Oregon Coast Side Trip: Day Seven!

July 13, 2026: Overnighting at Blue River Reservoir on this tiny country road was quite possibly the quietest night I've had in Oregon. No traffic all night and the boating parties went home yesterday afternoon. So nice!

In the peace of the morning, I cleaned out the van. I try to do this once a month by emptying out the innards, dusting or washing every surface, and vacuuming the carpets and fabrics. I haven't done it for a while since I avoid doing it if parked on dirt or grass for fear of ticks or other bugs. I don't want any kind of bug infestation. Periodic cleaning deters bugs, mice, and mold. Mold loves dust.

At this time I also go through every tote to see if there is anything I haven't used and garbage it. There are things I am storing for my future home like baking dishes, ceramic containers, bowls, art, lightbulbs and now a bag of hubcaps. I really wish I could find a base so I didn't have to store all this unnecessary stuff in the van which takes up too much space! I ruminated and worried about my mosaics being stored in a woman's garage in Tucson. She said she'll only store them for a year. Well, a year is almost up! Then what do I do? This causes me too much stress and I've almost made some bad decisions buying property just to have some place to put those mosaics!!

Today is a lazy day...

I have a pile of books here in the van. Some of them I get from  the free shelves at libraries and I keep them handy should I come across a little corner neighborhood library. I love those. I stop and look whenever possible and exchange books I've read for new (used) books. This way I don't have to spend money on a book I have no idea if I'd like or not, and I can keep the books as long as I need until I feel like reading.

Today I felt like reading and it's a story about a vampire. I realized too late it's a romance. Eeeewww! I've had this book for maybe a month? I can't remember where I found it maybe in a little town in eastern Oregon? Anyway, I open it and there is a bookmark of Vincent van Gogh with Sunflowers on his jacket! Nice bookmark - double sided which is unusual and clearly higher quality than one without a double side. I love getting gifts from the universe. I feel a little bad that someone might not have realized they left the bookmark in the book when they donated it, but like I said, I cannot remember from which community I found this book and I'm not going to spend $40-$100 in gas to try to return it to its owner. So I'll be thankful and then pay it forward eventually.

I stayed at the Blue River Reservoir again. As I'm laying in bed for the night I hear a loud crack and crash. OMG! I looked outside but didn't see anything except the wall of dirt/cliff across the road. All of a sudden I'm paranoid a tree will fall on my van! I'm not being unreasonable! It could happen. Wouldn't that be a nightmare? Would it push me off the ledge, over the cliff, into the reservoir 100 feet below? Damn, the useless things I worry about!