Several times each year I head down to the Oregon and Nevada high desert regions for a break from the wet weather and the dense population on the west side of the Cascade range. I’ve spent most of my life west of the Cascades in Washington, Oregon, and Alaska, but I’ve grown to love the dryer weather, open vistas, darker night skies of the Great Basin region. I recently got back from my first trip of 2025.

I travel in my 1990 Micro-Winnie with a couple of old friends or by myself, and occasionally with my family. The goal is to always to get off of the I-5 corridor as quickly as possible, where traffic is generally heavy, and it’s often rainy. I generally spend the first night somewhere along the Columbia River. This spring one of my favorite campgrounds is closed, due to Trump’s staff and budget cuts. A park ranger informed me she was not sure when or if they would open again this year.

Our wisest and most statesman-like presidents set aside land for the use of the citizens, and to preserve the rapidly vanishing wild areas. The short-sided ones privatize those regions for corporate profit.

This year I’m taking along a dual sport motorcycle on some trips. I plan to get deeper into some of the places where “Kermit” shouldn’t go.

Many people live their whole lives without ever seeing the Milky Way, or more than a few hundred stars. I’m fortunate to live a day’s drive away from some of the darkest night skies in the country, where the dome overhead is filled with the light from millions of stars. The sunrises and sunsets are nice too!

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But it’s not all camping in state and national parks, or on BLM land or other more remote locations. Now and then I stop into a local watering hole to have a drink with the locals, and other travelers. Who knows, maybe I’ll see you out there this summer!