Moving On

About time, you say? Our motto is 'We don't move very far or very fast.' And with the price of gas, it's a good thing.

Leaving our friends at Lake Shastina, we headed for Klamath Falls, Oregon, because neither of us had ever been there. We settled in at the Moose lodge in their tiny, little parking lot. Luckily it was over the holiday weekend and they didn't have anything planned. My father, who loves trains, would love this place, because . .

IT IS RIGHT ON THE BUSY RAILROAD TRACKS!
Actually I'm fine with trains, but the way the RV bounced when they passed did bother me at night.

Not only did we have freight trains running through our backyard, but Amtrak has a station right there. So I had plenty of time to snap this when the northbound train pulled out.


I liked the looks of the second engine better. (These are for my father.)
I always thought it would be fun to ride a train instead of flying somewhere, but it just costs too darn much! And Ron just received an email that said the government is subsiding Amtrak to the tune of $1.565 billion a year. Ridiculous! If they aren't making money, they should cut the unprofitable routes, like any other business would do.

From Klamath Falls we took a day trip back into California to see Lava Beds National Monument, another place neither of us had been. We explored spatter cones


And lava tubes which are formed when the lava flows underground. Here Ron is looking for the entrance to one of the tubes. Keep in mind, the entrance is where the roof has collapsed.


My thinking is that more of the roof could collapse at any time, so I only went in a few feet. (BTW, there is a smooth path along the wall - you don't have to stumble over all the lava.)


Another day, we took a hike recommended by Diana - it pays to have a genius for a sister. This is an easy hike along the Pacific Crest Trail just off OR140. It hugs the side of Brown Mountain through lava fields. We couldn't believe how much work had been involved to make this the beautiful trail it is.

The lava fields also allow gorgeous views. Here I am with Mt. McLoughlin, another of the major volcanic peaks of the Cascade Range.


And for my daily flower, we found a wild Bleeding Heart.

Now on to my weird internet connection problem. Our little Verizon 5-spot has been working fine the whole time we were in California. As soon as I tried to use it in Oregon, my computer didn't see it. Immediately I thought it was my fairly new computer (#%!@*!, I knew I shouldn't have gotten it, etc.), but I tried to connect with Ron's computer and his didn't see the 5-spot either. All the lights were properly lit and we had perfect phone service, so I was at a loss. Since it was the holiday weekend, I waited until Tuesday to cart my computer and the 5-spot into the Verizon Wireless store (I wanted to talk to the 'A' team.) The clerk told me you have to hold in the 'on' button until all the lights come on - which he did and it worked! Now I know for a fact that it worked before without doing that so I was my usual skeptical self. But the fact is that it worked for him, so what could I say? I went back to the rig and again it didn't work. The only thing I could imagine was that there was some kind of interference with the train station. We moved to a different location and it's back to working perfectly. Interesting, huh?