Today I’m starting my 68th trip around the sun. At some point sixty-seven seemed old … but not now.
Last year was a pretty good one … plenty of streams, trails and campsites
… we’ve settled into life in Central Oregon.
Things are bit crazy right now, but nearly seven decades on this planet have taught me that life keeps moving … and so shall I.
Today we start our third week of quarantine with a bit of social distancing at the hardware store … masks on.
Like most we’re feeling frustration over the jumble of instructions, while still trying to remain healthy and sane. Just what do they mean by social distancing …because I’m always at least six feet from anyone on the trout stream.
It was a bit of a blow to our “social distancing” plans when two weeks ago, while on the Crooked River, our idyllic spot was overrun by people. Within a few short hours our quiet campground was filled. We knew then we would need to adjust our “get out, get away” plans. I guess no road trips for a while.
I’ve managed to get a couple dozen spring patterns tied, euro-nymph and dry fly. Now to start on the summer collection of caddis, stoneflies, and terrestrials.
The space between tying and cooking is filled with reading and video viewing. Glad for the Kindle, Apple TV and a DVD collection.
I love our quiet moments at home, but really miss our adventures on the road. I knew we would go stir crazy without some way to get out and move. Our gym is off limits, so walking the neighborhood is our best bet.
Luckily, we have lovely trails through forest and high desert just outside our home.
Our routine includes several walks a day, with plenty of fetching for Tip.
For better than a decade we’ve kept an emergency supply pantry, as well as a stocked freezer, extra fuel, water and paper product. Prepped? Maybe. But for us it was the memory of how fast the Mount St Helen’s eruption made a mess of life in the PNW and the threat of Mt Hood’s regular awakenings. This global pandemic thing wasn’t even on my radar.
Thank goodness for Tip’s exuberance.
He is a daily reminder to be joyful, anticipate good things, live in the moment, and be grateful.These have been added to our Rules to live by.
If social distancing means avoiding people (and for the most part it does) we’ve been doing that for years.
Being on the most ‘vulnerable’ list for COVID-19 made it pretty easy to enhance that distance.
We live in a neighborhood where folks lift a hand in greeting and pause to visit. I love how friendly everyone is. That said, we do have a terrible time remembering names … we usually recognize people by their dogs. “Oh, there’s the guy with the old dog that sits on the bench.” We always stop to visit, but now we do it from across the field. Its a small thing … a moment of connection which always lifts our spirits.
We are ready for months of isolation, quarantine and social distancing.
As long as the Internet doesn’t fail … we’ve got this.
Hope you are all getting by and washing your hands.
If you don’t like peanut butter … well that’s just wrong … but also you won’t like this post much either.
We’ve long been fans of Alton Brown and “Good Eats” … even saw his stage show in PDX a few years ago.
Brown’s take on cooking and food is unique and always entertaining. Check out his YouTube channel.
As the days at home stretch out, you might be looking for a treat and this recipe has five ingredients, is quick, flourless and full of peanut goodness. Enjoy!
With the second installment of this quarterly feature we are going to talk about keeping it together. Working with digital tools means there are lots of bits and pieces that you need to have handy. That is not an easy task.
Peak Design out of San Francisco has become our go to supplier for camera bags and gear pouches. The center of this system is their Everyday Tote. The model we have has been updated and isn’t available anymore. However, these multi-pocket tote bags, regardless of the model, are extremely handy in keeping essential gear organized and at your finger tips.
The other piece of gear from Peak Design is their Anchor Link system. We started with a camera strap and clip from Peak Design. The anchor link system is a method of tethering a piece of gear to a strap or lanyard.
We’ve added links, a button like tether, to cameras, GPS, iPhones and knives. This makes it really simple to attach or detach a piece of gear to an anchor point. As an example we’ve put anchors on neck lanyards so our iPhones can be quickly clipped to the lanyard and you are hands free but the phone isn’t stuffed in a pocket.
The other item we wanted to include in this quarter’s Gear Up is a pocket knife.
This is an essential kit when you are camping. The problem JQ encountered with a folding knife is they were just too heavy to comfortably hang on the side of lightweight pants.
Benchmade Bugout solves that with a high quality folder that is extremely light. This knife can also comfortably hang on a neck lanyard which is very convenient.
The Deschutes River north of Maupin was, for years, a go to fishing spot. There are BLM camp sites along the river from the bridge on Highway 197 to Mack’s Canyon.
When we moved to Central Oregon it was with a thought that we’d spend time on the lower Deschutes.
However, we’ve since discovered the Crooked, Fall and Upper Deschutes and haven’t been to Maupin in over a year.
This year, as we were planning camping excursions. I noticed there is an extension of the BLM land South of Maupin.
In all those years we never even looked that way!
This week we decided to take a day trip back to the old fishing spots and checkout this new area.
The scouting trip was interesting.
That stretch of the river flows through a much tighter canyon and while there are some nice stetches of water, for the most part steep banks and narrow roads make this a much less inviting area.
We headed North, downriver, to our favorite parking spot … Oak Springs. We enjoyed a picnic lunch before heading back to home.
Lower Deschutes is on the camping list, but we’ll be back to old haunts rather than any of these newly scouted sites.