We define our style of RV travel as featuring a free schedule, flexibility, stopping in campgrounds, venues, towns and countryside and other places by chance not by reservation when we can get away with that. Instant decisions to make irresistible turns, follow road signs, heading to word of mouth recommendations or detours that may happen our way. After another of my Blog hiatuses I am finally at my computer sharing stories, and adventures, savoring our visits northward in California, Oregon and Washington State. It is no secret that travel reinforces day by day the beauty of this world and the people whom we have visited or have met on the way.
One case in point; driving the Jeep from a unique and historic campground in Shamokawa, Oregon
seeking adventure, we drove past a small museum with an eye candy open sign in the town of Stellar. We pulled a “Uey” joking that we had driving through the town in the short moments it took to head back to the tiny museum. We drove into the driveway as a gentleman in a pickup truck drove out. The open sign was now turned to closed. He is the historian/director and life blood of the museum and lives just across the road. His reason for driving over was simple. The next day was a big day for the museum, kid’s day and he was delivering tables and supplies for the morning set up. “Come on back tomorrow” he declared.
It was not going to happen. Tomorrow we were moving elsewhere in the rig and there would be no place for us to park. (an aside, the next day was wet and a bit cool. We hope the kid’s day worked out well for them).
We talked for a few minutes and I remarked that we were taking his time when he probably wanted to get home to family, beer and relaxation. His response, I am alone, I have nothing but time and after close to an hour through the windows of our Rubicon, he gave us an exuberant verbal essay about the Victorian era town of Stellar, the history, the people and a bit about the completely volunteer run facility.
A delightful and spontaneous encounter for sure. The number stories we have involving making quick decisions, U turns and changing direction could fill volumes of books and far exceed my goal of a message in a minute (or 2). We continued up the highways (I 5 most often) to the town of Anacortes, Washington.
Another beautiful town so worth repeated visits. We reached the most northern route and were probably going to head easterly toward Montana and then head southward back to Jojoba Hills, our RV community in SoCal. But, in our flexible manner and some medical requirements we chose to change direction making a U turn to head back down the I 5 to Aguanga, Ca and home. Again the route was full of discovery, beauty and adventure. We past through Oregon and felt and breathed the smoke from the wild fires west of us. We stopped in Redding, Ca, 
drove through the Mt. Shasta area just before the fires started in those regions and returned to SoCal as the devastating fires started near Idylwild that is raging out of control.
It is hot here, very hot. I think of the thousands of fire fighters enduring the heat and peril and risking death. How precarious is the lasting beauty of our world jeopardized by fire, floods and accelerating occurrences of natural disasters, by raw rhetoric and senseless edicts reversing environmental issues in the political arena, human disaster and crime. These disasters seem remote until a family member is affected. A grandson from LA was attending Astrocamp in Idylwild resulting in evacuation to a safer area with the fire on their heels to safe ground. Flexibility is the key.