Oregon! Going, Going, Gone

August 24, 2026: Drove down the mountain from the BLM land to Porter. Although this road was much shorter than the other coming up, the water ruts and potholes were really deep and scary. I went no faster than five miles an hour and cautiously negotiated the horror so I wouldn't bottom out. I prayed no one would be driving up it when it was so narrow. I can't back up in a parking lot, let alone a narrow dirt, potholed road with drop offs!

The reward at the bottom of the mountain was this lovely covered bridge at Grave Creek:

Continued to Golden, a "ghost town". Right on a paved road - my kind of ghost town!! So many of them are located up a dusty dirt road. Had I known they had plenty of pull offs and no "no overnight parking" signs, I would have stayed here last night! I considered for a minute to stay, but after a cool morning, the temperatures started climbing to the nineties!

I love me a church!!!!

Old Barn in the Distance

General Store

Schoolhouse

Blacksmiths Shop with General Store Behind

Love the outhouse!

Yes, someone had to hang this sign inside the outhouse door!

No park host...

This might be fun...if it wasn't so HOT with stinky tourists stopping all the time. 

After touring the ghost town, I hiked the mining area on the other side of the road. Not much there except a bunch of dried up ponds. I continued down a dirt road for about a mile. Still nothing only trees and dried grass. I was hoping there would be some old houses or buildings.

I jumped on I-5. Oh, how I hate freeways, but it was either freeway or dirt road for four miles! I drove two and a half hours to Klamath Falls where it was 89 degrees. I passed the Great Meadow Sno-Park on the way and it was only 82 degrees. Went swimming at the Ella Redkey Municipal Pool in Klamath Falls. Then drove another hour east to the Quartz Mountain Sno-Park for the night where it was 81 degrees.

August 25, 2026: Beautiful morning. Cool. Quiet. The eastern end of Highway 140 has so much less traffic. I cleaned the inside of the van, reorganized totes, washed the ceiling covers, and hung everything to dry. Had a nice relaxing day! Stayed another night at Quartz Mountain.

August 26, 2026: Another beautiful, cool, quiet morning. Did errands in Klamath Falls. Went to the post office...my voters ballot that I paid $15 to have forwarded...I don't think it ever showed up. It's not at the post office. It was never sent back to my mailbox after 30 days. I wonder if it was sent back to Pima County Voting Office? Hmmmm...? What a waste of money that was! Shopped at stores. Finally found a lid that would fit my five-gallon bucket! It's the little things that give me great joy!! I did one load of laundry plus one more washing of the Pendleton wool blanket! The stink is gone!!! Finally after five (?) washings! Car washed Big Blue. Did some lap swimming at the pool. The lap section was EMPTY! I was the only person for the first thirty minutes. That was followed by a water aerobics class that is always fun with wonderful women. It's been a very busy, productive, exhausting day, but good exhausting! 

My sinus problems are back...ugh. This was a problem the whole time I was in Arizona. It only cleared up once I got to Northern California and Oregon. I can only assume spending so much time on the damp and humid coast and then coming to Klamath Falls which is dry and dusty is causing this. It's not as bad as when I'm in the desert states of Arizona, Utah, Colorado or Nevada, but it's no fun. I also have a mild headache. That makes me wonder if this is due to altitude change from coast to dry, hot mountains? I have no idea, I just know it's miserable. Again, I have no idea where to be! It's either mold, the inability to breathe, or out of my budget. Not much of a choice! I'm planning my route, but there are wildfires on both the eastern border AND the coast of California.

Overnighted at the Great Meadow Sno-Park where I stayed last June when I was hanging out in Klamath Falls for three weeks. Nothing has changed: great internet service, beautiful views, but garbage is all over and too many people in RVs with dogs wanting to cuddle up close. (What is that?)  The overhead flood light has burned out, but I'm fine with that. I hung the wool blanket to dry. Weather is a little cooler at 81 degrees.

August 27, 2026: Cold morning! Condensation all over the inside of the windshield, but no where else thanks to the MAXX Air ventilation. Sunshine around 8am. The temperatures are going down! It's only supposed to be 78 degrees today! Loving it! Rain is forecasted. Not loving that!

Sinuses are better, but headaches are awful. So I take some pain-killing drugs with food and my stomach starts burning. There is no winning here!

August 28, 2026: It's almost September!!! So hard to believe. Cold morning. I went swimming. The lap pool is nearly empty every morning and the water was quite warm! Love it! Klamath Falls was getting hot so I moved back up to Quartz Mountain.

August 29, 2026: I met a woman on one of the van life groups. She was advertising for women who would want to park at her property and in exchange help her out. She just moved to forty acres two months ago. She is EMF sensitive so is purposely isolated, unable to drive to most places due to the overabundance of cell phones and other EMF emissions. Since I had been looking at property in the area and I was already nearby, I was curious and thought it might be fun to help, find out about the area, and kill some time before heading to Arizona. She had all kinds of ideas on how I would live there either on the property or in her house. Hmmm.... 

Of course, I had all kinds of concerns, worries, and stresses. She wasn't chemically sensitive so would she understand my limitations? Would she be fragrance-free? Was there mold on her property? Could I turn off my phone, computer, rat beeper, Bluetooth, and Bluetti to keep her safe without feeling cut off from the world? How would I cook with no power? How can I check emails? Would she expect me to work fulltime for this parking spot? What kind of work? Would I end up overexerting myself causing an autoimmune attack? The area had wildfire smoke issues with air quality index up to 362 a few weeks before. I ventured forth chanting as usual, "It's an adventure!" I commented to several people she might be a serial killer so it would be the last time they'd see or hear from me!

The previous owner left skulls all over which was very discombobulating
to turn around and be faced with death so I gathered them up and made a "skull tree" to serve as
a talisman to keep evil at bay. More like art than death premonitions. 

We were very much a like with everything and got along very well. The exception was I'm MCS and she's EMF. There are things I can't do that she can and things I can do that she can't which might have made a good partnership. I thought maybe I could stay two weeks.  She definitely needed help as it was a mess. Not only had she had multiple moving van deliveries of her own belongings, but the previous owners left a lot of everything! The buildings on her property were fairly toxic with piles and hoards of old, musty stuff. Two huge shipping containers filled to the ceilings, an old mobile home, a tiny house that the previous owner incensed (what is wrong with it that she needed to scent it?), a carport and a barn. Her boxes needed to be unpacked and organized which is something I normally love to do. In addition, propane, gasoline, rat poison and she planned to use the wood stove when the freezing temperatures arrived. 

When we initially communicated through messenger, she said she'd want me to make deliveries to the post office, grocery shop, help her with the computer. That seemed doable and low level work that I could easily do without too much physical exertion.  I overdid it the first and second day: hauling branches to a burn pile, cutting barbwire and stacking pieces, carrying firewood, helping her lift doors, plywood, boxes and shelves. I loved having something to do besides sitting in the van driving, but it was too much. She kept asking me to do all kinds of physical labor. I totally understand as a single woman needed an extra pair of hands to get things done. I was exhausted every afternoon nearly catatonic with autoimmune attacks. This is not safe, but I just couldn't tell her no. So much needed to be done and I am compulsive with fixing and organizing.

We ozoned the tiny house. I had my doubts ozone would work to clean the house enough to where I could live in it, but I was curious if it actually worked since so many van dwellers use ozone on their vans if they get mold. I helped her empty the tiny house carrying everything outside and I added my books inside. It didn't seem to clean the house or the books much. 

On the third day I was feeling pretty exhausted and sick, nearly unable to move or think. It was supposed to start raining and rain for a week and the thought of being parked in mud didn't appeal. After I went to Klamath Falls to grocery shop for her, I drove back and the whole landscape was covered in smoke. That was the last straw.

Wildfire smoke so bad the hills are barely visible!

I stopped at the Forest Service office in Bly and the ranger told me further east two more wildfires started and south near Reno a few other fires! The wind was coming up from the south spreading the smoke. My throat was sore, my lungs hurt, and headaches began. I decided to leave. My new friend was very disappointed to lose her new assistant, but it couldn't be helped. I was exhausted from the autoimmune attacks, sick from all the toxins and the exhaustion, unable to breathe due to the wildfire smoke, and eager to get out of there. It seems my limit is two days anywhere I go.

I drove west back to Klamath Falls and stayed at Indian Tom Lake where I was last May. I could see the smoke to the southeast. It was so thick Mt. Shasta wasn't even visible!