Visiting the Works

8 July 2013:  Today's a BIG day!  This day 54 years ago was the best day of my life:  SHE married me!  Can you believe that?  And SHE's put up with me for all these years -- Amazing.  And taken great care of me.  And given me wonderful children!  What more could one ask of life?  IIRC, this is the second anniversary we've missed being together, the other being during my Vietnam tour.  Hope there's never another one.

Well, the 4th of July did happen again this year.  Here's the beautiful picnic area at the Curtis' with the crowd of friends, neighbors, and relatives.  I really enjoyed being with them.

Departing the morning of the 5th, I moved up the coast past some of the most spectacular scenery of the trip:

Crescent City Harbor, CA

Turning inland with US-101, the Redwood Highway, brought me into more spectacular scenery; here's one of MANY views of the Smith River:

Jerry had informed me that the nicest/newest campground in their area was at O/Brien, about 10 miles south of them, so I stopped there on Friday night, 5 July.  Very nice, well designed and maintained campground only 5 years old:

"Tweety Bird" in Lone Mountain RV Park, O'Brien, OR

I visited with Jerry and Sharon for a while on Friday afternoon and evening.  Quite a place they've got, in a pleasant living area without much remaining industry other than tourism.  Jerry's web site is an exceptionally good one:  http://jerrywork.com/

On Saturday, I visited the Great Cats World Park in Cave Junction, OR, 2 miles south of the Works':

www.greatcatsworldpark.com  They are very dedicated to the preservation of the remaining wild cat species of the world.  While all of their cats are human-acclimated (to a certain extent), they try to provide them with habitat similar to their natural surroundings, to the extend cages allow.  The tour guide was exceptionally knowledgeable and dedicated to her work.  I encourage anyone passing this way to stop:

The size of a domesticated cat, this wild cat is vicious.  The speed of its reactions is phenomenal -- you can't see its claw reach out to grab an offered morsel of meat!

Wouldn't want to meet him -- anywhere!

She had to persuade him to do that and the accompanying roar -- he wasn't enthusiastic about the idea.  He'd rather get back to his nap (male lions sleep 22 out of every 24 hours).

A pleasant evening visit and supper with Jerry & Sharon brought the day to a close.

Yesterday (Sunday, 7 July) was a busy day:  I got up early to have breakfast at a local restaurant (BIG pancake with strawberrys and whipped cream, sided with an egg and bacon) before the 45 minute drive up to Oregon Cave National Monument.  The largest known cave in Oregon, this marble cave was discovered in 1870 by a hunter whose dog chased a bear inside.  After having recently visite Carlsbad Cavern, it was not real impressive, but it is well maintained and the young female guide was very professional.  At my age, it was a little strenuous, with 500+ steps, mostly up, during the 1.5 mile tour.  Sure was glad I read the literature beforehand and brought my jacket into the 44*F environment!

Nothing to compare with Carlsbad, but interesting.

The lodge, built in the early 20th century, was almost as impressive as the cave:

From the cave, I returned just south of Cave Junction to the Siskiyou Smokejumber Base Museum.  www.siskiyousmokejumpermuseum.org will tell you more about the fascinating story of how the smoke jumpers were first assigned in 1943 to combat the Japanese-launched pyrotechnic balloons, designed to torch our forests.  But you won't have the great experience I had:  The ex-Hot Shot in attendance began a long career of fire-fighting and aviation there in 1958, as a jumper.  He later became a pilot for the fire-fighting tankers, as well as continuing to jump.  His tales of fires, jumpers, and aviation were amazing.  And all, including the horrifying and the amusing incidents, were presented as a conversation between new friends, not as a lecture.  His later years were of particular interest to me:  He spent 14 years flying for Air America (the CIA air service), primarily in Laos, Cambodia, and Costa Rica, where he still has a home.  After Air America was shut down, he and a partner formed a replacement to take over the AA contracts.  They continue today.  In fact, he said his partner currently "full of himself" because he was the first to spot one of the semi-submersible vessels currently so popular for drug smuggling.  And has spotted several since, including some still under construction.  Making that kind of contribution to the drug war, he deserves to be "full of himself", IMHO. :-)

In the afternoon, Jerry and I did a little work toward getting ready for the removal of the engine from their original coach.  Jim & Judy Hupy are planning to arrive on Monday afternoon with the engine removal trolley we'll use.  With everything possible disconnected, it shouldn't take long to remove the old engine and, hopefully install the replacement.

Another great meal and visit was supposed to precede a dip in the hot tub, but after dozing off while watching a video Jerry wanted me to see, I decided I'd better beg off and return to Tweety Bird and bed.  Thus ended day (something like) 68 of my Round Robin.

Ken H.