Our day started with another Hot Spring- Umpqua- on recommendation from our experied local at Terwilliger. It's quite a hike in, past "picturesque" outhouses and up precarious trails cut into the side of the the ravine. It's perched up at the top, near the head of the ravine, overlooking the creek babbling below and a wall of trees on the opposite slope.
There are four uncovered rock pools of various heats scattered around a large dug out pool under a ramshackle shake roof. Our bathing compatriots were less picturesque than Terwilliger, but also less nude. Stu and I actually stepped up our games by losing an article of clothing each. It meant more for Stu. There were many more selfie-seekers and instagrammers, which detracted a bit from the ambience, but I actually preferred Umpqua over Terwilliger overall. It was smaller, more intimate, less densely populated, and had far better scenery (nature-wise; we missed the hippie).
The rest of the day was devoted to necessities. We topped up our water supply, spent an hour or so at the laundromat, and worked our way out to the coast.
That isn't to say we didn't find time for food. Along the way we made the requisite road trip stop at a pancake house. Elmer's served a delightful and generous German pancake and bottomless hot chocolate, as well as a "country cousin" skillet. Yeah.
As we hit the coast, the smell of a wood-fire oven caught me during a moment of weakness and we ended up with pizza and beer for dinner, both of which were top notch. It was enhanced (?) by some chainsaw Trump statues. Reedsport lacked literally any wine store, so we grabbed some Swill (actual name of the beer-which turned out to be GREAT) from a local liquor store and headed briefly north to the Tahkonitch Campground.
Most of the sites were already booked up for Labor Day weekend as the campground is situated on a lake of the same name, and features a few boat launches. However, we lucked into the most private secret-hedge of a campsite and Stu was ecstatic. We spent the evening drinking swill on the pier and watching the sun set as we tried to catch up on the blog. Hopefully we'll have better service soon.
Goodnight from Tahkonitch,
Stu and Chelsea
P S. While in the laundromat, I found a discussion of the Westfalia Vanagon (like Wendel) that perfectly sums up the driving experience, if you're interested.
No comments:
Post a Comment