Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Reconnecting with our Montana Souls


So, we gave Oregon a shot and it just didn't work out. Between my horrible joints that hated the climate and the lack of open spaces, I decided I needed to return to southwest Montana where I've lived the last 11 years quite comfortably with the exception of the long winters. I'm going to work on that though and figure out a place to go for winter.

Upon departing Roseburg, Maggie the wonder dog and her feline pal (and sister) Madison and I took to the road and pulling our new (well, new to us) 1970 Aristocrat camp trailer decided to take a few days and camp out in Sisters, OR in search of morels and boletes and whatever else we could muster up.



Maggie had a great time playing with her doggie pals Mazey and Ruby and Madison sat in the window most of the time or hid and slept all day so she could pester the crap out of me all night long while I was trying to sleep! Have you ever tried camping with a cat in tow? It's not a particularly fun thing to do, traveling with a litter box in cramped quarters.

We met up with friends out at the Jack Creek campground about 18 miles from Sisters, which was quite a peaceful place to camp once the weekend warriers departed Sunday afternoon and Monday morning. The mushrooming was not as good as we'd hoped it would be. There were no boletes popping yet and the burn that had been producing had been so pounded by commercial pickers there were no morels to pick including babies. There were scads of pickers and buyers and virtually no mushrooms to go around so it seemed like a bad dream. We did manage to get out and find some natural morels though which is a treat for me, not having any natural morel spots in which to forage in Montana.


After four nights at Jack Creek, Maggie, Madison and I continued our trek back to SW Montana overnighting in Connell, WA and then finally making it back here late afternoon through rain, high winds, snow and crazy weather. Now we are getting settled in Montana and enjoying life staying with a friend in the Highland Mountain foothills and especially enjoying the beautiful sunny, warm weather. It's good to be HOME!



4 comments:

mano lenta said...

beautiful pics, great blog.

Saara said...

We camp with our cat (and Newfoundland dog) all the time! Finding a spot for the litter box isn't the most fun, but luckily he prefers to use the great outdoors. We're sleeping in a Subaru, however, so your digs are quite spacious.
Nice to see someone finding some morels!

ladyflyfsh said...

Thanks mano lenta! Saara, my cat loves going outside but in a strange place I'm too afraid to let her out for fear she'd run away. Maggie on the other hand is so easy to travel with, you hardly know she's there. Wow, camping in a Subaru...that takes skill!
As for morels, I should be seeing more in the next two weeks, I hope. Thanks for viewing.

drfugawe said...

Mary,
Sorry that Oregon did not work out, and that we're losing you as a neighbor - but we wish you well in your new environs.

If you can handle Spanish, or even if you can't, you may want to head on down SOB for winter, as we do - tons of gringos haul trailers just like yours down and find a cheap park to settle in for the winter months - and if you avoid the big cities down there (and why not?) you'll also avoid the drug wars.

Best wishes to you,
doc