Bustin' into Oregon

Day 11

I awoke in generally high spirits, what with surviving the night and all. On today’s agenda: cave adventure. Micah and I pack up our stuff and drive out to Cave Junction where we (Micah) stop for a quick coffee before heading up to the Oregon Caves National Monument. Not only am I excited to see what the caves are like, but I have my first opportunity to use my National Park Pass (thanks FCTers). Everything seems normal enough until we start getting hit by a hail storm, followed by snow. What the hell is wrong with the weather? It’s late May and it’s snowing. And we’re only at 2000 ft.! Luckily it doesn’t stick to the road and my badass tires make it up the steep incline. After we cook up some quesadillas on the stovetop we meet Micah’s dad, the mayor of Montague who has decided to drive up from to camp with us for a night, and take a tour of the caves. The tour-guide is slightly obnoxious, but according to Micah the family with two little kids (plus one on the way) taking photos of everything (interesting and not) and touching things they aren’t supposed to touch are way more annoying. This is true. The caves are pretty spectacular (the photos I took kind of suck a little) so the only disappointing part of the trip is that entrance to the monument is free so I didn’t get to use my pass. Drat!

Most of the campgrounds are closed, which surprised us considering that it’s late May, and there isn’t snow in the campgrounds themselves, so we drive back down toward Cave Junction and camp at a bizarre RV/tent camping place. The guy behind the counter (who we later saw weed-whacking and smoking a cigarette simultaneously) tells us that the showers are only $0.25 for 10 or 15 minutes. That seems good. The question is why doesn’t he know if it’s 10 or 15? Suspicious. I later find out that it’s probably closer to 5 than either of the two previously quoted numbers. Still, pretty cheap for a shower.

The three of us have a great time camping. We luck out and the rain stops for the evening so we get a nice fire going. I do my first manly job of the trip and chop a bit of wood that I found down by Sucker Creek (real name!). Quinoa, vegetables, beer, and cribbage round out the evening.

Day 12

Instead of heading along the coast as originally planned, or heading toward Eugene, which was the more recently developed plan, we all decide it would be worth the drive to go see Crater Lake. Most of the trails are still under 6 feet of snow, but you can get up to the lake and walk around and take pictures and whatnot (and use National Park passes!!). I look on my map, which says that at it’s lowest point Crater Lake is -1900 something feet. I misinterpret that to mean that it’s 1900 feet below sea level, which seems mighty impressive since the mountains around it are around 8000 feet. A lake 2 miles deep!?! I’m there! It isn’t until we actually get to the National Park and read some literature on the place that I come to realize that I’m a bit dim. This doesn’t diminish the beauty of the lake, but does diminish the illusion that I’m even a little smart.

We walk around the Lake as much as we can (maybe 200 yards total), take copious amounts of pictures, and all agree that the 3 hour drive was 100% worth it. We make some lunch (cheese and avocado sandwiches, oranges, and Pecan Sandie cookies), walk over to the lodge/hotel, and take a final look at the lake (and Wizard Island (awesome name)). Micah and I part ways with her dad and take a long drive out to Eugene.

The drive wouldn’t have been so bad except for the fact that I once again showed my mental abilities by nearly running us out of gas. See, we went the scenic route through Umpqua National Forest, and I guess I just assumed there would be hundreds of Chevron and Shell stations in the pristine wilderness. For some stupid reason that I just can’t figure out, there weren’t any. The only thing that saved us was a little gas station in Oakridge that jacked up the price of gas by like 60 cents a gallon, but I had to at least buy us enough to get the hell out of the forest. It was a pretty drive, however, and I don’t regret it. I just wish I could be more smarter and things.

Exhausted, we pulled into our campground for the night: Walmart. I took a picture to commemorate such a wondrous journey in free camping. All was well as we made a little dinner. But then. Of course. A dude comes over to our van and tells us there’s no overnight camping. What the mother fuck? Turns out only SOME Walmarts allow overnight camping, and this one doesn’t. This pisses me off to no end (my grumpiness is compounded by how long it takes to switch the fridge over to propane - my hands literally cramped up from the pumping). I now hate Walmart more than I ever thought possible. No camping? Bye.

Instead of using Walmart as a home base, we drive into a little neighborhood and stealth camp on the street. I’m not graceful when I do this (I admit to being a bit scared) and back up a few times until I’m close to the curb and on level ground. Micah reminds me that if you’re trying not to draw attention, it’s probably best to just park. Not shure if im geting ny smrtr.

Day 13

We wake up early and clear out so that we aren’t terribly suspicious. After getting coffee we drive over to Spencer’s Butte Park to wake up and make some breakfast - eggs, tortillas, avocado, Tapatillo. The day is spend wandering through town, in and out shops, using Starbucks as public restrooms, and taking pictures of bizzare signage. The best sign had a picture of a sperm that read “cover me, I’m going in.” Awesome.

We take a bike ride around the river that runs through town and manage to spot a couple of otters! I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a river otter in the wild, so this is pretty damn cool. The sun comes out long enough for the ride to be warm and refreshing before the clouds came back and blanketed everything in grey once more.

We get lucky and spend Monday night in Eugene, which means one thing to me: Sam Bond’s Garage. Mike, Stacey, and I found this place on our road trip last year and figured out that Bingo night is the best night. They bring in Scott and Tom (radio DJs) to call out Bingo, and the dudes are fucking awesome. Micah and I drink some beers, play some Bingo (didn’t win), and listened to the absurdity of the commentary. Our favorite line came during a round of “Cursing Bingo” wherein the contestants let the caller know how they feel about the number, invariably leading to much cursing. It’s hard to hear what the people are yelling, but Tom always picks out the best ones and runs with them. This is what we heard him say after someone cursed at him: “Grandma Battlesnatch. The Power Ranger everyone forgets about.” We were laughing hysterically. Cheap beer and great comedy go hand in hand.

Day 14

Another night spent restfully on the side of the street, and we decide to treat ourselves to breakfast out (well, Micah actually treated me). Delicious organic vegetarian food from Morning Glory Cafe fills us up - veggie omelette with kale, mushrooms, onions, garlic, and squash, potatoes, cinnamon raisin bread (for me), and some weird concoction that seemed like huevos rancheros with tofu and tempe instead of eggs but also had potatoes (for her).

We walk around downtown some more, magically don’t buy anything (will power!), and get the hell out of Eugene. Don’t get me wrong. Eugene is great. But I’m ready to move on to something a little different. There’s only so much I can get out of a downtown before I either get really bored or really hungry. I wasn’t hungry, wasn’t buying anything, and wasn’t interested. So we move on to Corvalis, taking the scenic route along the Willamette (pronounced like damnit) River. We stop at a little County Park for some rest and what you’re reading right now before getting into town and meeting up with Micah’s friend Brad for dinner. He’s a cool dude; we have a couple cheap beers ($2 pints), a good chat, some nachos, and he lets us sleep in his apartment parking lot and take a shower!

****I am posting a link to more pics for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy****

http://s942.photobucket.com/albums/ad261/TheVanGuy/