Oregon - Day 24 - along the Rogue River

Valley of the Rogue River State Park, Rogue River

Tuesday, 24 May 2022

today's route

I knew today's drive would be a short one - Google said it would take only 55 minutes - but I left early because I thought I'd have to make a detour to Medford to find a bank.  I didn't have an internet connection at last night's campground so couldn't look it up before I left.  But I assumed none of the tiny towns between here and Medford would be likely to have a branch of Chase Bank.  

From the campground, the road included a 6% grade for 2 miles, including s-curves, but it ran alongside Lost Creek Lake again, which was nice.

This morning was the 2nd time I've been honked at for pulling over to let cars go by - not honked at in a thank-you kind of way but in a you're-impeding-traffic-for-not-pulling-entirely-off-the-road-into-a-ditch-to-let-us-by kind of way.  Really.  There's a clear difference between the two types.  I don't think this has happened in any other state, and it's happened twice in Oregon.

I've increasingly been feeling like I have no control over anything lately.  I'm not talking about perfectionism here, I'm just talking about ordinary life.  My knee has been hurting for weeks; I've known for several years I'll likely need to have it replaced when this trip is over, but this isn't the bone-on-bone pain I hear about but more like muscle pain, which doesn't make sense.  I've been running lower and lower on cash because gas is so expensive here, and now I'm down to a few $5s and about $30 in $1s.  I haven't had any internet connection in days, and I haven't had a solid connection in weeks, which means I'm still trying to post Days 11 and 12 with an excruciatingly slow access, making work on my blog very nearly impossible.  Because of most campgrounds being full over the extended Memorial Day weekend, I'll have to spend 3 of the next 7 days driving, so it's impossible for me to get caught up before I leave the state, even assuming I could finally get a decent signal somewhere.  I'm having a really hard time with daylight savings time, as usual, and am far enough north that sunset is more than an hour after my bedtime, let alone full darkness; I can, and do, block out the windows in the RV but I can't block the skylights, which is where the daylight is coming in, so I'm low on sleep.  Gracie's health isn't improving, and when she's sleeping soundly, I worry that she's died and I'll have to deal with her body, aside from the pain of losing her.  It's all just feeling like it's too much for me to handle.  But of course, I'll handle it.  What choice do I have.

When I got to Shady Cove, I parked "downtown" to get an internet signal so I could look up Chase Banks in Medford.  While I was waiting for the connection, I looked around town and noticed across the street a branch of Chase Bank.  I thought I was imagining it at first, but it was real.  It wouldn't open for a half hour, but I pulled into their parking lot to wait, walked the dogs around a bit, and tried to get my email.

They were very nice in the bank, gave me my money with less hassle than I usually get and talked about travel, and we got back on the road.  I stopped before I left town at a 76 Station because, despite the price being $5.29/gallon, I was so close to empty I had no choice.  While they were filling the tank, the nice young women there told me, when I asked, that the town had been growing recently.  They said it mostly seemed to be retirees who came for the fishing on the Rogue River.  On my way into town I'd passed an RV park right on the river that looked almost full.  I thought it might be risky because of flooding, but the young women said the river hadn't flooded since 1969 (a year that was obviously not in their lifetimes).  They said the risk was for fires, not floods, and they have to evacuate every year for forest fires during the dry summers.

I passed a huge field of solar panels in a very rural area and wondered how they got the power to somewhere that needed it because I didn't see any transmission equipment around.

I passed several wineries and vineyards.

At a crossroads with literally nothing else around, there was a gas station offering regular for $5.19, which isn't a bad price for this state.

I passed a large homemade sign that said:

   NO     1/2 Million Volt

              Power Station

   Sams Valley (that's the name of the place)

I couldn't find anything about a power station project in this area, but I did find an old article, I think by Oregon Public Broadcasting, about a controversial power transmission line between eastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho.  I don't know if that's what the sign was about, but the transmission line clearly drew controversy from a variety of groups, from farmers to fans of the endangered Sage Grouse.   https://www.opb.org/controversial-oregon-transmission-line

I saw another homemade sign that said:

     Cars Have Bumpers

     Bikers Have Bones

     Please Be Aware

At Gold Hill, I passed the World Famous House of Mystery.  I kind of doubt the "world famous" part, though since it's been a roadside attraction since 1930, maybe it is.  It's supposed to be a gravitational hill where balls roll uphill and bubbles in levels demonstrate a magnetic abnormality.  Early in the 20th century, a British engineer/geologist came to the area and, according to the Oregon Encyclopedia, "spent years researching the paranormal phenomena of the 165-foot magnet radius, which is said to bend light, defy gravity and alter mass."  But in 1988, a "reformed magician and illusionist" used photography and math to show the claims were optical illusions.  I didn't bother to stop because I don't much believe in such things.

I got to the campground by 10:30 and was lucky enough to be able to get to my spot right away (if anyone had it last night, they'd already left).  That meant I had enough time to cook the whole chicken I bought in Bend, which will provide lunches and dinners for days.