18.08.01-09.30 hosts and park staff

I’ve already mentioned Bob - another host who showed me the ropes of cabin cleaning, but more importantly was a hiking partner on the park trails on not too busy days in August.

Chonteh is a seasonal park ranger who lives in a small cabin in the park. She and I quickly became acquainted by sharing food, beverage and conversation at each of our houses.  

She took me out for bluegrass music in Stayton early on in August.  

And we also went out with Bob and another seasonal ranger, Larry, for drinks and conversation on a Saturday night in Silverton. 

At the end of August, the hosts and Ranger Carly, the host coordinator, all went out for pizza dinner in Silverton. 

 I was still getting acquainted with the other hosts at this time, so it was a lot of “where have you hosted before?” and “where are you going next?” with pizza and beer. 

When Bob left for Arizona for the winter, his spot was filled by Larry and Vicki. I enjoyed working with them on cabin cleaning

and getting to know them when they invited me to their house for dinner once and to watch football games on their large screen TV and comfy living room.

In early September there was a host appreciation breakfast at The Old Ranch - an old barn that has been converted to group guest facilities.  Here I am with my new cabin cleaning buddy Vicki. 

Most of the attendees were current hosts, but some new faces came if they were close enough to drive in for a morning of breakfast burritos and fruit with award presentations by our ranger coordinator Carly

And a game of Silver Falls Jeopardy.

By mid September, Chonteh and I were ready for a different type of evening visit, so we drove into Salem and shared a flight of ciders with dinner at 1859 Cider.  

We learned they were having street music on Friday night, so we went back, but this time invited another seasonal ranger, Larry, to join us. 

There was a bit of rain by mid September, so the park lifted the campfire ban and the hosts started having evening campfires in the center of our host camp circle. Here is the entire group 

on a night we decided to go out for dinner in Sublimity 

because the month was coming to a close and half the group was getting ready to move on to other places at the end of September.  

On the last Saturday night a group of us went to Silverton to Mac’s to listen to live blues from Curtis Salgado. 

My cabin cleaning buddy Larry was alone because Vicki went home to visit her family in Minnesota. He was missing her cooking:)

Sad but true, this stint in Silver Falls was finally over for me and four other hosts in the host camp circle. We had one final campfire 

with conversation and guitar music by Chad. 

I believe there will be a reunion next year because everyone is currently scheduled to return next year. Same time, same place. Until we meet again, enjoy your journeys!

Terry and Becky from Illinois

Harry and Ann from Montana.

18.09.26-28 It’s a Boy!

The weather during my last off duty period was sunny at Silver Falls and sunny at the coast. I decided to take a road trip to Newport to see my old stomping grounds. 

I left Silver Falls after cabin cleaning on Wednesday the 26th and drove to McMinnville. Lupita had arrived from Cancun several days earlier and I wanted to say hello to her, and see how Clau and Eric were doing since it is now only 8 days short of the Oct 3 due date. 

Clau and her mom had been shopping, washing baby clothes and planning Lupita’s sewing projects. She is making mattress covers, diaper covers and bassinet bumpers. 

We all went out to dinner that night and Returned home for a quiet night. Clau’s doctor appt today reported she was 3 cm dialated but the doctor said to make another prenatal appointment for next week anyway.  She made the appointment, but believed the contractions she was feeling tonight were different, than the Braxton Hicks contractions she had been feeling since around the time of her baby shower two weeks ago.

In the morning, took off as planned for Newport despite the fact Lupita reported Clau was having contractions and Eric had decided to stay home from work today to be with her. Very exciting for them, but I was still on the October 3 game plan. 

My trip to Newport was good. It was a lovely day at the North Jetty where I went to commune with the sea at the entrance to the Newport fishing harbor.  

Mike and I have spent time in the general area over the years and in this particular spot in 2014.  It is one of “our places” where I let fly his ashes in a beautiful display of his spirit ascending to heaven last year. 

While I was reminiscing about this place and my memories, I received What’s App messages from Eric and Lupita telling me they were heading to the hospital. 

I met a camp host friend from last year for Happy hour after I was done at the beach.  I forgot my phone in the car, and was telling him about the baby coming and he said “ go get your phone, you won’t be happy until you do”. So out I went to receive the message It’s a Boy!  I called Eric and cried for joy when he said Hi Grandma!  

I learned the details, Mateo Elika Tomczak was born at 4:50 PM after only 90 minutes in the hospital - all their preparations helped them enjoy the early stages of labor at home and while they were not LATE to the hospital, they couldn’t have waited at home any longer, and by they time they arrived it was too late for any IV or pain control which Claudia did not want anyway. 

I stayed in Newport overnight in my Jeep on my friend’s host site as planned, then drove to the hospital on Friday the 28th to meet Mateo.

24 hours old. What a joy:)

I took Lupita home late on Friday where we spoke Spanish over a late dinner of rice and beans they had cooked earlier and we both crashed at the apartment while Eric stayed with Clau at the hospital for the second night. Then in the morning I took Lupita back to the hospital for one more peek at Mateo 

before heading home to Silver Falls for my last two days of duty. 

18.09.01-26 Side Trips

Silver Falls State Park is a large forested park located on a two lane highway through the foothills 15 miles from the closest supply town in either direction on Highway 214. It is a destination park - not really on the way to anywhere else, and definitely off the Verizon reception grid. The park provides an internet connection so if I need to make a call I can use Skype or Facebook messenger, but only when I’m at my site. Point is, it is remote and during my on duty days I stay at home and enjoy the experience of being here.  But on my two off duty days, I plan ahead to visit with family and friends outside the park……..

August 8-10:  I already wrote a stand alone post about my car camping experience with my friend Terri. 

Aug 15-17:  This was my 2nd trip to McMinnville to visit with Eric and Claudia. I got to sit in on their weekly “Baby Boot Camp” appointment where they are learning the science of pregnancy and skills to support a best case scenery delivery experience.  

Aug 22-24: I drove to Camp Sherman near Sisters and Bend to visit with Kathy and Rod. 

They have been friends since we met then while camp hosting in Newport in 2014. That was the year the Giants won their 3rd World Series and Kathy and Rod hosted us at their Airstream Trailer a could time for game watching because we did not have a TV at that point. 

This year I am close to their house, so drove up for a couple nights. We went to see Mama Mia-Here  We Go Again at a theatre in Bend, because it was too smoky from forest fires to be outside one day. The next day was beautiful and we took a hike through the forest in her neighborhood along the Metolius River. 

Aug 29-31:  This was the only off duty period I did not leave the area. Instead, I did a major house cleaning and prepared for a Labor Day weekend visit to MY house from Eric and Claudia.  I unhooked MT and drove around the block just to keep all the moving parts happy. Then I rearranged my stuff inside so I could offer them the bedroom while they were here for three nights.

 I took a work break one afternoon before they arrived and bought myself a huckleberry ice cream at the park’s café. 

 While they were here we had a visit from Jeff, one of Eric’s friends from high school.  The two of them went on a major hike to the top of one of the Three Sisters peaks. Clau and I took it easy at home and the three of us went for a hike to see Upper North Falls.

Sept 6-8:  I drove 140 miles south on 1-5 to Sutherlin OR where I met my friend Jacqui half way for a two night visit.   Jacqui was the USCE ranger who hired us to host at Martis Creek Lake in Truckee for two seasons. 

We’ve kept in touch and now she is retired and full-timing in her fifth wheel. 

On our full day together we drove o Elkton to meet Pat and Keely midway from their campsite for lunch and wine tasting one afternoon

Pat and Keely were also hosts for Jacqui at Martis Creek. We never worked together since the park was small and supported only one camp host, but we always overlapped for a few nights and have a good bond together with Jacqui. 

Sept 13-15:  this was my third trip to McMinnville. Clau and Eric were hosting a baby shower in a nearby park for their local friends.

It was a great experience for me because I got to see another of Eric’s friends from high school 

and meet their new local friends from the birth yoga class and their Spanish speaking social group. Muy bien!

Sept 20-22:  this break period was unusual in that I took two different day trips. 

First was a bike ride through a county park along the Willamette River in Salem. For exercise and cell service business. 

Next was a real estate visitation day in the McMinnville area - just to see what is out there.  One idea I have brewing is to buy a house that Eric and Clau could rent from me - but I did not see anything I needed to pull the trigger on this time, and they are VERY sidetracked with the impending birth of baby.  We’ll continue to keep an eye on properties. 

Sept 26-28:  this is a very exciting three day period and deserves it’s own post. Stay tuned!  Baby time!!!!!

18.08.14-30 The trails

There has not been a post in a while because life is as normal as it gets for me now that I’m in my own home parked in one spot for two months. I like it!

During my on duty days, I work with another host to clean the cabins that become empty each day.   I’ve done as many as seven in a day, at about 30 minutes each, but often there are only 2-5 vacancies.  On those days,  I travel around the park in a golf cart looking for Scotch Broom (an invasive plant) or hike the trails to litter pick. These are both good alternatives to cleaning cabins, but my favorite activity is hiking. 

The trails are pleasant to walk on through the forest. 

Sometimes I walk alone and take a park radio to communicate in case of emergency - which there has not been for me. 

There are huge trees 

and deep canyons with water coming out of the walls-too little to be called a waterfall but cool sounding none-the-less.

and rivers at the bottom of the canyons

There are 10 waterfalls in the park that can be reached along a 7.5 mile circle hiking trail system. I have walked the entire 7.5 miles, but not in one continuous stretch because it takes more time than I want to devote in one session.

Some days I plan ahead with my cabin cleaning host partner Bob who also likes to hike,

 and we leave at 7:00 in the morning on a light cleaning day before the day use hikers show up on the trails. 

Sometimes we take a golf cart and do a two mile circle on the South Falls trail where you can pose behind the first of three falls you can walk behind. 

This is the most popular section of the 7.5 mile loop because the falls are nearest to the huge parking lot and it is a short two mile loop.   This section hike takes us down 187 steps into the canyon behind Lower South Falls,

Sometimes we take a car 2.5 miles up the road to the North Falls parking lot and walk along Canyon Trail all the way back to South Falls. This is a 4.5 mile stretch that passes upper North Falls, 

North Falls

Drake Falls

Double Falls
And lots of pretty scenery. 
We always come out with trash. Beverage containers, candy wrappers, paper litter, and most disturbing - toilet paper, when we take the little side trails off the main path to find the private places people need on a several hour hike in the woods where there are no official facilities. 

Warning!  Here comes my litter picker rant………

The disturbing part is not that they had to go, but that they thought ahead to bring toilet paper but chose to leave it behind to spoil the forest rather than “Pack it in, Pack it out”.  They know to pick up after their dogs, don’t they? I’m not suggesting they bring the bodily remains like they should for their dogs.  Just bring a bag to pack out the paper. Come on, folks!  You love the woods or you wouldn’t be here!!!!  

End of rant - the actual rant that Bob and I exchange while picking up is not fit for print here:)