is just 20 miles from Smith Rock SP, and hosting there is Dave and Heather with Pug, Dizzy.  If you followed our blog when we hosted at Carl Washburne SP last Summer, you may remember Dave and Heather... but you should definitely remember DIZZY!  We doggy-sat Dizzy on several occasions while there.  And I was in need of a DIZZY fix!  So we made an unplanned visit to their site and found them home.  It was great to see them again and Dizzy remembered us!

But we don't have to go anywhere to enjoy each day. 

Back at "home"... we enjoy the wildlife

We watch Rock Climbers from our back yard



We shared in a birthday get-together with our neighbor hosts...

Dale celebrated his 76th birthday last week.

 Our job isnt even that bad...

That's not all... but it must be all for now.  Time for bed!

Take Care all of you!

Plans Change!

We've Moved!  We left Mt Hood Village on June 16th, and after a week in Medford at my parents house, we have settled into our camp host site and job at Smith Rock State Park in Central Oregon.

This is a Day Use park, so it is very quiet for us at night.  We are in 1 of the 2 host sites next to the District Park Office, which is a house.  Jeff mows and waters the lawns, and it feels a bit like being back at our house. 

The Crooked River Canyon is in our back yard.

If you like to hike or rock climb, this is the place to be! 

We should be here until the end of August. 

Give us a holler if you get over this way!

Mt Hood Village Resort - Mt Hood National Forest

We seem to have disappeared from blog land.  And this is not even a post really... just updating our whereabouts.

We began our Summer Workamping job here on May 16th.  We knew that the Portland, Oregon area rains alot more than other areas, but we didnt realize that the Mt Hood National Forest IS a RAIN FOREST!  We're really wanting our Warm Sunshine back!

But here we are for awhile.  We are doing our best dealing with it... mostly by leaving alot!  We've been away for almost half the time that we have been here.  We've made trips to Southern Oregon and to Central Oregon.  At least we are able to get away.

Hope you are all well and finding some Sun!

Phoenix to Wickenburg to Lake Havasu to Vegas to Tonapah to Fallon...

It's easier to just not post when I wait too long... but here it goes.  At my last post on April 9th, we were enjoying our time at Cave Creek, Arizona.  We continued to enjoy our time there for a few more days. 

Then on to Wickenburg, AZ where we stayed at Constellation Park.  It is a campground with developed sites but no hookups, for $5 night.  Its very worth it.  We stayed 3 nights.

 While we were there we met up with Duane and Louise for a ride on our Harley's to Prescott.  Jeff and I had never been there, and the ride was awesome!

From Wickenburg, we moved on to Lake Havasu City, AZ for a few nights at Cattail Cove SP.  It was SO hot!  We spent some time at the lakefront beach at the park, but we spent most of our time exploring the area.  One day we rode to Parker then over the border into California to check out an RV park there for a workamping possibility.  The other day we rode to Lake Havasu City to see the sights.

Next Stop on our journey back to Oregon, was Las Vegas again.  We intended to stay one night parked for free in the Fiesta Henderson Casino parking lot, since we had heard that they allowed overnight parking... but that was not true.  They advised us to move to Sams Town, which has a parking lot for trucks and RVs... so we did... but they too told us we could not stay overnight!

I was SO HOT and exhausted from the ride in the 100 degree sun, this was very frustrating... but with no other options, we moved on to an RV park, where we ended up staying 2 nights due to heat exhaustion and the need to do some laundry.  We stayed hooked up again, and rode to see some sights that we missed when we were here last time, like Fremont District (Old Vegas Strip).

Yesterday we drove and rode to Tonapah, where we found a lot that advertised Free Truck and RV Parking on the North side of town next door to the Blanc Casino.  And they really meant it... they let us stay overnight with no problem.  It was safe and we slept great!

Today we drove and rode to Fallon, NV where we are parked at the Bonanza Inn Casino in their "RV Park".  We stayed here on our way through last time, and its a no frills parking lot but with full hookups.

So there you have it... the last 2 weeks.  We will move on to our destination of Rogue River, OR in the next few days.  We will be there 2 weeks before going North to our Workamping job near Portland for the Summer.

Hope you are all well... Enjoying Life and Staying Safe and Healthy.

Cave Creek, Arizona

Another quick update...
I seem to have lost interest in blogging.  But I can handle a short update.

Lets see... We were in Ruidoso, NM at last post.  From there, we were headed to Payson, with a nights stop somewhere along the way since Payson, AZ is 400 miles away.  It was a beautiful day, and we were enjoying the drive, so at each place that we could have stopped, we kept going... just a little further.  But a few "just a little further"'s took us to the land of no options it seemed.  We were tired and it was getting dark... all we needed was a good pull-off for the night.  There had been so many earlier, but no longer.  At 340 miles, near the place of Heber, we managed to find an RV park.  It definitely wasnt worth the money, except that we were desperate.

The next day we had only a 60 mile drive to Payson.  At Payson, we stayed 2 nights in the parking lot of the Mazatzal Casino.  It was another great "boondocking" experience!  It was quiet, not many other vehicles around, and we even had wi-fi.

April 2 we had a 5-day reservation at Cave Creek Recreation Area, which is at the North end of Phoenix, AZ.

We have friends in the area, so we've enjoyed lots of good times with them.

AND.... Guess what else?? 

We bought another Harley!

It's a Heritage... with the same Thunderheader pipes that I have on my Heritage.

So now we have His and Hers Heritages.



There are alot more used bikes for sale here and at better prices... so we took advantage of that... and we get to finally enjoy this great riding weather!

The plan is to sell our Ultra Classic when we get back to Oregon.  It is a great bike, but just too big and heavy.  But since we dont have our Swivelwheel carrier with us... I will be riding the bike home following Jeff in the 5er.  It will be another experience!

We have other friends, fellow RVers, who are camphosting out of Congress, AZ... just 60 miles from where we are here.  Duane bought his first Harley 6 months ago, so we were anxious to join up with him for a ride.

With all that...  We were having just too much fun to leave after our 5 day reservation.  So we are still here... although we had to change sites.  We will leave here this Saturday... with 2 weeks to get ourselves back to Oregon.