May 2012 - Camping Trip - #1

Karen and I just finished camping (OK... RVing) at one of our favorite campgrounds... "Fisherman's Bend".  This is a "Full Hookup" Bureau of Land Management Campground, and is located 2 miles West of Mill City, OR along the North Santiam River.  We love the size of the campsites, the beauty of the many forest trails, and the sound of the nearby river.

At this time of the year, the wildflowers are blooming, and the forest becomes a pattern of every shade of green that you can imagine.  As you'll see once again in my images below, a picture really is worth a thousand words.  :-)

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Our Home - Site 13A

 Site 13A

 Light playing on the green maple leaves

On this camp-out, we were joined with our friends Jim & Linda, Tim & Glinda, and Dave & Sandy.  We were all camped close to each other, so this made it easy for visiting, playing a quick game of Ladder Golf, or sharing a few laughs with desert around an evening campfire.  Here are some pictures of the Dutch-Oven Chocolate Cherry Surprise Cake I baked for desert with our friends.

 

 All the ingredients ready to go

The Cake Mix, Cherries, and dabs of Cream Cheese

 

 Checking the cooking process

The Finished Product!

OK... here are a "few" wildflower pictures as well.  There are just too many plants to choose my favorite images!  :-)

One of Abby's favorite activities when we go camping, is to find the closest water for swimming.  When we first got Abby as a puppy, we were camping here at Fisherman's Bend, and she got to know this campground at a very young age.  She still knows this area like the back of her paw, and she makes sure to turn at all the trails that lead to the river when we're out for walks.  It's the simple pleasures in life that makes her a happy Yellow Lab.  A stick & water are all that is needed... no mater how cold the river.  :-)

Thanks for coming along with us on our latest outing... and with Summer around the corner, there are more adventures ahead.  Happy Trails...

Gary, Karen, and Abby Too!

April 2012 - Camping Trip - #1

The new year is here... and we finally made it out on our first camping trip of 2012 with our friends Jim & Linda, and Glinda & Tim.  We all camped at River Bend, which is a wonderful Linn County Park within an hours drive from home.  With the cost of fuel and diesel being what it is right now, it's a blessing to have such wonderful campgrounds so close to us.  On this trip, we ended up camping in the "newer" section of River Bend which opened up last summer.  The sites are larger and wider, making it much nicer for camping.  Of course our first two days were met with rain showers on and off, but that's just typical weather this time of the year.  The weather eventually cleared up, and we finally got to see some Sun.  

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Our Campsite - F9

 

Our HitchHiker 5th Wheel Trailer... "Home away from Home"

  

An Osprey Nest behind our camping site

While walking Abby our first day in camp, we discovered an Osprey nest very close to our camping site.  It was raining the day we discovered it, and the Mom & Dad Osprey were teaching a youngster how to fly from the next.  I was hoping to catch a picture of the "loud" family, but a just few days later... the nest sat empty, and all the occupants had all flown away.

Karen and I finally got to hike the many trails around River Bend (once the Sun came out), and saw many of the early Spring flowers and Trillium's starting to appear.  

The South Santiam River... and a small waterfall

A beautiful Trillium in bloom

  

A fern just getting ready to open up

  

Pinks & Greens

  

Little white flowers blooming among the shamrocks

  

Abby cooling off and getting a drink in the river

On our last night in camp, Abby had to go outside to run to the bathroom at around 3:30am.  When I walked outside with her, the sky was filled with "Billions & Billions" of stars (my bad impression of Carl Segan).  I decided to try some Nighttime Star Photography, which I'd never done before.   But with the Milky Way band of stars so visible in the dark sky, I had to give it a try.  Below are some of my results... and the image with a red light, is just me playing around with a laser pointer that was built into the flashlight I was using.

 The BIG Dipper behind our trailer

 Playing with a red laser

 The Milky Way Stars

More Milky Way Stars

It looks as though the new camping year has started out well... with more fun adventures around the corner yet to come.  Thanks for taking the time to travel along with us on our trips, and we look forward to seeing you all down the road in the future.  

Happy Trails...

Gary & Karen... and Abby Too!