A View From My Window

I have not done "A View From My Window" since we were in Arizona. I've been slacking!!

This summer we volunteered at Wallowa Lake State Park in NE Oregon. We enjoy being here and plan to return next summer. The campground is located at the base of the large mountain in the photo below. The international Kokanie record was broken at Wallowa Lake in June. Here are a few photos from our time at the Lake.

Our grandson Joshua at BC Falls. The Falls are located 1.5 miles up the Chief Joseph Trial. Quite a hike...all up hill. Over rocks and roots. You wind up the trial and in several locations you are looking down on Wallowa Lake. Dwain lead campers on several hikes up Chief Joseph trial. He taught them how better use their cameras. The campers were enthusiastic and appreciative. Our Lucy went on the hikes too. I was amazed that her little legs didn't get tired 'til part way down the trail.


Many deer who roam the park. Above is a photo of a big old buck, a new fawn and the buck investigating a food cooler. There are signs to tell people NOT to feed the deer. Unfortunately, some do. The deer get creative in opening coolers, cereal box, etc in order to help themselves. They are dangerous wild animals even when they appear friendly. They are accustomed to having people in their environment. Several people a year are sent to the ER with deer injuries. They also carry ticks and lice.

This is my birthday dinner. Dwain cooked a pot roast, potatoes, carrots and onions in the dutch oven. It was yummy!! The pot roast is under the veggies. It cooked all afternoon. Not every campground has a fire ring. We are happy they are at Wallowa Lake. Dwain has used his dutch ovens often.

Wallowa Lake has over 200 sites, five loops plus three group camp areas, with each loop having a shower house/bathroom. There are handicap sites. They have three day use areas and do not charge a day use fee. There is a marina with boats, paddle boats and kayaks to rent and a boat launch. A paraglider is for rent too. Swimming is always fun. There are programs scheduled for the evening along with the traditional Jr. Ranger Program. There is local shopping, restaurants, cabins, bumper boats, miniature golf, horse riding and two private campgrounds. There are any different length hiking trails, including overnight backpacking opportunities. A tram runs up Mt. Howard. At the top you can enjoy gorgeous views along with hiking trails. There is a grill at the top of Mt. Howard so you can have lunch or a snack. Many pack their own vitals. Wallowa Lake State Park borders the Eagle Cap Wilderness.

Here are new photos of Lucy. She is 6 months old. She has been such a good puppy that I was beginning to wonder why she didn't do what other puppies do, like chew our shoes. We had a cold, wet evening and we were selling fire wood. We felt she wouldn't enjoy being outside so we left her in the RV and checked on her every hour. She did great until the last hour. During that time she chewed the inside of the heels of my slippers. She has been pooping stuffing foam for two days!

Heather and I took her for her first grooming appointment. To make the story short, the groomer did not trim Lucy as I asked so we won't be returning. Lucy did not like the groomer or being left.

I don't have a photo of her new haircut without her sweatshirt. The cut does show us her poodle-side. The other Park Hosts love Lucy so she gets more than her share of attention.

This photo was taken at the beach on July 4th. She is true to her Dachshund breed in that her nose is always to the ground sniffing, hence the sandy nose!

Lucy is a good traveler. We have a little bed between us in the truck. Most of the time we are driving she is sleeping.

What's New?

We are still at Wallowa Lake State Park. We've been asked to stay through September. That works for us! As of today, we will spend the month of October at Manhattan Wayside just north of Rockaway on the Oregon Coast. November and December we will be at Nehalem Bay State Park. We haven't decided if we will go to Arizona this winter. We don't head south until January, so have time to discuss.

Our Lucy has shown us that she is a sweet dog. She learns fast. At four months she weighed 5.7 pounds. We had her spayed 10 days ago. She recouped well. Had her first shower since the surgery today. She looks so much better. She has given us hours of comic relief. :D
I'm thankful she doesn't eat much because finding a place for a bag of dog food is at a premium. We are able to buy a six pound bag, which doesn't take much room. It lasts about six weeks.

We put our 8 x 10 dinning canopy over our picnic table. This time of year it provides needed shade.

Tomorrow I have a doctor's appointment and laundry. Dwain has phone calls to make. Then at 4 pm we sell wood until 9 pm. I must be creative for our dinner meal. When we are selling wood, we take turns eating so need something that can be kept warm or warm up easily.

Wallowa Lake State Park

We decided to park host for a month or two. We called Wallowa Lake State Park, located in NE Oregon in Wallowa County and they had a place for us. For who are unfamiliar with park hosting, I will give you a short description.

Oregon State Parks require you to file an application. Once a criminal background check has been completed, you are placed on a list. Each park has a Host Coordinator who will select a host from the list. Hosts are given a full hookup site in exchange for 30 hours of volunteer work. We work five days a week. Some State Parks have you work 20 hours.

Federal Campgrounds, BLM, Army Corps of Engineers, Fish and Wildlife and private campgrounds also have hosting. Some exchange for a full hook up, others will pay a monthly wage.

We enjoy hosting. We visit with campers from all walks of life and from around the world. We work with hosts who are fun to get to know.

We would recommend hosting to anyone.

The FREE Puppy!

This is a new experience for us! I know that millions of other rv'rs wouldn't think of traveling without their pet, but for the past seven years we've not had a dog. We had lots of dogs before becoming RV'rs but not until now as RV'rs. We had a parakeet named Sunny that tolerated us fairly well but he passed on a couple of years back. We talked about getting another one and even visited every pet store that had them if we were close by. Well, we now have "Lucy Sue." a mixed breed of Dachshund (we know) and Cocker Spaniel (we think!). She is totally black with long wavy hair and is very mellow for a puppy. This is good for old people like us.

The dog was free! Yesterday we spent just about 100 dollars on the first vet visit, shots, harness, leash, toys, food, etc. A friend gave us a crate for her to sleep in (yeah, right!) and now we need to figure out where the crate will go as well as how to get her to sleep in it.

Lucy is still training us and we are working hard to learn her lessons. Even though she is only 9 weeks old, she knows to go outside from time to time to eliminate what needs to be eliminated. To teach us when it is time for this, she goes to the door and then looks back to see if we're coming. If we're not, she paw's and nips at a nearby shoe which we remove on entering our home and keep by the doorway for quick access when we want to go out. If we haven't figured out by then that she wants out, the next sign is unmistakable and she no longer needs to go outdoors.

She likes to take lots of naps now, which is well and good because we do too. She is napping by my foot as I write this, but she doesn't seem to want to sleep at night. At least not in the crate. Have you ever seen a dog that doesn't go nuts over peanut butter? We bought a small Kong and I put peanut butter inside and placed the Kong in the crate. This is what the vet and others said to do to encourage the puppy to begin liking the crate as a sleeping space. This dog doesn't care for either peanut butter or the crate. We feed her there though and she will go in for treats I place inside to entice her in there. She just brings the treats, food, or toys back out to eat or play with on the carpet.

I'm sure we have many more lessons to learn form our new friend, and hopefully we will be good students. For now though I think I'll take advantage of Lucy's down time by attempting to sneak her in the crate in her blanket and see how long it lasts. She's still sleeping by my foot so there's a chance it might work, wish me luck!

It's been some time since I've posted. We are in Wallowa, Oregon, staying in the Wallowa River RV Park. We have been spending the summer at this park for about 7 years. It's a quiet park with friendly owners and occupants.

The weather has been a typical spring. Winter fights with Spring to see who will win. One day Winter wins and we have snow and cold winds. The next day Spring is on top with sunny days, but still freezing at night. Soon Spring will win and we will enjoy warm weather.

Our roof collided with a tree while on the Oregon coast this winter. We will be taking the Montana into Curt's RV in LaGrande to provide us with a new roof. Down side...we will be without the Montana for four to five days while the repair is completed. We will stay in our small Komfort. There goes our insurance!

I am not looking forward to having the Montana gone. I guess it is the unknown that might come about. I know I should not worry about that, but I do. So will put clothes, bathroom supplies and food in and know we will be fine. It's only a few days!

We checked into park hosting at Wallowa Lake State Park. The host coordinator, Shawn, will contact us in a couple of days. The decision was made because of saving approximately $320 a month for a few months.

Have enjoyed watching Josh's baseball games. Patrick's baseball won't start 'til the end of May.

We have family who moved to Enterprise this last month, David and Donna Handler. It will be nice to have them here. We will be able to see them more often. I like that!

A View From My Window...My Friends and Neighbors

One of my favorite parts of full-time RV'g are the different animals we see and enjoy.

Here are photos I recently took...

Quartzsite, Arizona is home to this colorful bird who sings beautifully. He looks like a House Finch, except my books show them as red, where this little friend is orange.











Here is a little neighbor who comes to eat often. He is
a Broad-Tailed Hummingbird. We have seen
several different Hummingbirds, but this little guy
returns more often.