I-5 north of Medford took us up and down over several passes and around tight turns through the mountains. There were crews putting out the last traces of small wildfires along the road at two different spots. We stopped in a town called "Canyonville" where Angie put flowers on the grave of her third-great-grandmother, Martha Jane Lamon Hall, 1843-1913; she was born in Tennessee, migrated to Missouri, and spent the remainder of her days in Washington and Oregon. 

Leaving I-5 north of Roseburg, we headed west along the Umpqua River to the coast. It was a beautiful drive through a steep, heavily forested canyon. Along with great views of the river, we passed a meadow where a large herd of elk were grazing.

We arrived at Jesse M. Honeyman Memorial State Park campground - large campground in mature forest adjacent to the dunes. We had a tight turn from a narrow lane to back in to our site but managed it quite well!

It was cool in the trees. We broke out our long pants for the first time since the first week of our trip. We enjoyed a lovely campfire, without interruption from the Fire Department.

Angie had never been to Crater Lake, so we took a two-hour drive back up to the Cascades. It was an awesome day, clear and still, which made for outstanding reflections of the crater cliffs on the still, indigo-colored lake. We did a 33-mile driving loop around the rim to enjoy the top-rated overlooks.

We returned to Ashland in time to watch the Seahawks pre-season game at a sports bar. Unfortunately, it was blacked out on Dish Network, so we ended up watching the game on Hank's phone. Yes, he is addicted to Seahawks football! He is excited to see our new, young talent in action. After the game, we enjoyed a game of pool and an ice cream cone before heading back to our camp.

When we returned to our campsite, our neighbors informed us that when they got up that morning, there was a large rattlesnake in their campsite, only about 20 feet from where our dogs had been playing! Fortunately the snake did not return during our stay but we cautiously scanned the area the rest of our stay.
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Since it was a calm, cool night, Hank decided to build a campfire. Angie was reluctant, given the dry conditions. But Hank insisted that, since the camp host was selling firewood, it must be considered safe. Well, 45 minutes later, two firetrucks rolled up to our campsite. It turns out that a burn ban had gone into effect that day, while we were at Crater Lake. The firefighters were very nice. We extinguished our fire and they left without citing us.

Angie enjoyed pointing out yet another instance when Hank should give more credence to her opinions.

​We inflated the paddle boards, put them in the back of the truck and drove them down a steep boat ramp, because the waterline was too far away to carry our boards. Unfortunately the water level is retreating so quickly - about nine feet of shoreline each day - the banks of the lake were soft, sticky clay mud.

We wrapped Charlie's cast in plastic and took her down to the water. Hank carried her through the mud and set her on the paddleboard. Streak tromped through the mud on his own and joined Angie on her board. We had to wash the mud of the decks of our boards so it was safe to stand. But the water was nice after we got away from the shoreline. It was a windy day, which made for vigorous paddling, but the air temperature was warm.

We found a more rocky section of beach to land on, so it was a little less treacherous carrying our dog and boards back to the car.  We used the outdoor shower at the trailer to clean Streak and our boards. We decided that one day of paddling on Emigrant Lake in this condition was enough for us.

We found live music at two bars in town. At Oberon's we enjoyed a singer-songwriter, Jordan Pratt. The crowd was small, so we had a running conversation with him about Seattle, travelling and raising kids. We then moved to bar called "Local 31", where we saw a very unique band called "Def Cougar Mellencamp". They played hits from the 1980s "in the style of the 1880s" - acoustic guitar, stand-up bass, banjo and lap steel guitar. They were a hoot!

​Our route took us off Highway 97 across two-lane country and mountain roads over the Cascades. We arrived at our lakeside campsite to find that the level of Emigrant Lake was only about 10% of normal. A neighbor told us that they have been draining the lake to support a salmon run in nearby creeks.

Angie had never been to Ashland before. Ashland is one of Hank's favorite towns. He has visited the Shakespeare Festival there numerous times, dating back to the early 1980s. We had a delicous dinner downtown, then made our way to the Green Show in the plaza outside the theaters. The Green Show used to be Rennaissance music and dance. The new artistic director has changed it to modern acousitic performers. We opted instead for a walk through beautiful Lithia Park, where we saw many deer casually grazing. There was also a concert in the park. The town's orchestra was playing jazz music.

Under the festival's new artistic director, who has been in the role about three years, Shakespeare plays make up less than a third of the season. There is an emphasis on minority and LGBTQ+ plays and cast members. It makes you wonder why they still call it a "Shakespeare Festival".  The play we saw, "Once on This Island", was a very good musical - a love story steeped in the colonial history and culture of Haiti. There were several strong performances, including the lead role played by Ciera Dawn. I wouldn't be surprised to see this woman on broadway and film in the future.

​We rode our bikes 20-miles around Bend. Our route included a long, steep climb up to Awbrey Heights. We were rewarded with amazing views of the city. The neighborhood borders Riley Ranch Nature Reserve, which is probably why Angie saw a 10-point buck grazing in a lawn. Our descent took us across a narrow section of the Deschuttes River falling down a hillside with gorgeous homes on both banks.

At Dick's suggestion, we stopped by the Bend Brewing Company in Old Bend to see a band play on the lawn. The band was ironically named "Broken Charlie". We had to buy one of their tee shirts to commemorate our own broken Charlie. The band was fun, if a bit quiet. We shared a table with a friendly couple from Calgary that was travelling through Oregon and California in a van conversion.

​While fetching the first ball at the dog park, Charlie came back hobbling with an injury to her left forepaw. It was very sensitive and we could not determine the exact cause. So we took her to a vet at 9 a.m. Nearly 12 hours later, we picked her up after the vet made a custom splint to protect a broken toe. She has to wear the splint for six weeks! While waiting for Charlie, we got to sample the local pizza and walk through a park at Mirror Pond near Old Bend. 

​We drove from Eastern Oregon to Central Oregon. It was fun to see the mountains growing in size as we approached. After three days in the hot sun, we were not pleased to see that our campsite in Bend had no shade. For a small fee, we were able to upgrade to a much better site amidst the shade of mature trees surrounded by a nice grassy lawn.

Met friends Dick and Janette at Monkless Belgian Brewery above the Deschuttes River. Had a delicious meal while catching up. Then we walked along the river to watch surfers playing on a manufactured standing wave in a whitewater park in the river. Dick and Janette gave us great tips on hiking, yoga and paddling in the area.

​When we weren't paddleboarding, early morning and post sunset, were the only times we could stand the heat outside. We tried to maximize our enjoyment of those hours and plan our time in the hot sun so we had a long lunchtime break to give our skin a rest. Hank tried a few yoga moves on the paddleboard and managed not to embarrass himself.

We stocked up the trailer at Trader Joe's and Walmart before heading to our next campground at a remote location in Eastern Oregon. Then we took the dogs for one last jaunt in the island dog park before we hit the road.
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We enjoyed a podcast episode of Fly on the Wall, hosted by David Spade and Dana Carvey, all about people's experiences behind the scenes on Saturday Night Live. The guest for this episode was Mike Judge, of "Beavis and Butthead" and "Office Space" fame. We had listened to a previous episode with Tina Fey, but this one was a lot more laughs. The hosts seemed to connect and riff better with Judge.

After leaving the freeway and passing through a couple small farming towns, we started up a narrow windy canyon road that ran for 26 miles along the Owyhee River, over a dam and five more miles of single-lane road to the campground. 

Even though we had a "lakeside" campsite, it was a 100-yard hike down to the water's edge, due to the low water level. We inflated our boards and were pleased to find that the water was about 82 degrees.  That was a welcome respite from the 100-plus degree, shadeless heat of our campsite. The lake was beautiful, surrounded by desert cliffs and mountains.

Our poor trailer's air conditioner had no chance to reduce the inside temperature to the designated72 degrees. In mid-afternoon, it got no cooler than 82! We tried to rig our pop-up awning to create some shade on the picture window near our front door. We had to prop up one side on a door step and an ice chest to get a good angle. It was partially effective. However, when we tried to exit the trailer the next morning, the awning leg was blocking the door. We had to reach out the picture window to pull it out of the way in order to exit the trailer.

​We were overdue for a yoga class. We found a good one at Authentic Yoga. It was the most strenuous class we have had since leaving Washington. It kicked our butts but we were grateful for the workout.

Afterwards, we took the dogs to a large dog park on an island in the Boise River near downtown. There were dozens of dogs, so it was a bit hectic. But Streak and Charlie loved it. They cooled off in the river after a lively game of fetch.

We found a lunch spot on the road to Bogus Basin, where we had a delicious burger and salad, followed by espressos. We returned to the trailer to rest a bit for the night ahead. We had a tasty Indian dinner downtown before returning to the same club to see a country rock band. Unfortunately, they were late getting set up and when they started, their volume was so loud  that it was uncomfortable so we left early.