"My doctor gave me two weeks to live. I hope they're in August." - Ronnie Shakes

I'm baaaack.

We left Baker Rd. Monday after an early lunch and drove three hours to Humbug Mtn. St. Pk. just south of Port Orford. Bruce and Debby were already there in the site next to ours, and 15 minutes later our teardrop was all set up. An hour later we were eating dinner in their new, very nice Winnebago motor home, built on a Mercedes Sprinter chassis. Fancy!

Our teardrop is pretty humble by comparison, but it continues to serve us well. It's snug, but we sleep well and stay warm enough that even with temps in the low 50's we need the windows and vent open. On the way home we agreed that next year we'll spend more time with it camping along the coast. If you're even modestly handy and have two or three basic woodworking tools - a skill saw and a jig saw, maybe a palm sander - you, too, can build one and have a budget camper that works like a charm and generates a ton of interest. Easy to tow, too.

Tuesday we were up early for the 30-minute drive south to Gold Beach, home of Jerry's Jet Boats. OK, put this on your bucket list. We did the 104-mile trip up the Rogue River (thank you! Bruce & Debby!!) Whatever you may think this is, it's not, and much, much better. The canyon is beautiful, the boat captain skilled and a great guide, and there are moments of, uhm, adrenalin rush. I won't spoil the surprise by telling you more. We saw a bald eagle, ospreys, deer, otters, and some yuge steelhead and Chinook that boaters had in their on-board coolers (it's salmon fishing season here).

The boats are aluminum, flat bottomed, and powered by three 345 hp jet engines that allow it to go fast on the return trip, including through some rapids. On the way up it was about seeing and learning cool stuff. And at the turnaround a great meal at one of the lodges along the river.

I didn't take more pics because water and cell phones don't mix, and my priority is seeing, not recording. If you're ever on the south coast of Oregon you should make it a point to take this trip. And I think the long one we did is the way to go. What we saw after what would have been the turnaround for the two shorter trips was wonderful

And a photo op at the dock after the trip. You can't tell from this pic, but I'm pretty much deaf from Pam screaming in laughter in my ear each time our captain should us just how powerful and nimble those boats are.

We headed home yesterday (Wed.) and arrived here at Baker Rd. about noon to give Bruce and Debby a quick tour of our three acres. Then they headed off to Astoria, Pam went into town to do laundry, and I got caught up on tasks here. By the time we got to the far side of dinner we were both exhausted. Bedtime was early, even by my standards.

Despite that fatigue I was up at 1:30 with my mind in high gear over a topic I'll write about in my next post. I knew I wasn't going to sleep with that issue running through my head so I got up and got to work on it.

By 7 a.m. I'd had b'fast and was out working on the logs. That pile is getting smaller as the pile of rounds gets bigger. It was a wrestling match because the logs are stacked like Pick-Up sticks, which means going back and forth between cutting and prying the next logs into a position where I can cut them. By 11:30 I was exhausted and wolfed down lunch.

I spent the afternoon working on the goat pen. I now have the T-stakes in on three sides and the 3,000+ sq. ft. area raked of branches from the trees. All of that went onto the slash pile that's scheduled for burning either 10/1 or as soon as the fire district gives the all clear for burning. Last year that didn't happen until about 10/15.

It's going to be a pretty big fire! This is the best pic I could get of the pile's size and it doesn't do it justice because you can only see this one side. Trust me, this one's going to roast a lot of marshmallows. I'm told it will burn for days.

The fourth side of the goat fence runs right next to that slash pile, which is why I haven't put it in yet. I'm also told the heat the fire will generate might wreak havoc on my fencing. So I'll fully finish the other three sides and have only this 75' run to finish. As long as I get it done before the goats are born the first week or so of November we'll be fine. And I'll build their shelter when we get back from AZ in 10 days. (more on that to come, too.)

We'll get the goat kids when they're just a few days old. Should we name goats that we're going to eat? We probably will. And while we don't know if we'll get does, bucks, or wethers, if we get either of the last two options I think we'll name one of the bucks/wethers Minster Fuller.

It's almost 7 p.m. and I've had both dinner and supper. I'm trying to hold off before coffee and dessert. But I'm bushed and counting on that Ibuprofen to work its magic. It's going to be another early night. But I got a lot done all over, so I feel good about the day on Baker Rd.