Coincidence? Divine Intervention? All I know is that there was absolutely no better person to call me in that very moment and inquire about the status of a project. Alison is an RV enthusiast, and semi-pro mountain bike rider and when she heard where we were and our quasi predicament, she exploded with excitement. She strongly suggested we make our way to Sisters where "the camping is epic, the mountain biking is great, there's a quaint little town within walking distance of the campsite where you can do your laundry .... and the beer options are outstanding!" she said.
I relayed all of this information to my co-pilot and we headed to Sisters. Where ... it would turn out ... the epic little campsite with laundry within walking distance, was completely booked.
Pulling up one of the camping apps I had downloaded on my phone, I found a spot a few miles outside of the town where it looked like there might be a few options. Note, all of the US icons reflect US National Forest campsites. The key is finding one that is 1) available; 2) suitable for your camper; 3) someplace you'd want to stay. Sometimes you cannot decipher from the app which of these is appropriate - until you arrive. Hopefully, not at midnight.
When we pulled in to the Cold Springs campground - it was early evening, but we had found a winner. There were plenty of open campsites, lots of space to easily maneuver parking our camper, it was picturesque, and quiet. The only catch was that there was no water hookup, no dump station, nor electricity. So, we were essentially boon docking - but paying a small fee for a level spot with a fire ring. For $17 dollars a night, it wasn't a bad deal. Since we had completely emptied our grey and black water tanks, and filled up our 40-gallons of fresh water tanks before we had left Diamond Lake, and our batteries had been trickle-charging during the drive, so we were okay to be without electricity or water for the night.
This is one of the only pictures we took from the inside of the camper, during the entire trip. Henry captured this panoramic view, while we were at the Cold Creek campground. Hanging around after dinner, talking about the day and what we hoped to experience, next. Elizabeth using every opportunity to get a back scratch.
After dinner, William retreated outside to write a song (photo snapped through our dirty window!).
And as day faded to night, Henry joined in the composition.
Charlie and William with guitar and ukulele, eking out John Denver.
Almost heaven .... Central Oregon!
We would have stayed at the Cold Spring campground for many more days, but we had laundry to do, and realized that our batteries required more juice throughout the day than a trickle-charge from driving. While we had plenty of propane to keep our refrigerator cool, and heat the oven - stove - and us on a cooler day ... without sufficient energy from our batteries, our water pump to run the sink - or flush the toilet - would bog down. And our interior lights would fade.
So we checked availability - found that the campground in Sisters had opened up in the morning, and booked over there as quickly as we could to procure a spot where we would enjoy "full" hook-ups and were within walking distance to the laundromat.
As soon as we arrived, we gave Ollie a bath.
After several weeks camping with the dog, this became a TOP priority.
The kids set up their hammock city.
And ate ... because that's what they do.
Ollie, keeping a close eye on the local wildlife.
Charlie and I headed out to do laundry, while the kids masked up and wandered around the town of Sisters. It was one of the quaintest towns I've ever visited - and highly worth the time to check it out.
Directly from the campsite, we were able to hop on great mountain bike trails, that zig-zagged through the Deschutes National Forest.
There are few things that bring me as much joy as riding my bike through a setting like this...
With my people. Even if one of the children was feeling particularly cranky, and we threatened to leave them in the middle of the forest ... you'd never know from this picture. Would you?
There once was a time, I opted to be the caboose to ensure no one was left behind. Now I'm always the caboose because I can't keep up with them.
We made it to Peterson Overlook, and what you can't see in this photo is the ledge that drops off directly behind the kids. You might have a perspective for how high were are, when you look at the tops of the trees. We perched just long enough to take a family photo with the sweeping shield volcanoes of the Cascade range, behind us.
There were definitely some technical sections, including across small bridges, and some pretty intense rock outcrops. Because I'm such a hard core rider, there was one pretty good wipeout for me, thankfully I had on my helmet. And comfortable shoes ... because I did some walking after that. Ha!
Alison was correct, Sisters was awesome. We wound up staying here for several more days than we had initially planned....
But the kids didn't complain.
Once again, whether coincidence or divine intervention, we found out that the company that manufacturers the solar panels - specifically designed for our Airstream - was located in Bend. And since there might be a lot more boon docking in our future, it wouldn't be a bad idea to get ourselves fully prepared for life off the grid. So after dropping Quarantinny off at a Zamp distributor (where the people who installed the new lithium batteries told us that they KNEW the people who actually build our solar panel), we took off to check out the city of Bend.
IT WAS SO TOTALLY AWESOME!
The Deschutes River, that cuts right through the downtown area, is a recreational paradise. In addition to tubing and paddle boarding - there were people who were whitewater kayaking in a section that had been portioned off, where the whitewater was especially intense.
There were also wonderful shops and restaurants, where we perused for the better part of the day.
Hello, I'm going to need your people to call my people, about getting me another one of these sandwiches. I'm feeling particularly hungry today.
