November 9^th—the latest in the year we have ever camp. Temperatures were 44 degrees this morning when we started our road trip, and for a moment, we even had to stop and questioned our sanity, knowing that it gets in the 20th at night.  Should we had stayed?  Keep on?  But our hearts were set and ready to go and our gypsy spirits eager to embarked in what it should be our last camping trip of the year, before the real winter weather settles in and our gypsy caravan had to be wintered and close for the year…  

…and what lovely, lovely showcase the Desert put up for us when we arrived!  The camp was almost emptied, with only two or three tents trembling under the chill of the morning in the distance.  The sun shunned strong and high in cloudless blue skies—skies saturated with geese’s in their migrating flights; filling the air with their migration songs, their hunks and trumpets satisfying the silence of the dunes as they displaced themselves through invisible airways and roads, leaving us in awed at their magnificent sight…  everything was perfect… perfect in every way!

It had snowed up in the dunes...

The skies were saturated with songs and glories all around!

Before getting to our camp, on our way to the dunes, we stopped at Albertsons to stack on coffee because I had forgotten to bring mine, and that’s when I met Ollie… it was true love at the first glance, I should say!  And the Fisherman got Ollie for me.  Thus, Ollie the owl is now part of our gypsy caravan and from now on will remain here.  He will sleep with us and eat and read with us.  He’s so soft and cuddly and I’m dreaming, and hopping that Ollie would bring a real owl to me tonight.  I’m leaving my window open, and I hope not to freeze during the night...

I set up our little living room in the open first things up, as I always do, and then sat Ollie on my chair.  I always like to decorate our gypsy campsite with whatever gift Nature wants to gift me with, depending on the season.  This time, the desert had its beautiful dry tumbleweeds scattered all around, so I made my own bouquet and called the place my home.  Then I went on to prepare us lunch…

Veggie rice and chicken tikka masala, along with an avocado salad in olive oil, salt and pepper.  The weather was perfect, perfect sun, no insects no heat to steal our joy and perfect comfort. 

We discovered a falcon perched up in one of the tallest trees and for a few delightful minutes we were gifted with the perfect distraction as we contemplate him through our lances and took dozens of pictures.

His flight was such a glorious gift...

I thought the lake was probably saturated with geese’s and thus wanted to go see… we walked the desert trails all the way to the lake, were a few fisherman and fisherwoman were there fishing.  A cute dog with painted ears was fishing too.  But the geese hadn’t stopped there at all.  Only the usual mallards and the ruby ducks.

The desert was filled with golden light and this time it was dressed only in golden rods and browns.  What a beautiful beautiful sight are desert and dunes to me.

Back at our gypsy camp we sat down to read outside, until it got a little chilly by 3:30pm.  Then we went inside, I put on my warm pjs and made me a cup of coffee while the Fisherman read. 

It felt delightful inside our gypsy caravan.  Ollie looked so comfortable there.  I think he is going to like it here!  When the sun was coming down, we bundled up and went out again to walk the trails under the last light.  How beautiful how very beautiful it was.  

Sunset is always so beautiful in the desert. The sky takes on shades of orange and pinks, even purples… colors and a sky that gives you hope that the sun will set only to rise again.

We made chili with Tostitos for dinner, bread, orange marmalade and creamy swiss cheeses from the laughing cow and kept writing ad reading some more while the sun set outside and the sky turned even more lovelier, more mystifying and glorious... how beautiful this place is, and how I love to come here...  

A full moon serenated us from outside… looking down at us from above our gypsy caravan.

It felt utterly magical inside our cozy gypsy caravan.  

Ollie loved it there too!

The next morning was just beautiful, I woke up around 5:30am hoping to hear an owl.  Made coffee and toast and sat to wait.  But she never came by.  Only Ollie and I and the Fisherman who kept sleeping a little longer...

Would this be our last gypsy trip of the year?  Perhaps no!  I want to come here next week, but I hear that temperatures are coming down this week, so we'll see!  Till next time then gypsies!

Nature had turned the color of maple syrup and cinnamon toasts round here… and it’s been cold with beautiful sunny afternoons.  And thus, the gypsies wanted to go explore the world again; one, or maybe two more times before things get really cold and dreary winter days descend upon the land with its accustomed vehemence.

And I’m so happy we did!  The campground we chose this time was like a beautiful shroud of splendorous colors spread-out upon the landscape.  Trees, shrubs and vegetations had turned into a dreamy, magical storybook, while yellow leaves covered the ground, bequeathing it with a certain mystery and a feel of wonder and magic.

A few feet down the trails, was the Snake River with its Three Island Crossing where many years ago emigrants on the Oregon Trail reached a critical junction. Here they had to decide whether to make the difficult crossing of the Snake River or take a longer alternative route along the south side of the river.

 

We cooked and ate our lunch...

And then I engaged in my favorite pastime

of embellishing and organizing  our gypsy caravan...  

 

 

Later that afternoon we went to visit The Oregon Trail History and Education Center where visitors can learn about pioneer immigrants and Native American history.

Some of the hardest things the emigrants had to do were crossing rivers. When you read the diaries there are a lot if incidents of deaths at the river crossings. So, when they get to Three Island Crossing, they’ve got a decision to make. They could continue on down the south side of the Snake which was known as the dry and the longest route and the more desolate route or they could risk crossing. So, it was whether you wanted to risk drowning or take the long route. 

We walked down to the river right after visiting the museum, and then ambled around where these people once stood, lived, and died… what an amazing experience, and what amazing view!

The evening turned in in soft hushed colors and a great hush came over the place… 

The gypsy caravan felt cozy and warm... It was so cold and wet outside, but inside it felt cozy and warm and wonderfully the two of us… ah I want to stay curled and cozied with my cups of coffee and all of our books, iPad and laptops in our gypsy caravan!

We woke up very early the following morning; woke up with cold and a deep desire to visit the darkness outside and perhaps… be blessed too with the awesome vision of a nocturnal bird and its hunting songs…

But it didn’t happen.  We cooked our breakfast and eat it inside our gypsy caravan shrouded by its coziness and silence; the darkness outside peeking in through lace-covered window illuminated by fairy lights…

 

It rained that morning and everything got soaked and it was cold and damped, and I almost beg the Fisherman to return home.  but we stayed.  We read and wrote and watched some movies...

 

In the afternoon we hop in our truck and went by the quaint little town to explore its surroundings; stopped at an ice-cream parlor and sat down to enjoy… that’s when all the rains came down! The wind picked up and rain rushed through in a big gulp of water and hail and wind and we went back to our camp to cozy up again in our gypsy caravan...