June 8, 2026: I stayed near Spray on the John Day River. So beautiful. Although I was right on the highway on a huge pullout, it was very quiet all night.
June 9, 2026: Drove to the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument: Painted Hills Unit. I had no idea if there are really fossils here. At first I didn't even think anything looked painted until I drove around a corner. I hiked up a mountain, but the best views were from down below.
Redmond has a little health food store where I had hoped to replenish my vegtables, but they didn't have produce! Or meat! It's really hard to find good food in these little towns even in Oregon which normally has excellent healthy options.
Madras reminded me of New Mexico with a lot of poverty. Of course my perception was based on the laundromat. It was a convenience store with top loaders, BUT the dirtiest laundromat I've been in so far!! Half the machines were not working. Homeless milling about. One woman couldn't stop following me around and talking to me about her dead mother and all her mother's belongings. I could not wait to get out of there, but I needed to wash my duvet so I could put my new wool blanket into it and hopefully seal its toxic dyes. Laundry in Madras was not a good experience!
On my way to a campsite that sounded lovely, I initially I started down a 7.5 mile dirty, dusty gravel road and thought, Nope. Not doing this. So I turned around and drove fifty miles northwest to camp again on the edge of the John Day River on BLM land near Clarno. The road in was large gravel/rock with some dust, but not nearly as bad. Very windy! But the sun is out and no chance of rain! Hooray!
It's so gorgeous and quiet here. One camper is farther down the river (they left the next morning). If I wasn't running out of food, I'd stay forever. I'll stay for as long as I can... I hung the wool blanket out in the wind. I don't think that will help, but I don't have enough water or vinegar to handwash it. The gorgeous butterflies are as big as birds.
June 12, 2026: I drove three hours to a Whole Foods today! I was out of food! I couldn't help myself! Sometimes one just needs a glimpse of civilization.
I got up at 5am and headed out hoping to avoid anyone coming in on that one lane gravel road. It worked! Headed to Shaniko. Beautiful, quiet drive. I noticed a mountain. Mt. Hood, I think? Then I glance to my left. Another mountain??!! Then up and over in front of me. Another mountain!! Good lord! I was surrounded. I had to take highway 97 south and found a whole range of mountains! So gorgeous!
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| As I drove west, Mt. Hood got bigger and bigger. It was shocking to turn a corner in the Mt. Hood National Forest and come face to face with a gigantic view! I couldn't take photos since I was on a highway! (Someone later told me this is Mt. Jefferson. I have no idea.) |
I wandered the streets of Shaniko at 6am. I was here about ten years ago so it wasn't new, but still fun.
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| Love these Black Eyed Susans outside the warehouse. |
On the way (I cannot remember which town), I stopped at a car wash. With all the country camping I've been doing driving up and down dirt roads, Big Blue was incredibly filthy and dusty. The car wash looked like any other...all too soon I discovered their soaps are flourescent pink and SCENTED! It wasn't just a mild scent either. I think they must have thrown the whole bottle in when it should have been a tablespoon. I stopped with the soap and rinsed everything off. That was nasty! I don't want the outside of my van to stink!
I've seen four covered bridges so far! They are all over! I always knew this about Oregon and the first bridge I saw was years ago up in the northwest corner. The first one I saw on this trip I accidently and delightfully drove under before I even realized what was happening. The rest so far were just off the highway usually with a line of cars. I always worry Big Blue wouldn't fit as there was one covered bridge in New England that was too short for my van and many of them are very narrow although most are now considered "one lane" so you have to wait your turn. I don't feel the compulsive need to drive over (under?) one, but I like looking at them for some reason. At one bridge today the car in front of me slammed on their brakes to turn, and I almost back-ended them. Idiot tourists.
Next I drove to the McDowell Creek Falls Park and hiked to the four waterfalls. Naturally, I had no idea where I was going so I ended up overhiking. This is Majestic Falls:
I can't even describe how badly I wanted to jump in that pool with sweat pouring off my face! I headed east on highway 20 and stayed overnight at Lava Lake Sno-Park. Very quiet and peaceful night.
June 13, 2026: Headed to the Belknap Springs Resort for some hot springing in the Willamette National Forest. For $12 you can soak for an hour. It was so nice since I haven't had a proper shower for two months or a bath for almost a year! When I got out my old, dead skin was flaking off. There went my tan! It was gross, but now my skin feels so good! Unfortunately, the pool was chlorinated. Eeeewww....they have showers for use, although they weren't very good, mostly cold with a mildewy smell. I asked to see a room (to check if it smelled of mold), but they were full. I was told they don't use air fresheners. I would think being next to a river and having a hot springs just outside might create a mold issue.
After the soak I hiked to the Secret Garden behind the resort and over the river. It was so secret I got lost, of course. Getting lost and overhiking while hiking is expected. It was so cool how it was way out in the woods, hidden and secret! I would love a secret garden just like this one with waterfalls, ponds, and cement pillars tucked into a forest!
Next I headed to Eugene to the Sundance Health Food Store just to check it out. Very nice people in Eugene. I then drove out on Highway 58. I'm zig-zagging back and forth through the Willamette National Forest just because it's so beautiful. This highway followed the most beautiful teal-colored lake filled with people in boats and paddleboards. It's a busy Saturday.
I stopped at McCredie Park. There is normally a day use fee of $5.00, but today was one of the free days so although I spend my morning sweating, I couldn't help but stop and check out the hot springs-in-the-wild down by the river. OMG! It was HOT! I did not get in. No one else was there. I was honestly afraid I'd get so hot I'd burn myself or I'd pass out and drown and with no one there...well...and what would I do if a bunch of men showed up while I was hot springing? Hmmm...can't be too careful.
The other day I was considering the disadvantages of traveling alone. This was while I was staying at the John Day River. I wanted to go swimming in the river, but there was a cliff. At my campsite someone carved steps out of the dirt so I could have gotten down there and jumped in. But then I wondered is the current too swift? Is there an undercurrent? If I try to get out would the dirt get wet and I'd slip unable to get out? If I drown would anyone find me? How long before someone would wonder why that van has been sitting there for too long? Maybe someone would steal my van and no one would ever even think I had disappeared unless someone found my dead and bloated body downstream...but then how would they identify me? These are questions that run through my paranoid brain when considering safety. The same questions I had when I was staying at the river campground in Montana and wanted to jump off the dock. Then there is hiking alone. Suppose a bear attacks me and carries me off into the woods? Or I slip off a cliff or even something less life threatening like breaking an ankle alone on a trail and unable to walk miles from the trailhead. It's going to take a long time for anyone to wonder why my van has been sitting there for too long. Someone just might give me a ticket and not even wonder. How long would it take for anyone to wonder where I went? Traveling as a woman alone has it's own special worries. Traveling with someone I would have no hesitation to jump in a river or a hot springs. These limitations often irritate me.
Stayed at the Lake Mary Sno-Park east on Highway 58. I love these Sno-Parks. I'm usually the only person. During the winter between Nov. 1st and April 30th you must buy a "winter pass" but any other time is free to park. Pavement parking which is always better than dusty dirt. The only disadvantage is they are off the highway so until sundown there is some traffic noise. Well, and since they are up on a mountain, internet and cell phone reception is non-existant which is inconvenient. Most of the time I can hook up Starlink, but I don't want to leave it on too long or I run out of gigabytes.
Mornings can be cold on a mountain before the sun reaches over the pines, so I drove about twenty miles to heat up the van and parked on a highway pullout with a view of Clear Lake while I checked emails and did computer stuff.
Headed to Bend. The Whole Foods in Bend offers free Primo water refills! This is the only time I've ever seen free Primo water refills!! They also sell single cans of Spindrift for about $1.50. Most stores sell singles for $2.50 which is outrageous since you can buy a box of eight for around $6.00.
Then drove straight down to Klamath Falls and then east on Highway 140. I considered staying at a reservoir off Campbell Road, but when Google Maps said "4.5 miles of unpaved" and others warned WASHBOARD! I changed my mind. I headed to the Quartz Mountain Sno-Park where I have spent a night before. I arrived and on a whim I was curious where the road behind the parking lot went as I've seen vehicles come up it. This is how my plans change every fifteen minutes! The very narrow, but paved road twisted for about fifteen miles to Lofton Reservoir in the Fremont-Winema National Forest. On route a bear ran across the road in front of me!! He was brown, small, and quite sprite.
I really had no idea where I was going, how long the road was, nor what to expect at the end of it. That is the true definition of an adventure! The bear sighting was the bonus! I was thrilled to find something so beautiful out in the middle of the wild and I was so tired after a day of driving, I didn't even care it costs $6.00 a night which is pretty cheap for a campground. I was really happy to find out with my National Park America the Beautiful Pass I get a discount so it's only $3.00 per night. Please note, this is only the third campground I've paid for in two years! I bought two very quiet and peaceful nights. Well, other than the hyperactive, twitchy-tailed rodents harassing me constantly. I'm really getting to hate chipmunks. Or "squishies" as I now call them since I ran over that one last year.
The next day was a scorcher at 87 degrees, but I took advantage of this, handwashed my new wool blanket rinsing it in vinegar to hopefully set the dyes, and hung it to dry between two pine trees. It didn't shrink...yet.
After two days, I headed back to Klamath Falls.
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