We were pretty sluggish today. We awakened late and did very little other than a short dive south on US-99 and a visit into the state park at nearby Emigrant Lake. We popped into a local marijuana dispensary, bought fuel and mostly loafed. Ben and Christy, along with their kids, came by our trailer for an afternoon visit. It was a good day although very dull for readers.
We took a long exploratory drive today. We started by going to Peggy’s niece’s and her husband’s place for morning coffee. Fortunately for me, they had Irish Cream in-house so my coffee was excellent. After considerable palavering, Peg and I took off driving, headed mostly east. From Medford we drove up OR-62 which follows the Rogue River up through some spectacular gorges with crystal-clear water cutting through a fierce volcanic landscape.
A hour or two from Medford and before the turnoff to Crater Lake NP, we pulled off and took a hike near a place called Natural Bridge. It really isn’t a bridge but actually a lava tube or tunnel where almost the entire volume of the Rogue River disappears into a hole, only to re-emerge downstream through some extremely turbulent exits. During our visit, the Rogue was at a high flow rate so there was some water running over the top of the lava tube but not nearly as much as was disappearing down the hole only to erupt downstream. It is a short hike here – maybe a half mile out and back but it is definitely worth the walk. It is pretty impressive.
Not far northeast of Natural Bridge the road splits. Those remaining on OR-62 will go to Crater Lake but we turned off on OR-230 toward Diamond Lake. We went to Crater Lake back in September on our Great Basin tour so we flew by it today. Diamond Lake is a gorgeous body of water up at 5100’+ elevation with snow-capped mountains on all sides. There was quite a bit of snow alongside the road but we did not need chains or a plow to continue.
From Diamond Lake we chose to take OR-138 down the gorge of the Umpqua River which is just as amazingly beautiful as the trip up the Rogue. It is a steep, winding highway that limits fast driving but since we were mostly interested in the scenery, the road was just right. The river, the gorge and the roadside waterfalls are absolutely stunning. After a couple hours, we emerged into the city of Roseburg where we turned south on I-5 for the 100 mile return trip to Ashland. The OR-62, OR-230 and OR-138 loop offers magnificent scenery all the way. This is a great tour.
Before we made it back to the Medford/Ashland area, we contacted Ben and Christy again and they met us for dinner at a place called Bricktowne Brewery where we snuggled up to some dinner before heading over to their home for a bit more drinking. Fortunately for me, Peggy was the designated driver so I had ample porter before returning home for the day.
We took a few good photos along the way and you can see ’em if you click here
We awakened to a very nice day in Glenyan RV Park. Since today’s agenda was clear, we started out by going to look for a local landmark called McKee Covered Bridge near Jacksonville. I was navigating and, foolishly, I looked at our Oregon Gazetteer to determine the route. There may have been some misconceptions involved but we ended up getting on a gravel road that started out scary and went downhill from there. Possibly close to the bridge, the gravel road got even skinnier than what we had been using where there was a sign that stated the narrow road was now single-lane only and Peggy did not feel like getting a quarter mile down a narrow road with a bluff on the passenger side where she may be required to back out so we chickened out and turned around. We never saw the covered bridge.
We headed back into Jacksonville, a suburb of Medford, where we met Peggy’s niece, Christy, and her hubby for lunch at a place called Onyx. I was unimpressed with the food but their beer and porter were quite good. From Onyx we drove over to Ben’s (Peggy’s niece’s husband) folks’ home that is located part way up a hill overlooking the Jacksonville/Medford area and the view was spectacular. The house was also very nice. We spent quite a bit of time there appreciating the scenery.
We drove back from Ben’s folks’ place back to our nifty camping spot at Glenyan RV where we did strenuous stuff like drinking and napping. This retirement stuff is pretty nice.
There’s a couple of pictures of today’s fun if you click here
Our delay in Yreka is over! Charlotte seemed to be running okay so we attached the Barbarian Invader to the fifth wheel and headed north into Oregon.
My usually superb scheduling of RV spots for the future appears to have gone off the rails. We only moved the trailer about 50 miles to the Glenyan RV Park a few miles south of Ashland. It may be our shortest travel distance in 3 years. We even arrived too early for the former inhabitant of our space to vacate it and we had to wait a bit. Not long after she departed, we were set up in Space 31 with a nice creek running right behind our trailer.
After some congratulatory shots, we decided to go for a spin. Our first stop was Caldera Brewing, right down the road. We ordered a flight of porter and ale and set about determining which we liked best. We soon agreed on a product called South Side Ale and ordered a couple pints. We also were able to acquire a very tasty small pizza, a savory cheeseburger and a snazzy salad with Lemon Caesar dressing. We also learned the South Side Ale we liked was on sale so we picked up a case for future use.
Departing from the brewery long before we had an opportunity to get tanked, Peggy decided we should go east and check out the terrain above Ashland. We started our tour by going east on the politically-incorrectly named Dead Indian Memorial Road which corkscrews up the sides of some very pretty mountains before getting to a pass at 5100′. Beyond is pretty forest and pasture country with some gorgeous scattered lakes. We spent quite a bit of time looking at what we thought was Mount McLoughlan, a 9500′ peak that looks suspiciously like a volcano. We continued on Dead Indian until Howard Prairie Lake where we turned south along the shorelines of Howard Prairie Lake and Hyatt Reservoir. The country there is gorgeous. We eventually emerged at the corner of Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument and onto OR-66 which we used to head back toward Ashland. Up at the top of 66 we were at about 4500′ but the screwy road drops off at about 7% so in about 20 minutes we were on the flats near Ashland at about 2400′ elevation. It seems it would be a terrible road to travel with any RV longer than about 20′. Good brakes are necessary here.
We took some pix. Click here
Six days into our stay in Yreka we finally got our beloved truck’s gunnybag alternator fixed. We had the truck into the shop about 10 minutes before our 10:00 AM appointment for what was described to us as a two-hour job for a certified Ford mechanic. Some six hours later, we finally got the truck back and it seems to be okay. $735 worth of okay.
We stopped by the local Ace Hardware for some sheet metal screws to fix Peggy’s headboard light while in town and then we took Charlotte back to Waiiaka RV Park for the night. Peggy spent the late afternoon scrubbing splattered bugs from the front of the Barbarian Invader and did a terrific job right up to the end of her reach. We need some scaffolding or a work ladder to get the rest but the bottom third looks really shiny.
We are anxious to get moving early tomorrow so I dumped the holding tanks, disconnected from the local water supply and stowed our barbecue. Only power and cable to disconnect in the morning before we head into Oregon.
We are still stymied in Yreka. I did call the Ford dealership and our replacement alternator has arrived in their parts department. If the plan works, we should get the truck into the shop tomorrow and have the alternator replaced. It is frustrating to wait on repairs that back when I used to wrench on my own simple engines in older vehicles an alternator change-out took about an hour. We have been here five days. We don’t have a vehicle with a simple engine. Now, to work on the engine, they take the cab off the truck. We hope everything works out tomorrow because we are getting a bit antsy here without the use of our truck.
We are still in Yreka awaiting truck parts so we continued on trailer maintenance although we only work in the afternoon after it cools off a bit. We have good cable TV here. We have an auxiliary hard drive chock-full of movies we can watch. We have amply-stocked Kindles and numerous books. We have thumb drives that are full of movies and a large selection of DVDs at our disposal so we have plenty to entertain us when setbacks like our current truck woes beset us. We seem to be well prepared, mostly.
We did a bit more faulty exterior caulk removal which we both disdain. We cleaned sections of the outside of the trailer. We did some repair work on Peggy’s reading light above the bed. I guess it is okay to be stalled somewhere when you have a deferred trailer maintenance backlog and some handy on-board replacement parts. The good part is that the trailer will hopefully serve us a bit longer.
Due to the funky alternator in our truck, we are still in Yreka. We were originally going to leave yesterday but the shaky system in the truck has me worried and we have chosen to remain here until the issue is resolved.
That being said, things could be a lot worse. It is quiet here in Waiiaka RV Park and the amenities we desire are all here. It was a bit toasty today with temperatures in the mid-80s but we waited until the afternoon temperatures cooled somewhat before charging outside for some trailer maintenance. I took care of our holding tanks. Peggy scraped off some ugly exterior decals and I prepared some outside surfaces for re-caulking before the shaky spots turn into leaks. It is mundane doo-doo but, unfortunately, necessary if we intend to continue to use the trailer as shelter, a kitchen, a shower, a bedroom or a toilet. Maintenance is just part of the fun. Not really.