On our way home, we decided to take the highway out of Canyonville (Hwy 227) that cuts down to the Rogue River Hwy (Hwy 62) rather than go all the way to Medford on I5. We asked at the gas station what the road situation was regarding the fires in the area, which is why we were taking the road out of Canyonville. There was a sign on the road indicating that the "Tiller Trail" road was closed, but figured it was a backroad and didn't concern us. It wasn't till quite a while later that I saw a sign indicating that Hwy 227 and "Tiller Trail" were the same thing! My Oregon map certainly didn't call it anything but Hwy 227. So, rather than backtrack many, many miles, we decided to go on and see what was up. As it was, it was a good thing that we did, because the road was NOT closed and we continued on our merry way to Hwy 62. The map is kinda small, but you can get the idea.
When we got to Hwy 62, we could clearly see that there were several fires in the area and pulled over so I could take this photo. It was a rather dramatic sight. There was another fire behind us and we passed a large fire camp and saw a chopper with a bucket headed to the reservoir to get water. It was about 2 in the afternoon and the fire was really boiling.
We were headed to a favorite site on the Rogue River, but it had been several years since we were last there, so took the "long and scenic way" to get there. Interesting back roads........The perfect ending to our trip - at our favorite, secret place on the Rogue River, near Crater Lake. We first found this spot when we took a week before my breast cancer surgery in '97. We have been there twice since - whenever we have been in the area - and it is still a very special place. This is the view out my kitchen window.
We could see and smell the smoke - from the camp site - these are not clouds! We thought we could see ash falling and that was confirmed as it was visible on the truck.
Dean is relaxing by the river. Photo taken from the door of the trailer. 
More relaxing............. Listening to satelite radio - Rachel Maddow.
I'm picking on Dean - this is a rare scene - he is reading the directions for his metal detector!!
Looking for gold in the Rogue - unfortunately, it isn't to be found in this part of the river.
The river is soooo nice here. 
Abby learned to swim (finally!) on this trip. She didn't get out in the current here, but was enjoying playing "stick". She would get out in the water and get it, but then chew on it for a few minutes, then leave it in the water and come back for me to throw another one. Must be old age - she keeps forgetting what she went out there for.......
She did have fun! Playing in the water and the sand - and then coming in the trailer and when I said to stay off the couch - guess where she immediately went? It's a good thing that I cover it with an old sheet. But I had just "cleaned house" that morning!!!
So, the next morning, we packed up and headed home. A good trip - relaxing, saw some neat stuff, and just hung out. Our kind of camping!
When we got home, it was incredibly smokey and warm and humid - rare for our part of the state - the humid part, I mean. It rained over night and has been partly to mostly cloudy since.
Spent the last few days unpacking, doing laundry, yard work, and catching up on the computer.
I will post more trip stuff in the next few days.
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