Summering Along
Summer came on hot–like 117° (47° C) here, which is staggeringly unheard of in my cloudy corner of Oregon. Of course as soon as it finally dropped into the high 90° I took a wonderful (but also hot: 111°) weekend camping trip to the desert.
Some fun notes: camping in the middle of the desert was gorgeous, even though we had smoke pollution from the big fires raging through our forests. 😥 We slept outside under the stars one night, and that, my friends, was one of my bucket list items: sleep under the desert sky with stars arcing from horizon to horizon. There were no scorpions or bugs where we slept, and I can’t wait to do it again.
Photo of the sun rising over the foot of my sleeping bag:
The next night we moved toward a more brushy area and THE BUGS! SO MANY BUGS!
Big ol’ flappers and moths and crawly things smacking into our faces and taking up residence in our RV. I am not squeamish about bugs. But these critters were inescapable, tenacious, and endless. When I looked up posts online from past campers they all mentioned the overload of bugs had driven them out of the camping spaces (yeah, I probably should have read that BEFORE we left, but hey–adventure.)
I did get some knitting done. I’m currently working on the next toy I’ll be giving away in my newsletter, which might come out in July, or August if I fall behind. Here is a picture of sweaty, camping, unbrushed hair me, out knitting in the desert, and also my view from camp:
During a side trip to fill water, we helped out a fellow camper who had lost her key fob down the outhouse hole. (Ewwww…) She needed a stick or hook or magnet to try and dig out the keys, and we offered up the metal hook rod thing we use to pull down our RV awning. She took it, got on the floor, stuck her arm in the privy hole and was able to retrieve her keys.
I was very impressed by her. She was very grateful we had something to offer, since her only other option was a child’s butterfly net.
Yes, we bleached and disinfected the heck out of the metal hook thing, which has now been dubbed the “shitter getter” because we are all twelve-year-olds.
How about you? Have you had any fun summer adventures?
I Did a Crochet!
6 Comments
Maria Schneider
I’m always afraid of dropping something down an outhouse! I won’t hold anything in my hands for fear of that dank, dark hole…
I live in NM, in the mountainous desert. You can come here and part your RV and stare at the stars all you want. There will be some bugs. Some of them are incredibly ugly. There are not TONS of bugs, but there are bugs. Then again, I’m not sleeping outside either. And the neighbor who is a bit down the road does have dogs and they bark. He also has cows. They moo. So you might not feel as isolated as you would like…
Devon
I’d love to get out your way some day! I’m okay with some bugs. And dogs. And cows who say, “mooo”. Just so long as none of them bite. 😉
Deanne Hicks
We just got back from a bucket list vacation for our mother in law . She wanted to go on the jet boat ride out of Goldbeach going up the Rogue river. It was amazing tons of splashing, zipping around. The driver named Darin ( good name) he was full of tons of history about the river and what has happened on the river, and how it is protected . We had lunch on the river then home total of 7 hour trip. If you have the time and love the out doors you will love this adventure.
Devon
That sounds so amazing! That is on my list of Things I Want to Do, for sure! I’m so glad you and she had a fabulous time!! The Rogue is gorgeous!
Janice Howard
We did the mail boat jet boat when I was 12 perfect time of year and bear were fishing in the river for salmon deer were on the banks and Eagles and lots of fun zipping down the river
never forgot and I’m in my 60s now.
Devon
That sounds like an unforgettable trip! I’d love to see bear….from a distance! 🙂