2013 June 6 Beemer ride

 

I break down and do 4 loads of laundry at the Clubhouse (my least favorite task while on the road).  Such nice facilities here!  Use the high speed Wifi available up there to play on the computer while waiting for the laundry.  Jerry has a visitor, Jay, a member here who is the self-appointed welcoming committee.  He told Jerry that because of the low elevation and nearness to the Pacific, they get very little snow here…maybe once every 3 years or so.

The SKP park we’re staying at suggested we check with the Chamber of Commerce for info of the area.  Have tried twice and they haven’t been open.  This photo of the historic covered bridge was on the side of their building.

Our route today takes us north through farm country, into BLM land in the forest and along the Umpqua River.  Sure is scenic country! 

Love the clouds here!

Peaceful!

On our route we follow the Umpqua River for miles and miles.  In places it is deep…others mostly rocks showing with a small flow of water.  (This is the same river I wrote about yesterday with the dam and fish ladders near Sutherlin.)  We see a few cabins and farms along the route, but for miles it is just wilderness. 

Jerry takes a turn (off on one of his scenic routes) on a BLM Forest Road.  We climb and climb from 400’ to 2100’.  Cooler up here and obvious not a well traveled road as there’s lots of debris from logging on the road.  As the road turns to gravel and we’re 9 miles into this detour, we get the Nuvi out and see where it goes….well it goes on and on, and in another 25 miles we would get to Loon Lake.  Decided to backtrack to original route.  (It’s faster going downhill so we’re back on track in about 15 minutes.)

We stop to take a break in Elkton, pop 140.  Great Umpqua ice cream at Arlene’s Cafe there (I resisted the strawberry-rhubarb pie and chose mountain raspberry revel.)  Had a chat with Peggy, the cook, a local who has lived here all her life.  She said that most people who live here travel 1 hr either N to Eugene or S to Roseburg for employment.  This ended up being supper as it was near 5 PM and the cones were cheap and huge!  On to Drain, OR.  This beautiful home was on our route as we search for the next road.