A Different Look at Eclipse

From Huntley Park Oregon to McCloud California

  

   

Yes, this is taken on Eclipse Day…no, it is not the MOON blocking out the sun, it is the SMOKE.  We did watch the Eclipse from Huntley Park Oregon, then proceeded over to Myrtle Creek…then to Medford…then to Talent where we stayed the night in a Rest Area.  ALL of these pictures taken above were taken between Myrtle Creek and the California border yesterday and today.  The bottom right picture was taken as we were leaving Harry and David in Medford…about 6:45 pm.  NEVER seen the smoke so thick, and this smoke is being attributed to the fire near Brookings, called the Chetco Bar Fire.

When you stay in an area for a month, and then a MAJOR fire takes place in that area, the connection you made sucks your emotions into what is going on.  You have met nice people in the past month…the hosts at Alfred Loeb State Park, the checkers at Fred Meyer in Brookings, or at McKay’s Market in Gold Beach, the workers at Indian Creek RV Park, the hosts at Huntley Park, and of course, D & D of Double D’s Cafe in Gold Beach and their entire family, most of whom we had the pleasure of meeting.  All of these people are being affected because they know people who have evacuated…and they probably know or know of the five families who have lost their homes so far…with many more threatened.  In the above map I have added, in RED, the various places we stayed at…along with the Fire Perimeter.  They listed the two levels of evacuations areas…level 2 is be prepared to leave, level 3 is get the heck out of there.

It did not take us long on Oregon Highway 42 before we started to see the thick smoke.  We went north because they asked people not to drive down highway 101 toward Brookings…too much stuff going on down there.  By the time we got close to I-5, we could smell it.  We drove by On the River Golf & RV Park, a place we have stopped by many times before…they looked full to the brim, and the smoke was just too thick.  Didn’t even try our back-up plan in Myrtle Creek, Millsite RV Park, a city park, because the smoke was just too thick.  We went on to Medford to visit Harry and David…Sis LOVES Moose Munch, and since her and Arny both have birthdays next week, one day apart, we had to pick up “stuff”.  (I can see her licking her chops already…)  After the shopping spree, we headed to Talent where there was suppose to be a RV Resort through Passport America, which looked promising on paper…but it ended up being a HUGE DUMP…one of the worse we have seen…and it was also full…and we did not want to stay there even if they had sites open…yes, it was that bad.  And how do they even come to think they are a resort????  So we stayed at a Oregon Rest Area….along with many other people, most of whom were Californians headed back home after the full eclipse.

There was a wreck about 5 miles before Medford.  Marcia and I were counting the California plates as they went by us…4 out of 5 vehicles were California plates, with occasional Arizona and other states in the mix, and about 1 out of 5 were Oregon plates.  So it is safe to say…some Californian did something stupid and caused a wreck.  By the time we got up to it, an hour later, it was gone, so it is just a “educated guess”… 

So this morning we had our coffee, a quick breakfast and off to McCloud California to one of our favorite RV parks in NorCal…McCloud RV Resort which we have been to 3 or 4 times now.  We DON’T like the prices necessarily, and they have some strict rules about their grass…which keeps the grass in such good condition I guess.  But it is not as hot as other Northern California areas, has lots of shade (although we lose our shade around 1 and it isn’t back until 5), and it is very peaceful.

Of course, there are jerks who like to park their trucks on another person’s site…but I won’t go into that…nor the nine attempts to back into his site…yes NINE.   Now on the other side of his trailer he has three chairs, lots of other camping stuff, along with his park provided table…and there is room to back his truck up more, but heck…he would probably hit the fence or his awning, so it is much easier just using a chunk of our site.  And then there is the bigger jerk who let both his dogs off leash, and when I spotted them, I did not take Bubba or Skruffy their way...but they both made it over our way.  His Shepherd got a bit noisy, which then gets Skruffy going, and frankly, I was ready to give it a hit in the noise had it become aggressive.  The guy says, "Sorry, did not know it got out...", and just then the Shepherd comes running over.  I had seen them, and I knew he knew they were out, so I just said, "You know, that is why they make leashes."  He did not look at me, he just got his dogs and walked away.  GRRRR!!!

   

But the park is just a lovely place, and we are here for two nights.  Yesterday’s drive was twice as long as it needed to be…it is only 120 miles from Huntley to the Rest Area…but that route is on a paved, National Forest road which is not recommended for RVs.  Had we gone through Crescent City, it would have been a 160 mile trip…but as it was, due to the fire, we drove over 240 miles.  And once we hit I-5, the traffic was a a crawl numerous times due to traffic and wrecks.  So two days to regain our sanity is in order…then we will head the 4+ hours back to my sister’s house…with a stop at a Truck/RV wash on the way back to Sacramento, one which we have used in the past…and after all the dust and dirt we accumulated these past seven weeks, it needs it.  As for us…the long showers we had this afternoon felt real nice…the 94 degree weather, well, that did not last very long.

And YES, we did watch the eclipse, or at least I tried to get some pictures of it.  This is the best one I got, about 9:55 am, 20 minutes before our 95% coverage.  No matter what, the sun was too bright for the eyes, and our camera did not do so well capturing it.

Oregon Coast to Sacramento – Hot and Busy

We left Tillamook on Tuesday morning, stayed at Osprey Point RV Resort (Passport America $21), in Lakeside Oregon that night, drove over to I-5 and stayed at On the River Golf & RV Park in Myrtle Creek (Passport America $15) on Wednesday, stopped at Harry and David in Medford and drove on to McCloud RV Resort (Good Sam $35) Thursday, and made it to my sister's house at 1:30 Friday afternoon.  Mom and Dad were there waiting for us, and we parked, set-up, and kicked back for the rest of the day.

We always enjoy the drive along the Pacific Ocean, and could have stopped and stayed for many nights enjoying the cool weather and the lovely scenery.  But we also wanted to spend time with the family before we head back to Florida…so on to the hot Valley weather it was.

One last look at the ocean before we stopped Tuesday night.  The white building in the fog on that piece of land sticking out in the top left corner of the picture above is one of the many Oregon Lighthouses.

  

When we left Osprey Point RV Resort, we headed north for 8 miles and turned onto highway 38, a new route for us.  Umpqua River runs along this route, and there are a few good Elk Viewing areas along it too.

On Friday after we left McCloud, we past Shasta Lake, and it was good to see water in the lake.  The last few times we passed by the water was so very low.

On Saturday I had the car cleaned and detailed and they got 95% of the Alaska Highway grime off of it. If you open a door and look hard you can see some of the dust…and I opened the hood and found it loaded with dust…that will be a job I tackle in a few days.  After the car wash I fix our grey tank lever, so I can again close and open a valve to allow the grey to flow as needed.  Our end cap had a small hose attachment, and I put a open/close nozzle on it so I could empty it as needed through a used garden hose…it is nice to have it working right again.  I had ordered a new valve through Amazon, along with a new laptop, which were waiting for us when we arrived. 

NEW LAPTOP?  Yes, the laptop I had been using was starting to show signs of age…sticking keys, turning off when you close the lid even though all settings tell it not to turn off, and it always ran real hot.  Last year we got Marcia an ASUS, and I got nearly the same one for me.  It is light, runs cool, and is easy to run on 12v unlike the previous laptop I was using.  Also, this is a windows 10 computer.  I just started to use it this morning after spending a good day and a half setting it up, updating it, etc. etc.  

Finally, I am replacing our water fill hatch, which is also on order and will be here Wednesday.  It has a small leak when hooked up to a city water system, mostly due to the pressure valve in the nozzle.  It should be a simple replacement now that I have loosened up the sealing tape.

I am also helping out Arny with his mother as needed.  Today two different caregivers were unable to make it, and at least one won’t be here tomorrow either.  We also have laundry to do, and pick up some groceries.  Picked up some more insulin for Skruffy today, who is enjoying being back in Sandy and Arny’s backyard…but can’t understand why she can’t run over to Grandma and Papa’s house like before…but she enjoy our visit at their Assisted Living home yesterday.  And Bubba, well when Bubba is at Arny’s, he is the happiest little fellow…he loves his Uncle Arny and Aunt Sandy, that’s for sure.

Back in California (Cough Cough)

As we got closer to Grants Pass, there was smoke to the west from the Collier Butte fire to the west.  There is also the Stouts Creek fire just east of where we stayed last night, and the National Creek/Complex/Crescent Fires up just north of Crater Lake, including some land within the National Park.

As we got closer to Medford, it was as if smoke from all three fires had descended upon the region with winds from Ocean blowing west, and winds up in the mountains blowing south.  It was THICK.

We stopped just north of Medford for gas and propane, and stopped at Harry and David so that my sister Sandy will get some Moose Munch (which will pacifier her since the three Tillamook “Lemonilla Tillabars” are now gone --THEY REALLY ARE THAT GOOD), and we were back on the road within the hour.

If you look real close, just to the right of the large hill to the left of the road you can barely see Mt. Shasta through the smoke.  Yes, it cleared up somewhat after we got over the mountain past Medford, but it is still smoky.

Here is a better shot of Mt. Shasta…but you can still see how much smoke there is.  Yes, the smoke is where the “Cough Cough” comes in…it is thick, it smells, and it does make you cough a bit.

Even in the smoke, the ole mountain can still look good…like it was on a postcard…

We pulled into the McCloud RV Resort around 2:30.  This time of year, even on a Friday, there is space available…well worth the ten mile drive from I-5…and way better than the KOA over in Mt. Shasta along the Interstate.

 

We decided to drive over to Mt. Shasta and eat at the original Black Bear Restaurant.  I really like their Big Bear Burger, and tonight's burger was as good as ever...the fries, however, were a bit old (should have had Onion Rings instead).  Even though it was Friday, we were immediately seated in a nearly full restaurant, and the food and service (other than the fries) were up to par.  There is ALWAYS things that my "Restaurant Manager Eyes" catch, but I try to ignore them the best I can.

Mom got confirmation today that her surgery has been moved up and will be on August 31st.  Although the actual surgery portion is short, less than an hour, there are some pre-surgery procedures that they do…so it will be a good 5-6 hours at the hospital on that day.  We are all just glad that they were able to fit her in earlier…she will be feeling much better about it, especially after it is over.

Another Test Trip – McCloud RV Resort

Had a great 4th of July, did not take pictures (sorry), and we enjoyed a visit with my cousin Donald, wife Sherri and two of their grandkids on Friday too.  But this morning, after watching church over the Internet, we got things ready and hit the road by 10:30.  After fueling up at Sam’s Club ($2.87 gal) and a very quick  shopping trip to pick up some grapes and frozen berries inside, we were hitting the highway shortly after 11. Other than the bad stretch of road along I-80 heading over to I-5, the road conditions were good, although a bit more crowded than I expected headed north. Got to McCloud by 4:30, and after a very busy 4th of July, they had a good number of openings at the McCloud RV Resort (aka: McCloud (Dance Country) RV Resort)

There are some nice quaint areas here at the park…this person lucked out after four neighbors left this morning giving them a nice secluded area amongst the trees.

Many sites are right on the grass, and they are a little less expensive than those on pavement.

The length of the pavement is nice, but the width is lacking a bit.  But a real nice feature for us is that you can park your car right next to it…so Marcia won’t have to walk very far to get in the car when we go on a day trip tomorrow. We are parked a bit forward on the pad so that our slide would not open up onto the utility pole.

They also have some cabins, which are fully furnished.  I did not see any of them with cars in front of them, but I am sure over the weekend they were full too.

   

As you pull in there is a nice sign so you won’t miss it…and pull way in until you get to the office, which is the building above (right).  The staff was super nice, and would have allowed me to drive around to check on some sites, but I settled on the one she recommended.

As you pull into the RV Park, you pass this McCloud Dairy Barn…

….which is really a fairly new food and brewery in town called the Siskiyou Brew Works.  Link is to their facebook page, they don’t seem to have a website, but the reviews are pretty good on yelp.

Got this picture from the Internet of the McCloud Dance Hall.  McCloud Dance Country offers ballroom, round and square dancing activities, and the RV park was originally named after it.

We visited McCloud back in 2012 on one of our Day Trip drives.  We both remember seeing this RV park and thought back then that it looked like a nice quiet park…so far we were right.  Tomorrow we will have a little more time to explore it, but most of all we are going to drive up Mt. Shasta as far as we can and see what we can see.