Two Travel Days

Klamath Falls, Oregon: I guess we (happily) missed more bear excitement Sunday night at our lakeside campsite. A bear walked through the campground last evening around 8p, but in the wee hours a neighbor heard something and peered out the window of his RV to see a cub on their picnic table. The woman living in a house at the entrance to the campground (the campground owner?) said a bear slashed through her window screens trying to get into her house. Luckily the window glass was closed. She has security cameras and said the bear was tagged/collared. Then I was fretting that we were eating dinner inside our RV, with just the screen door - which I thought would only need to protect us from mosquitos. Be careful out there people.

Speaking of wildlife... Leo (in Italy) was scrolling through his phone photos and found a beaut, taken a few weeks ago while Leo and his Bubba were fishing behind our house. We assume his phone/camera focused on the fish only, so this 12-inch fish looks a whale. Great shot Leo!

Another 200 mile day ahead of us yesterday, we left early and continued north on Highway 395. Much of this drive is along Walker River and is quite scenic, then 395 enters Nevada for a while, traveling through the capital - Carson City - also a very pretty town (we have spent time here previously), and then through Reno. We found fuel for only $5.43 (forgot to mention the $6.89 we paid in Bishop!).

We pulled into a very nice RV park in Susanville, California and they had plenty of space and situated us under a large shady tree. Dave went for a really long bicycle ride and then it was more Dodger baseball. I had placed two (frozen) boneless skinless chicken breasts in the slow cooker before we left Bridgeport and smothered them with a jar of Hatch Green Chile. (The cooker is set in the sink while we drive - and the lid is strapped on.) When it was time to eat, the chicken was roughly shredded and served over rice - with a tomato and olive salad. I can get happy with a two ingredient slow cooker meal.

This morning, we were up early and out of Susanville, following gorgeous Highway 139 north to Klamath Falls. The road is in pretty good shape and it goes through pine forests, past Eagle Lake, across miles of grazing lands. On one stretch, Mt. Shasta can be seen in the far distant west. We have taken this route several times, and it never gets old.

Kathy & Woody ran into the 4L’s again in Florence, headed off to dinner. Lucile ordered her usual - a Caesar salad. We teased her so much on our European trip with her TWO MONTHS AGO about ordering so many Caesars, she asked her mom to send me this photo:

This child cracks me up daily. I mean, when in Rome… have a Caesar salad - even though the salad was invented in Tijuana over 100 years ago.

This evening we are overnighting in Klamath Falls, which we learned after checking into the KOA, is suffering through the annual Klamath Falls Midge attack (they have their own webpage!). They don't bite/sting, but they pester you like the dickens. It was suggested we may enjoy an indoor evening tonight. And maybe keep the lights low and the porch light off?

Dodgers to the rescue again.

While DT went out on a long bike ride on the nearby bike path (that he said was AWFUL), I made a little appetizer plate for each of us and boiled a bit of penne. When it was time for dinner, I sautéed a few cherry tomatoes and a bell pepper with a bit of grated garlic, then added it all to the penne, topped with fresh basil (the last from our garden) and freshly grated parmesan. Salad was Persian cucumbers with flaky sea salt and white wine vinegar. Simple, but dang, a lot of dishes to wash.

Hopefully we will reach Bend, Oregon tomorrow and spend time with family and get our suspension beefed-up a bit.

Until my next update, I remain, your Oregonian correspondent.

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