Saturday, May 23
Let’s see . . . Clothes, towel, soap, wash cloth, shampoo, de-tangle comb, back brush . . . .
Pringle Falls Campground on the Deschutes River, central Oregon
I toss the tote onto the front seat of the Perfect Tow Vehicle.
“Okay, crew. If you’re good while I shower, we’ll go for a long walk later.” Of course, we’ll do that anyway but you don’t know that.
I start up the engine.
Reggie settles into the doggie bed between the front seats. Bridget perches on the bench seat behind him. I turn the heat on high to take the morning dampness out of the PTV. Bridget jumps off the bench seat and squeezes into the doggie bed next to Reggie in order to be close to the heat blasting out of the vent.
“Feels good, doesn’t it . . . . ”
Dreamy canine eyes agree.
Our heads bob as the PTV rocks and rolls, carrying us away from the campground, over the bumps and ruts of the narrow, dirt road.
We’re going to La Pine State Park.
When we were at the park recently to use the dump station and take on water, I read that showers for non-campers are $2.
I hope all Oregon state parks offer this!
Stay at a rustic campground for $5 a night, go to the nearest state park for a shower for $2. Way to go!
A sign says the campground is full.
Not surprising for Memorial Day Weekend. I drive the paved road into “North Loop” in search of the shower house. Man, this is like a city!
Trucks, cars, campers, bikes, tents, boats, coolers, cookers, camp chairs, and so forth are a chaos of color. This is camping? Gee, I’ll take our five-dollar a night digs, thank you.
I continue around the loop at 5 mph. A mother holds her child back from the road as I pass. A few guys stand around a smoking fire ring, talking and laughing. People are everywhere. Oh well, everyone certainly looks happy. Good for them. To each his own.
I park in front of the shower house.
“Be good! You can’t bark here! I’ll be right back.”
I grab my tote. All four showers are occupied. Reggie and Bridget peer at me through the PTV window. Gee, for once the crew is doing what I said!
I like these kind of showers best. Individual entrances.
A few minutes later I’m under a stream of super-hot water. Ahhhhh. . . .
“You were such good puppies!”
I drive us into La Pine.
Why? Because it’s there. Plus I feel like a fast food lunch. I choose McDonald’s “Artisan Chicken Sandwich.” What the heck — I’ll go for the meal. While munching french fries, I park the PTV next to a vacant lot. I share the sandwich with Bridget and Reggie. Artisan? Ha! I wonder where McD’s finds artisans in La Pine, Oregon, willing to practice their art for minimum wage.
“Pretty good, eh?” Reggie’s and Bridget’s eager eyes are riveted on the sandwich, anticipating the next morsel. “Those artisans sure know what they’re doing!”
This blog post makes a point, believe it or not.
Really, it does — Are you a blogger and feel like you don’t have anything to blog about? Not true! There’s ALWAYS something to blog about.
Even if all you did was take a shower and go to McDonald’s!
Sunday, May 24
A few campers have moved into the campground for the three-day weekend.
I’m up early taking these photos before the fog lifts and the people emerge.
Pringle Falls has been a lovely, quiet camp.
Other than a few folks walking through our campsite causing Reggie to bark himself into a frenzy, it’s pretty calm here this holiday weekend.
More people camp at nearby Bull Bend Campground or one of the other national forest campgrounds in the area around Bend, probably because they have easy “put-ins” for boats and/or long banks for fishing or are alongside one of the pretty lakes.
The crew and I went over to Bull Bend one day to see what it’s like.
Photo taken from the road entering Bull Bend Campground
The campground is behind those trees. I didn’t take photos because people were out and about. Several people were setting up camp for the three-day weekend as we cruised through. Bull Bend is $10 regular/$5 with senior pass, same price as Pringle Falls Campground (our present camp) and Big River Campground (where we camped recently).
Oregon has loads of inexpensive national forest campgrounds in beautiful settings.
As you know, I like to boondock. However, if I can find a peaceful campground for $5 a night, that’s where we’ll camp. As for the state parks with prices like the ones shown on the sign at the beginning of this post? Well, only if we have to. I’d rather spend my money some other way. I might drop in for a shower though.
Unless I wake up with a case of the lazies in the morning, the crew and I will be on the road looking for our next camp!
Monday, May 25
Enjoy the freedom of this day and remember those who gave all.
rvsue
NOTE: Thank you for the notes of congratulations on the occasion of this blog surpassing two million visits. It was nice of you to write. And, of course, I thank you for your visits being part of that number!
THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING AMAZON FROM MY BLOG!
