Ashland / Midland / Crater Lake

Ashland / Rogue River / Crater Lake Oregon

May 11 - 23, 2025

We decided to head inland to the Ashland area to visit Crater Lake which is a National Park. We first booked a RV park right near Crater Lake... then we checked the weather and saw that they still have loads of snow! So we changed to a park near Ashland. First stop after we got set up was to buy some award winning blue cheese said to have been rated the best in the world(1). We also got some lovely cheddar, bourbon peach jam (gross) crackers and sausage. San Diegans can buy Rogue Creamery cheese at Ventissimo Cheese locations. You must buy some immediately! 

Pretty rad charcuterie board
we made with the blue.

Tick Count - same score. No ticks here!

Bird(s) of the week.This week it's the Wild Turkey (seen in this pic chilling on Sue's hiking path in Lithia Park) and the Canadian Jay we spotted at Crater Lake. 

I'm a Canadian Jay eh.

The RV park was on a small lake complex and was well-maintained. It included the obligatory feral cats! Our site was ok - not great. Lets just say that our neighbors at the campground had a Lazy Boy chair at their campsite - that should give you the vibe. The park abuts Bear Creek Greenway which is a multi-use, paved trail that runs for 20 miles or so. This meant that we could ride a lot of places on our bikes.  So often we have been on small two lane roads that were a bit sketchy to ride on. 

Notice the Asian Touches

Ashland is famous for its Oregon Shakespeare Festival. It turns out it's actually not a festival but a location featuring multiple playhouses. We bought tickets to Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest" for a Sunday matinee. Neither of us had seen an Oscar Wilde play before. The play was well acted and fantastically silly with lots of Wildean one liners like “To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.” and “Never speak disrespectfully of Society, Algernon. Only people who can’t get into it do that.” The play was reimagined taking place in Malaysia (instead of London) and 

featured a predominately Asian cast. It was was an excellent choice and worked well. 

In addition to its theater fame, Ashland has a combination of arts, shopping, and natural beauty. My friend Bonnie used to live there and gave us lots of tips for our visit.  [Bonnie is an HR Director at Harvard so please say a little prayer for her]

For Sunday dinner, inspired by leftover peanuts from our drive (plus the amazing Trader Joes Argentinian Shrimp we had in the freezer,) we decided to make Shrimp Pad Thai. Was pretty decent but recipe needs work. 

On Monday Sue checked out Ashland some more. Walked in Lithia Park, enjoyed buffalo cauliflower and a sour ale alongside the Ashland Creek. Very lovely homes adjacent to Lithia Park which Bonnie claims were purchased by "rich Californians" (Bonnie herself was a Californian and is now a rich Massachusetts resident.) Tuesday found Sue hiking Upper Table Rock which has a lot of volcanic rocks along the way and enjoys a view of Table Rock (and tons of Turkey Vultures). Tuesday we did ribeye with some of our Rogue Creamery blue cheese. Yum! (we are not eating a healthy diet right now and need to adjust that)

Ashland Creek

Ribeye with Rogue Blue

Oregon: Brookings and Chetco River

Brookings Oregon

May 10 - 17, 2025

Oregon welcomed us in the most Oregonian way possible, with rain off and on for two straight days(1). It did clear up nicely after that with gusty days and chilly nights.

We didn't have neighbors after the first night

Waxing rhapsodic about our mighty steed Riganante. We are really just so pleased with our RV. Both of us appreciate having less space to manage. We can clean house in about 30 minutes. It forces us to do keep things tidy and do dishes right away. It heats up quickly when it is cold and cools off just as quickly. Though it is a whopping 37 feet, we wouldn't want it much smaller as we need a walk around bed and a full size shower to fit Denis' sasquatch sized body. (Leo(6) - it's pretty squatchy up here!) The windows always give us a nice cross breeze and give Denis the best office view ever! She drives easy and she hauls all our stuff up hills and on mountain roads in comfort. 

Album Cover from the
self titled album "Li'l Dum Dum"

Spotlight on Klaus: Klaus B. Kingleton is an ~8 year old Bichon/Poodle Mix. Both Murray and Klaus have the last name of Kingleton -- this is a blend of King and Angleton for those who don't know. We got Klaus second hand when he was about 1. For awhile Klaus enjoyed a career as a hip hop artist under the name Li'l Dum Dum. Rap fans will remember his classic song "My Name is Li'l Dum Dum" some of the lyrics: 

   "My name is Li'l Dum Dum
    The ladies they say Yum Yum
    If they fly, I let them try, to rub my snow white tum tum
    Riding in my Lambo
    chewing on a hambone"(2)

Sadly, in spite of his trademark purple hospital glove look which started the hot fashion trend for one week in May, he was a one-hit wonder. He went into rehab for his treat addiction or treathab. He appeared on "Where Are They Now" alongside Vanilla Ice and Kajagoogoo. Klaus enjoys walks, treats, ladies, treats, licking things, sailing, and treats.    

(not our pic - ours was too blurry but 
worked for Merlin)

Bird of the Week is the American Robin - first spotted in the Redwoods but forgot to add to the last post. Sue's Merlin app is staying very busy identifying birds with pics and sound.  We are both still very anxious to spot our first Golden Eagle (or Geegle, as Nathan(6) would say). 

I'm a tick!

Tick count sees Sue still winning with two, but Denis inching forward with one that he found. 

Avenue of the Giants

Avenue of the Giants, California

May 4 - May 10, 2025

We were happy to leave Clear Lake behind and head into the Redwoods State and National Parks. This part of 101 sometimes winds between Giant Redwoods right at the edge of the road!  Unlike Clear Lake, everything in the Redwoods is pristine. A nice change. We stayed at Ancient Trees RV Park in the midst of Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The camp hosts were incredible - always mowing, trimming, cleaning! Laundry room = 8.5 out of 10.

Our campsite was gorgeous with views of the redwoods right out our windshield front window. Neighbors were quiet and basically like us...old. Lots of dogs. Cool thing is - and we forgot to take pic of this - one couple had two cats who chilled outside in two net enclosures connected by a tube! Our neighbor also had a cat who was allowed to explore while hooked up the RV. We had to make sure we were not allowing animal outings at the same time as Klaus is a ferocious and skilled cat hunter. grrr ... someone got ahold of the keyboard.

In our tree bowl campsite we were able to have campfires again! As we get further north, the sunset comes later. It was very strange waiting till 8:30 to start the campfire and it wasn't fully dark till almost 9. By the time we get to Canada, sunset won't be until almost 10.

You know you're in Humboldt...

We are getting pretty good at getting everything set up after we land and try not to kill each other backing in/guiding in to our site. Every couple does this! It is basically gender based roles which Sue is embarrassed about -- (not driving the RV) but oh well. 

Is this the first RV?

After camp setup, we drove to the nearest Redwoods Park visitor center. They had the "Travel Log", a motor home built in 1917 by Charles Kellogg(1) fashioned out of a single hollowed out redwood log. (I had to put the Travel Log in our travelogue)

Clear Lake

Clear Lake California

April 25 - May 3, 2025

Notes on the blog. We both write it. When the blog paints one of us in a negative like (e.g. Sue is a slob) it's the one who is being portrayed that is writing it (so Sue wrote that Sue is a slob). The videos we post have to be inserted via YouTube so feel free to click on them - they are our videos. We are trying to find a way to allow readers to comment. 

Asphalt Casino Parking Lot view. 

So for Clearlake, CA(1), We booked another parking lot! This time adjacent to a Casino. For those of you who have seen the movie Lost in America, Sue did not lose the nest egg at the Craps table! It was a strange and shabby parking lot but still amazing wildlife including a pair of Ospreys. We are learning more about campsites and what to expect and what to avoid. 

Overall,

Denis got tired of driving so Klaus took a turn at the wheel. 
He wished his nephew, Rudolph "Rudy" Friend was here to help out!

Clearlake was an amazing place to visit for a week if you were a dedicated fisherperson. Otherwise it would not be a place we would visit again. Rating 6/10 - shabby campground, no firepit, little to do in the city.