Camping in Oregon

Vegas is...hot (among other things). Summer days are routinely 110F. If the wind is blowing, you feel like someone is blasting a blow dryer in your face. If it isn't, you begin to understand how a Christmas goose feels as it is roasting. This isn't the hottest place that Adam and I have ever been, but it is the hottest place we've lived. If you have been to Vegas, you know that trees, grass, and flowers do not grow here naturally. Every once in a while you will actually see knee- to thigh-high sagebrush rumbling along through the suburb as if it were cued for a sunset dueling scene in some Clint Eastwood or John Wayne movie. So, in August when the Vegas sun is at its worst, where are we going to go? I'll tell you where. Someplace cool. A place where the root beer flows like water. Where beautiful people flock instinctively like the salmon of Capistrano. I'm talking about a little place called...Oregon.

So we, (being who we are...) flocked instinctively to Honeyman State Park in Oregon. Adam used to go there as a kid with his family. It is a wonderful park with the ocean, beach, a lake, and a forest all within less than a mile of each other. Adam can ride his 4-wheeler in wicked high sand dunes, then come back to the campsite and go swimming in the lake. We did a lot of relaxing and a lot of playing. This was also our first time going camping with Oscar. Luckily, Oscar slept most of the time we were in the car. We stopped fairly often to re-tire him out. One of Adam's favorite rest stops is a large stop off of I-5 right near the California-Oregon border on the Klamath river. It's just off the interstate, but it is so quiet. You can hear the wind rustling the leaves and the river gurgling next to your picnic table. Every time we take the drive up to Oregon, we stop there to eat lunch.

We spent the first day camping on the lake shore with Adam's mom, Jan, her husband Don, and FOUR dogs...Soldier (lab), Simon and Keystone (bulldogs) are Mom's, and, of course, Oscar. Just for our own future reference...4 dogs+1 ball=chaos. We also learned that day that Oscar is a very patient puppy...the picture on the right is Oscar...after Adam buried him in the sand. Adam also taught Oscar how to dig...the video is at the end of the post...Oscar obviously enjoyed it and has recently been caught trying to keep up on his skills in our backyard.

The lake shore is just on the other side of the hill from the ocean beach which means...a nice white, soft, sandy beach. What always throws me off is the number of people swimming...including Adam. It wasn't even 70F...they must've all been native Oregonians...I was wearing 2 shirts, a jacket, and jeans and was still cold. Once we get to the lake, we take a nice little 5 minute stroll to the other side of the lake. There's a nice sandy hill and beach, and most people don't bother walking over there, so it is usually just us. It is also the same section of the shore where Adam and his family would play when he was young.

The best part of going camping in Oregon (when coming from Vegas) is the extreme shock that your eyes go through...everything is so...green. And it is so nice to be out in the fresh air. One of my favorite parts of this last trip was taking Oscar for his walk every morning before Adam woke up (most of the other campers were still asleep too). It was so peaceful. Most of the campground was still. Everyone that was up was still whispering to each other or talking in hushed tones. You could hear the trees, the squirrels, and a few crackling campfires. I love the smells of camping in Oregon, especially in the morning - the trees and moss, the damp earth, the breakfast campfires (and breakfasts!) of the other early risers - love it all. If there were a soundtrack for the morning walks, it would be something along the lines of John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High"...without the Rocky Mountains...

Having Oscar around camp definitely changed things a bit. We had to keep him tied up and keep the blue jays out of his food. We learned that our not-so-little puppy still thinks that he's a lapdog. Accommodating him is a little easier at home on our large armchair than it is in a camping chair. I knew that I would be cold up there, but we figured Oscar's a dog...with fur...he'd be fine. Not so. He was cold every night and every morning. So, at night, he would sleep under a blanket (or two) sandwiched between Adam and I. During the day when we were outside of the tent, we had to find alternative ways of keeping him warm. He was a little scared of the fire, so we ended up wrapping him in blankets everytime he settled down for a nap.

Adam's favorite thing about Honeyman is the dunes...fairly steep, loose dunes. We take the ATV up there so that he can play. He puts on the paddle tires and does death-defying stunts...sometimes on purpose, sometimes not so much. The dunes connect the campground and lake with the ocean. Oscar and I met him on the beach one blustery day. (It took us the next three days to get all the sand out of our ears, eyes, hair, pants, shoes, paws, fur....

We love the simple pleasures of camping. The biggest stress is making the fire for the night. the biggest decision is whether to play cards or catch. And, ah...the food. Mountain Man breakfast every morning, roasted marshmallows and hot dogs for dinner. What could possibly be better?!? Unforunately, you can't spend your entire life playing frisbee golf, bocce call, catch, and sitting around doing nothing. So, we celebrated our last evening at camp by heading out to the blustery beach again, this time to watch the sun set. Oscar loved the beach...

The next morning, we packed up camp in the rain (c'mon...it's Oregon...it had to rain at least one day), and headed back home. Of course, we took a little detour...