Life with Andrea

I wanted to go someplace where i could hear birds, not traffic, in the morning.
I found two places - one possibility in Hood River, where it would be warmer. And one outside Yacolt, where it would be closer. Lazy me, I chose Yacolt - the place is called Sunset Falls.

Sunset Falls is GREAT! Here's a picture.
And, I even learned how to use the camera phone! Bob said the reason it takes such crummy pictures is that it's designed so you can take a picture of yourself. And I did it!

Anyway, I walked around a bit, and it was very quiet and very peaceful. But their signs about camping are really bad. I saw lots of signs that said $5 per day fee. I didn't see any signs about how much to camp overnight. So, I paid what I had - which was a $10 bill - and put it where they said, on the post at the campsite. (If you're doing day use, said the form, put it on the dashboard. If camping, on the post).

Then I discovered I had forgotten my sleeping bag. Maybe I could spend the night, maybe not? I had a sweatshirt and a towel and a hat ... I might be warm enough.

After I had been there 4 hours, the campground host comes up, and says, you really need to pay. I said I did. He said, how much? and I told him. He said it's CLEARLY MARKED that it's $12. (which is really is NOT. I had looked ALL OVER). And he also said that he does not like to have people put their stubs on the post, he wants them on the dashboard.

So I found where it told you WHERE to put the slip, but the Host did not like that. I could not find HOW MUCH to pay, and paid the wrong amount, and the Host did not like that. And, I had forgotten my sleeping bag anyway. The host made me move to the day use area, for lack of the $2. (Or I could go back to town and get an additional $2. Which is a 40 minute drive). Even though there were only two other people camped in the entire campground, and I said I'd be gone before overnight because I'd forgotten my sleeping bag.

So, while the place is pretty - I cannot recommend it as a place to calm down and relax.

BUT - I saw the funniest birds. They would sit on the rocks, and look at the water. Maybe wade a bit. And then they would DIVE IN. I saw one swim to the bottom of the pool for something! Really SWIM. Like a penguin! They were small and black or grey, sometimes they would swim on top like a duck, sometimes just walk on the rocks. One of them did that funny "i'm not really balanced here" thing people will do with their legs too far apart as they try to stand on rocks to get or do something.... But he didn't fall in. They kept JUMPING in, and diving, and swimming underwater. They were fabulous.

Clearly, I can't do all of anything at once. So, this is still about Central Oregon.
We stayed in the campground at Cove Palisades and I cannot recommend it - it was like being in an apartment complex, except sleeping in a tent on the ground. That's probably the last time I stay in a state park in Oregon. Kids, dogs, noisy. And all for the convenience of running water.
HOWEVER.
The next morning, I got up ata 6 AM, and no one else was up. So, I walked to the day use area, and watched the osprey fishing. They hover, and then if they see something they like, they dive down. They SMASH into the water, and then bob up.
I thought they would have the bird in their beak, but no, it's in the claws. And, those fish do NOT want to be caught.
The osprey is flapping madly, trying to gain altitude and go home. And the fish is flapping madly, trying to get out of those claws. The fish unbalances the osprey, and you can see it start to gain, then almost take a nose dive, and then climb again. I didn't see one lose a fish - but I did see several unsuccessful dives - those fish must not be too dumb. Big bird coming - get out of the way.
Walking back from the day use area, I saw some birds in a tree. These were not your dime-store crows. These were BIG. A little ratty looking. And, as I stopped to take a better look, I realized they were vultures. If you remember the scene near the end of Snow White, the vultures are sitting on the tree, looking after the witch - and when she falls, they glide out of the tree, very gracefully for such ugly birds, one at a time. This is what I saw. Three of these huge black red-headed ugly birds, sitting silently in the tree, motionless, watching. Kind of creepy. Kind of cool. I didn't have a camera, so I got one from the web, from this person: forums.steves-digicams.com.

Central Oregon Redux
Last year, I went ALL BY MYSELF to Palisades Cove Park near Redmond, and to Smith Rock. This year, in order to find some warm summer weather, I thought I'd do it again, but bring people with me. Bob and Soren wanted to come. And we brought Stephen and Sam (fitting 3 teenage hulking monsters in the back of the car).
The good part is they kept each other entertained. The bad part is - stop poking me! He's hitting me! Get off, you idiot! Are we there yet? How much longer do I have to put up with these morons? Can we leave XXX by the side of the road and pick him up on the way home? All this is pretty entertaining, when they're not your kids and you don't have to be involved.
We had planned the trip so we would be able to kayak in the afternoon (2-6) when it would be hot, and the next day go rock climbing in the morning when it would be cool. This is a picture of the lake from the brochure made by the Marina.
The afternoon kayaking started out fine - but clouds started to gather. The wind picked up. The clouds got darker and darker. The wind got stronger and stronger. I turned around after about 90 minutes, but Bob and the boys didn't. (Apparently, they were just about 5 minutes behind me, though).

By the time I got back near the marina, it was really raining and blowing. I pulled into the dock, because there were significant waves, and thought I'd wait and then go on kayaking. But it kept being stormy, so I decided to just turn the kayak back in and wait for the others. Before I got out of the boat, here comes Soren. Brought in by the Sheriff.
What had he done now?
Soon, along comes another sheriff, bringing Bob. And the first one went back to get Sam and Stephen.
All of them had gotten to the park just upstream. The boys were standing on the dock, reveling in the storm. (but not going kayaking any more, too much wind). Bob had been blown out of his kayak (losing his hat!) and dumped into the water.
Much excitement. Stephen and Soren said it was the best part of the trip! Cool! Let's do it again!