For the second leg of our November jaunt we went south to Lakeview, Oregon which is southern central Oregon, just above the California border. Our destination, Drews Creek campground on US Forest land. Price $0.

The drive was long and spare, the views endless horizon.

The day started off a bit inauspiciously as Highway 27 went from paved road to unpaved road for about 25 miles. When we finally got to Central Oregon Highway, we faced a stretch of straight, flat road running diagonal across the state. My original plan had been to gas up in Brothers, Oregon and then look for a little road that would take us down to Christmas Valley, but if there was gas in Brothers, I blinked and missed it. So we drove down to Reily and the junction of Hwy 20 and 395, which would take us down to Lakeview.

Reily was a welcome sight. The gas station had friendly folks who assured us that we'd been smart to gas up since the next gas was 95 miles away in Lakeview.

With a full tank of gas, we were happy to enjoy the trip down to Drews Creek, in the Fremont National Forest

We had the place to ourselves, and maybe the fact that it was a Sunday at the end of November, with a forecasted low of 17 degrees had something to do with it.

It's a small, shady campground with tall pines standing sentinel, so when we got there at about 3pm, daylight was already starting to fade behind the hills.

I heated some chili, and we enjoyed a beer and a few hands of cribbage as the sun set on our private forest camp. The Chinese diesel heater was up for the challenge of 17 degrees. We slept warm and cozy in Jetpack, and it wasn't until the next morning when we cracked the door that we saw just how cold it had gotten. Drews Creek had frozen over.