Driving and camping

I'm driving. Subtle, but always in the background once you're attuned, is the hum of the fuel pump. At least, that's my guess. If I had perfect pitch I would tell you the key of that sound.

The interior fan is on the highest speed, blowing air as fast as it can. The lower speeds don't work. Gotta get that fixed.

I like to imagine that there's a taint of coolness to the fan-forced air with the a/c on. Realistically, I wonder if it's my imagination. Possibly, probably, there's no cool at all. The a/c was adequate when I got the car over a year ago. I'm sure a check-up and a re-charge would restore it. Oh, ambient temperatures reached the 80's that Wednesday.

That was my driving experience this year as I drove to and from Tumalo State Park in central Oregon, near Bend.

Why do I not do more camping? Oh yeah! For one thing, I'm tired of dealing with air-mattresses. Even when you get one that holds air, I seem to pop it. I don't seem to be any good at patching them, either. They always seem to go flat overnight. I tried foam padding. If you get the really thick stuff and double it by stacking it on top of each other, it does work pretty well.

But, I finally bought myself a cot this year. Been meaning to try one for awhile. It's fantastic! Not only is it comfortable for sleeping but it's also nice to sit and put your shoes on, etc. I actually could have camped longer. That cot is the single biggest improvement to my camping experience in years. Now, though, I need a slightly bigger tent to accommodate it. Which I've been wanting anyway. Here's my excuse.

Anyway, the scenery... I'll always be very fond of the beautiful forests of central Oregon. Camping, hiking, snow trips... all kinds of memories of these forests and hills touched on my awareness. There were many trips with family, friends, or the church youth group over the years, many of them occurring on these roads.

How do you feel about nature? There's something about the grandeur (that's the only way to describe it) of the mighty forests that just gets to me. I like exploring during the day and I especially love the forest at night. The wind never stops. Although there are people and cars and music and all kinds of sounds during the day, at night you can simply listen to the trees as the wind blows around and through them. It soothes me.

Of course, during the day the wind DID stop. We wanted wind. Or fans! The temperatures gradually rose each day until it was in the 90's. Fortunately Tumalo offers free showers which I took advantage of every evening. There's also the Deschutes River adjacent to the campground. There are a couple different swimming areas, neither of them too deep. But the one we found farther downstream was mostly shallow and really good for just walking out and getting your legs wet to cool down. The kids all loved it, of course.

Oh yeah... I got to meet my new cousins. I won't try to quote all their names but there are several. Now my nieces will have peers to play with at these occasions. That's good because they can wear me out. I can't imagine full-time kids in my life but I sure love them for a few hours or days at a time.

I decided to leave right after breakfast on Saturday. That ended up being around 9:30. I didn't get home until nearly 5:00. That was too many hours without a/c. If I go next year it will be in a different car and I plan to have working a/c, whatever it takes.

Generally enough relatives attend these trips that I can share a site with one of them, if not my immediate family. Well, this year not as many people were able to go. Also, the campground filled up pretty well. I ended up having to reserve 2 different sites and moved from one to the other on Friday. I shared with my aunt and uncle as they hadn't made reservations soon enough either. It worked out well. It sure helps to split the costs. Camping has gotten more expensive but it's worth it to me if there are nice bathrooms, showers and hot water included.

Plus, I'm all registered with the reservation site for future trips. I look forward to them.