Light. Then Dark

 US 97, Oregon highways 140 and 39, California highway 139, County Road 44 N 01 and County road 97A all have at least one thing in common. They are the route we took this morning from Bend RV Resort to Eagles Nest RV Park.

The weather was cool and threatening when we left Bend, Oregon, but turned to partly cloudy as we turned south through the Deschutes National Forest and the towns of La Pine, Crescent and Chiloquin. It was great to catch a glimpse of fairly dense wood lands.

The trees and vegetation soon thinned out, however, as we got further south.

We came across the devastation wrought by a fire in the not too distant past. 

As we approached Klamath Falls, Oregon, it was apparent that the trees were pretty much a memory, and a high desert storm began to form across the hay fields.

Upper Klamath Lake is a huge but shallow lake, forming the largest freshwater lake in Oregon by surface area. It is 25 miles long and 8 miles wide and…..14 feet deep! The water level is regulated to protect Coho salmon in the Klamath River below the lake.

It wasn’t very much further to the Oregon/California state line and the sky began to get darker and darker!

And soon we saw the Welcome to California sign!

As the shower began to fade away, we found ourselves in the vast hayfields ot northeastern California. The small towns of Tule Lake, Newell, and Copic flew by without much hoopla.

We began to see portions of the gigantic lava flows that once covered this high desert area.

At Perez Junction, we turned west on Rd 44 N 01, and five and a half miles later turned onto a one lane gravel road that led us to Eagles Nest Rv Park. This park, of perhaps a dozen sites, has two very special things going for it: it is very dark at night and it is very quiet! We are the only “transients” in the park, so it is very, very quiet! We’re happy to leave the bright lights of the recent cities we’ve visited and collect our thoughts as we approach the end of the Old Age Sucks Tour. 

If the view from our campsite this afternoon is indicative of the stars we expect to see in the night sky, we will be happy indeed!