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Oregon Summer 2025

mai - juin 2025
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Une aventure ouverte par PW and JKW's trips & Phil En savoir plus
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  • Oregon Summer 2025
    2

    Cold and a little rain

    22 juin, États Unis ⋅ ☁️ 46 °F

    Wow, the temperatures just plummeted here. Highs have been in the 50s and lower 60s. At night, it has been in the 30s, and it has snowed again at higher elevations. Back in Missouri, I see it has been just the opposite with very high temps and humidity.

    It has rained a little. It rained overnight, and one of the volunteers who is here for bird monitoring slept in the volunteer common room in a recliner since his tent was leaking. Our camper does leak sometimes, but not last night. We also have a small electric heater with a thermostat, and it kicked in a few times last night.

    Yesterday, we were quite busy at the Visitor's Center. Today only 2 women wandering around so far after being open 90 minutes. We've been watching the Bullock's Orioles antics lately. They like the hummingbird feeders, but can't get any nectar. Some people have said to feed them grape jelly. I don't know if that is good for them, though.

    We're headed for Crater Lake Monday through Thursday. We have rented a cabin near the park. Hope it will be a bit warmer, but not too warm.    En savoir plus

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  • Oregon Summer 2025

    Lots of activities here

    19 juin, États Unis ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    Phil and I stayed close on our days off this week. I bought a new pair of long pants because it is supposed to be cold this weekend (highs in the 60s and lows in the 30s). We did our shopping Monday and I cleaned the bath houses here. On Tuesday, I cleaned the common areas. Wednesday, we washed some bedding and clothes. We also went to check the refuge hotspot for baby chicks and ate out for lunch. Today, we got up early and drove 100 miles one way to Lake Alvord near the Alvord Desert. We had breakfast at the Frenchglenn hotel halfway and had a milkshake for lunch at the Fields Station. It is really in the middle of nowhere.

    There are lots of new volunteers this week. The bat monitoring activity ended Monday with the Tribal Elders from the local tribe participating. Yesterday, more volunteers arrived to do "plover monitoring " (a kind of bird), and this weekend, more volunteers will arrive to do Sandhill Crane monitoring.

    Phil and I got an email today asking to help move the picnic tables as there will be yoga on the deck of HQ on Saturday. Maybe associated with the summer solstice or one of the monitoring activities. Anyway, it will be cold and buggy so I won't be joining in.    En savoir plus

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  • Oregon Summer 2025

    Working in the book store

    15 juin, États Unis ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    This weekend, Phil and I were assigned to work in the Crane Nature Center and Bookstore. We are swapping back and forth with the other long-term volunteer, Susan. It is a slow morning today, but yesterday (Saturday) was pretty busy.

    We have books, shirts, art, jewelry, hats, kids' games, etc. I prefer the Visitor's Center as we are the first to greet people, but we're still getting a lot of chances to meet people.

    This weekend, there are other volunteers here to help with bat monitoring. We didn't volunteer since it is at night after we've worked all day.

    This week on our days off, we'll take some day trips. The following week, we are going to spend 3 nights at Crater Lake National Park.    En savoir plus

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  • Oregon Summer 2025

    Redwood State and National Forest

    11 juin, États Unis ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

    On our days off this week, Phil and I drove to northern California for a visit to see the giant coastal redwoods. It was about 420 miles, and we took 2 days to drive here, and we will drive all the way back Thursday, which left about 1 1/2 days for our visit. We did not bring the camper since it was so far, but opted instead for a hotel in Medford, OR, Monday night and then 2 nights in an AirBNB in Klamath, CA, where the Klamath River meets the sea.

    Our drive was through remote stretches of Oregon across sagebrush high desert, through other wildlife refuges, near Crater Lake, and finally across the Cascades and south into California. It was great scenery. The temperature dropped from 97 F in Medford to 55 F today in Klamath. A huge difference!

    Last night, we drove a one-way coastal trail along the cliffs on the Pacific, where the Klamath River meets the sea. We saw a WWII radar station (disguised as a farmhouse) and stood on the cliffs and watched sea lions, pelicans, and shore birds in the surf through our binoculars

    We also went to a feature near our AirBNB called the "Drive through tree". It is a hole cut in giant redwood that you can drive your car through. The place was mobbed, and it really seemed so disrespectful to the tree. It is on private property, and we paid $5 to see it. People were filming themselves driving through and doing stunts like standing up in the skylights of their car, etc. I didn't like it at all once we saw all that.

    We spent today at the Prairie Creek Redwoods. In the 90s, the state and National Parks joined forces to protect these magnificent trees that grow only in this cool coastal climate. The redwoods are one of 3 types of trees that grow this large. The Sequoia, which is also in California, is in the Sierras. A third type of similar tree is in China.

    The trees are really massive and live up to 2,000 years. They grow up to 350 feet tall. Driving and walking through the park was really such a privilege. Only 5% of the redwoods that were once here are left. Logging took most of them even up into the 1990's. Now, they are protected. Only a portion are on public lands.

    The beach is also part of the park system, and we also stopped there today. It's cold here and windy at the beach. There are enormous rock formations in the water. It's not like any other beaches where we've been, but it was beautiful all the same.

    We'll get up early tomorrow and drive back the whole way. We volunteer again on Friday, but this has been a great trip!    En savoir plus

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  • Oregon Summer 2025
    1

    Happy Anniversary!

    7 juin, États Unis ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F

    Today is our 19th anniversary, and we are celebrating by greeting visitors and enjoying nature. We've made plans to go to the Redwood Forest National and State Park on our days off next week. We'll leave the camper since it is a long drive and stay at an AirBNB. We are planning other trips on our days off as well. While we are this far west, we decided to take advantage of the places to see.

    We've had good weather. It hasn't been too hot yet, and the mornings are still cool enough for us to switch on the electric heater in the camper.

    Yesterday we had some excitement. The electricity was off when we arrived before 8 am. Our key and badge would not open the door as the magnetic lock was engaged. Phil had to enter through the Visitor's Center glass doors (not on the alarm system), climb through the windows of the desk, and disengage the alarm. The electric company came and fixed the issue, but then the water shut off, and the wildlife biologist had to fix it while talking by phone to the grounds superintendent who was on vacation. Phil is up to speed if that happens again. It's all in a day's volunteering.    En savoir plus

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  • Oregon Summer 2025

    End of week 1

    5 juin, États Unis ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    We had 3 more days off this week and spent them seeing the area around the refuge. This area in the 1870s was dominated by California's Hugh Glenn and his employee Peter French. French, backed financially by Glenn, took over the use of huge swaths of grasslands in this part of Oregon. He had up to 50,000 cattle and 50 ranch hands or more. His methods were less than scrupulous, and when homesteaders tried to set a claim, he often drove them out. I thought these cattle Barron's were only in places like Montana or Wyoming, but nope, here in Oregon, too.

    We visited a round barn that French built to train horse teams to pull wagons and about 40 miles away a hotel he and partner Glenn built. We saw a volcanic area called Diamond Craters, and we visited one of the only public campgrounds in the area.

    We also saw many species of birds such as burrowing owls, various ducks and shore birds, and lots of raptors, including a bald eagle. We can go back to the Visitor Center tomorrow armed with info about what to see and where.    En savoir plus

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  • Oregon Summer 2025

    Days Off

    3 juin, États Unis ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

    We worked the weekend, and then Monday morning, we crossed trained at the bookstore for a couple of hours. Another volunteer has arrived, and she is from St Louis. We don't know a lot about her yet, but she will be working weekends with us through June and July. The refuge has two travel trailers that are also used to house visitors in addition to the other 4 RV pads for people like us with our own digs.

    On our way to the store, we spotted two baby owls with the adult who hangs out in the machine shed. They were perched on the bulldozers and the airboat.

    After the orientation, we drove to Burns to do our errands. It is about 30 miles one way. We had lunch, went to the bank, bought me some socks (I left all but 2 pairs at home on the bed!), got gas, and went to the grocery store. Gas prices here are higher than at home at $4.09 per gallon. Groceries seemed higher, too. Eggs are still $8 per dozen, etc.

    I also cleaned the shower house and sweeped and mopped the common room of the volunteer facility. Today, I am washing our bedding and will give the camper and the laundry room a good mopping out.

    This afternoon, we want to do a bit of area sightseeing. I put up my hummingbird feeder and refreshed the nectar. I've had at least 3 different hummers fighting over it all morning.    En savoir plus

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  • Oregon Summer 2025

    First work weekend

    31 mai, États Unis ⋅ 🌬 73 °F

    This is our first weekend at work. So far, we haven't been fired, and lots of people have thanked us for volunteering. Our day goes like this...

    Arrive and shut off the alarm. (Today, we punched in the wrong code, and a terrible noise sounded until we could get the right code in.)

    Then we unlock the doors. Fill the bird feeders. Water the plants on the patio. Fill the dog water. Sweep or blow off the large deck. Put up the sun umbrellas on the picnic tables. Check the public bathrooms and restock TP. Check the museum to see if we need to sweep or if a bat might be inside. Restock the pamphlets. Take out the trash. Wash windows and doors. Wash picnic tables and signs. Sweep cobwebs off tables, doors, windows, and signs. Most importantly, greet guests.

    We find out where they are from. If they have been to the Refuge before. What they want to see. We tailor the welcome to their experience and wants. Maybe they just want to use the bathroom. Maybe they just want water refills. Maybe they are avid birders and read online about a single bird sighted here. Maybe they are kids and want to see something cool.

    We have kids' bags with good binoculars and lists of creatures to look for. We have a board for people to record their bird sightings. We have a guest register.

    Today, we also chased deer away from our feeders. (Can't afford to feed both deer and birds.) We watched a mother cottontail chase two snakes away from her nest of babies. We saw lots of birds as our guests pointed them out.

    So far, so good!    En savoir plus

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  • Oregon Summer 2025

    Orienting at Malheur National Wildlife R

    29 mai, États Unis ⋅ ☁️ 77 °F

    We arrived yesterday late in the afternoon, but had time to meet our boss and several other volunteers. Most are just here for a few weeks, but all are "regulars" and belong to the Friends of Malheur nonprofit. We got accepted before the refuge switched to having the nonprofit staff manage all volunteers. When we applied over a year ago, the refuge staff was still managing the visitor center volunteers.

    In any case, they have really nice visitor accommodations. We have a nice camper pad with full hookups (although we really only use the electrics). There is a very nice shower house and a common room with kitchen, laundry, sitting area, etc. We were told cable TV went the way of budget cuts and we now have to clean our own bathhouse and common area (not an issue for us).

    Today, we did our orientation. We signed some papers and then went down the Central Patrol Road (CPR) to see what we could tell visitors about. We saw tons of birds and a few snakes and deer. It is about 40 miles of pretty well maintained gravel. We were in a US government pickup truck. We also got our name badges and our volunteer vests, so we are officially ready to start tomorrow. We work Friday, Saturday, and Sunday every weekend all summer, 8 am to 4 pm.

    We will bring our lunch daily. Among our tasks are filling bird feeders, greeting visitors, and some light cleaning (sweeping, etc). So far, so good!

    The refuge is really beautiful. It is filled with more than 350 kinds of birds and more than 30 mammals. We saw so many birds today and all in different parts of the refuge. Last night, the sky was filled with stars, and there is very little light here.    En savoir plus

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  • Oregon Summer 2025

    Mountain Home AFB

    27 mai, États Unis ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F

    This is our second night at the Mountain Home Air Force Base family campground in Idaho. From Rawlins, we drove to Brigham City, Utah, and stayed at a very fancy KOA campground near the Great Salt Lake. We stayed one night and then drove to Mountain Home AFB.

    Today, we both got haircuts and then stocked up on commissary staples for our Oregon stay. We don't have much refrigerator or cooler space, so mostly things that are shelf stable were on the list. There is a grocery store in Burns, OR, about 30 minutes from the refuge where we can get our fresh foods each week.

    It is about a 270-mile drive tomorrow. We would like to arrive at the refuge before 4 pm as our boss, Jill, will be working at the bookstore until then. If we don't catch her, we are to show up for work Friday morning at 7:45 am. for orientation.

    It has been a long trip. We have had a learning curve with setting up the camper. Some screws were stripped on a bracket for the pole that helps us lift the roof. We tried several different fixes and hope this last one will do the trick with construction adhesive, gluing everything, including the screws solidly in place and curing a couple of days.

    The weather is warm in the 80's and windy out on the high desert near the Snake River at the AFB. We are in Mountain Daylight time now and will be in Pacific Daylight Time tomorrow. Humidity is about 18% compared to a much more humid springtime in Missouri. We've watched the fighter jets taking off, maneuvering, and landing. We've seen different birds as well. Quail, a big magpie, a yellow-breasted king bird, and some summer tanangers.    En savoir plus

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