For the ‘end of the summer’ adventure we traveled to The Steens Mountain in southeast Oregon to camp with friends and tour the geographic and historical wonders of the area. We had a great campsite at Page Springs BLM campground and a guided tour with a 3rd generation rancher in the area, Jenkins Historical Tours. It was a fabulous finish to a great summer with beautiful sunny, warm weather, hiking, sightseeing, fishing and great food.

Unfortunately on the way back to Bend our friends Winnebago blew the transmission. We limped into Burns and were able to get towed back to Bend. Luckily we could ride in the RV as it was towed and had a relaxing, and even fun, trip home!

In August we built this vinyl fence for a nearby neighbor. We had to dig 45 holes about 3 feet deep each with a huge, heavy mechanical auger. Thank goodness it was in the only soil in the development that isn’t full of volcanic rock outcroppings! Just our luck though, it was during the hottest spell of the year, in the 100 degree range! We’re very proud of how straight and true it is!

After all the work, Robert took time off to complete the second Corner to Corner tour with Mark. See August 2009 archives for the details of the adventure.

July was a great month to kick back and do a little camping nearby with friends. Robert and Keith braved the mosquitoes at the river and caught some trout which we smoked in our new charcoal smoker which we brought back from Chicago (thank you Tommy!).

We returned to Bend in early June and soon had visitors arrive. Our friends from Switzerland, Michel and Raymonde and her sister Yvette joined us while on their RV tour of the west. We had several days of fun despite rain and mosquitoes.

WHAT WE DID ON OUR SUMMER VACATION

Now that a new year has begun I’ll reflect on the past summer and how we spent our time. The beginning of summer, May, found us visiting good friends in the UP (Upper Peninsula) of Michigan. They were excellent tour guides (and cooks)!