Maybe It Was A Bear

That last post probably confused everyone. I was in the middle of a camper heater project, if you remember back to when we first bought the camper, we had to get a few things fixed that were not installed correctly at the factory. One was a switch located on Linda’s side of the bed that would turn on the heater, in the morning, when it was cold, while she was still in bed. Pre heating the camper prior to leaving the warm cozy covers is a very luxurious thing and something we really wanted in the new camper. The switch never worked, and even though I had taken it into R & R RV, they never fixed it. I even have a repair receipt that states that it was fixed. Glad I didn’t have to pay for that.

I had been messaging a fellow NATCOA member, who owned the same style camper, and he was comparing his wiring to what I was missing. Being fluent in blogger and not so good at posting on the Truck Camper website, I directed him (Paul) to our blog and posted my comments there. It worked and Paul was able to give me information on how to fix the switch. Now when Linda gets up at 4:00 AM to make my coffee, cook me breakfast, and put another log on the fire, the camper will be nice and warm.

There is something about waking up and having coffee while you look out the camper window and see the cool clear water of a river flowing by, or maybe the sun coming up over a glass smooth lake with the Selkirk range in the background. I can’t say what my favorite view has been. I remember the red rock vista of Escalante Utah where the blue sky met the red rock spires. Then that reminds me of the BLM campground in Moab area where we looked out at the Colorado River that drifted by a 300 foot sandstone cliff separated only by the green of the Tamarisk bush. I can’t forget the view of the Palouse from the Huckleberry Mountain road side pull off when we camped up on Skyline Drive in Mary Minerva McCroskey Park. How about the view from our campsite at the RV Park on Vancouver Island when we came back from fishing with John and Loretta at Port Hardy, that was a stellar view of the inland passage. There have been so many views and vistas, places where we could sit and enjoy each other’s company and share our love for each other, our dogs and the wonderful life we have built.

We are camped up the Coeur d’Alene River this weekend at the Teddy Creek area. We actually got the best site in this area and were able to find some good wood to supplement the dry stuff we brought with us. Our fire the first night lasted until about 8:00 PM, or should I say we lasted until that time and then we called it a night. Linda took the dog for a late walk as I cleaned the kitchen. We kept in contact via the radios so she would not be so nervous. About ten minutes into her walk she radioed back that there was something up there and they were heading back in a hurry. I turned all the lights on and went out to meet the intrepid duo. Linda said it was probably a deer, but she was not taking any chances. We went to bed and read; Linda fell asleep first, again. I had to tug to get the book from her grip so she could sleep comfortably.

We slept the entire night with only one brief trip to the bathroom, where we took to opportunity to add a blanket to the bed. I woke up at dawn and looked across the river. Still groggy, I thought I saw a bear coming down to the water. I watched it without my glasses and I was sure it moved. Getting up to get my glasses I woke Linda and we jumped out of bed to spot the critter. We looked, but there was nothing. We jumped back into bed and fired the, newly repaired, on switch for the furnace and heated our home.

The furnace worked wonderfully, but we have to work on the getting up sequence. We shouldn’t jump out of bed in the cold and jump back into bed, then fire up the furnace. We have never had that luxury so it will take practice, and I really thought I saw a bear!

Linda and Kobi went for a walk while I blogged. When they came back Kobi was a mess. Linda said that little pup hit every mud puddle around, and there are some huge ones! Kobi was in one of his massive puppy circle moods and he was ripping it up back at camp. Linda said that on their walk she saw some bear scat that was real fresh, like early this morning fresh! Maybe that animal last night was a bear, and maybe I wasn’t dreaming when I woke up and spotted a bear across the river.

We sat around the fire and I got my fishing gear together. The three of us walked up river to an area we have camped sever times before. It is one of my favorite camp spots due to the way the river runs past. You camp on a rock beach, which is why Linda does not like it, and the river comes down and makes a turn up against a large rock face that sits directly across from the site. There is a nice pool at the bottom of the riffle and your view down river is of the green banks of the Cd’A. I fished the riffle and the hole, only getting one fish. It was a nice sized Cut, with a vivid red swash down its belly.

As we hiked back to camp we picked up some more wood that was in an unused camp site. We are becoming great wood scavengers and with the wood we brought from home we have no worries about having morning fires and early fires at camp.

Back at the camper I made tostadas for lunch while Linda started her home work. When I finished I walked down river and fished for a while. Linda remained in camp and she and Kobi finished their home work. Kobi’s home work is to go into the bushes around the camp site and pull out everything he can find that has been hidden for years there. Bottles, cans, sticks, paper, cardboard, anything that he can carry or drag comes out for Linda’s approval. When the Bennett’s leave a campsite, we leave it clean.

When I returned from fishing we all went for a walk which took us around the Teddy Creek peninsula. We returned to our home and I made dinner while Linda read and Kobi searched. It grew dark and with the departure of the sun the temperature dropped. I think we made it to about 8:00 PM again, before we crated the dog and went in to bed. Tonight was shower night so Linda cleaned up first and I showered shaved and hit the sack. It’s a great feeling to go to bed clean and tired.

Linda and Kobi headed out side early Sunday morning. They made a great fire, Linda doing the making, Kobi doing the searching. Within about ten minutes Kobi had found a tennis ball of all things. So the rest of the morning Linda read by the fire and tossed the ball, I stayed in the camper and blogged with my coffee. This has grown to be our morning routine. It relaxes us and rejuvenates our souls so we are ready to face the coming week.