What this posting is about is how nice it is to always have your home with you.
Today, I made the mistake of assuming that because this is the off-season, I would not have a problem finding a campground in one of the nearby towns. All the towns near this national monument, by the way, are very small, but I had picked out a couple that looked good and had good reviews. I wanted to stay near the visitor center because the park is spread out and there are some other places I want to visit in the morning near here.
The other mistake was not calling and making a reservation. Actually, I tried, but had no cell service nearly all day because I was driving through farmlands and tiny towns. I also spent about an hour-and-a-half at the visitor center and by the time I went out to get a spot to camp in, it was almost 5 p.m.--later than I like to stop on those rare times I do not have a reservation. So, of course my first-choice campground was full, but there was another one across the street in town with good cell service and electric hookups, which is really all I need.
Anyway, my point is that I am spending one night in a commercial campground that is very basic and not up to my usual standards. It is the equivalent of the mom-and-pop roadside motel you would stop at very late at night when nothing else was available.
BUT, one of the best things about living in a motorhome is that once you plug in, put your slides out, and close all the drapes, you are home, as in "Home Sweet Home." I have my own bed, my own bathroom, and a refrigerator full of food, so it is really the same place I am used to, in spite of the surroundings! I have already heated up and eaten my dinner, had a couple of after-dinner chocolates, and have my laptop out to catch up on things and grade a few papers before I take my shower and go to bed.
(The second-best part of living in a motorhome, by the way, is not having to pack a suitcase or lug it into and out of hotels! I have everything I need with me at all times.)
Tomorrow, I am going to drive back to one of the lookouts I missed today and then head down to another part of the national monument. And tomorrow night I DO have reservations in a Corps of Engineers campground about 100 miles west of here. COE campgrounds are always clean, well-maintained, and pleasant, and they are also very cheap for seniors like me.
Will post some photos of my drive tomorrow when I am not so tired. I had expected nothing but rolling grasslands and bumpy country roads, but was very pleasantly surprised to drive through forests and across a pass, and even through some canyons today. And the newly blacktopped road was wide and almost empty, which was a plus. Very pretty area of Oregon.
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