10/6/07 Thanks for your patience, blog readers - we are back with an update. Currently we are parked in front of Mike and Marilyn Harrison's house on Agency Lake, just north of Klamath Falls, OR. The past few days have been very pleasant here, due to the company - not the weather. It has been COLD. Luckily, we have an electrical hookup and can have our forced air heater on at night or it would be freezing in here. They have a lovely home and we have been enjoying good food and lots of great travel talk, since they are not only RV friends, but also world travelers too. They were on the last transAtlantic cruise with us in May.
You might be asking what we are doing here so early when we weren't scheduled to leave Winchester Bay until the 8th. Unexpectedly, we received a 30 day notice from our tenants in Roseville and we decided to head south right away to check the place out ASAP. This will help us learn what fix up will be needed at the end of the month, and also whether we can start listing it for re-rent while our tenants are still in it. That would help us get it rented again sooner because everyone who looks at it has to give their current landlord a 30 day notice too, and then we have a problem. Of course, we still wanted to see a few friends and family on our way south, thus the stop here. Tomorrow will find us on the road again, heading for Reno where we will have the instrument cluster on our RV replaced (yes, again!), and have a few days to visit my daughter and granddaughters, who live in Sparks. Then we will push on to Roseville for the rental assessment.
As we left Winchester Bay, and drove on highway 138 over the Cascades, the road ran along the upper Umpqua River and it was one of the prettiest drives we have ever taken. The trees are starting to change color, so there was red, yellow, gold and green foliage all along, with the river having some rapids and falls, and sheer cliffs and rocks periodically rising on the other side. As we neared the summit, the weather changed from mostly cloudy with occasion sunny periods, to all cloudy and rainy with occasion snow showers!! This hurried us along as we certainly didn't want to get trapped up there overnight. Mike and Marilyn weren't due back until the next day, so we stayed at the small casino near their place, called Kla-Mo-Ya. It has a large and flat parking area, perfect for RV's with the only bummer being 18 wheel trucks pull in there too and some of those idiots still leave their engines run all night. I can't understand why they do that, since fuel is so expensive these days.
Yesterday we explored their small town of Chiloquin, which took very little time, and then we hit a rummage sale. We also made a double batch of Nanaimo Bars, which are pictured below. I made them for one of the RoVing Rods potlucks and they were a big hit. So I am including the recipe at the end of this posting. It is a Canadian recipe which Mike and Marilyn love, and which Laraine, our manager at Lake Kachess, gave to us. It is quite a decadent treat, but well worth the extra calories, if you can prevent yourself from eating the entire batch!
Today Mike and Marilyn took us to a barn sale and a yard sale, and then we drove up to Crater Lake, which is only about 30 miles from their house. Being prepared for all the snow we encountered up there helped us enjoy the beautiful views across the lake. The snow still gathered on the tree branches was also quite scenic and made it feel like December instead of early October!! After a short hike around part of the lake, to take pictures, we made a dash for the cafeteria and a welcome cup of hot chocolate. Elaine and I hate cold weather and make sure that we are never in areas where snow might be present. Seeing Crater Lake in this condition was an unexpected treat, however. We didn't dally up there too long, and were happy to return to lower elevations and warmer temps.
Here is the recipe for Nanaimo Bars:
Bottom Layer
Butter or hard margarine 1/2 cup
granuated sugar 1/4 cup
cocoa 1/3 cup
Melt in top of double boiler or in heavy saucepan.
Beat a large egg and add to above, stirring to cook and thicken. Remove from heat.
Stir in the following:
graham cracker crumbs 1 and 3/4 cups
fine or medium coconut 3/4 cup
walnuts, finely chopped 1/2 cup
After stirring all of this together, press firmly into an ungreased 9x9 inch pan. Chill while you whip up the next layer.

Second Layer
butter or hard margarine (softened) 1/2 cup
milk 3 Tbsp
vanilla custard powder 2 Tbsp
powdered sugar 2 cups
Cream butter, milk, custard powder and powdered sugar together and beat until light. Spread evenly over bottom layer in pan. Chill.

Top Layer
Semisweet chocolate chips 1 or 1 and 1/3 cups
Butter or hard margarine 3 or 4 Tbsp
(The amounts are up to you but we like more chocolate on the top so we do the larger amounts)
Melt together over low heat. Cool slightly. When cool but still runny, spread over second layer. Chill in refrigerator.
Cut into small squares and enjoy!!