The final night at Casey’s found several of us sitting around a campfire, sipping a little wine and talking about where the roads of the future would take us. Dog tricks by Honey (companion of "L. C." ) provided entertainment.
Next, leaving at 7:30 a.m., we headed east up Highway 58, stopping briefly in Oakridge for the obligatory hazelnut non-fat latte, seeking to contribute our final shekels to boost the economic recovery. “Good lattes,” my co-pilot advised. “Nice and hot!”
We arrived at the Crooked River Ranch RV Park about 11:30 a.m., considerably ahead of schedule. This allowed some relaxation before heading to Sisters for an Oregon 1859 presentation by the author at the local bookstore. Approximately 20 wandered in for the 6:30 start, including a nonagenerian (90+) who sat in the front row and interjected comments and questions throughout the presentation. “Whazzat?” “Is that right?” “Isn’t that something”, etc. It was good practice for the author in case she gets a real heckler on the tour.
Saturday featured two presentations by the author in Bend and Redmond. At the Des Chutes Historical Center in Bend she was surprised to see a high school teacher of our kids, Mr. De Gusta, who strongly influenced daughter Julie in her selection of DNA as a career field. Also present was the couple from St. Louis that we met at Crater Lake. When we arrived at the Saturday evening event in Redmond for a 6:30 event, the sign on the door announced Janice’s presentation for July 19 (two weeks prior) and at 4:30. Nevertheless, thanks to a blurb in the local fish wrapper, about 30 showed.
Today was a free day, and we enjoyed downtown Bend (along the waterfront), finally sitting on the green at the amphitheater to enjoy some bluegrass in the afternoon from Crooked Still, out of Boston. I slathered myself with SPF 50 while the sun tried to bake me at 85 degrees.
The big news for this stop was the round of golf played at Crooked River Ranch course, resulting in a personal best of 78. No double-bogeys and no three putts. I am now hoping that Janice will forget the promise I made 10 years ago that I would quit golf when I broke 80. Admittedly not the toughest course, but I was consistent throughout and never did hear the little voice that sometimes says, “Jeff, you’re just not this good” during a hot streak.
A near tragedy occurred when our wine cork screw broke. This is the most frequently used tool by RVers, and we are certainly no exception. A successor tool was acquired in Sisters and appears to be sufficiently stout to last at least the duration of this trip.
Can’t stop without a comment about the RV park here. Gravel sites, close together, not level and our neighbors on all sides were holding a family gathering that began Friday night with a keg party that went well beyond midnight. I guess that is what the RV park review means when they say “this is a family park.” Internet reception required me to lasso branches of the birch tree adjacent to our sight and pull them out of the way of the satellite dish. OK, so I snipped a few branches, too. They are hidden in the weeds behind the rig.
This is a good place to bring the kids and grand kids, especially if they like keggers. Nice swimming pool, too. But for geezers like us, I think we’ll take this one off the list, even though the golf course is exceptionally well manicured and was quite ‘user friendly’ for me.
Heading west in the a.m. across the Cascades on Hwy 20. Gas is under $4.00 there so we will pass on a fill-up here at $4.15. It’s downhill on the last half in case we run short.
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