GETTING OUT OF DODGE PART 2

Thursday was as cold and bitter as the days before it. We had to wait for my prescription to come in at the pharmacy so we stayed indoors and organized the camper. There are always so many things to do before we leave with the property, house and animals, that we concentrate only on bringing with us what we want. We toss it into the camper in random order and organize after leaving. This year we decided to seriously edit the stuff we bring. I left behind a lot of my cold weather clothes since we only had a few days of that to worry about. I reduced the shoes to a pair of sandals and my flip flops for the beach. Of those, the flip flops would get the most wear and are the most important. The reduction really made a difference, we had most things inside looking very tidy and organized without much effort. It is a small camper by RV standards, and functions much better with less clutter.

My meds came in by noon and we took off from Portland into the murk. The sun was depressingly weak and low in the sky, the traffic down the Valley was heavy all the way to Eugene, and we looked forward to a shorter day. We have not been taking this route for some years, preferring instead to putter down the Oregon Coast and through the Redwood forests of Northern California, but this time we just wanted the shortest, quickest way to the warmth and sunshine. From past experience we know that the switch occurs dramatically at the Siskiyou Pass, right at the border of California and Oregon and we aim ourselves for that as soon as possible.

Below is the Willamette Valley in low afternoon light. We're just approaching the hills near Eugene.

Beyond Eugene we enter the rolling hills of Southern Oregon just as sun starts to set.

Just as the dark set in, we reached out final destination for the day. Seven Feathers is one of our favourite campgrounds and coming this route we always schedule to arrive here at dusk. It is owned and operated by the Umpqua Indian Tribe on the same location as their casino and hotel in a snug private dip between hills on either side. Take a peek here:  www.sevenfeathersrvresort.com   Rick loves this campground after a long tiring drive, because all of the sites are paved and perfectly level, allowing us the freedom from unhooking for the night. The campground itself is luxurious, with heated pool and wooded and grassy sites. The photos on the website hardly do it justice. And if one is too tired after a long drive to cook, then the casino restaurant comes highly recommended. Just the right touch of comfort and luxury at exactly the moment you need it.

So good night Dear Reader. Tomorrow is climbing the Siskiyous and California beckoning from the other side.