Eugene and Ashland and onward......

 We always enjoy our stays in Eugene.    Jesse and Erin went to school there some years ago, so we consequently spent lots of time in that area, got to know it pretty well.   Once again, we made Armitage County Park our home.    

This visit was a short one, mainly a stop between the coast and the rest of our inland adventures.    We couldn't pass by and not stop, could we?

As you've come to expect, we ate well, drank a little wine, explored a bit and relaxed before heading on to Ashland.  

gougères and caprese

wines?  mediocre but the location and company were perfect!

doesn't everybody eat thistles?

We managed to hit the Tuesday Lane County Farmer's Market and, while it isn't nearly as big as the famous Saturday market, we came home with lots of goodies.

humongous Kouign Amann - size isn't everything...

Squinting without sunglasses

Ashland, Oregon was our next destination.     We always stay at Emigrant Lake County Park, a quiet and peaceful spot above Emigrant Lake.    The views are lovely and it's filled with birds.  

site 10

 Beautiful sunsets each evening.   We even got to watch the spectacular lunar eclipse!    My phone just couldn't believe what it was seeing so it refused to try to photograph it....grrrr.

 We just ignore it's downside, the nasty stickers all over the ground.   Taos managed to sidestep them carefully, but we still remember our old Sasha having a fit when she encountered them.  

  As we drove in this time, however, we were reminded how tenuous life can be.    First off, the lake levels were so very low.   This is a reservoir and the water is used throughout the season, we know that, but this year we were surprised.

And....we saw something no rv'r wants to think about or actually see in a site in another loop.

We never found out what happened here, and upon our return from a day's exploration it was completely removed and the site cleaned.   Except for the burned trees and grass outline.....

We left Emigrant Lake yesterday morning and drove through the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in California to our next quick stop in Susanville.  

mt. Shasta

Most of the way our route took us through beautiful deep pine forest (no pictures of course....) but we did move through plenty of evidence of fire activity, past and recent.

We've been here at the Susanville RV Park many times, it's very nice and green and convenient to what we need to restock for the next portion of our drive, along  "the loneliest road in America".....    Stay tuned!

Here's Annie! or shall I say, Annie the Angry?