Silver Falls State Park - Oregon

Sunday July 19 - after riding the Big Meadow trail up to the waterfall again, we left for our next campsite - Silver Falls State Park.

The road into the park was nice and wide. There was signage directing us into our reserved campsite. We had to back into the site, but Ari is starting to feel a little more comfortable with it.

The corrals here are pretty nice - about twice the size as the corrals at Big Meadows. The water is easily accessible. The manure dump is across from our site and the vault toilet is down the road.

We are spending two nights here. It looks like there are lots of trails to explore and the park looks well maintained.

Big Meadows Horse Campground - Oregon

We left DeCourcey Ranch sadly because Christy and Dave were such excellent hosts and the horses may never experience better shelter, but our trailer is fixed and it is time to move on.

The trailer looks almost new. The awning has been fixed and the vent cover for the water heater has been replaced.

On Thursday, we replaced the brake controller in the truck. Pro-Line Fabrications made the repair.

At Pro-Line, these papers were on proud display. You know you are in a rural area when they are bragging about the Local 4-H club.

We spent part of Thursday at a local park as we needed to kill some time before our appointment at Pro-Line. We have figured out if we bring our large battery pack, set up our laptops at a picnic table in the park, and use our cell phones as mobile hot spots we can keep ourselves entertained for quite a while. We even had pizza delivered to our picnic table. 

Wednesday morning we rode along an irrigation canal from DeCourcey Ranch. It was pretty hot, but it was an easy ride.

We passed a wigwam on the ride. I have no idea the story behind the wigwam.

On Saturday, July 18th, we headed to Big Meadows Horse Camp in the Willamette Forest.  Locating the forest road into the campground was problematic because the sign had been knocked to the ground. We passed it once, doubled back and then stopped at each Forest Road, had me get out of the truck and hike in to see if we had the right one.

This camp site is first come, first served - no reservations. Ari was a little anxious if we would be able to snag a campsite. There were four empty campsites when we arrived.

The site had plenty of space for our trailer. Other campers advised us that the trails were in pretty bad shape. Most of the trails has trees down blocking the trail. The only trail that was open was the Big Meadows Trail Loop.

There is a single water pump to provide water for the entire camp. However, even with enthusiastic pumping Ari could only fill about a quarter of one horse's water pail. So, we gave up and used water from the water tank we keep in the back of the trailer. That tank is supposed to be used for the horses or to refill our water tank, if needed.

From a HUGE pasture to tiny log corrals - but the horses took it well.

Riding the Big Meadows Trail Loop in the Willamette Nat Forest

The trail takes you up to a water fall. Just past the water fall you have to cross a creek with a sharp drop into the water. 

Ari guiding his horse through the creek

Here I am standing in the same creek

No cell service at this campground, but since we only had one trail to ride we were OK just spending one night.

Mosquitoes were out in force at Big Meadows, so we used protective blankets on the horses overnight.

Getting Techie - Using the Winegard and our new mobile printer

We have a Winegard Connect 2+ mounted on the roof of our LQ. It's supposed to give us access to TV and Internet, but I have been struggling to figure out how it works since Day One.

Well, today I made major progress on all fronts.

The Winegard already had a SIM card installed and the password was printed on the manual that was included in all the documents provided with the trailer. It can boost the signal and help connect you to an existing wireless network or it can act as it's own wireless network if you are out in the boonies.

Where we are currently staying the main house has a wireless network we are allowed to access, but I couldn't connect directly to it from our LQ. It was frustrating, so I decided to spend some time this afternoon to try and figure it out.

So, first you turn on the Winegard unit. Then, you connect to the Winegard network - just as you would to any wireless network. Type in the password and connect. But you won't see any internet connection until you either connect to a wireless network or opt to create your own.

To do that, you open a browser and type 10.11.12.1 in the address bar. Then scan for any wireless networks in the area and viola! You connect.

If you want to create your own wireless network because you are in an area with no wireless networks to connect, you have to pay a monthly service fee to Winegard. It's pretty pricey - $60 for 20 GB. So, we may opt to only use it when we have a network we can access.

So, right now, Ari is playing Diablo inside our LQ using the Winegard connection piggybacking off the wireless network provided by our hosts.

We had been using our cell phones as hot spots in some places, but our cell service here is in and out, so it isn't reliable.

I had to update our route since we ended up staying at the DeCourcey Ranch longer than anticipated. Frankly, our horses are rooting for us to stay as long as possible. They are loving being in a pasture with green grass all around them to nibble on 24/7.

I had purchased  an HP Mobile OfficeJet  for the LQ. The printer stores up to the space of a 2" binder and stores perfectly under one of the dinette seats when not in use. I wanted to print out the updated itinerary, so I had to set up the printer.  I don't need a cable from the printer to the laptop - it connects wirelessly through the Winegard network with no issues. The on-line set-up took about 15 minutes.

In order to print, you have to load the document into the HP software and print through that, but that's no big deal. So, now I will be able to print documents with no issues and I am a very happy camper.

Repairing the Truck and Trailer

We turned our truck into the Chevy dealership here in Bend to see about getting the oil pressure gauge repaired. Turns out that it is a voltage regulator that went bad and they should have it repaired by tomorrow end of day.

The fellow who is fixing our trailer actually came out to the ranch where we are staying so we didn't have to bring it in. That way he could see what needs to be repaired and order the parts.

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Who remembers the Dreamworks movie - Spirit? It is a movie about a Kiger Mustang.  Well, the guy who owns the trailer repair shop doing the repairs on our trailer also runs a Kiger Mustang ranch. Back in the early 2000s, he sold a Kiger Mustang named Spirit to a fellow named Steven Spielberg.  And the rest of the story, well, is a movie and kid's TV series.

He ordered the necessary parts and they are expected in on Thursday. We will have the truck back by Wednesday evening and drop the trailer off Thursday morning for the repairs. We should get the trailer back either Thursday evening or Friday.  This means we will be back on the road no later than Saturday.

As far as places to hang out while things gets fixed, Bend, Oregon is not a bad place to stop and the DeCourcey Ranch is wonderful. Our horses love their pasture area and Christy and Dave are fabulous. Christy even loaned us the use of her Ford Expedition so we would be able to get back to the ranch after dropping off the truck without using Uber or renting a car.

Christy has offered to take us out on a ride tomorrow morning to explore some different trails.

Quinn Meadows Horse Camp - Three Sisters Wilderness

The last day of our stay at Quinn Meadows we opted to do a ride through the Three Sisters Wilderness area.

The trail is badly in need of maintenance. There are downed trees every 50 yards or so blocking the trail, most you can just step over, but some you have to ride around and eventually you just can't get past the trees.

Toward the beginning of the trail, you go through this road underpass. Apparently, the monarch butterflies like the dark warmth of the tunnel. As you ride through, the butterflies float up from their resting spots and flutter all around you. It is a really cool feeling. I don't think you can see the butterflies really well in the pictures, but there are literally dozens of butterflies all around us.

DeCourcey Ranch - Bend, OR

We are taking a time out here in Bend, Oregon in the hopes of getting our trailer awning repaired. I have the insurance adjuster coming out where we are staying to look at the trailer this morning and take pictures.

We're staying at the Decourcey Ranch just outside of Bend, Oregon.

Our horses are staying at The Ritz and loving every minute of it. Lots of green grass, white picket fence and plenty of area to roam. The town of Bend is about 20 minutes from the ranch where we are staying. 

After we got the horses settled in, we went into Bend to explore the downtown and do laundry.

We stopped at the Pine Tavern Restaurant in the hope of getting dinner. The restaurant is a popular place. It was established in 1936 and has a 300 year old pine growing in the middle of the dining room. We put ourselves on the waiting to list to eat in the outdoor patio with a 90 minute wait around 6 pm. We returned to the restaurant around 7:15 only to be told that the wait was still 90 minutes - which meant we wouldn't be seated until after 8:30. We're seniors and that is way too late to be eating for us, so we gave up.

Ari chowed down a hot dog from a street cart and I snacked on leftovers when we got back to the ranch.

I made a reservation for dinner on Monday night, so we'll see if we have better luck with a reservation.

Downtown Bend is a bit like Colorado Springs/Santa Cruz. Lots of young people and a vibrant downtown. This fellow had set up a reptile zoo where people could play with snakes and lizards on the sidewalk.

This iguana was on a leash and pretty big.

The horses getting ready for a ride through the Badlands.

You can ride into the Oregon Badlands from the ranch where we are staying. You ride down the street and then ride into the reserve. There isn't a lot of shade and it is easy to get lost. The trails are pretty dusty.

I have no idea what happened to this cowboy - but all that was left were the boots.

After the ride, I gave my horse a bath in one of the nicest wash racks we have ever experienced. Just beautiful.

Dave and Christy DeCourcey, our hosts, are just about the nicest people you can meet. It's a picture perfect ranch - like something out of a Hallmark movie. Hallmark might want to rent out the place for one of their movies.

Christy plays polo, so Sunday night we got to introduce our horses to polo - something we have never done.

The balls are really hard - like bocce balls. So, normally you tape up the horse's legs to protect them in case they get hit by a ball.

The process is similar to cowboy mounted shooting. We had to desensitize the horses to the sound of the mallet hitting the ball and having a mallet swung around the head. We didn't actually get to play, but spent about 30 minutes getting the horses used to being around the balls and mallets and hitting the balls between their legs and around them so they didn't get freaked out by it.

Internet and cell service is spotty around the ranch, but we plan to stay here for the week while repairs are made. 

Quinn Meadow Horse Camp - Deschutes National Forest Bend, Oregon

As we took our trail ride this morning, I started to notice monarch butterflies. They were fluttering around us, diving and dodging us...all around us.  Are we on the migratory route the butterflies take every summer I wondered?

It turns out that a Land Trust working with local conservationists are raising these butterflies and releasing them into the forest hoping to replenish the butterfly population. The Monarch Butterfly population has been seriously diminished due to deforestation in Mexico and South America.

Mercy picked up a hitchhiking butterfly during our ride. 

Crossing the creek

The trails were fairly easy, a little bit rocky, but not enough to require boots. We rode the trail up to the ridge and then came down the Appaloosa Trail back to camp.

Saddled up and ready to go

There is a single hand pump that provides water to the entire camp. We have a blue bucket on wheels we use for hauling water. Russ and Nellie gave us a great tip for hauling water. Put a large garbage bag in the bucket and then close the bag while hauling to reduce water from sloshing out.

Here's the bucket filled with water and tied closed for transport in a wheel barrow.

There are vault toilets, a manure pile with wheel barrow, picnic tables, and BBQ pits.

Overall, it's a nice campground and we may return if we have to stick around Bend while we get the trailer repaired.