From the ER to a gold mining town

Note: All photos by Kate Poss

We began this road trip with a visit to the ER at 10:30 PM on Sept. 17. With an increasingly sharp pain in my lower left abdomen, I phoned Kaiser’s 24/7 advice line and the physician on call said I ought to go to the emergency room. I’ve had these symptoms in 2020 and 2023. At first I didn’t want to bother, since we planned to leave early the next morning, but I also didn’t want to chance not treating the symptoms and possibly getting sepsis, which my mom died of in 2012.

Bill drove me through the nearly empty roadways of Whidbey up to Coupeville. Arriving at Whidbey Health at 10:30 PM, I found the ER nearly free of patients, and the nurses friendly. I was given an IV, gave a couple vials of blood, was injected with iodine contrast–and rolled under the doughnut-shaped CT scanner. Yup. I have diverticulitis! The friendly nurse gave me a big white oval pill of Augmentin. We arrived home by 3:30 AM.

Leaving about 9 AM the following morning, I was grateful the attack didn’t come while we were out in the wilderness. Arriving on the mainland I had my prescription filled at Mukilteo Walgreens with only half an hour wait.

We camped the first night at Benton Oaks RV Park in Corvallis. Evening host Kim and her sweet dog Shasta greeted us, with Kim warning us that a trio of coyotes were hanging around, and Shasta refused to go out when they were in camp. We camp in site A27 right next to Kim and not far from the bathrooms.

In the past we’ve visited our daughter Gillian–who has lived in Corvallis since 2008–but as with our visit there last May–she chose not to see us, though we texted and sent a card letting her know we’d love to see her.

What we like about Benton Oaks’ campground is it is located on the Benton County fairgrounds. A meadow of oaks hosts Acorn woodpeckers, who were busy chatting and collecting big acorns. We were comforted by them in our heartache.

Leaving early the following morning, we drove along to Sisters OR, admiring the rugged eastern Cascades that frame the sky, the towering evergreens, and the change from fir and cedar to Ponderosa pine and aspen as we crossed the mountain divide. Stopping for a bit in Sisters we picnicked in the city park and walked to Oliver Lemons–‘Not your usual grocery,’ where we bought locally grown tomato and lettuce. A great place to shop.

From there we walked to The Jewel, a remarkable gallery with jewelry and illuminated alabaster lamps. We were smitten by their beauty. More spendy there than we like, however, we spoke with the gallery’s interesting host, an elegant woman with a long white ponytail, who knew the story of the gems and told us how some were mined at depths of 12,000 feet.

Leaving Sisters we drove under towering thunderheads before pulling in to Crane Hot springs in east central Oregon. We booked campsite #10 with no hookups or water. Outhouses nearby are just on the other side of the lava rock gravel road. Dinner in Marion delightful–the tomatoes-yummy and piquant. After a short walk at sunset we changed into bathing suits and floated in the healing waters of the hot spring pool. I found I could clasp my hands behind my head and float in the water, gazing up at the brightening Milky Way. A moment of complete being thereness. Back at camp I took photos of the Milky Way arms and unlimited stars.

The next morning, following Bill’s famous omelette with greens, mushrooms and Swiss Cheese–he swooned over Steve Showell’s homemade peach jam spooned on toast–we set off for Nevada–our destination Battle Mountain and the Clark RV Park, a clean family run place that provides temporary housing for employees of the ongoing gold mine. Nevada Gold–Barrick Mining Corporation–which. according to the website whose combined “significant assets across Nevada in 2019 to create the single largest gold-producing complex in the world.”

We like the old-timey-ness of this Battle Mountain town with its 50’s-style buildings and neon casino signs. Folks are down to earth. We’re camped in site 50. Gotta keep the door closed as the flies want to crawl on my legs, tickling them and making it hard to concentrate while I write this. After dinner and washing up dishes, we met a Tommy Lee Jones-looking man who swirled water and earth in a goldpan. He showed us the gold specks. At $3,600 an ounce, even a grain is valuable.

We’re off to another dark sky place tomorrow night–Baker Nevada and Great Basin National Park. Love the dark skies and feeling the power of space.