Thursday – 9/8/11: Destination Junction City, OR
We are on the road again. The landscape has changed drastically. Flat land has given way to high mountains and tall pines.
We are only three days into this trip and already Fred has gotten two Big Honks and a Finger while driving the motor home. However, Fred gives a Big Honk to a kid who is driving while talking on his cell phone. So I ask you, does that cancel out one of the Big Honks at Fred? Is that how balance is created in the universe?
We pass Shasta Lake. Lots of big trucks on the highway today. We stop for gas at Manfred’s Fuel Station in the little town of Dunsmuir, CA, an obvious throw-back to the hippie era. The 2010 Census says the population is 1,650 down from 1,923 in the 2000 Census. Not enough hippies I guess. The main attractions here are trout fishing, mountain climbing, and skiing. Dogwood Daze and Railroad Days “draw people from far and wide.”
We unceremoniously cross the border into Oregon.
We look for lunch in Ashland, OR. This is a town of tree lined streets and neatly mowed lawns. Their claim to fame is the annual Shakespeare Festival that began in the 1930’s and today sells more than 350,000 tickets and attracts over 100,000 tourists – or at least that’s what their chamber of Commerce wants us to believe. But back to our hunt for lunch. We had hoped to provide some revenue to a local eatery, but Ashland is not RV friendly and we can find no place to park this big rig.
And thus we learn a most valuable RV travel tip: lunch has to be in a rest stop or a fast-food joint that has a large parking lot. Quaint local cafes will have to wait for explorations in the VW.
We stop at a Fred Meyers in Medford and Fred looks for a new pair of sweats. This is the most exciting thing we’ve done all day which doesn’t say much for this trip so far.
We continue down Highway 5, snacking on Pop Chips (my newest addiction) and roasted almonds (remember Casa de Frutta?). We have tired of Sirius radio and listen to the constant humming of road noise. The odometer continues to tick off the miles.
Fred makes the comment: You know it’s a long, boring road when GPS-Jill says, “Continue for 312 miles and I’ll talk to you when you get there.”
We take the turn-off to Junction City and our campsite for the night. “Hmm, it didn’t look that far on the map” I tell Fred. After 12 miles and several turns we arrive at Richardson County Park. Like most of Oregon’s campgrounds, it is set amongst a forest of towering trees. We set up camp and take a short stroll to the lake. The sun is setting and the lake is at rest. Birds call to one another. The water laps gently at the shore.
A quick dinner, a quick shower, and a not so quick blog. Lights out around 10.
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