Roughing It!

I was going to write a blog the other day and tell you that I was sitting beside this beautiful, old fireplace at the historic Diamond Lake Lodge and I hoped to check in from there and let you know that we were really roughing it at Diamond Lake!  I was going to tell you I had a strong cell phone signal and that I found out the day before we left that the lodge had free Wi-Fi!  It was rough, I know, but I really wanted to check in and let you know that we were having a lot of fun.  And we had already had fresh fish for dinner!  We were parked in a lakeshore site with access to the lake.   The view from our campsite was fantastic!  Most of the campground was first-come, first-served.  Some of the sites can be reserved and they are hard to get because they fill up so early in the year.  We like the sites that can’t be reserved and we really had hoped we could have a lakeshore site so my sweetheart could tie up the boat at our campsite each time he comes in from fishing.  That is exactly what we got!  There were only two lakeshore sites available when we arrived and we were given our choice.  The other one was nice but the one we chose was just right!     We enjoyed relaxing and spending time in the beauty of God’s creation – and a lot of little critters, too.  Chipmunks and birds frequented our campsite and drove Joey crazy when he was outside.  Mount Bailey was just across the lake from us. She changed through the day as the direction of sunlight changed. Mount Bailey was an active volcano – one of many in the Cascade Mountain Range in Oregon. We were looking into the crater left from an eruption many years ago. I loved the way the late afternoon and evening sun shone across the water.     One of the days we were at Diamond Lake we took a day trip to Crater Lake.  It was a gorgeous day and the lake and scenery along the way were absolutely breathtaking!  I can't wait to share it with you soon. 

I WAS going to tell you all of that but it didn’t happen!  Some things changed for us and my time was needed elsewhere.  One of the batteries on our trailer – there are two of them – started having problems so our lights got dimmer and dimmer through the evening hours.  We have a generator but the battery wouldn’t charge so we really had to conserve power.  Then we ran out of water!  We were ‘dry camping’, a term that means we are not hooked up to water or sewer connections – we just use the thirty-five gallons in the tank we fill before leaving home and our little bathroom uses the holding tank that is emptied on our way out of camp.  My sweetheart realized that he didn't fill our water tank all the way before we left.  He thought it was fine but he remembered- when we ran out of water - that he hadn't filled it to overflowing.  I quickly forgave him because he took my one gallon jug and made many trips back and forth to a nearby water spicket to give us the water we needed until we could refill the whole tank at a refill site on our way out of camp the next day. We really made it OK with everything going on, but we decided we needed to head to the nearest little, tiny town and have our batteries checked.  As suspected, one of our batteries was very weak.  I’m sure that little town loved having us there!  We spent a fortune in a new battery, a refill of one propane tank and groceries at the only, tiny market in town.  But we were happy and relieved and all is working well.

Yesterday we moved to Odell Lake, a little over an hour away from where we were.  This lake is absolutely breathtaking in its beauty, too.  I am sitting in the sun outside the lodge as I write.  I’m connected to power on the log wall of the lodge and enjoying the benefits of their Wi-Fi.  It would have been fun to write to you from the beautiful, old lodge at Diamond Lake and maybe that will happen some other day!  We are camping with three families from our church. I will share more about this wonderful place soon.  As I write, a little chipmunk keeps coming close to me. I’m sure he is hoping a wonderful snack will fall out of my pocket!  Just a bit ago a big black bird 'dive-bombed' my computer bag, obviously in hopes of finding some sweet treat inside!  There is so much to tell you!  In the meantime, I really do need to get back to camp – I need to get back to ‘roughing’ it again!