Rusty is Home and more on our trip

First I want to thank you all for your kind comments and positive thoughts and prayers for Rusty.  We just got him home.  He was on IV fluids and antibiotics all day and seems to be doing better.  The vet thinks he maybe got some bad water but most of his tummy problems were likely caused from stress.  He said Rusty should not be traveling on long trips.  Even though he wants to be with us, it is painful on his spine and that in turn sets up a stress reaction and causes intestinal distress.  The vet said Rusty has great heart and lungs so he should be good to go until his back legs give out.  No way to tell when that will happen.  The X-rays show some marked narrowing in his cervical spine and that is no doubt pinching some nerves and causing some instability in his hindquarters.  He does NOT recommend surgery on Rusty at his age.  We will most likely stick closer to home this winter as I do not want to be so far away and leave Rusty with a sitter for months at a time.  He is more important than our travel plans.  We will still take some shorter trips when we can.  Rusty is fine here with Christopher (our long time house sitter) but I want to be able to get home in a hurry if he takes a turn for the worse. 

 Also, we have not had Internet or TV except the first night we were gone.  I was so sorry to hear of the tornado near Al's place in Canada.  Thankfully it missed Bayfield, but nearby Goderich had some bad damage and even one death due to the tornado.  Al has some pictures of the storm up on the last several of his blog posts.

I also read of the approach of Hurricane Irene.  Hoping for the best for all of our east coast bloggers.

I also read an interesting post from a lifelong PC user who just bought his first Apple iMac.  Mike seems to be a convert to Apple.  I'm still a PC person but I liked the info in his post.  And Rick talked about how to avoid roaming charges on the iPhone...so I got caught up on some good techie info.  Now if I just had an iPhone and an iPad I'd be in business!  I am still wondering what to do about internet when we travel.  And speaking of iPad, Kate sent me some great photos from her iPad today and she had some wonderful photos on her blog.  Thanks Kate.

And now, here's what I would have posted on Monday, had I had internet!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

We left the KOA in Culver and headed for the Deschutes State Recreation area for our camp-out with Russ’s family.  As we left the park we had a great view of Mt. Jefferson – another reason to like the wide open spaces of central Oregon.


Like Sue recently said as they drove up Hwy. 97 on the first leg of their trip to Alaska, there’s a lot of desolate country between here and anywhere you happen to be going.  But even that has it’s own stark beauty.

We passed through the little “Ghost Town” of Shaniko but it was too hot and crowded to stop.  It was only about a block long of old stores and such and there were several rigs already taking up most of the parking.

The town has an ice cream parlor…

…a general store…



…a post office, restaurant, and a few other buildings and that’s about it.



However, we did find a retirement cabin for sale that we could afford.



We bypassed the little town of Antelope, OR but it has a VERY interesting history…full of intrigue and malicious plots.  You can read about the  bioterror attack ... lots of drama for such a small town.

As we traveled we saw stunning views of Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams.  Clear blue skies made the mountains stand out in stark relief.

I set a course on the GPS for the Deschutes park we were going to.  When we got to Moro, the GPS said turn on 4th St.  Okay…did that.  We didn’t see a sign that said anything about the Deschutes Park, but the GPS said turn and so we did.  The first hint of trouble was the sign that said, “No Through Trucks.”  But it didn’t say “no motorhomes” so away we went trusting in Sam to get us where we were headed.  The road was a typical country lane, but it was paved and wide enough so we figured it was just the back way into the park…besides there was NO PLACE to turn around.

We continued on to Foss Lane as the GPS instructed and when we arrived we saw it was nothing but a gravel lane.  There was a house on the corner and a hayfield across the street and that was IT.  The GPS said 20 MORE MILES on this road to the park.  NO WAY...we could tell by dead reckoning that we were no where close to where we should be.  So, looking at the road, the clear area in front of the house, and the hayfield, we figured we had just enough room to turn around.  Russ started the turn, missed the mailbox, went a few feet into the hayfield, and OOOPS...no way could he continue the turn.  Nothing to do but unhitch the toad, get turned around, re-hitch and get the heck out of there.  

As we drove away, Russ waved to the old lady who had been sitting in her deck chair watching the whole process.  Bet she has something to laugh about all week.  Spread the joy where you can!

We were still looking for signs to the campground but didn’t see anything.  Made it to I-84.  I asked Russ to call his sister and find our which exit to take.  “Don’t worry,” says Russ, “You can see it from the road.  Besides, there’s bound to be a sign.”  Famous last words.  We crossed the Deschutes River and there was no sign.  In desperation I called Alice and asked her which exit to take.  “Number 97,” says Alice, “There’s a sign.”  Exit 97 was coming right up but the sign said Celilo Park” …nothing about Deschutes Park.  Took the exit anyway and THEN there was a sign – but it was after the exit and no way to see it from the highway.

But we were there!  And it was blistering HOT.  102 F, which is HOT in anyone’s language!  Don’t you just hate getting set up in that kind of heat?  And no sewer hook-up (which we knew) and no dump station (which we did not).  We were 1/3 full on both tanks so wanting to preserve our resources, we opted to use the camp facilities.  After all our wandering around looking for  signs, we were ready.
 
Remember back when there were restroom signs with actual WORDS on them like ‘MEN’ and ‘WOMEN’?  Now all they have are those funny little pictures and symbols, which can be confusing if you are old and in a hurry.  Russ saw the handicapped accessible symbol and thought it was a unisex restroom.  He kinda wondered why there were several stalls and no urinals but didn’t think too much about it.  When we took a walk later he was telling me how weird the restrooms were and I pointed out  the sign with the skirted stick figure on it.  “That means women,” I told him.  OOOPS!   He did say that someone else came in and used the facilities while he was in there but at least the stall door was shut and the person probably had no idea she was sharing with a man!  Oh well!

The campground was pretty enough, right on the Deschutes River and lots and lots of very lush grass.  They keep the sprinklers running almost all the time in one area or another and it looks like it would be a very nice place to stay.  But we just could not handle the heat.  One night was all we could take.  It was so hot I just was not even motivated to take out the camera and get a photo.  Maybe next time – like in the late fall or winter!

We are now on the Oregon coast at Fort Stevens State Park.  More on that later – I have gone on WAAAY too long.