Winter Sunshine

Winter Sunshine
Winter Sunshine in the Desert

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Another Rocky Point Sunday

First snow_035The air has finally started moving again, and as I look outside the bedroom window I can see the last of the leaves twisting in the breeze.  There is snow on the ground, still, from our foot of snow dropped a week ago, but it is thinning.  Not that bad, really, for mid November. Sometimes during this time of year in our part of the world the air gets still and cold, with fog from the basin around the edges of the lake and smoke from the slash piles and prescribed burns making the First snow_014air murky. It was like this for a week or so, and then a couple of nights ago the winds started blowing, dropping pine needles into the snow like pick-up sticks, and clearing the air. I love the sound of the wind at night.

Check out that great new stain on the house!  The job is finally finished, with the crew coming to put the last touches on the last day before the snow fell.  They did a great job, but we certainly weren’t very happy with the amount of time they spent doing it.  The job was started in late September and only finished on November 3rd.  Sometimes the crew wouldn’t come out until mid afternoon and only stay a couple of hours before leaving.  We live a long way from town and we could never figure out how the contractor expected to make money doing business like that. Maybe he had too many jobs going on at once and was trying to keep everyone happy.  Whatever.  At least the job is finished and the house looks great and we didn’t have to do it ourselves!

the popcorn housemy grandson, ElricOn November 1st, Mo and I traveled west to Brookings for three gorgeous days on the beautiful sunny coast. On Monday, the 31st, Mo turned to me and asked, “Remind me again why we couldn’t leave for Brookings today?”.  Halloween, silly!  I had to be home for Halloween with my kids, actually the kids are only part of it.  The rest of the story is the wonderful tradition of walking on the dark sidewalks filled with happy costumed families on Pacific Terrace, where I used to live in Klamath Falls.  One more time I met my daughter and grandkids to walk through crispy leaves, smell the popcorn that one family hands out every year from their outdoor popcorn machine, and be amazed at all the wonderful decorations that line the street for a mile in each direction.  There is no better place to be at Halloween than Pacific Terrace in Klamath Falls.

Jeremy in the window guarding the MoHoWhen we left Tuesday morning for the coast, the weather was incredible.  Blue skies all the way, without even a hint of fog over the ocean to mar the views. We went immediately to Harris Beach State Park, hoping for one of the ocean view sites, only to discover that those sites were all taken, even on a weekday in November!  Instead, we settled into a roomy spot just across the road from those premium sites, power and cable and water for 22 bucks and still a great ocean view.

ocean view from across the street from our spot in A27Our main purpose for the trip was to get the MoHo settled in to her storage berth, so we immediately went to meet the owner to be sure that the unit was easily accessible.  Turns out that it is just fine, and when we slid the MoHo in on Thursday morning before traveling back to Rocky Point, it was a piece of cake.

In the mean time, we spent a good deal of time looking at possible properties in the Brookings area, but none were just right for what we wanted.  Still, it was fun driving up the Chetco River to look, and then to the north end of town, just hoping for the right combination of view, price, and of course a big RV storage shed to appear. We took some wild rambling roads and were surprised to discover that many roads around Brookings are incredibly narrow and steep.  Saw a spot with a gorgeous view of the ocean, with the words “great for a two story cottage”.  That should have been a clue, since the property was on the side of a mountain with just enough flat ground for a very tiny home, and no space for an RV shed.

Brookings_083Brookings_136We saw another truly beautiful home and giant perfect RV shed with a gorgeous view, and an unbelievable 8 foot deer fence surrounding almost all the property, enclosing 50 roses and some beautiful gardens.  The price was OK, but then there was more than 5 acres that needed subdividing, with some weird garages with no windows and with people actually living in them!  Very strange.  All a bit too complicated, and we laughed and said, “Let’s go find the fish and chips”.  Once more we went to the Chetco Café down in Harbor where the ambience is certainly funky but the fish was as perfect as last time, thin thin very crispy perfect coating on tender, flavorful perfect fish.  Yum.  And a decent white wine at 3 bucks a glass.  Can’t beat it.

We spent the next day relaxing, or I should say Mo relaxed while I went into town to use the coffee shop internet for a work conference. Finally in the afternoon we headed for the gorgeous, sunny beach.  Dinner was a perfect steak brought from home and a great campfire and then a walk that took us to the campsite of some local Rocky Point friends who just happened to be camping there as well.  They invited us in to their fire, offered more wine and conversation, and the evening stretched out to the late hours with fun and laughter. Seems as though Harris Beach is a pretty popular place for most of us.

FS road 23 Bear Camp Road backwayFS road 23 Bear Camp Road backwayOn Thursday, once the MoHo was settled in to the storage unit, we drove north to take the back road route from Gold Beach through Agness and back to Grants Pass.  The road is called the Bear Camp Coastal Route, and is not maintained after November 5 through the winter and spring.  We made it just in time.  Although on the map the road looks like it should be a short fast way back home, in reality, it is steep and slow and absolutely beautiful.  It follows the Rogue River to Agness then climbs the coast mountains before dropping back down to the Rogue near Hellsgate. Even in the Tracker, the road was a bit daunting, especially on the passenger side. It was beautiful, though, and while we may not have to do it again soon, I am glad I finally got to see the famous route over the mountains. Let me just say, DO NOT ever even think of driving this road in any kind of motorhome!

snow getting thicker on FS road 23 Bear Camp Road backwaythe road to GaliceThat morning Brookings was shrouded in clouds with rain coming down and snow predicted for the mountains above 4,000 feet.  Sure enough at the top of the route we ran into some snow, some deer, and even a bear!  I WILL learn to keep my camera in my lap and on, but instead, at the bear moment, Jeremy was snoozing in my lap and the camera was on the floor. By the time we got home, there was fresh snow over the pass on 140 but no snow yet in Rocky Point.  We would have loved to stay longer in Brookings, but too many details awaited us and thank goodness the heaviest snow held off till our Friday errands were run and we were safely back at home. I can’t believe how lucky we were to get in just under the wire with the first really big snowstorm arriving the day we put the MoHo in storage in snowless Brookings.  Perfect.

007-1turning leaves along the creek along the road to GaliceI spent last weekend cutting and sewing strips for my very first quilt.  It was a perfect day to be playing with brightly colored fabric with the dark skies and falling snow. It is just a simple panel, with borders, and I got all the borders on and am now attempting to learn how to do the machine quilting part. Mo is worried that I will now start collecting fabric the way I collect yarn. Hopefully I will refrain from getting too carried away with all this.

I have been knitting, and quilting, and working soil survey stuff, and somehow the time to write has slipped. Winter is here, life has simplified a bit for now, and I am enjoying that a lot.

14 comments:

  1. Love the snow pictures. Hard to believe winter is already here.

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  2. great shots from Harris Beach State Park..we only stopped there for a bathroom break in July but it was a definite add to our list of 'must stays'!!

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  3. Love the quilt. Let me tell u the fabric bug does catch you unawares :) Glad everything went well & Moho is stored for now. It looks lovely & serene at Rocky Point.

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  4. Hello,
    I'm new to your web page but being an Oregonian I wanted to say how beautiful it is where you live. Thank you for sharing your pictures. They are just beautiful. I don't quilt but my daughter does, and I have RV friends that do. If that is your first one, I can hardly wait to see what you are going to do next because that one is georgeous!!

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  5. Nice cozy header photo. Sure hope we can make it to Oregon one day because it sure looks like the type of countryside I would just totally love to be a part of.

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  6. Trust me it is an addiction, once you make one quilt the race will be on to acquire more fabric!

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  7. Oh my, winter has sure arrived where you are ... I guess it snowed a bit here while we were overseas, but not as much as predicted. That's OK by me ... not ready for winter, but of course, the sooner it gets here, the sooner it will be over, and the closer we will be to retirement :-)

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  8. Oh, oh! Quilting? You are doomed! Once you catch that disease, it's incurable!

    Beautiful photos and anywhere on the Oregon Coast would be a beautiful place to live!

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  9. What a beautiful area! I can hardly wait until we're able to spend some time on 'your' coast :)

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  10. Beautiful pictures of a gorgeous area. Love those water shots. Even the snow is great to LOOK at on line! LOL Looks so serene and peaceful. But I sure don't want to drive in it.

    Sherry
    www.directionofourdreams.blogspot.com

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  11. Photos are gorgeous....
    Have fun & Travel safe
    Donna

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  12. Boy, you sure put in some miles! We've been up to Agness--towed our trailer up there. A good friend I used to teach with here in southern California owns the Agness RV Campground. Beautiful park, if you ever want to take the MoHo up there. But as you saw, you would have to come up from Gold Beach, and not down from Grants Pass.

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  13. Haven't been to Oregon in many years...Thanks for reminding us just how beautiful that area is....Good luck on finding your property...Take your time and you will find just the right fit...

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  14. Just started reading your blog. I have been at it for a couple hours with a breakfast break and the a shower. I am loving your pictures and enjoying your travels. I have a small MH 23' but it is much more fun to have a friend to travel with and share the experience I think. Hope to finish reading soon but right now its time walk Fred and get my day started.
    Thanks for the journey

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