Kicking back at Bend-Sunriver Thousand Trails Campground

When we arrived at the Bend-Sunriver Thousand Trails Campground, another motorhome was also just arriving with the driver, Al. He was still unhooking his tow vehicle when we got to the parking lot where we were also going to unhook, so we got to greet him. It turned out that he parked just down the way from us, so we got to know him a little better.

When we joined him for a walk earlier in the week, he mentioned that he had been practicing his ukulele. Dwayne mentioned that he would like to hear it, so the next evening, Al joined us with his baritone ukulele.

 I am not very knowledgeable about music in general, or stringed instruments in particular, but if I understood correctly, Al had started with a guitar, but had difficulty making the chords. Someone recommended he try a ukulele, and specifically a baritone ukulele, because ukuleles have only 4 strings, and is therefore easier to hold the chords, and, the baritone ukulele is tuned to the same as the top 4 strings of the guitar. (I think I have that right - if there are errors in the information, they are due to my mistakes, not what Al told me!) He played us several songs and we thoroughly enjoyed our own private concert!

He came back Thursday evening with a banjo-ukulele. Again, it has 4 strings, and unlike a normal banjo, the strings are nylon instead of metal. But, it was a lot louder than the baritone ukulele that he had played on Wednesday night. I think he told us that the banjo is the only stringed instrument that has sufficient volume on its own (without amplification) to play with other instruments in a group. Guitars were not useful to be played with other instruments until they were able to be amplified. (Again, any mistakes are mine!)

He also shared with us a very early travel journal that his wife wrote: https://saltontheroad.com/toc.php
His wife had told their son back in 2001 that she wanted a tool that would allow her to share their travels via pictures and text on the internet. This was before blogging software was available, so he (their son) wrote the program that allowed her to share her travels. Pretty neat, huh?

Unfortunately, Tryna passed away in March, 2017. He went out in their rig solo for a shorter summer trip last year, and is trying a longer one this year. I can't imagine trying to do this by myself... Dwayne and I are such a team. Al confessed that he has not been keeping the blog up after Tryna's death.

Al headed out on Friday morning. We hope that we might be able to meet up with him at some point down the road!

A quick picture of Miss Doozie in her site here at Bend-Sunriver Thousand Trails. We've been catching up on some tasks while here - sorry for fewer posts than usual!