There's No Place Like Home

We got back to Phoenix on Thursday and are still unpacking the 5th wheel and cleaning things up. The house was in fantastic shape (Thank you, Christina!!). It's taking time to adjust to the heat again. The best part of being home is seeing family. We had dinner with my Dad and Marilyn Thursday night and with Pam, Mike and Sophia Friday. Brad stopped by Saturday to check out the 5th wheel for hunting in November and I had lunch with KC and Joy. Here's a picture of Grandpa before losing the beard!

We both are finding the house a HUGE space with much too many things and I'm determined to have a garage sale and clear it out. After 5 1/2 months of living with so much less it seems silly to keep so many things around.

This blog is going on hiatus now until our next prospecting adventure. I may launch our own website this winter but I spent way too much time with the PC on my lap this summer and now I've got to work on getting rid of the lap! I know life itself will continue to be a wonderful adventure.

Day's End

Mike took a fellow prospector into the Medford Airport this morning and when he returned we started packing up for the journey home. There are so many things to do, that at the end of the day I just wanted to experience the quiet of this mountain area little bit more before we leave. I took a drive and tried to capture the rising moon reflecting on Elk Creek.

I have a poem that I saved from Jan, about reflecting on the end of the day that fits well for reflecting on the end of our stay. Here's the link to it: End of Day.
I hope we've "left a trail of kindness" with the people here in Happy Camp.

A Little Diversion

We had planned to go to dinner at the Oregon Caves Chateau later this week and decided to make the trip today instead. We headed over the mountain, where some of the flowers are turning to puffy seed.

The caves are 20 miles outside of Cave Junction, Oregon. Mike stopped at a dentist he'd found online who agreed to see him right away so I set off to wander while he got some fillings done.

I love thrift shops so I stopped at the local Senior Center Thrift Shop. A patron had recently dropped off his entire book collection and I enjoyed picking out a few old gems. A reprint of "Ladies Indispensable Assistant" from 1852 is a hoot! Satisfied with my finds, I picked Mike up and he drove up to the monument.

We didn't tour the cave (not a good idea after fillings and without jackets) but planned on saving that for next year.
We had lunch at the 30's style cafe (I tried to make the picture a little Hopper-esque) and looked around the chateau. It's built into the marble canyon and would be a nice place for a romantic weekend.

I snapped a shot of some very forward blue birds who seemed offended after posing and not getting any treats.



The lunches were huge, so we brought the leftovers home for dinner and settled in for the evening. We're heading back to Phoenix next week, me via Reno and Mike through California. Can't wait to see everyone again!

Home Fever

I took a ride into Cave Junction today for some groceries and gas and to trade in our summer reading at the Book Exchange. It's a hour and a half drive over Grayback, as the locals refer to it; a twisty, turning road that takes you from the river level in Happy Camp, CA up and over the mountain to Cave Junction, Oregon.

The ride is beautiful, lots of tall pine and fading summer flowers and even a few trees starting to turn to fall colors. But, I have to admit, I'm yearning for bigger vistas - the long stretch of the desert and cholla cactus and Arizona sunsets. There's no place like home.

Capturing Nature

I finally got some pics of the hummingbirds feeding, not great, but pretty good without a super zoom lens. And I made another drive up Elk Creek Road, hoping to see Cougar Falls and Sulfur Springs. I found both roads but after a couple of miles on each it was plain the low slung Matrix wasn't going to make it and I turned back.
I did get some snaps of the East Fork of Elk Creek and the sun setting on the trees.


I also saw a bear scoot up the side of a hill from the road. When I stopped to take pictures it was so quiet I thought I could hear the trees breathe. We humans are so small.