Digital Nomad Summer - Part 8

Want the link to Part 7?  Okay!

In the last blog, Mom and I ventured to Crater Lake National Park and saw all sorts of amazing things; seriously, go right now!

Reunited and it feels so good!

Zoe is totally feeling this picture, that's for sure.

In contrast to our early start the day before, on Thursday, Mom and I had plenty of time to wake up leisurely in our Airbnb in Roseburg, OR; our drive back to Lakeside and William Tugman State Park would only take about two hours, so we had some time to kill before check in began at 4pm.  I did some yoga, watched the daily stage of the Tour de France, and puttered around the back garden (I picked some fresh rosemary and thyme for later - don't tell anybody!).  Eventually, we got underway and headed off to Coos Bay, where we planned to have lunch.

For his part, Chris was doing his best to wear out the girls with a few walks, including one that featured a surprise to everyone involved:

Bea HATES water, so this was rather shocking

Tugman SP has a 3 mile route running around the lake for hiking and other fitness.

Chris didn't take the girls the whole way, but they checked out part of it

Resting after that exciting walk!

This is my seat at the dinette, by the way.  I'm still working on reclaiming it.

Back with Mom and I, we'd reached Coos Bay without incident and stopped at 7 Devils Waterfront Ale House to have some lunch.  We both enjoyed local rockfish entrees (fish and chips and a grilled rockfish sandwich) and some of their beers, as well as an incredible strawberry shortcake for dessert.

Knock, knock, mother effers

We stopped here in nearby North Bend to get Chris coffee

(we also found some delicious tiramisu for dessert later)

We made a grocery run to grab some items for the next few days, including steaks and potatoes for dinner that night, and we made our final push to the campground.  Chris was in a meeting when we arrived, so I snuck the groceries into our camper, putting away the perishables as quietly as possible, and then Mom and I headed over to check out her lodging for the evening.

When we planned this trip and Mom decided to join us for the Oregon portion, she wanted to stay near us on Thursday night; while Chris and I would both need to work on Friday, we hoped to all at least have lunch together before she departed.  As it turned out, Tugman State Park has not only RV/tent sites but yurts as well!  Since she'd never stayed in a yurt before, she figured she should give it a go.

Mom with yurt F

Cute, right?  It had three fabric covered windows,

one bunk bed and a futon - it could sleep up to 8 people!

The yurt's skylight

By the time we unpacked the car and opened the yurt up for some air flow, Chris was done with his meetings, so we headed back over to our site to hang out for the evening.  In addition to relaxing and chatting, we also had a great dinner of steaks on the grill, spinach salad, campfire baked potatoes, tiramisu, and - oh yes - some more Willamette pinot (clearly, we are taking advantage of it while we're here)!

Mom hanging out with Bea, her newest granddog

Zoe and Chris are happy to have everyone back together

As you can tell from the last blog, the latter half of the week was sunnier than the first half.

Temps topped out each day in the mid-70s, which was glorious.

Everyone sacked out pretty hard on Thursday evening, and Mom's very first overnight in a yurt went well.  We all reconvened for a dog walk on Friday morning, and during our lunch breaks, we spent some time with the girls at Eel Lake, just a short walk from our campsite.

Eel Lake does really have eels (well, lampreys) in it, as well as several other types of fish.

The trap here collects the fish when they're little, so they have a safe space to grow,

and they're released when they're bigger.

Crazy wet dog over here

"Zoe, you have to give me the ball if you want me to throw it for you."

This is Bea running away from the lake - she's not a water dog

Post-lake, we all wandered back to our campsite to get lunch going.  Before too long, it was time for Mom to vacate the yurt and head out to her next destination, Eugene (she'd stay there on Friday night, then fly home on Saturday).

Moving the table into the shade for lunch

"Bye, Grandma!  Thanks for coming to see us!"

Back to work!

For our part, after work closed out, we spent some time packing up what we could (most of our outside setup, minus the dog fencing), as we'd have another early call time the next day - we were heading all the way up to Port Angeles, Washington, a distance of 500 miles, and we had important cheese to taste along the way!

Later!

Amy