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June 21, 2026June 20, 2026

Van-life?

Central Oregon sunrise through morning fog

The heat of summer really started up this week with temperatures pushing toward 90º. High desert days, even the sweltering ones, usually start and end cool . . . sometimes even cold.

So we shift our travel to early mornings and are sheltered in AC with a good e-book by afternoon.

One recurring trip in June is a visit to the Adventure Van Expo in Hood River, OR. It’s a gathering that started with enthusiasts connecting with van conversion companies and has gained in popularity and of course, size.

Our trek has been to find a good way to travel and live semi-off grid in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest.

In the spring of 1998 we paid twelve hundred dollars for a 1972 VW Westfalia camper. A bright blue Vanagon that served us very well for a decade.

Along the eastern edge of Oregon lies Hells Canyon, this was one of many excursions along that part of the state

Transporting not just JQ and I, but also three Border Collies across Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana.

On a late fall camping / fishing trip to the Lower Deschutes a wet dog walked shivering up from the river to the van. We wrapped her in a wool blanket, fed her and the next morning made inquiries at the Maupin General Store.

Sage, an ancient Golden that literally wandered into our lives

We called her Sage. She turned out to be a great companion for Maggie (our six month old puppy) during her hip surgery ordeal. While in Montana, Sage showed Maggie how to ‘chomp’ a soft serve ice cream cone. Good times!

There was an attempt to re-kindle the wanderlust briefly in a poor copy of the Westfalia.

Eurovan parked in Greys Creek Campground on the Gallatin River, Western Montana.

A Winnebago build on a VW Eurovan that never lived up to the experience we enjoyed with the German design.

These days Class B RVs are way too expensive, stuffed with unnecessary tech, adorned with bling and usually built on a diesel Mercedes chassis that could be a nightmare to get serviced.

This year’s trip to Hood River promised a different camper van. DM Vans builds on a Dodge RAM ProMaster with a minimalist approach. An online discovery spurred memories of that old Westfalia.

Very comfy seats and lots of window space, both pluses

DM offers a practical layout, well built cabinetry and windows that let the outside in. Plus, no flat panels or multi-speaker audio systems, just clean basic design. It’s a van conversion with ample solar power to allow for off grid adventures.” It really is “Everything you need, Nothing you don’t. “

June 14, 2026June 12, 2026

Summertime

The morning’s watering left droplets on the lavender

We wrapped up the last of the spring projects . . . planting, weeding, and general yard work.

Our yard work philosophy focuses on using drought resistant plants and drip irrigation. This conserves water, as well as our work load, while keeping the habitat around our house very bird friendly.

June days seem to start out cooler and never reach blistering hot. That will change in July.

For now, trips to the river don’t require regular shifts to stay in the shade.

Attempting to drop a dry fly above rising fish

The last couple of fishing excursions have included late morning caddis fly hatches.

The conditions have been perfect for dry fly fishing. Once the swallows start diving we know the hatch is on.

Paired with the temperate early summer weather, these trips to the river have been great.

Bird activity has shifted. Fledglings are out and about and there is frequent movement along the river’s edge.

We sighted a young osprey perched in the snag dominating the opposite bank. He appeared to have taken a recent dive into the river, and was busy air-drying his feathers.

JQ identified another new (to us) bird. It was a a medium-sized flycatcher called Say’s Phoebe. It has a distinctive pale orange breast and feeds mostly on insects.

Say’s Phoebe named after Thomas Say, an American naturalist

Forecasts are for more of the same this coming week . . . cool mornings and warm afternoons. Heaven!

Colorful spikes of lupine have started to appear in the high desert

We plan to spend a few days at the coast celebrating Jack’s little sister’s birthday . . . then visit old haunts before the heat of the season sets in.

June 7, 2026June 7, 2026

A Trip to the Library

At least once a week we make the trek to the Crooked River. This week was no different.

That journey usually takes us past the site of Deschutes County’s new Central Library. It’s been under construction for a bit more than a year, but this month it opened.

The thing about libraries is that you don’t need to search through stacks to find a book, movie or magazine.

The internet has put the library online and most of our reading involves connecting to a website and downloading a borrowed e-book or audio book.

Physical books can be tracked via the library’s catalogue and a visit to our local branch makes pick up quick and easy.

But there is something nice about craning your neck reading titles on a row of books. You walk into the genre and start to find reads you never knew existed.

The apps, like Libby and Hoopla are great search tools. However, prowling the shelves of the library will often bring a forgotten author back to your attention or a book cover will spark your interest in ways no computer search can.

Lots of natural light and places to read

The new library is beautiful, as well as cleverly laid out.

Along the outside walls are massive windows and lots of nooks with comfortable chairs, desks and tables to review that stack of books you pulled.

Shelving takes up the middle ground and then in the center of each of the three floors are closed work spaces.

Some are staff offices, but many are study carrels, meeting spaces and even a MakerSpace.

Not sure we’ll visit there often, it’s kind of out of the way, but they did an excellent job of making a library that invites a visit.

May 31, 2026May 30, 2026

Rainy Days

Being retired allows you to pick and choose the activity, as well as the day.

The crux of this is . . . we avoid weekends and holidays, regardless of how nice the weather.

Not to begrudge the wage slaves their Memorial Day weekend, but as the campsites started to clear, the dark clouds rolled in.

Tuesday arrived blustery and gray, so by midweek the storm clouds had bunched up overhead and the rain moved in. This dampened our plans. But being resilient, we shifted to more home oriented projects and waited for the inevitable sun’s return.

Last week’s trip to Portland netted us a stack of light fixtures and accent pieces for our ongoing house update. Sooo . . . we spent some of those rainy days installing stuff.

Evening thunderstorms roll through, usually moving north or west along the eastern side of the Cascades. The sky opens up and for a few hours there is sunshine.

Summerlike weather is returning to the forecast next week, so we’re planning accordingly.

For now, we keep working through our house projects.

May 24, 2026May 23, 2026

Strawberries

Strawberries . . . the harbinger of summer we’ve been waiting for. We acquired a half flat of “fresh from the field” berries at Nanneman Farms stand on a brief road trip this week.

The weather has been a bit janky these last few weeks. We woke up to a fresh dusting of snow early this week. We were starting to think summer may never get started.

Then the days warmed and forecasts brightened. We figured it was a good time to head west over the mountains.

Portland, OR. street view from Powell’s City of Books

Our destination, Portland, Oregon . . . primarily to visit family and friends. We did manage a trip to Powell’s City of Books, all of which has been on the ‘to-do list’ for a few weeks.

For 30 years we lived on the edges of the Rose City, so there’s no novelty in a trip to the city, but Powell’s is difficult to replicate in any location.

Most of our reading material these days is supplied by the local library and a majority of that is ebooks. Technology has profoundly altered our relationship with books.

You don’t do a quick stop at a book store . . . especially this one.

Independent authors, which make up a large portion of our reading material, frequently only distribute via eBook. JQ has become an avid audio book “reader”.

So, between Libby.app, the county library system and Hoopla our reading material lives in a tablet or e-reader.

We’ll avoid the Cascade range passes as avenues of travel from November to May. However, when the fresh fruit comes into season the Willamette Valley becomes a destination . . . our “go to the source” location.

Moving between the high desert and the coastal rain forest makes the trip that much more interesting.