Blue Bucket Camp in Oregon

Looking out my front door. I like to go walking south down this road. It wanders by a creek and up the hill. A great morning walk. The road going north leads you into the main part of camp. We are parked in the last sight south of camp. We can play our music and not bother anyone.

The picture below is of our camp at Blue Bucket, OR. Willard and Duster are relaxing in the front yard. Yesterday we had to go to Ontario to get some gasoline for Willard's high banker pump. Of course, we had to stop in at WalMart to get a "few" things. The temperature is in the mid-80's during the day with a nice canyon breeze. Nights are in the upper-50's. It's very relaxing here. Willard prospects for gold early in the morning and has been putting together a puzzle in the Club House. I seem to be busy all day and well into the night, but I can't for the life of me name anything constructive that I've done. I did wash clothes, we grilled steaks last night for supper. I also baked a potato and warmed up some green beans. I've been on the phone a lot, and at my computer finishing up some projects. Time just slips away, and Willard's hungry again. We plan on staying here for awhile (maybe a month or more). But, you can never tell. We might just hitch-up and move on within an hour's notice. That's the beauty of this lifestyle.

This link, http://www.legendsofamerica.com/OR-BlueBucket.html ,tells the story of "Blue Bucket."

Missoula, Montana

We had a wonderful week visiting my brother and Nancy in Missoula. We fit just fine in his big driveway. Even though it rained several days, we managed to enjoy the hot tub most afternoons. In the hot tub we caught up on family news, shared experiences, and just enjoyed being together. Charlie fixed some of the meals, I fixed one, and we dined out for the rest.

Of course, we shopped. It seems like we always need something. Or are they really wants? Anyway we went to Cosco's, Home Depot, Lows, Linen and Things, Wal Mart, Ross' and looked at some new and used motorhomes at Bret's RV.

We tried to tour the Smoke Jumper Facilities, but they were closed. We visited the museum there, watched a video and then Charlie took us to meet some of the people he used to work with. I really enjoyed seeing where he used to work. In his younger days Charlie was a Smoke Jumper, working out of Missoula. Then, he helped coordinate people and supplies for fires in many other parts of the States. Now he is retired. Maybe I should say semi-retired. He helps out with the big fires whenever he can. That's why we try to visit him early in the summer. In May he was in Minnesota helping with a fire. Soon after he got home, we showed up at his door step. We had told him we were coming for a visit, but wasn't sure when, since we have no real schedule.

Willard and I went to a Casino while Charlie and Nancy had another commitment. We won some and lost some. Their Casino's are very different from the ones we are used to.

Brandy and his lovely family came over Saturday afternoon and Charlie cooked hamburgers on the grill. We enjoyed getting to know Charlie's grandchildren. One is 2 1/2 years old and the other is about 13, (both girls). We went out for breakfast with them the next morning.

On Monday Willard and Charlie golfed. I stayed home and did my own thing. I also fixed dinner. We went to Wendy's for lunch.

As usual I forgot to take pictures while in Missoula. I took this one with my cell phone at the Farmer's Market where Nancy and I went on Sat. morning. I bought fresh cheese, butter, eggs, breads, Swiss chard, lettuce, radishes, cucumbers, onions, and some fresh flowers. I could hardly carry it all back to the car.

Trip to Helena, MT

We visited with our friends, Bill and Karen, in Helena, Montana. They invited us to park in their son's yard next to them. They were so gracious and we had such a great exhausting three days.

The family attended his high school graduation. They made shirts to wear to graduation: Chad's Grandpa, Chad's Grandma, Chad's Mom, Chad's Dad, Chad's Big Brother, I'm Chad. And they rang cow bells as Chad received his diploma.

We took a boat tour down the Missouri River to the Gates of the Mountains, the same river Lewis and Clark traveled. We also saw Man Gulch where 13 young smoke jumpers gave their lives to a fire back in 1949.

We went to a baseball game to watch Chad play.

It was a nice sunny day. We had a great time.

A trip around Helena on a tour train was another wonderful activity. We learned so much about the history of Helena and enjoyed seeing the beautiful homes built in the during the gold rush days.

Each evening we dined on barbecued hamburgers or elk steak, mushrooms, salads, etc. After dinner, we would sit in the hot tub to relax guaranteeing a good night's sleep.

Tim took us to a quaint little restaurant to have a Piglet Sandwich. It was like a hamburger, but the meat was deep fried pork. Delicious!

One morning we went to the Farmer's Market. We bought some jellies, syrups, gifts, and vegetables.

And one afternoon we went to Houser Dam to prospect for sapphires and gold. While sitting on a rock along the water a little downey chick came out of the brush, waddled by us unafraid, making its way to the swift river. In he went, paddling down stream all alone, leaving us with many unanswered questions.

We also went Geo Caching. We found two Caches. This picture shows us finding and Karen recording one Cache. One thing great about this activity is that it gets you out and about in just about any area you visit.

We wouldn't have missed this visit for the world. The Coulter family went out of their way to make us feel at home.

Jean relaxes as Willard and Bill pans for gold. (Photos by Karen)

Pine View Reservoir

Joey, Beth, Jason, Willard and I took our boat up to Pine View Reservoir to take in a little sun and do a little fishing. It was a beautiful day with a wonderful view. No fish, but a relaxing time together. Life is good.