The First Story....

I just told this story to some folks I took on a winery tour today. I've told it several times before, but I never wrote about it on my blog when it happened. I was already doing something crazy- driving across the country alone, living in my car and tent for three months. It was best if I just wrote the basics so no one would worry about me. They worried anyway. And I survived. It's truly a miracle that anyone survives their lives on this planet. Oh, wait a minute, actually none of us survives.....

I drove into Government Camp, Oregon in my Ford Taurus. It was late, and it had been a long day already. I came from Crater Lake with a stop in the town of Bend for an oil change at a Jiffy Lube. I saw "Government Camp" on my official Oregon State road map, and thought it would be a good place to camp for the night. I was wrong. Government Camp is the name of a place. A town? Perhaps. I wanted to see Mt. Hood, and to hike in the area. Government Camp was in the area. It was late June or maybe the first of July. The days didn't really matter then, they all ran together. I do know that it was summer time in Virginia where I am from. That night, 11 PM or so, the streets were busy with young people (younger than my 45 years anyway!), partying after a day of skiing in the big mountains of Oregon. Much bigger mountains than the ones I left behind in Virginia in early May.

So, there I was in Government Camp, and not a campground anywhere. Bummer! A Ford Taurus is not the most comfortable vehicle to sleep in. I found this out earlier on my cross country journey, but that is another story. I slept the best I could in my car, under the street lights, and amid the noise of the young partiers.

The next morning I found a small coffee shop where I had a nice cup of black coffee and a pastry for breakfast. I got online on my laptop, caught up on some emails, and checked the weather. It looked good for hiking! I inquired of the barista of campgrounds in the area. This seemed like a good thing to do early in the day so that I wouldn't have another night like the previous. I looked forward to stretching out in my cozy tent on my wonderful Therm-a-rest air mattress. The barista didn't know about campgrounds, but directed me to the local forest service station nearby. I went directly there and got the info I needed. Yes, there were several campgrounds in the area, very close by actually. Yay! As I exited the building, I encountered a man on the steps outside. He had seen me at the coffee shop and heard my conversation with the young woman at the counter. "You'll probably think I'm crazy" he said, "but, I have a teepee in my yard that you are welcome to  use while you're in the area." Yeah right! Like, what kind of crazy person, woman traveling alone is going to camp out in a teepee in some guy's back yard? Really? He handed me a slip of paper with his name and phone number on it. I thanked him, stuck the note in my pocket, and went on my merry way.

I drove up the road to a trailhead where I hiked around Mirror Lake. Named for it's reflection of Mt. Hood, it is OMG Beautiful! I'm not a technical hiker and had no interest in hiking Mt. Hood, but boy, she is magnificent! Wow. Just Wow. The three mile hike around Mirror Lake was sweet. After that warm up, I headed over to Ramona Falls. Also gorgeous! And, also in the shadow of Mt. Hood. A longer hike of seven miles, and I was ready to start thinking about settling down for the evening. My hikes were fun and I did encounter other hikers, but I was alone on this trip, and alone sometimes meant lonely. Now I was faced with hunkering down for the evening in a quiet campground alone in my tent. Or, I could look into staying in a teepee in the backyard of a stranger. Now, that sounds like an adventure; why not...  What the hell, yes, I'm crazy enough!

I called the guy and he gave me directions to his place. I arrived at a construction site, a house under serious renovations. My new friend was renovating it himself while he was living in a garden shed on the property. After showing me around the place (he did indeed have a teepee in his backyard) he invited me into his shed house for some cheese and fruit. This was truly a garden type shed where you might store a lawn mower and tools. He had a table and two chairs, book shelves, a bed, a mini fridge, hot plate, microwave, everything you would ever need. Ever. It's amazing when you live without how little you really need. I brought in a bottle of wine and we shared a small feast at his little table in his garden shed house. I don't remember what we even talked about. The funny thing though is that it felt so "normal" to be sitting there sharing wine and conversation.

Later, we walked out to the teepee. While it was a really cool, authentic teepee, it was a little too dank inside for me. So, I pitched my tent just outside of it, right alongside the Sandy River. My gentleman friend built me a nice campfire in the backyard where we sat for awhile watching the fire and listening to the roaring river, swollen with snowmelt. A short time later we said our good nights, and he walked to the front yard and his garden shed while I crawled into my tent. I fell blissfully asleep listening the the raging, but peaceful sound of the river. After the uncomfortable night of sleeping in my car the night before, I slept soundly through the night making up for any previously lost sleep.

The next morning, following my usual routine, I used my camp stove to make coffee and oatmeal After my quick breakfast I said good bye to my new friend and headed off for my next adventure.  m : )