Smoke Free, Nearly Noise Free, 4th of July

At Huntley Park, near Gold Beach, OR

At our age, we YEARN for a nice, quiet place to enjoy the 4th of July.  Huntley Park seems just like the place.  Huntley Park is 7 miles up river from where Highway 101 crosses over the Rogue River…eliminate the twists and turns, we are probably 6 miles as the crow flies.  There was a large fireworks show in the harbor near the bridge in Gold Beach…we could faintly hear it from Huntley Park.  Could actually hear the “new tent neighbors” (man, woman, two little girls) way more than the fireworks…both adults like to talk loud, and …how can I describe this in a nice way…talk in a very impolite way to each other.

The Oregon Department of Forestry has taken over the fighting of the Lobster Creek Fire.  This fire has been handled VERY WELL by all those involved…unlike last year’s Chetco Fire where the fire, discovered in June, was allowed to burn uncontrolled until the August Winds blew it up to a 200,000+ acre fire.  Lobster Creek has been stopped at around 450 acres, it is fully lined (fire break all around it) and as of last night, it is 30% contained (large enough fire break that “if” fire blew back up, it is unlikely to cross that containment line.)  They have multiple heavy and medium lift helicopters working the fire, and the planes are ready to fly in from Medford, but they are not needed anymore.  Over 700 fire fighters are working the fire, and the command center and camp area has been moved to the Fairgrounds in Gold Beach.  Outside of Sunday night and Monday morning, we have been smoke free…and very little smoke is pouring out from the fire right now anyway.  If you want to see some good pictures, including a bucket drop of water on the fire, look at this site here.

These young men fought the fire all night long on Sunday, and a temporary camp was set up in one of the group areas here at Huntley Park where they came in Monday mid-morning, took showers, and then slept.  by 7 pm, they were gone, as was their entire camp site equipment…Marcia enjoyed the view for one morning. 

Around 8 pm two county sheriff’s cars came cruising through the campground.  At first I thought there might have been a problem, although the park is still less than 3/4 full…but then I realized they were making their presence known looking for firework activity.  Heck, it has been so free of booms and bangs that I forgot all about fireworks.  Glad to see them, we sure don’t need any stupid person starting a fire lighting off fireworks.

After I took the solar panel in for the night (see the black cord at the back of the motorhome, that’s what I hook the solar to), I took this shot to show that we now have more neighbors.  On Tuesday, only the cargo van, which is owned by the Camp Manager, was here…now we have a person sleeping in a van, and numerous RV’s that are beyond that trailer you can see at the back. 

Out our entrance door side we have the tenters, and two RVs off in the distance.  However, the Hydroplane Races are this weekend…there are two family reunions coming into the two group spots today, and I expect that we will be excited on Sunday evening after most of the people pull out and go home. 

Speaking of Solar earlier…yesterday was not a good solar day.  Lots of high clouds, marine layer stuff, keeping us with few glimpses of the sun (mostly as the sun was going down), and temperatures which were frankly just a bit on the colder side.  Had to run engine for 90 minutes to charge batteries during the evening hours.  Had a hard time sitting outside for very long, so I sat in the front seat and plugged in the Kindle and watched a Spaghetti Western which I had not seen before.  Even though it was the 4th, I went down to the Library on a hunch, and YES, their Internet was up and going and strong as I pulled up next to the building.  Filled up both Kindles with movies.  One thing about Spaghetti Westerns…you think you have seen them all, as you watch you realize that you have not seen this particular one, but it is as corny as all the other Spaghetti Westerns you have seen (outside of Clint Eastwood ones, of course).

I promise pictures of the hydroplane boats as they pass by.  We are elated that the fire is under control, and not a worry anymore.  Have decided to stay here until July 17th, then we started heading south to my son’s wedding.

To Tri-City Oregon

As we were getting ready to leave Coos Bay, 10:30 am, the skies were overcast with patches of blue showing through.

It remained that way for about 50 of the 90 miles we traveled from Coos Bay to Tri-City.

   

Marcia does a good job getting sites along the way.  My motto is, “If you don’t take the picture, then I can’t use it.”  She takes many pictures, and I pull out the best ones that I can.  In the upper left is a view of Cedar Point.  On the right is the Coquille River about 40 miles toward Tri-City from Coos Bay along state highway 42. 

By the time we get to the Tenmile Community, the sky is blue, the wind is light, and the temps are going up.

Our route takes us by the On the River Golf-RV Resort where we stayed back in late May of this year.  We could have stayed here again I suppose, but we are just looking for an overnighter with electricity because we are not use to the 85-90 degree temps after nearly three weeks of being away from such temps.

We pull off the freeway at 12:30 and I know the park office closes at 12 noon for lunch…I thought they reopened at 1 pm.  So I pull off at this pullout along old Highway 99 in front of this bridge.  Marcia sees these kids down under the bridge and wonders if they are skinny dipping.

At first I said no, but then I said, YEP…as I see the girl on the right put her grey top back on.  With her top on, I don’t mind taking a picture…before it just gawking…I mean, casual viewing with the naked eye (pun intended).  But what I am really wondering is….the bridge. 

(Later I take this picture of the bridge as I go out to the store…all nudity has left the beach.)  Anyway, as we were sitting there earlier gawking, I mean, admiring the bridge, I say, “I wonder if it is a Conde McCullough bridge?”  Marcia, seeing this plaque along the roadway, says, “Get a close up of that plaque”.

Yep, I was right. I have developed an eye for Conde’s bridges…we first admired them in 2012 and continue to admire them to this day.

We are at the Tri-City RV Park, a Passport America park…$14.14 per night.  I was wrong as to when they opened after lunch, it is really 3 pm.  (So we sat there admiring the naked bridge for nothing!)  They have a real nice “self check-in procedure” for when the office is closed, so we found us a site, and checked ourselves in. 

Those of us who have used Passport America enough know there are good parks, and bad parks, and everything in between.  This one has a dog run, self enclosed, only thing missing is grass.  Overall, this park is a good park, for $14 it is a great park.

When I was with the dogs in the Dog Run, without my camera, I saw two helicopters take off and head east over the mountain…it was easy to see, with the long cord hanging down with a water basket attached, that they were fighting a fire.  Since I needed to go to the store, and the small municipal airport was along the way, I went over to it and saw this helicopter landing.  Not a fire fighting helicopter in the sense of dropping water, but I think it has something to do with surveillance of the fire. 

   

This helicopter was part of the fire fighting for sure. 

It is part of the Coulson Group, a Canadian group and this helicopter is down in this area on contract to fight the fires east of Roseburg.  You can see the big orange bucket laying in the foreground.  Unfortunately, I never did get one of these taking off and headed back to the fire.

On my way to the store, after getting pictures of the naked bridge, there is this sign that says, “Covered Bridge”, and the arrow points both ways.  We had already seen the one which is right along Old Highway 99, so I took the detour to find the other one.  This is is…the Neal Lane Bridge, built in 1939 (which makes it 75 years old…don’t ask me why that did not take any math to figure out).  It is the shortest covered bridge in Oregon at only 42 feet.

Here it is from the other side…I was surprised that you could drive through it.  However, 3 ton limit, which is 6,000 pounds…so only cars and light trucks and SUVs.  It CREAKS when you drive over it!!!

But the wood work is something else….

The other bridge, which we saw on the way to the RV park, is called the Horse Creek Bridge, and is now a foot bridge. Although it is longer, I think the other bridge is in better condition.

Tri-City is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Douglas County, Oregon. With a population of 3,900 in 2010, the community is named for the three cities among which it is centered: Myrtle Creek, Canyonville and Riddle. The Tri City School District probably originated the name, which was later adopted by the local sewer district.  Douglas County has a population of around 110,000, so these three communities and the area known as Tri-city make up a small portion of the counties population.