Sunday - Oct 18 - Medford - Jacksonville - Applegate Valley - Murphy - Grants Pass

Up at 755am.....used Walmart to get ready in their bathroom and later in Starbucks. Nothing beats a single user bathroom like what they have at a Starbucks. Was still screwing around getting ready at 905am.

Need pens.

Blogged about the trip all day till about 326pm....did mostly editing of photos I took the day before. Of course, later I started this rewrite. Next time tho....blogging about the trip is best during the trip.

Got pens at Staples and then went roaming around Medford.

They have ancient card readers here in Medford. At one place I had to type in my account number. Go figure.

Went to the city center of Medford. 

Reptile Guyz.

You can give plasma at CSL Plasma....at the shopping area!

Lumpy Food & Brew.

In the city is The Office Gentlemen's Club.

At Kai Fish and Exotic Animals there are stuffed animals in the window.

A lot of older homes here....tho not quite of the 1800s styles. By comparison tho....Yreka has many of those tho it is kind of a dead town there. A lot of the homes in Medford are of the 60s and 70s styles of homes.

I found Ashland to be quite nice. I suspect many live there and travel for some major shopping in Medford. This was true when I lived in the 80s in Mt. Shasta....tho bit of a ride if you came from there.

Medford tho sure is flat with mountains around it. And it's a bit plain.

I took a look at the east side of I-5. The mountains on the west side are forested, but on the east side are more dead looking.

There's Continental Golf...a huge place. Must be a lot of golfers here.

Tho for all the driving around I did...not too impressed by Medford. That was also true when I came up here in the mid-80s from Mt. Shasta to look around.

430pm - headed up I-5 north to 238 to take the back way to Grants Pass by going through the Applegate Valley....which is the wine country.

Just to note: eastern Medford side is a bit better in terms of housing and space...more livable. There are more industrial parks out that way too. Tho Jacksonville is pretty awesome. Medford is more about what you can get there before returning home to a nicer area to live. I think of Medford as the working town...and people living in places like Ashland, Jacksonville and elsewhere.

Noted there are two table mountains (flat tops and what looks like basalt cliffs) north of Tolo and Central....both north of Medford....great for climbing and hiking. Will have to visit that area another time.

Alongside Hanley Road were the group of sticked to the ground halloween zombies group...the "Haunted Field Walk". This is at the Hanley Farm there and has a haunted house or something like it. Oregon proves again to be the best for Halloween setups. Here's a picture of the zombies:

Jacksonville is in the west foothills and quite quaint. Like it here. Love the trees, vegetation mix, artsy housing and other structures. I could get very used to this. Very impressed here. I want to visit here again. It's still that 1800's town. J. Orth building 1872 ! Here are a couple of pictures from Jacksonville....one of a church and the other of a downtown saloon....the cars just seem out of place tho maybe the big black car is the gang leaders new 'horse'...and should I be careful of a shootout....

503pm now.....

Pair of Dice Ranch Road.

Sterling and Poorman's Creek roads at the Jacksonville Summit.

Skeleton on a tractor at 2955/238 sign post.

Logtown Electric....next to the Logtown Cemetery. Given the poor guy on the tractor....do you really want to use this company's services....I mean maybe if you want to go early to the cemetery as a resident rather than a guest. Might think about not giving that review. But then again the skeleton with the tractor might be the undertaker.

Fiasco Winery in the Applegate Valley....with a list of wineries on the sign. And about ten miles down from there is the Open Range. I'll guess Fiasco (on the tall sign and in red on the short sign) has a Boney Logtown Merlot and the Hunter's Cabernet. Personally, a wine tasting might be best on Pair of Dice Ranch Road ....the pair of barrels to toss.

A bit of turkeys roaming around here.

Took a pic of the gorgeous all green metal bridge at Applegate River crossing. Love the colors of the trees here. And this bridge just rocks.....

Apparently, here too the deer run around on their hind legs and the elk on all four. Yea....well that's what the road signs here show.

Applegate Valley is trees on the south side of 238 and fewer of them on the north side.

Got up to Murphy to the Hidden Valley Market...and I'm still looking for it....small town area...shouldn't take much longer.

Lots of dead deer and skunks around here. Must be the Killer Trucks Crew coming through here a lot.

If you're a getaway type...there's a church here for ya in Murphy: The Getaway Church. Jesus Christ is the man, his dad the godfather and the holy spirit is the driver. YOU should be skilled in fighting and wearing bandages and tape and carrying bibles in a violin cases along with a baptismal supplies.

As I got closer to Grants Pass I saw housing getting more livable and and things all the way around looking better like more organized and desirable....well after being in the country.

6:05 - entered into the Grants Pass area.

And there are mountains on both sides like Medford tho closer in and with far more hills. It's a tighter valley here....love that.

Saw a sign for new houses starting at an amazing $224,000 and up located at Hubbard Road and Redwood Highway. More than affordable to live here.

626pm  - went to the city center.

Pretty awesome two bridges going across the Rogue River ....the one that was on was SE 7th, but looking north was the three humps (arches) bridge. Go ahead look that up on the map in Google.

So far 1316 miles. 

Downtown is older made up mostly of arts, antiques and not much else. It's a little run down in places. There is one of those over-the-roadway signs on the main drag (6th) saying "It's the Climate". There are dress stores, furniture stores suggestive this is a everything-you-need-is-here kind of town. The one hotel/suites place I loved was the Redwood Hyperion Suites....wooded, nicely landscaped, the lighting, the pool....the overall layout was inviting like I'd like to live there kind of place. Drove past the Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre....very cool.

Drove up into one of the neighborhoods in the northwest part of town where all the nice houses and slight rising hills are and there was this one older 40s like two story house with a full width of the house covered porch that had a big blow-up cat's head on the mid roof area....for Halloween....that looked like it was watching you....the head would turn left and right. It was at 701 A Street near Dimmick. Very nice. As with much of northern most end of California and most of Oregon I have found that these people know how to dress up their places for Halloween. Here's a picture of that house with the cat on it:

Stopped by this one older house that had lit-up crystal chandeliers hanging from branches of this big old tree in the front yard (717 NW 4th Street, Grants Pass, OR). I thought what a great idea. I stopped by to take pictures. It really felt like I had entered into a whole different world staring into this array of light.

The whole neighborhood around this house and where Washington and Evelyn cross....filled with great and beautiful old homes. Absolutely love this area.

729pm - back to I-5 to go off to another part of Grants Pass. 

Found where the Walmart outdoor hotel is...off Redwood Hwy (199)....now I just need some food and a place to write.

Stopped at a McDonalds to eat and write. Left at 1135pm and crashed by midnight at the Walmart off to the east side of the store where all the truckers and others have crashed for the night. Decided that I really need a shower soon....chaffing a bit.

End of this day.

Saturday Oct 17 - Mt Shasta - Gumboot Lake - Lake Siskiyou - Mt Shasta - Yreka - Oregon Border - Ashland - Medford

Rained early this morning. That would explain the rainbow I saw coming into here yesterday on 97 looking at Mt Shasta.

Got good sleep again...this time tho dreaming hard...so the sleeping had to be good to do that.

838am.... off to breakfast at Burger King.

Learned there is a Starbucks up in Yreka (north of here)....so I can update there more. They'll be open till 9pm.

Seems like a lot of nicely busted and older women here...love that.

It's freezing in this Burger King here in the truck center area. I told the manager...and the reply was that she'll talk to her manager....and I thought she can't change the temp.....go figure. Spineless.

Considering to change the trip to go from here to Yreka, then Ashland, than Medford to 238 to Jacksonville to Grants Pass and back to I-5 and head up towards Roseburg.

Population in Mt Shasta is 3600 something.

Went to Lake Siskiyou. Saw a sign up there past the dam that said: Congested Area 500 ft....and I'm thinking yeah right. Did the guy that put this up just not realize he was out in the middle of nowhere??? Gotta be one of those installs where they have to spend the money or lose it.

It's nice out...warmer.

Saw two really beautiful homes up on the hillside (past the dam) so took a pick there of the wooden framed entrance....learned later the two homes were built by a cement mogul and are for lease for vacation uses....and I'm thinking for play....especially once I learned what's inside them. Here's that entrance tho.....

1140am..... Went way up WA Barr Road westside of the lake past the signs that tell you it's county maintained. Here is a picture of looking at a mountain to the southwest....so many natural colors here...

And then getting up to the rocky areas and high creek alongside...where the road really climbs up into the mountains. Stopped a few places to look around. There is a bit of petrified wood rocks and soap stones. Here is one of those high rocky areas with creek alongside.....

Drove up to where the road gets up to a Y split....left is the 40N37 forest road and right is the national forest road NF 26 (NF 26 is the main road that is also called WA Barr Road). So near this was this tree that I took a picture of....so pretty there all alone and rather unique....

Anyway....at the Y are two paper plates nailed to a tree....one says '714' with an arrow pointing to the right....and below it on the other one it says 'D. Bickel' with an arrow pointing to the right, but has an arrow pointing to the 'D.' with this written above the tail of the arrow 'Hil'. So I took the "D" route....it's a 40Nxx (something...there was sign...I just missed marking it down....the HERE map lists the road being called 'Gumboot Tie'). Here's the picture of the pie plates that were there....

Got up to a lake....Gumboot Lake (about 6300-feet up)...about 3/4-miles form the Bickel sign, parked and took a look around. There was a camper up there and lady there I talked to....and in the back of mind I'm thinking and wondering if she's safe now that I am up here where hunters and who knows who is around. I had mentioned that her clothing was nice with the red colors...outdoorsy...and she mentioned that she wears it so she isn't mistaken to be animal because of hunters up and about. She had asked me when hunting season starts. Older gal...maybe in her 70s. The camper was decent, not too old. She wanted to know about the hunters so if they weren't up and around that she could wear her green and brown outfits. That was interesting. I had told her that hunters hunt up here whenever they wish...she didn't like that much. Tho her being up here and all....I would think she would have checked with the forest service station before getting up here. Perhaps she travels a bit and lives in her camper....which isn't such a bad idea to see and be in places like this.

Gumboot is a small lake, but clear, green...a peaceful place to be for a bit. See the picture of it below.....

I think that when I lived here I couldn't go up this WA Barr Rd this high...it was blocked off. I did learn later that one can take this road go up to as far as the Trinity Lake area way west to highway 3 ....about 46 miles and according to Google map directions would take about 2 hours or so. I wish I had known this when I lived in Mt Shasta, but like I said the forest route might have been blocked off or gated. I did see a bit of a few cars traveling this high up so maybe some of those are going up that route. I could see it for some shopping in the Mt. Shasta area for those out in the middle of nowhere....perhaps better than say going from Trinity Lake to Weaverville....this route might be good for those at the north end of the lake or out by Callahan.

There was a sign at the Gumboot Lake area that said: 'Quiet 10pm - 6am'....ya think....I really can't imagine kids coming up this far to party.

There was a little bit of tree fog right by the lake.

Side Note:  I looked at some old notes about the time when I lived there and it turns out that back in '84 that Duane (he lived at the Mt Shasta Ranch in the cottage house where I lived too) and I had went up to Gumboot to fish. I don't remember that now...but that's pretty interesting. I'm glad I wrote that down back then and kept my notes all these years. I didn't note if we caught anything.

Drove back down ....thought it was fun. I would like to do more exploring up here tho. On the way down I had seen a number of paper signs nailed to trees noting that area was a federal mining claim....such as:   "ABC Diggins" and "Lucky Sacramento". I thought they were quite comical....like the movies.

Got down to Lake Siskiyou and went down toward the Mt. Shasta B&B and cut into the road that would take me to where Frances (the girl who was my girlfriend back when I lived here....very special person in my life for the short time she stuck around before moving back to the Los Angeles area) and I would go to go swimming....where I taught her how to swim. As soon as I parked there, on what was otherwise a no-raining day....it started to hail. I notice the water was way down. There were ropes connected to trees to ease getting down to the area where we would go.

I was suddenly overcome with a lot of emotion. We used to swim over to that tree in the center that was an island back then. The water was up a lot higher then too.

I noticed too that someone had built a suspension bridge just a few hundred feet west from here that was not there when I lived here. I felt the bridge was the wrong thing to put in this place...this wilderness...an intrusion of progress.

I stood about the area and imagined all that her and I had done there. I voiced about this place speaking to her wherever she might be. I dedicated this place to her and I....our swimming place...that she feels it too...at this moment. On the walk back up to the car I came apart. This place was filled with our memory markers still so strong. I had found yet another truly magical place....for part of 'us' was here. I hope one day I will find her so that we can share this place again....together. However, I learned later in the year of 2016 that Frances had passed in January of 2016 of ovarian cancer. I had just missed her. She had been living up in the Portland, OR area and perhaps some too at her sister's place in Grants Pass. She had been married for more than 20 years. To me tho....being in this place we shared....I can only hope she felt something before passing. I did contact one of her nephews in Portland who sent me a fairly recent picture of her and she looked amazingly of what I remembered. So that was nice.

I learned here....that it is these memory markers that speak to me the strongest, that gives me hope to move forward, to fill me with most joy, and that in these places of remembrance I am most fulfilled.

I didn't go on that bridge.

I remembered too that I didn't wear glasses back then. I don't think the rope was there back then either so it was kind of difficult to get down the slope.

I did learn how much more powerful it is to be where memory markers are then looking at maps or online maps.

Decided not to go back to visit the Mt Shasta B&B given my experience yesterday. I decided that at this point to treat it as a memory of only my past....untarnished by the new owners. I think the last emotional memory of it was during my visit there in 2010....so I can remember that experience when it was under the Larsen's ownership. I don't think the new owners were all that interested in meeting me. That would explain the business attitude in the conversation I had with the Karen who had answered the phone even tho I had emailed that I was coming and that I would be there another day then originally planned. I had thought they would at least tell the receptionist I was coming. Apparently, they did not. They played the courtesy game. A bit of a put off.

The red house is still here (at Ream and Palmer). I've always liked that house. It was here when I lived here and it was like a landmark ....so from the Carriage House at the ranch as I headed into town....if I saw the red house....I knew I was going in the right direction.....and then on the way back if I saw it I knew the ranch would be coming up soon.

I drove out to the motel at the south of town....the Swiss Lodge... I had stayed at when I had come up here on a Greyhound bus ....I had stayed there and from it roamed around the Mt Shasta area.....and yes...it's still here without much change. Very cool. Incredible when I think about how long of a bicycle ride that was from there to town and out to the ranch where I lived, out to Lake Siskiyou and up to Weed.

It's nice to have places I still around from when I lived here. It's like they are confirmation. And it's places that still hold the anchoring memory markers.....and I really needed that in this visit.

I do like it here....but perhaps to just visit. It does have that home feeling and I like that....a lot! I'm drawn to this area.

Managed to catch a gal coming out of the Over Bakery in Mt. Shasta as she was going to her car after I had parked....just south of the police station....and asked her if they made the organic bread I might have bought back in '84, but no she said, they hadn't back then.....that the store had only started up 14 years ago.

I stopped at the crystal store 'Shambhala Center and Specialty Store' on the corner in town next to The Secret Garden. It used to be a gas station tho I don't think it was when I lived there. I talked to one of the sales ladies there...she hadn't heard of the yellow raincoat gal, but did mention that she hadn't known that the owner had 'traveled' like I had mentioned. I think that she might have as she smiled about it possibly because others who have visited over these years have talked about that. She did say that she thinks that Dorothy is still around...but I later learned that Dorothy had already passed.

It was good tho to get confirmation of The Secret Garden being the book store I remembered. She did say that a few people show up every years asking about the book store. Made me feel like I am part of a kind of family in that way....special...which might be because I have given up on Christianity and can sense the spiritual of this place more than I have before. Curiosity tends to stick around longer than the more organized religions I think. That or my choosing to follow The Guides and Spirits has opened parts of this part of Mt Shasta more so for me to feel part of it more than I did when had lived here.

While I was in the store I was able to sense the energy of the crystals in the glass display cases that were on the tables by just holding my open palm about 2-4-inches over the glass....especially the quartz. There definitely is that draw here to that energy that flows throughout the area because of Mt Shasta and because of the many spirits here and the many memory markers here from my own time here.

There are lots of crystal shops here. I suspect I will return here another time and then I will take the time to visit them.

Side note:  Dorothy Kingsdale opened the Golden Bough Books store back in 1977 and later sold it to another gal Missi and again to Otto and Jessie. The Internet Archive has more info here about the store's history: http://www.goldenboughbooks.com.

I believe Dorothy was the owner when I lived in Mt Shasta back in 1984. The store location was at 219 N. Mount Shasta Blvd, Mt Shasta, CA. It is a Bed and Breakfast these days called "The Secret Garden". I believe the store opened either on the side or behind it. I don't remember a front entrance. Nor do I remember if there was a gas station there....tho it might have been and the side entrance area was bigger.

It was a bit of a hang out in '84 and of course there were the many stories about the lady who wore the yellow raincoat and galoshes (even in the hot summer) always taking people on trips into other dimensions. I never met her, but I remember seeing her in town back then. Two gals at the College of the Siskiyous had once told me that one of their friends (all three had gone to the high school in Mt Shasta at the time) had disappeared one weekend such that no one could find her, but that she did return having been on a trip with the lady in the yellow raincoat and that all she could say was that it was wonderful and clearly not on this planet. According to the Internet Archive (Wayback Machine) history on the bookstore it's mentioned she was the one who 'traveled' a bit...so maybe she was the owner back then, but I am not sure on that. I think that Dorothy still owned the store then. I do remember she was older. Tho back then...everyone seemed a lot older than me.

I took a pic of the Secret Garden and found out later that I had caught two people walking toward town on the sidewalk in it of which one of them was wearing a yellow raincoat. Stuff like this just doesn't happen every day.

There is a theatrical place here for music and the fine arts. Forgot to write down the name of it.

There is still that organic earthy charm here and where everyone waves to you when you drive by them.....love that.

Vortex Adventures.

I do believe I will come again. I like it here. Not so sure what I would do here...but now that the Mount Shasta Ranch is a memory I can store away....I'd like to explore a bit more here...especially since not being a Christian anymore. I think that I would see it different too because I am older. I find it interesting that the energy here remains, but the Chrisitianity I felt when I lived here is just gone. The area still feels like home tho...so that means a lot to me....even tho the energy of the ranch is past. I think that the next time I drive down here I'll feel that I am coming home again. Will see. I look forward to finding that out.

I imagine that maybe a shop here selling jerky, chai and coffee beverages might be a good option instead of working here for someone else since jobs would still be hard to come by.

Time to leave while I still have light.

3pm....left Mt Shasta to start heading up to Yreka.

Got some food at McD's at the truck stop area there in Weed. Looks like a storm is going north.

The door going into McD's had this sticker on it:  "push door pull door" ....no doubt donated by the school of the gifted.

Half way up to the top of Mt Shasta has been buried in the clouds the whole time around here.

And there there was the big down pour.

On those grassy, yellow, tan hills around the Louie Road turnoff from I-5 were the dotted orphaned trees amidst the small powder cones everywhere you could see.

Saw a sign "Wide Open Spaces".....ya think.

Saw a beautiful double rainbow that seemed to move as I approached and went past the Montagne turnoff. I could see it move across the hills. I don't think I have ever seen a rainbow do that quite like that.

It did clear up a bit, stopped raining....tho there were more white clouds about.

4pm ....arrived in Yreka.

Saw a sign on a building on the right side of the freeway:  "Coming Soon....Police of Yreka". Appropriately, down from there a real estate office called "Richter Scale". Not too far from there is the "Y More Liquor" store that was called, so the sign indicates, "Yreka Liquor Barn". Guess the town is getting ready for the new police force.

Lots of late 1880-90s houses here....like this on Third Street at the corner of Yama and Third.....

But I gotta say this town knows how to decorate houses here for Halloween.....the best I saw was on N. Oregon Street near Ralston Road (a green street sign of the owner of the property) between the cross streets of W. Lennox St and Knapp Street. Of course kitty corner just behind this house is the Yreka Community Garden. Has to be where the bodies are buried! Here's a few pictures of this set up at this house....located at 525 N. Oregon Street....(it's the Melbourne Dunn House built in 1906...sign on the house, currently owned by Tom Ralston....who sets up his house every year for Halloween and invites, for free, anyone who wishes to come by and go through the haunted house there too...you'll find info on that on facebook).....

Another house up closer to the west hills was dressed up with haunting nun skulls there by the red brick.....

There was one house on S. Gold Street dated 1865.....I'm thinking it's full of gold.

Looks like the grocery stores around here have been replaced with drug stores and hardware stores......folks gotta keep things hidden I guess.

I did mention the cops are moving into Yreka didn't I.....

But clearly....it is a very dying town, run down....and the people I saw about were more of the undead along with some walking with others....not really related to each other. Kinda creepy. Thankfully, I was here during the day.

I'm guessing the population here shows themselves only during the month of October.

Get this....a garage with a garage door and a roof, but no finished walls on the other three sides....and in the middle of the garage inside....an out house and absolutely nothing else. Wanna bet the car is in the house next to the garage! You might wanna rethink who remodels your house around here.

I saw an older lady dressed like she just arrived on a city street from back in the '40's....hat and long dress and all....holding the hand of a curly blond haired little girl...both walking up the street passing nothing but empty windowed storefronts....and not looking related either....as if the woman has captured another child to take into the world of darkness.

Drove past a bar....this guy opened the door and stood outside looking at me as I drove down the street looking at him...he wore trousers from the '40's and a white t-shirt typical of men who wear such shirts long past their expiration date or from spending too much time deep in a mine. I honestly think he was the undertaker on his day off.....'Oh just great...someone else from outta town I'm gonna have to bury!"

Compared to when I lived in Mt Shasta in the mid-80s.....Yreka has really fallen off a cliff and has dropped well past the bottom.

Alright....off to Ashland. Hit into the Andersen Grade Summit area about 501pm.....elevation 3067-feet. And I am in the rusty mountain area now with dark green scrag trees everywhere.

Got gas in Hornbrook..... 1206.2 miles so far.  Saw some hippies hitching for a ride there.

Going now to the next pass. Crossed into Oregon at 531pm. Hit the Siskiyou Summit ....elevation 3500-feet.

Between Yreka and Ashland is quite the climb into the high mountains.

Hit another summer....last one before coming in to Ashland....at 4310-ft. Then it's 7 miles downhill at 6% grade.

Hit Ashland at 543pm. Took Exit 11 into town so that I could go past the college here. 

These west hills are greener here.

What a blessing of a place this Ashland. I've always loved it here. Good feeling coming into town and seeing the South Oregon University. Well kept old homes here and in the hillsides....I drove through some of those. Love the city center. Hilly town and neighborhoods here too. Sledding in the winter must be awesome.

Drove by the Minute Market....took maybe 2 seconds.

There's a Van Ness road here.....for the little bit of San Francisco in you.

I love the town here, busy, people about, compact, and terribly fun and inviting. I hope to spend more time here on another trip. It's a walker's paradise of a tiny town with lots of little shops....and no vacancies. Any day in the week in this town feels like a weekend.

So on the way to Medford, OR.....

615pm .....drove through Talent, Oregon. Companies are always looking for talent. Now I can tell them where to find it.

Two miles to Phoenix.....now that's talent!

Drove by a storage place where the sign says they have climate control. Maybe I should open a place up across the street and offer global warming.

625pm ....in Medford.....at a Starbucks across from Walmart....blogging.

I am in a shopping area of town....like a lot of stores....not a mall....just stores everywhere. Went to a Shari's there about 930pm-ish....can eat there and be on the net. And they are open all night....so no time worries. And power is available too.

I do love a good Starbucks. Love it even more if it's late night. Great Internet access, decent speeds, and I get a lot done in them.

Looks like Homecoming guys and gals coming into Shari's....all dolled up. Gotta a lot of looks form a gal who could pass for another Erica....a gal I used to a see a lot of in Seattle. Nice.

Got out of Shari's about midnight.

Slept at a Walmart parking lot. Some of the homecoming teens where there in their cars partying some.

End of this day.

Friday Oct 16 - Klamath Falls - Crater Lake - Klamath Falls - Siskiyou County - California Border - Weed - Mt Shasta

Up at about 730am .....only AT&T reception in this area....so can't use the phone.

802am went to take a shower at Pilot and change clothes. Felt so good. The showers are always so clean in these truck centers. I used Pilot and Flying J locations.

Plan for the day....do Crater Lake and then head south to Mt. Shasta.

Got some water, jerky and gas....945am ....870 miles so far, 7.974 gallons, $18.33....at 2.299/gal.

Drove up to the industrial park right near here. ESI (big plant, tho parking lot empty), Asurion (parking lot full)....are just past the Oregon Institute of Technology...great view from the parking lot of ESI of Klamath Lake north end.

No Starbucks that I could find in Klamath Falls or a Shari's....so stopped for some food at Burger King.

Off to Crater Lake ....going to the south entrance.

It's about 1145am.

Heard a mexican kid in Burger King ask an adult there 'what's a Taco Time?'

Took 97 up to 62 to get to Crater Lake. Long drive some, but not bad.

At the sign that says "37009" is this toilet flower pot....I'm figuring that must be the Toilet Ranch....and I don't wanna know what they grow there.....but perhaps you can order a toilet bouquet for that special someone.

More of that ponderosa arid landscape....high dessert terrain, farmland, weedy, short trees.....ranches....saw a nice wood home. Went "A a a a a a a a a a a" at sheep and they all looked....'where can we get a car like he has?!'

Fish Hatchery at Crooked Creek......really! And it's on Weed Road.

Mountains up ahead and to the left .....and high hills to the right. Passed the Lake of the Woods turnoff. Well, they had to name it something....and it is in the woods.

Drove past Fort Klamath Ranch and the family of the Goodsons.....gotta believe that's one proud family.

Got into Fort Klamath....the town...and off the highway is an old late 1800s style steeple church, white, blue trim....and I stop to take a look and I wonder...where is Steven Wright looking through the windows to catch a glimpse of God without God knowing he's looking.....that scene is in the movie One Soldier. And by the way....I didn't catch God in there either. It's called the Fort Klamath Community Methodist Church....the guy that runs it is Pastor Shaffer. I figure the place holds maybe his family.

Saw a lot of trees changing colors like they often do in Colorado.....greens and yellows. I figure they're spreading.

Sign....Don't Burn When Windy......so I guess I gotta wait.

Reached this:  Entering Crater Lake South Entrance.

Really tall trees here. I'm figuring it must be always windy here. Not sure if the trees here are redwoods. The bark is lighter and really big like scales of it.

Very deep canyons here and water too.

Going up fast on the roadway. Stopped to look around the Annie Falls area....tho the fall are way, way down there in the canyon. More rushing over terraces rather than a tall waterfall. Didn't see Annie anywhere. Guess she must have fallen before I got there....that or she's skinny dipping and the trees are in the way.

The area looks really great for hiking... lots of rock to climb.

Looks like some of the park employees can live up here.

Got to the official entrance....$15 to get in.

Drove by the Goodbye Picnic (named) area. It's right by a bridge over a deep canyon. Bet it's famous for breakups.

Do love it here tho....so gorgeous.

Skipped the visitor area shop that first came up. There were more later up at the lake.

There is one spot off the roadway where I could see all of the Klamath Falls area....from this far away.

Made it to the top....Rim Village Cafe and Gifts here.....parked....and walked up to see Crater Lake...and I am in awe......just Wow!!! So blue. I am so glad I came to see this.

Here is the northeast side of the lake....

And here is the northwest side of the lake including Wizard Island. You can see the Lady of Crater Lake there at the center right of the picture.

And here is the Lady of the Crater Lake in the center of this picture.... made of rock and talus formations at the north-northwest wall of the crater....she's definitely the punk lady of the lake.

Walked around a bit reading the signs about it and talking to other folks there. There were a whole bunch of kids here....so I asked some of the adults there and was told they are from the Medford School District (I had been talking to a teacher). The students are brought up here twice a year....I had said how precious is that...what an experience for them.

So much energy here....the really good kind....made me feel renewed and fresh. The energy sends a strong message....to take care of this place, be cautious, to take care of yourself while you are here. That came through a number of times with a kind of loving gesture and a reminder. It's as if it is the kind of message from very caring spirits.

At one time this was a mountain....Mt. Mazama some 12,000-feet elevation, the magma below came up in fissures causing then the top to drop into itself forming the lake.

Saw a really big RV come up here....Dutch Star.

Saw a guy wearing a t-shirt that said "Misfit". The gal next to him was pregnant.....early warning I guess.

Talked to folks about my Mt St Helens experience having gone up there to see if it would blow....like what was I thinking. But the people here were curious about my story. Also talked about the caldera inverted volcano at Yellowstone.

140pm....went back down the hill....oh but what a great place to go see. Definitely will come here again some day.

Saw a number of older couples dressed up for outdoor adventures here....rather aged for many of them. Good to see.

No barricades along the cliff parts of the road so not much room for looking around except for a few quick glimpses here and there.

In the canyons there were these conical spouts of sand....they are pinnacles....blow holes of the volcanic days...vents....and the top of the cones....that was actually at the surface of a flat area...and it was through erosion that these conical vents were formed and made more visible.

I did see some of those signs where usually a company says they've adopted that road area....but I saw one where some gal adopted it....so...I think I will only date gals who can prove they've adopted a road somewhere.

Driving along 97 toward Klamath Falls....along the lake....there's a railway down from the right side of the road and there is this fencing just above it....apparently cars can get hit by falling rocks, but not the railway. Figure that out.

3:18pm....I am passed Klamath Falls now.

Mileage sign:    Dorris 7, Weed 59. Guess you gotta see Dorris before you get your weed.

330pm....carol called....so very nice of a conversation we had. Really loved hearing from her. I had told her tho that I hadn't called her because there wasn't any reception in Klamath Falls the day before.

I've drivin' into a beautiful valley....lots of green areas here just after the Siskiyou County sign.

Got to Butte Valley, then Dorris....I can see Mt. Shasta in the clouds. Drove by The Moody Brews. Went through the California state inspection station where they check if you have any fruit on you. It's an agriculture check station.

Very cloudy, lots of bright sun rays coming through.

Somehow missed the entry signs of getting into California, but I remembered later that it was that green field area where the entry happens. I think I had come into that once when I was living in Mt. Shasta and had taken a trip up to Ashland and then over the mountains into Klamath Falls and down 97 into that green area (where hwy 161 is just before Dorris) crossing into California.

Started really climbing a bit just past Mount Hebron. The trees are a bit taller here. Elevation is 5,000-feet. Thicker trunks on the trees. Still a dry area tho. Mount Hebron is 5202-feet high summit. Great view from here of Mt. Shasta tho heavily clouded over....very grey clouds.

28 miles to Weed now. I could see a lot of the area here burned....I had read about this fire. It was huge. Almost took out Weed, but it had stopped.

1036-miles so far on my trip. 434pm, at Grass Lake area ranger station, 5101-feet elevation sign.

I can see a really steep rise up from this point looking up at Mt. Shasta. Truly awesome area this side of Mt. Shasta.

Got a little bit of rain here. Took some pictures. Here's one I took of Shastina in front of Mt. Shasta....did it with camera on a tripod.....

Entered Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

$1000 fine if you litter here. Hey...that's less than in some places in Oregon. I wonder if it's less if the litter is burning.....

Stopped by the Living Memorial Sculpture Garden that lists the 2188 helicopter pilots who died in Vietnam.

This was new, not there when I lived in Mt. Shasta back in the 80s....and it was touching, incredible....had metal helicopter wire frames on top of the wall of the list of names. Powerful place of energy there. "A place to remember" is a poem written on the stone monument as you go into the area. The Marine Corps League of the 936 Siskiyou Detachment maintains this. There is also a labyrinth there...tho didn't go to see it.

Started raining a bit hard, lots of wind too at about Juniper Terrace Road.

(end of writings of the first book of notes for this trip)

(started the 2nd book of notes for the trip below)

At Juniper Terrace Road....looking to the left....I could see the rise of Mt. Shasta and to it's west side Shastina...and this stunningly beautiful rainbow overhead. I'll have to remember this viewpoint and come see when the sky is more clear.

It was at this point that a strong energy flow startled me a bit with a message that came up and through me...at first I could hear it inside me and then I voiced it: "I am coming home." It was as if I had been away a long, long time and I had finally returned. THIS was another magical moment....and I cherished it a great deal. I allowed this feeling to unfold and envelope me totally. "I am coming home. I am here. I am home,"  I said. And it lingered with me as I passed into this place. I was welcomed by many whom I had felt were there....whom I had driven into a passage of. It really felt that way. And I hadn't expected it.

I entered Weed with teary eyes.....512pm....still very emotional....I was entering into a area that holds a host of memory markers.....experiences too that I remember. I was coming home. That's what it felt like even here at this point.

I drove to the College of the Siskiyous....

and saw the dorms where I had worked when I was a Dorm Supervisor there on the weekends....lots of what I remember working there flooded my mind. I had worked at the Ponderosa Lodge dormitory. Next to this was the parking lot where I had sold my Electro-Voice speakers to a student. I remembered this one student Zenon (from Canada) who was this expert pool player. Nobody could beat him. And then the realist counselor in the other dorm who worked for the government for one of the security agencies who would go on various missions outside the country. Nice memories.....

Took I-5 to Mt Shasta.....525pm....stopped to use the bathroom and get some eats in the area where the Pilot truck stop was at....this is a newish area that wasn't there when I lived in Mt. Shasta back in the mid-80s.

I passed Black Butte remembering that I had climbed up the path to the top with Francis back when I lived here.

Took the first exit for Mt. Shasta to come in the north route into town. Saw some hikers and bicyclists....hippie variety....the kind that have never left Mt. Shasta....what I remember from back when I lived here....same style of dress...ragged hair.

Went to the Berryvale market tho didn't try to find that gal who wrote me back years ago about where the market was that I used to buy (with the roommates I had at the Mt. Shasta house when I lived here) organic bread....I just looked around....saw a lot of good food. It's a place I would shop for food in if I ever lived here again. They had Ovenbread....that seemed to ring a bell....it's made in Mt. Shasta....this might have been the bread that I used to buy up there at that place by the cemetery.

The people I saw in the parking lot of the store...it was like going back in time....hippies I would remember the look of....the vehicles....I could only imagine the conversations about good health, saving the environment, using used things....eating some things from what is found on the land.

Definitely better to visit now without all the tourists.

Before I decided to go up to the Mt. Shasta B&B (where I used to live back when I was 28 in 1984)....I pulled over (seeing the ranch there in front of me) to call Julian and Kachina Starr (the couple who had bought the ranch from Bill and Mary Larsen)....I got the receptionist Karen who was rather like she couldn't be bothered, I couldn't visit because they had locked up already, hadn't really remembered me and my name and the letter I sent until I further went into it....and I had called and wrote them that I was coming....but it was like they thought that was nice and all she said....but it was clear this was a business and nothing more. She said Julian and Kachina had left for the day and that she didn't know anything about when they might be back ....not even if over the next day or so...didn't even bother to want to take a message. To be honest....it was clear they didn't really care....I was pretty put off by the attitude. No openness at all ...not for tonight....not anytime.

When I had pulled over....and after the phone call...it was like a huge barrier went up between me and the ranch. I ventured forward anyway to see it from the outside. There was some energy there, but not much left compared to my visit there in 2010 when I was on my trip through the area as part of my trip to Virginia. I parked in the parking area there in front of the house. I noticed the grounds were not as well kept up....which was surprising since taken on by new owners. I thought they could use a gardener....but that wouldn't be me....I would not be able to work where I once lived since much of that energy that was there is gone...as if the spirits of the memory markers that were there ...that most of them have left. I think the Starrs won't take as good care of the place like what Bill and Mary Larsen did....for the Starrs this is a business and about keeping up the ratings to get more customers. Something about them was clearly lacking and perhaps it was that they clearly were not Christians. While I have left Christianity....it was who I was back when I lived there....and the focus of the ranch. That's now gone along with much of what the ranch spirit was what made it so special. I was bummed really ....I had thought the Larsen's would have been more discerning about who they would let buy their place, but perhaps they needed to unload it.

I had lived in the Carriage House behind the main house back in 1984 renting a room from Mary Larsen for $110/m....to which this Karen gal laughed as if in disbelief and certainly because it is so much more than that for just a night there. I didn't need the laugh....I had hoped for a compassionate answer...that's not what I got tho from her.

Bill is 72 these days, Mary is 74. They apparently were having health challenges and needed to sell the ranch. I had lived there before it became a B&B. I think, looking back, that it was a good time then....and that is what I will remember.

The Starrs made the website less of the country quaint and a lot more of the new age flair....something I would think that the Larsen's would have cringed at. In fact, much of the site looked to be more of the "I AM" crowd...that group in Mt. Shasta that was the folks who put on the so-called ressurection play in Dunsmuir. I am still put off by that arena of the "I AMers".

I'll keep the memory of what it was like when I lived there....but I won't seek to visit there on the grounds again....it's clear the 'gate' is closed...'not to enter, for it is not the same'.

I took the road behind the ranch that I used to walk on. The stream outside the fence of the lake on the north side...that's gone, covered up...I used to watch the fish that swam through it. The rest of the road are looked pretty much the same of what I remember.

I drove up to the area where the old organic store had been....I am still not totally convinced, but it has to be that one building there on the corner across from the cemetery...it just seems to me it was a brown house and I had to go up some twelve or so stairs to get into it. But there were memory markers there...maybe the house was demolished....just don't know. It's been so long.

The old Safeway in town is a Rite-Aid. Lots of crystal shops in town now. The backpack store Fifth Season moved down the street. The sandwich shop (that one of the church members from the ranch had opened) is gone. The mexican restaurant Lalo's is still there in the same location. The Secret Garden that was an eastern spiritual bookstore (under another name when I lived there) owned by the lady who wore the yellow raincoat who would take people to other worlds....that was still there, but the side entrance blocked....and the place had become a B&B sort of place....still rang of that energy that was there when I lived here....I needed that....landmarks that had memory markers I could connect with and feel what was special about when I had lived there.

I had dinner at Black Bear Diner in town across from the Rite-Aid store (old Safeway). The net was so heavily restricted I couldn't even get to my blog. Great food there tho. I trashed the restaurant on Twitter tho for having such terrible wi-fi. I saw eleven people there who mentioned they were unable to get to any of the sites they wanted to online. The excuse was that the corp of the restaurant didn't want people spending a lot of time eating there and being online. Tho I found it odd that Black Bear would say that wi-fi was unrestricted at The Treehouse. Are they kidding? It's like trying to lose business. So not coming back to eat in this diner or any of their other locations. The fish and chips I had were good...but without wifi to catch up on my blog ....the whole experience wasn't worth it.

904pm ....left the Black Bear Diner.

Went over to get some munchies and waters at Ray's Market.

I had planned to go down to Redding and over to Weaverville and up to Trinity Alps where me, John and Scott had backpacked....at least the campground....and then up 3, but decided to skip it....in part because I spent so much time in Bend and I wanted to make it to the Oregon coastline.

I crashed up at the Pilot truck center parking lot about 1030pm. I woke up at 2 and again at 5am. It was a very cold night. My lower legs felt like they were freezing. Leg warmers would be just perfect to have....I didn't ....so I used my arm warmers that carol had made for me. I eventually got some sleep, but it was an off and on night.

End of this day.

Thursday Oct 15 - Bend - Sunriver - La Pine - Gilchrist - Klamath Falls

652am ....left Walmart's Outdoor Hotel and headed up to the single user bathroom at Starbucks on 3rd.....and it was freezing inside. 

Talked to this old retired guy from south Florida (he remimded me a lot of my dad)...he and the wife had moved Bend after his working years....a number of years ago...and now he thinks they should move again. He's disappointed a bit. He and wife bought a house in southwest Bend with nothing but forest forever behind him.....and now that's all turned into more housing. He's been here 13 years....says it's too big now....too congested. 

He mentioned that OSU is building a campus here up by COCC (Central Oregon Community College) expecting to have 5,000 students there. Bend used to be just a ski resort town. Now it's sports fests year around. 

He says Brookings (because I had mentioned it as a possible place to go to move to next) gets a lot of rain and that it gets to ya. 

He talked of the fires here....some that really swept through the area....especially the one up on Hwy 20 ....the Metolius forest fire. 

He mentioned (because I did) that Mt. Shasta is likely nice now. 

When Bend gets colder....as the ski season approaches....it gets really crowded. 

He mentioned the pop was 50K when he came here. I remember seeing the sign that it was 80K now. I'm thinking I think I would like that OSU has a university here....I think it will generate a lot of opportunity, but I can understand his view too....he had hoped to have moved for the small town offerings for his last days. 

So I'm sitting there conversing and my feet feel more bare ....the cold is just going right through my shoes. 

A guy in the bathroom I talked to about my trip and Bend....he had shorts on. 

Got out of Starbucks eventually and went to look around a bit. 

The Source Weekly is off Franklin in Old Bend at the corner of Bond and Georgia.

Just sought of Drake Park at Kansas and Congress Street is all very nice stately homes mixed with the old town stuff...love that. It's kinda like a bit of Riverside, Illinois where by mom grew up mixed with a bit of older homes like that of Wallingford in Seattle....tho many of the older homes are either BIG or small. 

This house in Old Bend is a bit like homes in Seattle in the Wallingford area.....

This is one of the houses on Congress Street....

It's artsy here in Old Bend....funky...love that....like Riverside Market below:

Harmon Park area housing along the Deschutes River....a bit more money for these homes tho not as nice as south of Drake area. This home, near the river, was all dressed up for Halloween....

Bag Ladies of Union Street - consignment shop. Can I get a shopping cart there?

Like the Galveston Street area of Old Bend. 

Saw a deer at Newport and 14th by the roundabout there. 

Newport Avenue Market....need to check that out sometime. Independent. Neighborhood market. Good size. I'll bet lots of specialty foods, fresh veges and better meats and fish. 

Kanpai Sushi, Kebaba....and bit of restaurants here to check out here on Newport Ave. 

Went to Backporch coffee place to write. It's 935am. Got a peanut butter chocolate cookie that was to die for and a fav coffee: Ethopian Adamo. 

Very nice place this coffee shop. If I lived here I'd be coming here a lot. Cool sort of cold, but ok....warmer than the freeze at Starbucks earlier. 

Caught up on Twitter. 

People are happy here in Bend....it's very evident. "Happy" floods the energy here. I can feel that. 

114pm....left the coffee shop. 

Having spent a night, a day and part of today here....I could easily see living here. It has the natural wood look, just the right amount of vegetation, different neighborhoods, lots of outdoors, lots to see and explore, well kept just about everything here, good places to eat and hang out in, active sports gear places, decent stores....very self-sufficient all the way around. 

Decided to leave Bend and head down to Sunriver. 

Azillion Beads....on Greenwood Ave. 

Mini Pet Mart off-center dog houses. 

Lightening Lube. 

Eco-Kidz Preschool......1/2 the math problems and partial reading perhaps?!

Really great weather here for an October. 

Reed and 3rd....that's where the Starbucks is that I spent a lot of time. 

130pm .... 679 miles so far. 

Just Joe's Music.....don't get any ideas. No other soloists here. 

Got onto 97 at the end of 3rd in the south of Bend. 

131 miles to Klamath Falls. 

High Desert Museum......Wildlife.....what are these trees doing here? (didn't go to see it tho)

Lava Lands Visitor Center. 

There is lava at the edge of 97....it comes from a small powder cone. Tried to get to the Lava Lands visitors area, but it was closed. The area tho looks pretty cool ....lots of trails that apparently lead up to the top of the cone. From there I took Cottonwood and paralleled the freeway for a bit going south. 

The Lava River Cave was closed as well...but I could see it from the roadway some....deep....steep....straight down. It's closed Oct 1 to April 30....but I would come to see this if I lived here for sure. It's closed because during that time it's a bat habitation time. 

Took S. Century Drive off 97 for Sunriver.....it's about 2 miles from 97. It's far down from Bend tho....so this is why we had to leave so early in the '78 ski trip....we had to go up to Bend to get to Mt. Bachelor. The road from Sunriver to the junction hadn't been built yet:  see this article. It hadn't been approved till 1983. What was there was an old dirt road.

Took Abbott Drive to Sunriver (at the Sunriver sign roundabout area)....the energy is just flooding in from '78 when I was here. There is a lot new here, but it's clear this area I remember enough to be able to know what was here and what's new. 

I parked and went to look around. I took my old pamphlets with me. (note: Sunriver started in 1968.....so I was there in 1978 Jan 8-13....before any renovations, but four years after an insurance company had taken hold of it.)

These are pictures from the phamphlet on Sunriver I had from back in 1978.....

I first went to The Great Hall....I had noticed a bit of added building space around it and connected to it since I had been there. I did find the hall tho where the Ski Club in '78 held their dinners and raffles of the ski equipment (below of how it looks today....and it's exactly like I remember if from back then)

I walked in and stood at the door looking in....edged closer inside...and even writing this I am filling up with tearful emotion from the power of so many memory markers of my time there flooded in...I could hardly contain myself. One person was at a table on his laptop...perhaps staff...he had remained silent during my time there. I felt so many of those who were, back then, in that room....outlines of auras and shadows of the people who were in that room, the stacked up raffle prives of skies and related equipment, the tables dressed up for the meals we had there, the people at the fireplace end talking to all of us, and how the whole room was dressed up for Christmas time. The energy flow of 'welcome back' with opened arms flowed and grabbed hold of me. 

I spend a bit of time there looking about with water filling eyes. I was so enveloped in my past experience there that I just about fell apart. I had wondered if I were to fall to the ground and I not woken up it would be ok. I was in a place of home with good people and friends there. I remember the spiral staircase, all the natural woodwork and logs, the upper walkway, the huge rock fireplace. I could almost see the piles of ski equipment up to be given away to those who had the winning raffle tickets, people sitting at their table socializing, a faint set of voices lingering still throughout. This is a magical place for me....and I thanked Mary for making it possible for me to be here. 

Despite nearly four decades since being at Sunriver Resort there were enough substance of my past still about filled with the spirit of those whom I spent time with there. I had hoped for it and I am glad my hopes could be realized....I needed them to be....to touch and be touched by this memory I have carried with me all this time. I had taken the chance to learn to ski, went up with people I would get to know, taken the long train ride, the buses to and from, staying in what became a great resort and just go for a week worth of fun. And here I am in a place from so long ago reliving parts of one of the best memories of my life....the images of that time were here....and I felt like I had walked into a kind of home. My experience froze me in that room. And no matter how many times I read this now and look at this picture of this room...I am still taken by it.  

I went next to the main lodge not knowing what to expect. I introduced myself to the hostess inside and other women staff members and my reason to be there, showed them my old brochures of the place, learned what was redone and renamed, how the place has grown into a bunch of other communities now all referred as Sunriver tho not part of the Sunriver Resort set, explained why we had to be up early for the buses to take us to Mt. Bachelor to ski....they had thought why we didn't take the road from Sunriver....(well it hadn't been built yet I learned later). Potters Wheel is Carson's today....no memory markers there since the remodel....sometimes spirits don't stick around if there isn't anything to cling to....and that was obvious there now. Twisted now (bar, dance area) was the Owl's Nest back then....memory markers were there tho fewer than from back then of who spent so much time there. 

I talked to a couple there from San Diego.....she sells Windstar cruise trips, was born in Redding, CA. Her husband, who reminded me of another friend of mine (Rob), talks in that 'figuring you out and what to say' tone, but listening and wanting to know more of my past time at Sunriver. They agreed that Sunriver is the only one of its kind in the area, of what a truly special place it is. 

3:26pm now.....

I went to the condos likely that we stayed in back then...had to drive about some in some of the cul-de-sacs to feel the right energy to determine if, indeed, this is the right group....some were not, but I did find the right group. I could feel the buses waiting for us. I could see the snow about that was there back then, the cleared walking areas, parked cars, ski trip guests about. It wasn't as riveting of as The Great Hall....tho it was a more fun 'I was here' moment. 

Didn't go to find where the sock hockey was held....had later looked at the skate ring in The Village...but it didn't look familiar. Just not sure. Had thought it was near the Great Hall. 

You've got the high Cascades on one side and low mountains eastward....inbetween is nothing by flat for what looks like a 100-mile radius. But it's nice and Bend isn't really that far north of Sunriver. 

So left from there and headed south with the idea of reaching Klamath Falls. 

357pm ....La Pine....

What's up with the Vertical Church of God?

You can get broasted chicken here. 

This is a fly by going through it kind of town.....and I'll be the florist knows everyone. 

Stopped at the Wickiup Junction store for some water and munchies. Lots of Halloween full standup monsters in the store....very cool. They sell a lot of expired stuff. They got pin-head talkies, trapped in a mirror mirrors. Next door is the Broasted Chicken you can get at Vic's Bar & Grill. Broasted way of cooking is using a pressurized dryer. Didn't get any tho. 

It's flat around here like that of Athol, Idaho. 

Sign...."La Pine ...The Outdoors at your Front Door" - yeah, well it's out in the sticks. 

Turns out La Pine is bigger than just around Wickiup Junction. Really spread out housing....more like...damn Vern...it's spacey kind of place here. 

I can't imagine what holds La Pine together except maybe the cost of housing. But it's a drive to Bend. 

From La Pine one can take 31 to Reno.....ya know if you just gotta go and pull a handle. 

442pm ....I'm in Gilchrist....and here is a place you can go worship at the "Our Lady of the Snows".

There's a mill of some sort here....so I expect this is a company town. Dirt roads everywhere. 

And....this sign that tells you which direction to go ...well ....lots of places.....including Nampa...perhaps Santa's hideaway after Christmas......

Next was a town called Crescent....where you can buy guns, liquor and ammo (in that order) from Ken's Sporting Goods.....which you might need if you are planning on eating at the Mohawk Restaurant down the street. Drove through and around town here. Near 6th and Steven there is a guy who waves at you....well everyone who drives by I guess. It's that kind of place. You hang up your working days, sit in a chair and wave at people. 

This is a logging town. Everybody's real friendly....you get this feeling tho they might want to eat you. 

And then there is Riddle Road. 

Ok...so drove past Oakridge Eugene Highway 58 and the gauntlet starts....and it's getting hilly. 

And here's this big commercial truck and on the back is a big " O "....and I'm thinking the driver is just giving a heads up on what a zero he is....yeah, I know....Oregon State University.....like there's a difference. 

515pm....Chenault....so far 749 miles

There's a big ice cream cone sign next to a working propane tank. Must be the vanilla gas flavor. 

There's a Pilot truck stop here. 

Oh darn....it's gotten flat again. 

On both sides of this two lane highway are DO NOT PASS signs facing you. Really....that's a problem?! Or are there places you can pass if you are on the other side of the road?

Crater Lake turnoff.....530pm now, 759 miles into the trip. It would be 37 miles to Crater Lake from there, but decided to keep going toward Klamath Falls. 

It's 60 miles now to get to Klamath Falls. 

Oh....and it's flat some more. Oh... and I'm going downhill now. 

Can see Mt. Shasta from this far away. 

786 miles.....

Near Collier Park. 

422 exit 247.....792 miles....'Hello is this Vern?.......yes Wilbur it's Vern....did you say take the 247 exit 422 or the 422 exit 247?'
I'm telling you the Welsh are secretly moving into the States. 

Chiloquin National Park area. 

26-miles to Klamath Falls. 


At this point could take 68 for the 37-miles to Crater Lack....this is the south entrance. 

It's hard to believe that for the '78 ski trip that the Trailway buses drove this far from Klamath....I mean it's a long trip from there to Sunriver. 

I'm at a point now where there is quite the drop down (soon after mile marker 241 you'll see the steep grade sign with the semi-truck on it) as if from a side of a mountain all the way to the bottom....just have driven off a ledge in a way from one plateau to one lower. It's pretty cool. 

Eventually came to the start of Klamath Lake. At some points the lake is about 5-8 miles wide. The length is about 20 miles. But it appears to be quite shallow. Later I check that...and it's about 8-45-feet deep pending where you are. So didn't see any boats on it except way over on the western shore a sailboat....with what I would think would be a rather long keel. Maybe it's the wrong time of the year for boating. There were a few utility like boats about. Sort of surprised that there are not bunches of small boats or harbors. I looked later on a map and there are some really small harbors on the west side. Further looking online and apparently boating is in the Upper Klamath Lake area (the northern end of the lake). 

This area along 97 alongside the lake looked like a great place for sunsets because you can see so far west. The sun was going down as I came into the Klamath Falls area. 

Looks like lots of birds on the lake and many of them clearly standing ....so must be very shallow along the shorelines. 

628pm....reached Klamath Falls town. Pilot truck stop here....I could take a shower in the morning here. 

Turned off 97 for Weed Street later to visit the Amtrak train station, but wanted to drive about the area, find somewhere to eat first. 

Lots of arid looking areas and short trees. 

The Human Bean....they must be growing people and making a drink out of them. 

655pm ...stopped at an asian buffet for eats. Reasonable at $13.xx....got enough to eat. It's across from the Toyota/Subaru dealership. Finished eating about 751pm. Slept for any hour in the parking lot. Really needed that. 

I had no problem finding the train station that the Amtrak train had stopped at years ago when I went on the 1978 SJSU Ski Trip to ski at Mt. Bachelor. The train had stopped here for us to unload and get into the Trailway buses that took us to Sunriver Resort where we stayed. It as so amazing to be here. It had been 37 years. There is so much good energy here. I can feel the memory markers here, feel the 200+ of us here from that time....I was a bit in a trance walking the area between tracks and around the train station which I think looked about if not the very same as it did back then. 

And to my surprise, after spending about an hour here,....a train from the north was coming south, about 915-ish pm ....a Coast Starlight....the very same type of train that took us all from San Jose to here and then later in the ski trip back to San Jose. I didn't plan to be here for this train....I was just lucky. I sat on a bench facing the tracks at the back of the station. I watched the people get off the train. 

This is the current phamphlet about the Amtrak Coast Starlight train and schedule....

Waiting around for whatever (later that train coming in) I had talked to a guy who has worked there for the past 20 or so years.... he gets on the train there and works on it till the next whatever stop and then returns. I think he lives here in Klamath Falls. A number of people showed up to get on it and to greet those getting off it. He said to the other workers...."Just remember....everything I say is a lie." I said...'aha, another Star Trek fan.' And he says to the guys that I understood since they didn't get it. I mentioned why I was there to him. He was amazed about it all that I told him....the ski trip, SJSU, Sunriver, etc. He wondered where Sunriver was...I had said about 15 miles south of Bend. I had noticed he mentioned our conversation to one of his co-workers....some grey-haired guy. I was pretty touched by it all. So cool. 

I picked up some Coast Starlight schedules here. 

I spent a bit of time remembering. It seemed as if I could hear and see the outlines of us all there from back then. This was one of my best times on this trip. It does seem that experiencing memory markers is best when there isn't a whole lot of people around as if to make room for all those who were once there. 

I left the Amtrak station about 10 pm. The train had left about the same time. I'm guessing the buses took us from there to Main Street, to 6th, to 9th and north on the freeway. About the same route that I took this time around to get here. 

Again....thank you mary for making this possible. Another place of magic....this ski trip that I went on back then...I won't ever forget it. I think it is one of the very best things I ever did in college. 

I did come apart some at the station from what I could feel being there. Writing this ....I am feeling that now. 

I drove around in the dark checking out the town. 

Nerds R Us.....and later The Gun Store which happens to be across the street from the Klamath Falls Courthouse.....how convenient I suppose if you don't get the verdict you were hoping for. 

Town is old, run down...lots of vacant shops. Pretty dead town at 1025pm. I think the people who are there during the day are stored in a warehouse at night. Oh....look over there...a few bars and pool halls. 

Got down to Quality Inn area...big lake....later learned this is part of Klamath River called Lake Ewauna. Nice park here too. 

1041pm ...stopped at a Chevron north end of downtown to clean my windows...so buggy. 

Gigler's Health Foods on 6th Street....so fitting at times. 

Drove by a motel where the sign said they have a Babe Ruth Discount. I guess that means you bring in a Babe Ruth bar....or ashes of Babe Ruth....maybe an autographed bat or mit....

Outlaw Motorcycle. 

The Oregon Institute of Technology is here. 

Did I mention that downtown Klamath Falls isn't so hot looking? It isn't. 

The McDonald's lobby here was closed...so that's out for something to eat....so went to Pilot truck center close by to get some water and munchies. Showers are $12....so will get on in the morning. 

1159pm....stopped at a Walmart outdoor hotel to sleep. Had to move the car a bit to get away from all the parking lot lights. I slept in the backseat with the front driver's seat reclined all the way down so that I could stretch out over it. That was better. No leg cramps. I did get some better sleep this time. Saw a lot of seagulls here....hadn't seen any so far in the trip. A bit interesting given how far it is to the ocean. 

End of this day.