This was another new destination for the group. I stayed in La Pine State Park and it was
another great experience. I was lucky
again to beat the crowds as lots of late snow was scaring folks away. In fact
we could not get to two of the lakes we had planned to paddle as their roads
had not been plowed yet. I felt lucky! A
little cold is better than crowds. What
I was not lucky about was the skeeters.
They were crazy bad, all day and night.
I am so thankful my van has the screen door. It really saved me.
We paddled three lakes in three days. Hosmer Lake was beautiful, clear and had
great water trails. As we paddled to the
far back end of the lake I could feel that I was paddling against the current
and got a little bit of a work out in.
Turns out we paddled all the way to a nice waterfall. We pulled out for lunch and had a pirate
picnic. This was all courtesy of our fun
hosts for this paddle.
Pirate Picnic
The next day was East Lake.
This was in the Newberry Crater and
part of a string of old and potentially active volcanoes. We could see old lava flows and masses of
beautiful flows of obsidian lining the lake.
Third day was my favorite.
We paddled the amazing Big Deschutes River. This one required a shuttle. That is where we
leave our boats at a launch point, then drive down to leave our cars at the
take out point…then all the drivers pile in as few cars as possible back to the
launch. Kind of a hassle, but well worth
it. This was an 18 mile paddle with a
small current to help us along. But WOWie it was a beautiful ride. We passed through so many different areas
with the last 10 miles being the most remote and beautiful.
That was a lot of paddling for me and I was so glad I was
able to do it all. Charley the Travato
handled it all with ease. He was an easy
drive to all the launches and it was soooo easy
loading and unloading my kayak from the G garage back door. At night I would just pull my kayak out and
lay it by the van to give me more room inside.
But it is nice to know that I don’t even have to do that. I can leave it and still maneuver around fine.
Best of all, I am really getting comfortable in my van. It is such a great tiny house with all the
amenities of home. I spent a little more
time inside because of the skeeters, but oh was I cozy. I love reading my books and listening to my
audible while relaxing in my van. In
fact, I turned down offers of dinner out just so I could get back to my
book. This book was called “Boys in the
Boat” and I highly recommend it.
I am also finding it fun to listen to local radio stations
in the morning while I am drinking my coffee and eating breakfast. It gives you a real local look at
things. Some of the small town
commercials are hilarious!
Next is a 10 day trip up to Belfair WA, exploring the Hood Canal. This will be my longest trip with Charley...
Traveling on!
