Out-Standing Rocks in the Ocean: The Sea Stacks of Bandon, Oregon… The Pacific Coast Series 15

June 7, 2024June 6, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 21 Comments

One thing common about most of our stops along the coast on our tour of the Pacific Coast from Big Sur to Olympic National Park has been sea stacks, rocks and islands that were once part of headlands but are now part of the ocean. The most famous is Face Rock in Bandon, Oregon.

In case you don’t see the face, Peggy provides a clue. Face Rock comes with a Native American story about its origins. A native princess went swimming in the ocean carrying a basket with a cat and kittens. She was grabbed by a ferocious sea monster who tried to force her to look at him so she would be his slave forever. She resisted by looking up at the sky, where she remains today. Her cat and kittens can be seen off to the right.

I like the creation story. Geologists have another. Sea stacks are created by the constant pounding of the waves against rock, at first creating a cave. Over time, usually millions of years, the cave enlarges until it becomes an arch.

Such as this arch, which is still connected to the mainland in Mendocino. (I used this photo a few weeks ago on our Mendocino Headlands Post.) Eventually the arch will fall down and leave behind a new sea stack. We found it interesting that we could see a speck of light in the middle of the arch. Possibly a new sea stack will be created sooner rather than later.

Peggy and I walked through a sea cave on the Bandon coast that will eventually create a new sea stack. This is a photo of Peggy.

She took this photo from the other side of the cave looking out toward the ocean, which brings me to another point. Face Rock was not the only impressive sea stack off of the coast of Bandon. There were bunches.

A closer view. The Fickle Finger of Fate, perhaps. (Those of you who are older may remember Rowan and Martin’s *Fickle Finger of Fate Award* that they gave out on their weekly TV show. For example, the US Congress got one.)

Peggy and I promptly named this Sea Lion after the sea lions we saw posing along the Noyo River in Fort Bragg.

Another impressive sea stack. I’m thinking Man in the Moon at half phase.

We came back to the Face Rock Overlook to check out the sea stacks as the sun set. This is the Cat and the Kittens. In case you can’t see them, neither can I. Several photographers were down on the beach hoping to catch a good sunset.

This was the view looking south from the Face Rock Overview.

The sunset was also good for catching waves splash over rocks.

In line with our ability to see creatures of all sorts in natural settings, Peggy found a pair of eyes staring back at her when she took a final sunset photo. That’s it for today. Next up we will feature our day of exploring tide pools in Bandon.

Sea Stars were everywhere when we checked out the tide pools at Devil’s Kitchen in Bandon, Oregon.

A Sea Lion Lesson on Being Snooty: Views along the Noyo River… The Pacific Coast Series #11

May 24, 2024May 23, 2024 / Curt Mekemson / 21 Comments

The definition of ‘having your nose up in the air’ according to Merriam-Webster is **to behave in a way that shows one thinks one is better than others**. In other words, being snooty. We couldn’t help but think of this sea lion posturing as being an excellent example— right down to the puffed out chest! Or, maybe they were warning us to keep our distance, given that they were more or less lying on top of each other when we approached. The big males seemed to be saying to each other, “I’ve got this.” “No. I’ve got it.” “No. I’ve got it…” Mating season is right around the corner. It’s important to establish who is top dog/sea lion.

I’ve approached our trip up the Pacific Coast much differently that I usually plan our road trips. I made reservations more than a day in advance. In fact I made most of them three months ahead. There were three reasons: One, Peggy and I wanted to stay in places for one to two weeks. Two, Pacific Coast campgrounds fill up quickly, especially as summer approaches. Three, Peggy has never been totally happy with my day ahead—or day of— approach to reservations. (The first time we took a year off to travel in 1999/2000, I only made one.)

My choice in Fort Bragg was a little campground on the Noyo River, slightly off the main tourist route.

The Dolphin Isle RV Campground and Marina is a couple of miles upriver from Fort Bragg’s main marina. The staff was super friendly, the price reasonable, and, most important, we were able to back our small trailer, Seraphina, up to the river.

We had great views from our campsite. Upriver.

Down river. The pilings may have held up a dock at one time.

Now they hold up birds. This heron was standing on top of one, preening as we set up camp. Peggy grabbed her camera and caught it with a feather in its bill. Is the other one a feather in his cap?

We set up our camp chairs behind Serafina so we could watch the wildlife, such as this mallard, float by.

I thought his tail feathers were worthy of a shot.

A Canada goose came by scarfing up sea weed.

Cormorants had a favorite log just above our campsite, where they perched, dried out their wings, and preened.

Several harbor seals swam by as they made their way up and down the Noyo River. This one checked us out. We also saw river otters

The river seemed the perfect place for us to kayak. Peggy was eager to get out. In fact, it was one of the reasons I selected Dolphin Isle for our camp. We pulled our inflatable Innova out of the truck’s bed and inflated it. We had kayaked with it for a quarter of a century in such diverse waters as Alaska, Baja, the Boundary Waters and the Everglades. For the first time ever, it refused to hold air. An internal seam had given out. We decided the time had come to retire Big Green and purchase a new kayak, which is something we have been talking about.

Kayaking on Squaw Lake, Oregon. Photo by Curtis Mekemson. — Peggy, sitting in the front, paddles our two-person, inflatable Innova kayak on Little Squaw Lake, a few miles from our home in Oregon.

Peggy still wanted to explore the Noyo River, however. She discovered that a small, electric boat operated out of the Dolphin Isle Marina and took people on short tours of the marina and river. She signed us up immediately.

Peggy and Captain Dan in his eco-friendly electric boat, the Noyo Star. She found Dan at WWW.NoyoHarborTours.com. Dan still fishes for a living as well as running his tour boat. He told us he had been providing fish to the same Chinese Restaurant in San Francisco for over 20 years.

As part of the trip, Dan took us on a tour of the Fort Bragg Marina that featured larger fishing boats like this trawler that uses a large net to drag the bottom. Several of the larger boats head to Alaska in the summer for fishing.

A crab boat was stacked with the traps that are used to catch crabs. The traps are baited with things crabs like to eat (fish and chicken work, the smellier the better),and dropped off in the water attached to a bouy. Every few hours, the traps are checked for any catch.

A variety of smaller fishing boats were also in the marina. The Zhivago is Dan’s boat. How can you not like someone who names his boat Zhivago!

The Coast Guard also had a couple of boats stationed at the marina, as they do at most of the fishing ports up and down the coast.

The real stars of the tour were the sea lions, snoozing in the sun. They apparently liked each other, given how they are snuggled up together.

We had to look twice at this. Sea lion number one was lying down. Sea lion number two had placed its tail on top of sea lion number one. Sea lion number three rested its head on the tail.

As mentioned above, several sea lions raised their heads and assumed the ‘snooty’ position on our arrival. It appeared that several of them were going though various stages of molting. Either that or Mr. Snooty had on low rider pants.

And the award for the snootiest goes to: This fellow for looking down its nose at us.

“Permission to come aboard, Sir!” Quite the discussion was going on here. The big fellow in the water had jumped off the walkway at our approach. There was a question whether the answer would be “yes.” After all, he had abandoned ship. The other sea lions look on in interest. They may be females who have a stake in the results.

As we left, Captain Dan gave a quick toot on his horn. Three heads popped up in response.

Major pilings held up such things as fish processing buildings, restaurants and even three cabins for rent.

They also provided a squiggly, colorful, reflection shot.

Close to the end of our tour with Captain Dan, the entrance to the Dolphin Isle Marina can be seen center right. This also brings us to the end of this post and our Fort Bragg blogs. Next up…

Some really big trees: The magnificent redwoods.

For Sale: An Affordable Oregon Home that Has Great Views and Borders on a River and a National Forest

February 24, 2022February 26, 2022 / Curt Mekemson / 32 Comments

A fall view from our patio in the Upper Applegate Valley of Southern Oregon.

My wife Peggy and I are preparing to hit the road fulltime in our new RV. That means that our home of the past ten years in Southern Oregon’s Applegate Valley is now on the market for sale. This post on my blog is designed to give potential buyers an in-depth look at our five acre property and house. For buyers from outside the region, I have also included information on recreational and cultural opportunities in the area.

If you are looking for an affordable home that features forests, rivers, lakes, and wildlife, this may be for you. The house is ideal for a mountain retreat. It backs up to over a million acres of national forest. The beautiful Applegate River is located out front. Our living room, patio, and sunroom all provide gorgeous views of the Siskiyou Mountains. Fast internet makes this house ideal for remote work.

I’ve divided this post into three sections: 1) Property, 2) The house and out-buildings and 3) The surrounding region.

FIRST: THE PROPERTY

The view from our living room is constantly changing throughout the year. Here, mist is filling the canyon between our home and the Red Buttes of the Siskiyou Mountains.

For the most part, our house is situated above the fog of the Rogue River Valley and below the snow of the Siskiyou’s. When it does snow 2-4 times a year, it melts off in a few days. In the meantime, we enjoy the beauty.

We live on five wooded acres that include white oaks, Ponderosa pine, red cedar, Douglas fir, big leaf maple, madrones and manzanita. There are hillsides, flat areas, and a canyon with blackberries where wildlife likes to hang out. We also co-own property with our neighbors on the Applegate River directly across the road from our land. The upper section of our property borders on the Rogue River – Siskiyou National Forest.

Trees range from this madrone that provides our porch with shade…

Big leaf maples add a touch of color in the fall.

The Applegate River is just across the road. This is a view from the property we co-own with our neighbors.

Walking up our road in the opposite direction will bring you to this sign.

I’ve built a mile long trail up through the forest following old miners’ roads and deer trails. It is designed to provide year round poison oak and burr free access to the forest. And exercise. Some maintenance may be required.

One fun fact of the national forest behind our home is that it was an historic mining area from the 1920’s and 30’s. Test holes can still be found on our property. You can see where miners built their cabins, there is a small cave, and what is left of a 1920s car. I think of it as a sculpture.

There are two access roads: One directly from Upper Applegate Road; the other from a neighborhood shared road. While GPS brings people to our direct access, lower road, it is fairly steep. We recommend that visitors use the shared road. Turn left at the mile 13 marker on the Upper Applegate highway, drive up the road, turn right at the top and drive down the road just past the pole barn and turn right on our upper driveway. It will bring you directly to our house.

A view of our upper road. Off to the left, our property drops into a small canyon with a small, seasonal creek when there is ample rain. On the right is an oak covered hill.

A view of our lower road leading down to the Upper Applegate Road out of Ruch.

An attractive, gated fence, separates our property from Upper Applegate Road.

Given that our property backs up to the National Forest, wildlife is abundant. Deer live on the property, as do squirrels. Raccoons, fox, a skunk, and possums come by to visit and occasionally set up housekeeping. We’ve even seen a bobcat a couple of times. Bear come down off the mountain on occasion. Coyotes and cougars live in the area but are rarely seen. Bird life is abundant. There is even a bald eagle family in the area.

Given the National Forest and the Applegate River, our property is great for watching wildlife. One of the true joys are the fawns that hang around outside our house in the spring.

They usually come in pairs. The one on the left is still trying to figure out how his long, gangly legs work.

They regard our back porch as the ideal place to take a nap.

Naturally, the fawns have to come from somewhere. This is Floppy. She has been bringing her babies by for several years. Note the grey hairs. She likes apples. When her ears aren’t alert, they tend to droop.

Here’s one of the dads. They tend to disappear after all the fun.

Of course you have to win fair maiden/doe’s love, be it ever so brief. We watched many a duel. Hint, the scrawny guy lost.

This youngster sniffs a lavender flower. Was it taking time to stop and smell the flowers? Nope. She was checking its edibility. Deer are known for their voracious appetites. It’s taken us a while, but most of the plants the new owners will find growing on our property are more or less deer proof! You can never be 100% sure. Peggy has worked hard to plant the most resistant.

I can just about guarantee the lavender. I have never seen a deer nibbling at it. Therefore it is planted all of the way around our house. It is also relatively fireproof, always a good thing in this age of global warming. The real plus is that the bees love it. Hundreds, even thousands come by to harvest the nectar.

We planted lavender behind a retaining wall. Sunset Magazine suggested Gabion cages were an attractive alternative for the wall. The wall, the lavender, a wire fence and strategically placed metal flowers are almost enough to keep the deer away from the honeysuckle that grows behind the lavender.

Poppies are another flower that the deer leave alone. They don’t even like to walk through them. It was a struggle for Peggy to get these flowers going but now they are taking over our hillside which was once dominated by star thistle.

Another flower the deer tend to leave alone are Irises. Peggy has planted them around the garden.

Birdlife is also abundant. This male California Quail was on lookout duty for his hen and her brood.

Turkeys are abundant some years. Once I found them carrying out a Conga line in our back yard. Several had lined up and were twirling along following each other. I never did figure out what that was about.

My brother Marshall decided that a bird bath needed to be added next to our bird feeder. A number of different birds were soon lining up to use it, including this flicker and his small friend.

Rowdy Stellar Jays are among the frequent users.

But here’s the thing, during the dry summer months, the birdbath becomes a watering hole for all the wildlife, including grey squirrels.

And, of course, deer. This young fellow is just beginning to grow his first set of antlers.

A pair of Jack rabbits stopped by for a visit one day.

They hightailed it out when the neighborhood fox showed up.

They would have been more worried about this handsome coyote we found wandering the woods in the National Forest above our house.

SECOND: THE HOUSE

The front of our house with patio and sunroom

The home is a modern three bedroom, two bath, 1500 square foot manufactured house that sits on a cement block foundation. It has a living room, family room, kitchen (with a skylight), dining nook, breakfast counter, three bedrooms, two full bathrooms, and a laundry room. We have modified one of the bedrooms to serve as an office with a built-in wood desk, file cabinets, drawers, and book cases. (It can still be used as a bedroom or craft room.) Each of the bedrooms has a closet with the master bedroom having a walk in closet. There is also a coat closet. The house has a peaked ceiling and the living room has a modern, open floor plan with the kitchen and the dining nook, all of which give the house a larger feel than its 1500 square feet would suggest.

The house comes with central heating and air conditioning, a heat pump and an attic fan. It also has an energy star rating reflecting how well it is built. Combined with energy efficient appliances, this means our monthly bill for our all-electric house averages out to $109 per month over the year. The water heater was replaced last year. The refrigerator, washer and dryer, stove, microwave, and dishwasher will remain with the house. All of the appliances except the stove have been replaced in the last five years.

Starlink Internet provides the house with fast internet service which, as the Starlink site says, “enables video calls, online gaming, streaming, and other high data rate activities that historically have not been possible with satellite internet. Users can expect to see download speeds between 100 Mb/s and 200 Mb/s and latency as low as 20ms in most locations.” Arrangements will need to be made to transfer the service but the satellite dish, router, and modem are already in place. Combined with the separate office, the house is ideal for working from home.

A patio, cedar deck and a 140 square foot sunroom are located in front of the house. A covered porch is located at the side door entry next to our parking area. There is ample parking for vehicles and an RV as well. There are three sheds on the property: What we call our garden shed, a tool shed, and our pump house, which also includes good storage space. The total space for tools and storage between the three sheds is 250 square feet. Each shed includes metal shelving units that we are leaving. The pump house has a loft and the tool shed a work bench. An attractive pole barn sits on the upper property.

Water is provided by a well which includes a 2,000 gallon storage tank. Sewer and waste water are handled by a two tank septic system with a leach field.

We have painted the house and added new carpets in the past two years. We added Leaf-Filter gutter covers this past year, which eliminates the need to clean the house gutters. We have also replaced the HVAC’s duct system under the house.

Normal entry to the house is through the porch.

We utilize the first room as our library. Normally, it would be considered a family room.

The bedroom and the office/bedroom are located off of the library.

As noted, we have converted the second bedroom into an office. You will have to forgive Eeyore. He likes to photo bomb our pictures. We think he is trying to compensate for the fact that he is constantly losing his tail.

Another view of the office. All windows in the house have attractive outdoor sights. When guests come, we convert the office into a second bedroom. Peggy also uses the office as her craft room.

The view down the hallway. The peaked roof and open floor plan make it feel more spacious than its 1500 square feet would suggest.

A second perspective. The TV is covered with a mola cloth when not in use.

The kitchen as seen across the breakfast bar.

A view out from the kitchen. Ample storage space is provided in the kitchen.

A final view of the kitchen. The laundry room is through the door.

A second view. His and her bookcases. The bathroom includes both a shower and a large, spa-like bathtub with jets. (The second bathroom, near the library and other bedrooms, is a full bath including a bathtub/shower.)

A view of the house and garden shed from our shared river property across the Upper Applegate Road. The ditch is where the utility lines are buried.

Our garden and garden shed. The plants around it are the irises featured above. They come in a multitude of colors. Note the high fence to keep the deer out.

We had a carport in front of our tool shed which we have taken down. The structure now sits behind the shed and will be left for the new owners. A new cover is located in the shed.

The back of the tool shed has a seating area looking down into the canyon. We used it for our smoker. The metal structure for the carport can be seen behind the chair.

The pump house includes substantial storage as well as the pump. The 2000 gallon water storage tank is in front.

A pole barn is located at the top of the property. A deck provides a place to work outside or simply enjoy the view and wildlife.

We also used it as a carport to keep our small RV.

Our sun room provides great views of the surrounding country.

THIRD: THE REGION

The Applegate Valley is one of Oregons primary wine growing regions. This photo captured the vines in the fall.

Scenic, recreational, and cultural opportunities abound in the region.

Whether you are a hiker, runner, backpacker, bicyclist, kayaker, boater, whitewater rafter, downhill or cross country skier, snow boarder, fisherman, hunter, or even paraglider— you will find opportunities to pursue your sport within a few minutes to just over an hour from our house.

Or maybe your idea of recreation includes wine and/or beer tasting. The Applegate Valley is one of Oregon’s premier wine growing regions with some 20 vineyards available to visit. A number of brewpubs exist in Medford and Ashland as is typical of the Northwest. Both Jacksonville and Ashland are delightful walking towns. Jacksonville is a quaint historic, goldrush town. It also features the summer outdoor Britt Festival that attracts nationally renowned performers. Ashland is home to the Southern Oregon University and the world famous Ashland Shakespeare Festival. A variety of restaurants are found in Jacksonville, Medford, Ashland and other surrounding communities.

Medford, which is 45 minutes away, serves as the regional shopping center for Southern Oregon. In addition to stores to meet all of your shopping needs, it has two major hospitals and the Rogue Valley-Medford International Airport with direct flights to Portland, Seattle, the Bay Area, Los Angeles and Denver.

Farther afield, Crater National Park, the Redwoods National Park and the beautiful Oregon Coast can all be reached in a 3-4 hour drive.

Squaw Lake, which is 9 miles away, is a beautiful area for kayaking and camping.

One of Oregon’s historic covered bridges, McKee Bridge, is four miles away.

Bigfoot is said to roam the area. In fact the world’s only Bigfoot trap is a 3 mile drive and a 30 minute walk from the house. It was built in the 1970s and managed to catch a couple of bears but not Bigfoot. The photo is of our nephew Jay and a friend.

If you enjoy backpacking or would like to try, there are numerous options including the nearby world famous Pacific Crest Trail where you can hike a few miles or 2650. I backpacked 750 miles of it three years ago to celebrate my 75th birthday, and Peggy hiked sections of it with me.

Applegate Lake, Jackson County’s premier recreation area, features camping, swimming, boating, and fishing. It is two miles from the house. The lake fills up in the spring and lowers in the summer. (The photo is from Wikimedia Commons. All other photos on this blog were taken by Peggy and me.)

Historic Jacksonville is a great walking town with fun shops and good restaurants. It’s also part of your address. We think of it as our town.

The Applegate River above Applegate Lake provides miles and miles of free camping, picnicking and swimming.Here, Peggy and I were sharing a picnic lunch a half hour away from the house.

Within an hour and a half you can be white water rafting on the Rogue River. It also has a beautiful 50 mile hiking trail along the river that Peggy and I have backpacked.

Or, during the winter, an hour and a half in the opposite direction will have you skiing at the Mt. Ashland Ski Resort. This photo is of our son and his family.

We go up to Crater Lake National Park in the Cascades as a day trip, but it’s also great for longer stays.

Farther afield for a quick weekend getaway you can reach Redwood National Park in 3-4 hours.

Or in the same 3-4 hours you can get away to Oregon’s beautiful coast.

Peggy and I hope you have found this overview of our home, property, and region valuable. We are located at 13975 Upper Applegate Road, Jacksonville, Oregon. For details on our property and costs and/or to schedule a visit please contact our realtor Kelly Quaid (541-941-8056) or Olivia Garrison (458-212-4460) at Ramsey Reality in Ruch or Jacksonville, Oregon.

MacKerricher State Park… and Moving On

February 21, 2022February 18, 2022 / Curt Mekemson / 42 Comments

Peggy and I were ‘getting the look’ when she snapped this photo at MacKerricher State Park just north of Fort Brag, California. The concern the seal had was whether we would come closer and disturb his snooze in the warm sun, i.e. would he have to get up and jump in the icy ocean? The answer was ‘of course not.’ I’m not happy when someone disturbs my afternoon siesta. So why should I disturb his. You know, “do unto others…”

This is the last post from our not-so-recent trip to the North Coast of California last November. Tempus Fugit. Indeed. My posts have been so rare lately they are close to being put on the endangered species list. But more on that later. MacKerricher State Park begins 3 miles north of Fort Bragg, California and continues for 9 miles up the coast. It features a wide variety of habitats ranging from sandy beaches to rocky headlands. There are tide pools, wetlands, a fresh water lake, and even a sea-glass beach. The ocean took an ugly dump and ground the glass up into attractive baubles that people like to collect. Our daughter-in-law Cammie used to turn sea glass she gathered in Alaska into beautiful jewelry.

We were at the park for a couple of hours and only walked a mile or two along the 9 mile beach. We were impressed, however. The area deserves much more of our time. I’ll let the photos that Peggy and I took speak for it. I included some of the these in an earlier post.

Looking south and capturing the sun reflecting off of the incoming tide.

There was plenty of action as the waves rolled in.

The bright green moss captured our attention…

The ever-present ice plants continued the green-theme as they climbed up the ancient sand dunes in their unceasing effort to replace native plants. And be pretty.

Plus there was seaweed to admire and wonder about. I’m thinking that this would make a great whip for the Devil.

I wondered why someone had trimmed the roots off of this gorgeous driftwood.

All too soon, it was time for us to leave. For a brief moment, my footprints were captured by the sand before the next wave rolled in. I was amused to see how they wandered, never traveling in a straight line, always willing to detour toward anything that was of interest, always ready for a new adventure— wherever it might lead. Like Peggy and I are. And that’s my next subject.

MOVING ON

As you may recall, Peggy and I are preparing to hit the road full-time in mid to late March. That’s one reason why my posts have been so few and far between. But there is more. We are also selling our house and moving East. Our daughter has an empty apartment in Virginia that we will be using for our base as we travel North America. She and her husband Clay have been lobbying for years that we should move closer to them. The apartment is small, however. We are using it as a reason to seriously downsize. It’s called donate, give away and toss. If we haven’t touched something in a couple of years, it goes. (Books and heirlooms are the exception— and even they are subject to scrutiny.) A moving pod sits outside our backdoor to collect what remains. In a few weeks it will arrive on our kid’s doorstep. We’ll take three months to get there.

We will miss our cozy home with its great views and entertaining wildlife. No doubt about it. Living out in the woods had always been a dream of mine. But it is time to move on. I turn 79 in a couple of weeks. While not necessarily old (from my perspective), it is definitely not young. My sense of humor on doing all of the work involved in maintaining five acres isn’t what it once was. And, there are more serious reminders of our age: the passing of family members and friends.

My sister died a couple of weeks ago, leaving me with a thousand happy memories and a large blank spot. She was my first baby sitter and forever friend. While we didn’t see each other often, we were always close. You may recall the posts I did on our annual pumpkin carving contests. They started in the late 90s and went on for 15 years. And you may also remember my blog on Nancy Jo and the Attack of the Graveyard Ghost, a prank my brother Marshall and I played on her when we were kids. Marsh passed away couple of years ago while staying in his RV at our house. I was with him when he died. I am now the last living member of our family. It’s a strange feeling.

A number of friends have passed on as well over the past few years. I attended a memorial/life celebration in Sacramento last weekend for one of my early backpacking Trekkers, Don Augustine. I first met Don in 1981 when he went on a hundred mile trek I was leading through the Sierras. It was a tough year with lots of snow still on the ground. I was kicking footsteps in it over a steep pass leading into the Granite Chief Wilderness when he hustled up to where I was working and offered to help. He would continue to offer a hand whenever needed for the next 40 years as both a trekker and as a volunteer. His generosity was close to legendary. His specialty was encouraging newbies as they struggled to meet the challenges of long distance backpacking and bicycling. I told a story about it to the some 200 people who had gathered to wish Don goodbye.

At the time, I had gone to Alaska as the Executive Director of the Alaska Lung Association. Don and a couple of other good friends had come up to join me on a backpacking trek I was leading across the Alaska Range. We had a particularly difficult young woman along who was always last getting into camp and whined a lot. It was the unpleasant job of our trail sweep/rear guard to walk with her and bring her in. I took my turn and by the end of the day my patience was running thin. That’s when she threw her pack on the ground and declared, “I am not going another step. I am camping right here!” I responded, “Do you see that hill crest? “Yes,” she pouted. It was maybe a quarter of a mile away. “The Trekkers are setting up camp on the other side. We can be there in 15 minutes.” “I don’t care,” she answered. “Okay,” I said, “pull out your whistle.” (We required that all of our trekkers carry one.) “I have to hike over the hill and check on the group. I saw a grizzly bear about a mile back. If you see him heading your way, blow loudly on your whistle three times and I’ll come back.” She was up in a flash, had thrown her pack on, and was leading me over the hill at a hefty pace.

I took Don aside in camp and asked if he couldn’t use a bit of his magic on the young woman. “I’ve got you covered, Curt,” he said. “I’ve got candy.” He reached into his pack and pulled out a gallon ziplock filled to the brim. (There were reasons why Don always had the heaviest pack in the group.) And Don was right. On being introduced to Don’s ziplock and his charm, the girl’s attitude improved immensely and she started hiking faster to keep up with him and his candy. It was a much better solution than my making up grizzly bear stories.

Don playing his guitar on one of our Sierra Treks. He often carried his guitar and the camp chair he is seated in. And Pop Tarts. Nancy Pape, lying down and listening, was also at the memorial.

It’s always hard to lose a family member or friend, and even more so when he or she has been close. It is like closing a chapter in your life— the laughter and good times, the tears, the adventures and so much more. But it is also an important reminder that life is short, whether you are 79 or 29. Life should be lived to the fullest whatever your age. Peggy and I believe this totally. That’s why we moved to Oregon and that’s why we are now moving on now, doing what we love to do, wandering to our hearts content. Until it is time to do something else.

We will be sharing our adventures on this blog. As always, you are invited to join us. We hope you do.

My next post on Friday will be different: It will serve as a detailed description of our house, property and the surrounding region for those who may be interested in having their own ‘home in the woods.’ –Curt and Peggy

Is It Pomo Bluff— or Chicken Point… Fort Bragg, California

January 12, 2022January 12, 2022 / Curt Mekemson / 47 Comments

I see a massive wave like this and I remember the wise advice of old sailors: Never turn your back to the ocean. Even now when I look at this photo, I think, run! Fortunately, I was happily ensconced on a high cliff at Pomo Bluff when this big fellow came rolling in.

I laughed when I read the information sign posted up on Pomo Bluff in Fort Bragg. Sailors, fisherman, and other boaters of yore making their way out of Noyo Harbor would go out on the overlook to check how the Pacific Ocean was behaving. It could be calm and welcoming or it could be ferocious and dangerous. Checking was an opportunity to chicken out, to remember there was a cold beer that required quaffing at the local pub. Thus the name. Modern technology and weather forecasting have reduced the need to do a visual check.

We wandered around on the Bluff, admiring the ocean, checking out ice plants, watching rowdy crows, and wondering who owned the mansion hidden behind a tall fence.

In spite of the big waves, it was a beautiful day on the ocean. We watched as the charter boat, the Telstar, made its way back into Noyo Harbor. It’s available for sport fishing and whale watching. Apparently some folks had been out to try their luck. We didn’t wonder about what they caught or saw, we wondered how their stomachs had tolerated the rolling sea. (Photo by Peggy Mekemson.)

Looking back toward the entry into the protected Noyo Harbor.

Looking out to sea from Pomo Bluff. Go far enough and you will end up in Asia.

And then goes in search of another. The sign is a common one along the coast, warning of the dire consequences of getting too close to a cliff’s sheer drop. But does this woman casually strolling along seem worried?

How can one resist when the best photos are often on the edge?

Such as this. (Photo by Peggy Mekemson.)

Ice plants provide an attractive foreground for photos on the coast. But there is a problem. It is an invasive species that replaces native plants.

I was surprised to find that the ice plant had adopted fall colors, something that I had never noticed before.

This crow took a break from its aerial display of chasing other crows to steal their food, to rest among the ice plants.

Peggy captured one carrying something delectable, like a long dead snail. (Photo by Peggy Mekemson.)

From her perch out on the point, Peggy was also able to catch a photo of this mansion. Otherwise, it was hidden behind a tall fence.

So I took a photo of it through a knothole.

A seagull showed us the way. I liked its feet. (Photo by Peggy Mekemson.)

And finally we came to the end. It was time to head on to our next adventure and my next post: The Point Cabrillo Lighthouse.

The World’s Biggest Snowball…

January 5, 2022January 4, 2022 / Curt Mekemson / 48 Comments

I looked up our road and saw our grandson Ethan( aided and abetted by his mom, Tasha, and Peggy) was rolling a mega snowball down the road. They were about to hit a steep part. Iorek, the truck and Serafina, the trailer were in the line of fire. (Photo by Peggy Mekemson.)

Our daughter Tasha, her husband, Clay, and their two sons, Ethan and Cody, joined us for Christmas. We met them in Medford at the airport in a rip-roaring snow storm at 9:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve. With visability occasionally dropping to a few feet and the road disappearing under the snow, it was a long drive to our home in the mountains 30 miles away. Everyone agreed I had earned the stiff shot of rum I poured for myself immediately on arrival. And the second.

The visit was all play after that. We hadn’t been home for more than 30 minutes when our neighbors Bryan, Margaret and William with 10 or so relatives showed up on our doorstep to sing Cristmas Carols. Peggy raided our cookie stash to reward them, which was a good thing since she had baked enough to last a month and Tasha was eager to bake more, a mother-daughter tradition.

Two days later, I took Bryan and his family on a snow walk over the trail I had built in the National Forest behind our house. When I got back, Peggy, Ethan and Tasha were missing. That’s when I looked up the road and saw the snowball.

By the time I got up the hill, Ethan was sitting on top of his snow ball and Peggy had persuaded him that rolling it down into our canyon was a better idea than rolling it down the road. Serafina and Iorek breathed a huge sigh of relief. Ethan, btw, at 16 is now more than six-feet tall! (Photo by Peggy Mekemson.)

Since our other grandson, Cody, had missed out on creating the snowball, Peggy took him out on our deck to build a snowman.

Peggy and Cody working on their masterpiece.

Unfortunately, the snow was really dry. Great for skiing; not so much for building a snowman. Frosty immediately fell apart. Peggy grabbed a carrot, shoved it into the remaining pile, and declared the effort a success.

You’ve undoubtably heard of people being buried in the sand. Cody wanted to be buried in the snow. Peggy, being a good grandmother, quickly agreed. Here, she is ready to drop a large snowball on his head, finishing the job!

Cody had enough. He sat up and held out his hands for Peggy’s snow…

And naturally, grandma accommodated him!

My fun was recording the action, getting in a snowball fight, and taking photos of the snow. We had over a foot by the time the storm was finished.

We wouldn’t be sitting out on our patio!

Our rose bush had morphed into some kind of snow monster.

I saw this and thought “What the…?” Were we being invaded by aliens? On closer inspection I determined is was a reflection of a light from inside our house.

Mainly, I was awed by the beauty of the snow on the trees. I framed this with snow coming off our roof.

My favorite tree, a Douglas fir, and the forest beyond it.

A view from the other side of our house.

As you can see, the snow has now melted, which is just how we like it to behave. A few days of beauty and play, and then on its way! (Photo by Peggy Mekemson.)

I’ll conclude with this. It is the Ghost of Xmas Past! Snowman style.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

December 25, 2021 / Curt Mekemson / 36 Comments

We woke up this morning to this view out our window. Our White Christmas had arrived. Peggy and I decided we had to share it with you. Hope this day finds you, your family and friends having a Happy Holiday. Curt and Peggy

T’is the Season… for Glitches :)

December 22, 2021 / Curt Mekemson / 26 Comments

With Christmas a mere three days away, it’s time for my annual Christmas post. (Shamelessly borrowed from the weird Christmas cards and letters I create for family and friends— plus past posts.)

Have you heard? There are some glitches in the Christmas present supply chain this year!

They started with us. Our kids are coming to join us for the holidays, which means we have been pressed for time. We decided to send Old Tom the Cat out to buy presents. What could possibly go wrong?

Lots. You never know what the cat will drag home! Not only was the gift too big for the door; he wasn’t housebroken. And the zoo refuses to take him back.

Meanwhile, more serious trouble is brewing at the North Pole. Blitzen was plying his red-nosed friend with eggnog and rum to make his red nose shine brighter when suddenly Rudolph had a coughing fit. Blitzen leapt six-feet away, donned his face mask and whipped out his vaccination card, waving it around like people use crosses to scare away vampires. (Does that work?) Millions of children were depending on his flying companions and him to deliver Santa and his bag of gifts to their roofs. This was no time for risks!

Santa was even more worried. He might lose his guide. The last time that happened on a foggy night, he had depended on GPS and ended up on Mars. He decided on a back-up plan…

He asked Rudolph’s girlfriend, Rudette, to be the backup for Rudolph. She was excited! She would be the first ever female reindeer to guide Santa. She would strike a blow for equality. Little girl reindeer the world over would look up to her.

Even that didn’t resolve Santa’s concerns. Rudette and Rudolph are quite close. They even share the same stall and who knows what else. When one gets sick; the other is likely to as well. Santa decided to be 100% safe. He would recruit a back up to the back up. He searched the Northlands far and wide for someone to guide his sleigh. And got lucky…

Monty the Mauve Nosed Moose volunteered his services if needed.

So rest assured kids, Santa and his eight reindeer plus someone with a shiny nose will deliver your presents this year. In Santa’s immortal words:

HO! HO! HO!

Oh yeah, and Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night… Plus a Happy and Healthy 2022!

CURT and PEGGY

The Imagine 17MKE… Our New Tiny Home: Plus Halloween

October 31, 2021 / Curt Mekemson / 54 Comments

Our new 2021 Ford 150 and 2022 Grand Design Imagine 17MKE. Are we ready to hit the road, or what! We are camped in Bend, Oregon as I write this blog. We came here to pick up our trailer from Blue Dog RV in Redmond, just north of Bend.

It’s not hard for Peggy and me to imagine a life of wandering. After all, we full-timed it for four years in our two Pleasure Way vans, Xanadu and Quivera. The first time we took a year off from work and travelled in Xanadu. The second time, we celebrated Peggy’s retirement with three years of exploring North America in Quivera. We are veterans of the open road, you might say, with a quarter of million miles crisscrossing the continent behind us.

But wandering with a trailer is a totally different kettle of fish, a virgin experience as our friend Leslie Lake would say. She also likes to note that virgin experiences are few and far between at our age and should be treasured.

I tend to agree but had serious second thoughts when Peggy and I mistakenly turned into a tiny parking lot yesterday and had to turn the trailer around while dodging parked cars. It quickly ramped up from virgin experience to Halloween nightmare. “Turn the other way!” my faithful traveling companion yelled at me from safely outside the truck as I was backing up. “No, the other way!” she yelled. Hmmm. After two or three times of that, pardon my French, I was beginning to wonder how many frigging ways a trailer can turn. And yes, I am well aware that the truck goes one direction and the trailer the other when you are backing up.

Aside from a very steep learning curve, we are really enjoying our new, tiny home and pickup. I decided to share a few photos of the Imagine 17 MKE. We haven’t named her yet, but the truck’s name is Iorik (pronounced Yorik). If you aren’t familiar with Iorik, he was the large, armored polar bear in the book/movie, The Golden Compass.

Murphy bed couch in an Imagine 17MKE. — A Murphy bed was close to a requirement in our new trailer because it frees up valuable living space, which is at a premium in a small trailer. When not down, the bed morphs into a couch, perfect for entertaining guests.

Alaks quilt made by Peggy Mekemson. — We decided to use one of Peggy’s quilts as a backdrop to add color and a personal touch. This is our ‘Alaskan quilt.’

Peggy serves as my model. The kitchen’s counter top is on the right.

African quilt by Peggy Mekemson. — Here is what the Murphy bed looks like when it is down. Here we are using Peggy’s African quilt as a comforter. It’s quite cozy. Note the small reading lights. They work quite well.

Mood lighting over Murphy bed in and Imagine 17MKE trailer. — The bed comes with blue, mood lighting. I don’t expect we will use it much but it is fun. I noticed that Peggy’s brown eyes turn golden under the light! A lioness, perhaps? One can only wonder.

This is our other couch, the one Peggy and I will use most. It is housed in a small slide out that also adds space to the trailer. The middle section can be converted to a side table for snacks. A larger fold up table comes with the 2022 Imagine but will live in our truck unless we are entertaining or working on projects. We are also trying out our various quilts on the couch.

Each unit of the couch can be turned into a recliner that goes all the way back if we want to take a nap. Note the lights on the drink cup. One of them simply lights up the cup holder. The one on the right turns the recliner into a massage chair. The one on the left heats the chair. This definitely isn’t a trailer of yore.

A comfy chair deserves a good book. Baldacci can always be trusted to spin a good tale. (Photo by Peggy Mekemson.)

What I wasn’t expecting in a small trailer was the counter space. A large, stainless steel sink is in the middle. Its cover is made of slotted steel and rolls out, doubling as a dish dryer. Beyond that is our stove and then more counter space. Off to the right is a humongous refrigerator. Solar power runs the refrigerator when we are boon docking. Our TV is above the window.

Our three burner stove. A small oven is under the stove and a microwave above it. Add our Insta-Pot and air fryer and we will be able to cook just about anything on the road.

One of our major concerns in picking out a new trailer was the amount of storage space. Now we are wondering how we are going to fill all of the space we have. (I’m sure we will mange. Grin.) Anyway, I just counted 28 drawers and cabinets. Most are very generous in space. The five you see here are mine. All mine. That’s mine, Peggy. You have your own five.

There is also ample storage in the bathroom, but what really impressed me is that I fit easily into the shower!

Now you’ve seen the inside of our trailer, imagine moving in. Again, think scary Halloween. It’s just like moving into anywhere else when faced with the severe challenge of downsizing. Fortunately our 20 years of traveling in Quivera and Xanadu prepared us for the experience. We simply unpacked Quivera into our truck and then loaded our trailer from that while camped in Bend.

Bend has a lot to offer including great outdoor recreation… and beer. There are several brew pubs but the granddaddy of them all is Deschutes Brewery. Peggy snapped this photo of me at the brewpub celebrating time off from cramming for Trailer/Truck 101. A table of pirates sat next to us, but they had forgotten their parrot…

In the spirit of the season, I decided that this black vulture from the Florida Everglades (photo taken several years ago) would make a good substitute. Happy Halloween!

Our Link to the Stars… Or at Least an Army of Satellites Marching Across the Sky

October 21, 2021 / Curt Mekemson / 43 Comments

Our roof now has a new addition, a Starlink satellite.

If you live out in the boondocks, like Peggy and I do, communication can be something of a challenge. Our only solution has been to reach up into the sky and hope that the sky gods are listening. As a result, our house is starting to look like a military installation out in the Nevada desert.

Searching for signals from the heavens. On the far right, a booster to enhance Verizon signals which our son-in-law Clay installed for us. It definitely improved our Verizon service but we still have to depend on a landline for most phone conversations. Next, in order, satellite dishes for our TV, Hughes, and Starlink connections.

This past summer I was becoming increasingly irritated at the service we received from Hughes. Slow to start with, it was getting worse. Several of our neighbors had switched to Viasat and argued it was much better. I did my research and was prepared to make the leap. That’s when Clay suggested that I check out Elon Musk’s Starlink. If it served our area, I might be able to sign up as a Beta tester. It promised internet services at speeds several times faster than either Hughes or Viasat at a similar cost. Plus it included unlimited data. I went online and discovered that our latitude was one of the first to be served. So I signed up, made a deposit, and waited.

A few weeks ago, a large box showed up on our doorstep. Unlike Hughes and Dish, who sent technicians out, I would be on my own with Starlink. I was a wee bit nervous. As you may recall, things mechanical and I don’t get along. It isn’t that I can’t do them. Owning a house in the woods for 11 years has certainly taught me that; its just that I prefer to do other things like writing, photography, cooking, traveling, reading, watching movies, hiking, backpacking, kayaking, pulling star thistle and scrubbing out toilets— you get the picture. People like Clay and my friend Tom, on the other hand, take great joy in fixing things. When Tom comes to visit, he brings a tool box with high hopes of finding something. Clay insists that I have a list for him. Even Peggy gets a gleam in her eyes when she is holding a power tool.

The big box, other boxes from Starlink, and the stand to use for placing my dish on the ground.

Before the box arrived, our first chore was to download an app to our iPhone and wander around the yard with the camera on and the phone pointed toward the sky to find the best, obstruction-free place to set the satellite. Did I mention we live in the boondocks, in a forest, with lots and lots of trees. South was fine. It’s where our other satellite dishes are pointed. The Starlink dish, however, likes north. Heres what our north looks like:

It includes lots of white oaks and very tall Ponderosa pines.

The app was not happy. It kept telling me to move to another location until I ran out of locations. I talked with my friends Bryan, who lives up the hill from where we live, and Jeff, who lives down the hill. Both had received Starlink dishes a couple of weeks before we got ours. Both told me that the app had told them the same thing. They had ended up placing their dishes in the least obstructed locations they could find. I decided to do the same thing:

And I found this. Call it a window of opportunity. A small window. To take advantage, I would have to place our dish up on the roof.

Now—to backtrack a little— I opened the box. The dish came with a stand, a hundred foot long ethernet cable, a modem and a router. It was designed to be placed on the ground. It even came all plugged together, almost idiot proof. All I would need to do was drill a hole in the side of our house, which was scary enough, but was something I could handle, or sic Peggy on.

Did directions ever come more simple? Find your location, set down your stand, pop in the dish, drill the hole in your house, plug the modem and router into your electrical outlet, log in, and woohoo! You have super-fast (for the boondocks) internet.

It was drilling holes in the roof that I found disturbing. They can be injurious to your house. Water can seep through and and do all sorts of nasty damage. Some people might also question the wisdom of a 78 year-old wandering around on a roof. They are probably the same people who questioned my wisdom in celebrating my 75th birthday by backpacking 750 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail, much of it by myself. No, I was not worried about being up on the roof. Try perching on a narrow trail by yourself with a thousand foot drop below you in a strong wind with a forest fire rapidly approaching.

I did what any modern fix-it person does and went looking for YouTube videos. There were plenty, of course. The secret was simply find the roof studs for screwing the mount into and seal the hell out of the holes. Okay, I could handle that. I bought extra outdoor sealant just in case. But I also opted for back up if needed. I called Joel, a roofer and really nice guy who had replaced a skylight for us. He quickly volunteered. He’s also waiting for a Starlink dish. And I checked in with Bryan, our uphill neighbor, who had already installed his Starlink dish on the side of his house and is quite handy. And then I waited again. Starlink had sent us everything we needed for the ground version, but it had another package for roof installation.

It arrived a few days ago and included a roof volcano mount, six large screws and (lo and behold) a tar-based super sticky sealant and directions how to use it. Elon Musk leaves little to chance. Okay, I said to myself— “Self, you can do this.” I gathered all of the tools I would need, loaded them into a garden apron Peggy loaned me, and up I went, like Santa sans reindeer. Peggy held the ladder and did whatever worrying that needed to be done. I am pleased to say that my mounting effort was a success. At least so far. Next, I affixed the cable along our eaves and came to my last scary task, drilling a large hole in the side of our house.

Check out the volcano mount! What fine work. Grin. I’d used a silver spray paint so I would know exactly where to place the large screws. BTW, each end of the cable came with the round thing-a-ma-bob you see here. It’s what required the large hole in our house.

The next major challenge was drilling a hole large enough to accommodate the ethernet cable. Would you trust this man and his big drill? Neither did my wall. I admit, it was a *bit* too much.

This drill exactly matched the size of the hole I had to create, but my first problem was that I needed to drill smaller holes before the large bit would enter the siding. Whatever. Except the sky was darkening, the wind picking up, and a possible downpour about to erupt. I drilled my smaller holes and quickly realized that my bits weren’t long enough to make it through the wall. Even the big bit. Measurements were called for as to where we would need to drill from the other side. Peggy demanded her turn with the drill and eventually, we had holes on both sides that would accommodate the cord. A wire that I had adapted for the purpose showed our two holes were exactly aligned. Exciting huh? Well, it was for us. Believe me.

Here’s the ironic part. Just as I was finishing up, a Fed-Ex truck drove down our road. It delivered another package from Starlink. It included everything I needed to drill the hole in our wall. At least I was able to use the patches it sent to cover the holes and the silicon sealant.

Wandering through Time and Place

Exploring the world with Curtis and Peggy Mekemson

At Home in Oregon