Settling in...

May 8, 2013

Tahkenitch Landing Campground

Gardiner, OR

This will be the first of my writings from beautiful, sometimes sunny, cool, gorgeous Oregon.  I will be living here for the summer.  Working/Volunteering for the Siuslaw National Forest, part of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.  I will be working at the Tahkentich Landing Campground.  More to come...

May 11, 2013

Tahkenitch Landing Campground

Gardiner, OR

I have been here, officially, since Monday, 5/6.  I am the Campground Host for this campground. The duties here are not difficult.  Keep the campground neat and tidy.  Clean the bathrooms daily and check during the day to ensure that none of the bathrooms run out of paper and that they are neat and clean.  In the evening, conduct a tour/inventory of the campground to record a list of those campers staying for the night.  For my services the U.S. Forest Service (Siuslaw National Forest) pays me nothing.  However, the Camp Host is given water, electricity, propane and sewer for my motor home (Irv).   The weather is stunning (mid 60s to mid 70s during the day - 50s to 60s at night) with a lake view from my dining room.  There are hundreds of trails and sights to see along the Pacific Coast and room to ride my bicycle along the famous U.S. Hwy 101.  What more could a retired individual want from life?

I am about 7 1/2 miles north of Reedsport, OR.  About 75 miles from Eugene, home of the University of Oregon (Ducks).  I am 190 miles from Portland and about 360 miles from Seattle.

I have been exploring the coast a bit.  I have learned that the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area is the largest area of coastal sand dunes in the U.S.  I have learned that there are 30 (or so) Forest Service campgrounds in the Oregon Dunes area.  I have learned that the Oregon Dunes stretches from Florence, Oregon south to about Coos Bay, a distance of almost 50 miles. Some of the dunes can be 400 - 500 feet high.  And they are changing constantly.  As I drive south from Florence, the Dunes are consistently visible along the highway.  You can see folks with their shovel and bucket, collecting the sand from the dunes.  It is a fine white sand, suitable for walking, sandboarding and definitely climbing.  There are numerous trailheads that lead off into the Dunes.  The campground just south of me has a trail from the campground that appears to lead straight up, about a 100 feet or more.  The trail is soft sand, so the climb would be "rigorous".  I think I'll tone up some before I try it.

The weather here along the coast has been typical of the Pacific Coast in May or June.  In the morning, you normally wake up to an overcast of coastal clouds.  By about 10 – 11 a.m., the coastal cover has burned off and the skies are clear blue.  As the day wears on, around 4:00 p.m., the sun begins to drop below the trees to the west and the coastal cloud cover returns.  Today was somewhat atypical, Blues skies at sunrise.  The clouds did return about 6:00 p.m.  Tomorrow, Mother’s Day, it is supposed to rain…about a 40% chance of showers and Monday, there is about a 60% chance.  I have my raincoat, just in case.

I am enjoying the work, but miss my wife.  Deborah is in Phoenix, working and enjoying the grandkids.  We talk a lot, text more and share information through the email…but it is still different, working and living separately.  I’ll let you know how it turns out.  

I am including some pictures of the campground, courtesy of Deborah, and of the area.  I don’t have great cell or internet service at the campground, texting is the most reliable, so I am going to try and post about once a week.  Let me know what you think.