July 28– August 13, 2024

We had a quiet weekend after our bowling outing and soon enough Monday morning rolled around and we loaded up the Highlander with Joanna, Jessica, Gemma, and me for the seven-hour drive to Kamp Angst.  We’d be embarking on a few long days of driving, and we were all curious as to how little G would handle lengthy stretches in the car.  But as she has shown on flights to Europe, armed with an iPad, her imagination and the songs that seem to stream endlessly from her brain, she shrugged off the drives like a pro. 

As is our usual routine on this drive to the Kamp, we stopped for lunch at longtime favorite Bartels Giant Burger.  We ordered burgers (plain with bacon for Gemma) all around, some fries, a couple of milk shakes (they have a large selection) and one lone diet Coke.  These are good burgers, although as we’ve eaten quite a few of them that astonishing goodness we first witnessed seems to have diminished.  But isn’t that often the case?  Often circumstances, time, and place elevate a meal above what one might normally experience.  But it won’t keep us from stopping there the next time we drive north. 

As we neared the turn off for Grants Pass off the I-5 we called the Kamp to see if they wanted us to pick up sandwiches at Cartwright’s Market for dinner that night.  We’ve stopped in here for lunch many times and the food is spot on.  Also, our good friend Mark (the Guru of Love) who we have reported on in prior visits worked here as a butcher until he retired a number of years ago.  Unfortunately for us, he moved with his family to Indiana, and we no longer get to see him when we visit Grants Pass. 

Sandwiches in hand, plus beer and other sundry items, we made our way the 30 or so miles to Selma and turned off the highway to check into the Siskiyou Field Institute, our lodging during our stay in the area.  Unlike in years past, Kathy and Tom weren’t able to host us this time around and we had booked accommodations at the Institute on Tom’s recommendation.  And a good one it was. 

The institute is a non-profit dedicated to increasing the understanding of, and connection to, the Klamath-Siskiyou ecoregion through education, scientific research, and public engagement.  We arrived just after 4pm and having neglected to let them know found the doors to the main lodge closed and locked.  Our bad and it was made worse as we had little or no cell phone reception there.  We texted a number listed on the door and after a few minutes began to think we might need to head to Kamp Angst to access our options when one of the staff members walked up and let us in. 

As we entered the building through its office space (we would later use the front door) we passed by the large well-appointed kitchen which could easily handle the dining needs of a big group and proceeded through the even larger living room to our bedroom, it with two queen sized beds and a attached spacious bathroom.  We would definitely be comfortable here during our stay and all for the unbeatable price of around $90 a night for the four of us. 

Once we unpacked the car and got settled, we set off for a nice evening at Kamp Angst, drinking beer and wine and eating those sandwiches we’d picked up earlier.  At first it seemed a little strange knowing we wouldn’t be staying for the night, but in the end nothing in life stays the same and we were just glad to spend time there with these best of friends. 

We returned to the Institute after our long day and soon found ourselves peacefully sleeping the night away.  The next day featured a short day trip to a couple of our favorite spots in the Illinois Valley, lunch at Taylor’s Sausage, a fixture in this blog since its inception and for us during our many years of visiting Kamp Angst.  I had my usual Taylor Dog, and the others ordered what appealed to them, including a grilled cheese sandwich with fries for Gemma. 

We finished up and then drove to another favorite spot, Foris Wines, a scenic drive outside of Cave Junction.  We belong to their wine club and find these wines, particularly the Pinot Noirs, to be a great value along with the Cab Franc and the Pinot Gris.  Tom used to do marketing work for them, producing a periodic mailer filled with information about the winery and the general area.  In return he received quite a lot of wine as payment, cementing a love for the brand. 

After our tasting and the purchase of a few of our favorite bottles of Pinot and Cab Franc, we drove back to Kamp, first stopping at Wild River Brewing and Pizza Company in Cave Junction to pick up a couple of take and bake pizzas for dinner.  Originally begun as the Pizza Deli in 1975 by the Miller family, In 1990 they started brewing beer, with the help of Hubie, one of Tom’s neighbors and called themselves Steelhead Brewing.  In 1994 they decided to drop both names and rebrand with their current moniker, Wild River with additional brew pubs in Grants Pass and Medford. 

Back in camp we devoted the rest of the afternoon to drinking some of the Wild River while Gemma, Joanna (AKA Dodo) and Kathy spent some quality time in the swimming pool they built some years ago.  Subsequent swimming lessons have since made Gemma a bit more fearless in the water, but here she was just getting comfortable with the idea of jumping in the pool to be caught by an adult.  And jump she did, time after time. 

Joanna would pay for this afterwards with a sore right shoulder but would gladly agree that it was worth it to spend that time with G in the pool.  We returned to the Institute after dinner, stopping briefly on the shore of nearby Lake Selmac to take a group picture of us as the sun was setting.  It was a nice way to end a nice day, full of more than forty years of memories.  And getting Jessica and Gemma here was the cherry on top of the sundae. 

Links

Cartwright’s Market: https://www.cartwrightsmarket.com/

Siskiyou Field Institute: https://thesfi.org/

Taylors Sausage: https://taylorsausage.com/

Foris Wines: https://www.foriswine.com/

Wild River Brewing:  https://www.wildriverbrewing.com/location/wild-river-brewing-pizza-company-cave-junction/