Category Archives: Boondocking

Smoke on the Water

My previous post included a photo taken at the swimming area at Legacy Park in McCall. You can see across Payette Lake to the pine-covered ridge at the north side. On Sunday evening, I saw a video clip on the local news taken from the same point where I stood to take the photo, except you couldn’t see more than 200 yards across the lake due to smoke from wildfires. Smoke is everywhere out west; it’s unbelievable.

I wasn’t able to post over the past few days in Mountain Home, Idaho due to spotty Internet access. Spotty is being kind – our current location only has 3G, but it’s far better than Mountain Home which was like a dial-up connection 25 years ago. There was a Verizon LTE cell tower about half a mile away from the Gem State RV Park and that tower had several cells (nodes). Each node was directed to cover a slice of the 200 degree fan of coverage from that tower. However, the node pointed at the park had the largest slice and covered the most densely populated area of coverage. It was overwhelmed by cell phones most of the day.

When I wrote my last post on Saturday morning I was lucky to have a decent connection for an hour. Fortunately, Donna had completed an article for Escapees RV Club before we left Grangeville.

We left Mountain Home on Monday and continued to head in a southerly direction. I didn’t want to blast down I-84 – the speed limit here is 80mph and I don’t drive the coach that fast. After topping up our fuel tank with 67 gallons of diesel, I followed a route that took us down a nice county road that mostly paralleled the interstate. It took us through a lot of farmland with potato fields and some cattle. Idaho is the largest producer of potatoes in the country.

We followed back roads all the way to Rupert, Idaho. These county roads were mostly smooth with speed limits of 55-65mph. It was easy driving with very little traffic. We passed through a small town called Bliss which had a deep valley to the south. The valley was filled with dense smoke and I couldn’t make out any details of the terrain there.

We found the Elk’s Lodge in Rupert. I checked in at the lodge and was told we could dry camp for free. We set up in a level area with a golf course behind us and had happy hour at the lodge. Donna prepared a simple dinner of garlicky tomato and zucchini with parmesan and Italian sausage. She found the best corn of the season at the Mountain Home farmers’ market – the farmer told her it was picked that morning and would be the best we’ve had. He was right.

We left Rupert Tuesday morning and this time I took a route down ID81. This state route was similar to the county roads we took the day before. The speed limit was 65mph, the road surface was decent and traffic non-existent. After crossing the Utah border, I had no option but to get on the interstate at Snowville. I-84 had miles of construction and only had one lane open. It merges with I-15 at Tremonton and we stayed on I-15 through heavy traffic in Ogden.

We left I-15 south of Ogden proper at exit 332 and went west through an area called Syracuse. We were on a wide boulevard lined with shopping centers and businesses. It gave way to a residential area and narrowed to one lane in each direction. The road ended at the entrance to Antelope Island State Park. The entrance to the park is at the start of the Davis County Causeway. We had reserved a 90-foot-long pull-through site at the Bridger Bay Campground. I checked in at the entrance and the girl working there told me to go seven miles across the causeway and take a left when we reach the island, then take the next right. We found our site without any difficulty.

Antelope Island is the largest island in the Great Salt Lake. It has an area of 28,022 acres and is roughly 15 miles long north-to-south. It’s home to bison, mule deer, antelope and other wildlife including coyotes and badgers. Just as we entered the island, we saw a bull bison standing behind the entrance sign with a statue of a bison on the other side.

The campground is dry-camping only. We’ll boondock here for three nights. After setting up, we took a drive in Midget-San to have a look around. We started by going up to Buffalo Point. You can see in the photos the amount of smoke over the Great Salt Lake.

View south from Buffalo Point – lots of smoke

Bridger Bay from Buffalo Point – campground is on the edge of the beach to the right of center

We made a loop past the beach access area, the Island Buffalo Grill and visitor center. Then we drove 11 miles down the paved road on the east side of the island to Fielding Garr Ranch. There weren’t very many cars on the road, but there were some day-use tourists that thought nothing of stopping in the middle of the road to take pictures of bison.

View east across Farmington Bay to the mainland

The smoke made an interesting sunset last night.

I spoke too soon about internet access here. I’ve been struggling to complete this post as the Verizon signal fades from 3G to 1X with no internet. I’m giving up at this point.

Rock Slide Delay

We pulled out of Sundown RV Park in Grangeville yesterday. I looked it over and came up with an exit plan. Although we were in a pull-through site, pulling forward to exit had some complications – namely a row of trees across the narrow roadway and a post at the right side of the site at the edge of the road. I decided to reverse out of the site – all l I had to do was get the trailer to turn about 45 degrees. All went as planned and we were out of there in one shot.

We left town heading south on US95. We climbed a bit – we were at an elevation of about 3,440 feet above sea level in Grangeville. Our route took us through the town of Riggins, which is interesting. Riggins has a number of whitewater rafting outfits and jet boat rides to run down the Snake River to Hell’s Canyon. What I really found interesting was the physical size of the town. The sign at the town limits says the population is 419. But almost all of the dwellings are on the main street through town – the river is on one side and a high bluff limits the other side. So, the town of 419 seems to go on for a long way.

Coming out of town, we saw a long line of vehicles heading north into town. I told Donna I had a bad feeling of a road closure or single lane ahead. We were cruising along well below the speed limit due to a slow motorhome about four cars ahead of us. In my mirrors, I saw an empty log truck rapidly gaining on us. He caught up with us just as we saw road work and lower speed limit signs. The speed limit dropped from 65mph to 45mph then 25mph before we were stopped completely.

We saw a guy standing outside his truck smoking a cigarette and figured we would be stopped for a while. I shut off the engine. There wasn’t any traffic moving in either direction. I picked up the CB radio mic and asked if anyone was on channel 19. A trucker answered immediately. I asked if he had any idea how long the delay would be. He said it would be 20 minutes. I thanked him for the info, then he said the delay was 90 minutes a week ago!

When we started moving, traffic was going in both directions through a detour around a rock slide. This morning, I read about it – the rock slide happened on July 3rd and they’re still dealing with it. Unstable slopes had US95 closed for a while and the delays are necessary as they move rocks and earth that may come crashing down the slope.

After we drove through the detour and past the stacked traffic on the other side of the road, I figured the log truck driver would be impatient and want to get by the slow caravan created by the motorhome and another RV ahead of us with a few cars in between all going about 50-55 mph. I thought maybe the log truck driver was the guy that told us of the delay time as he probably drove this road almost daily.

I could see the oncoming lane was clear on a long straight stretch so I picked up the CB mic and said “Hey, log truck, if you make your move now, I’ll slow down and let you get by.” I didn’t have to tell him twice, he immediately pulled out and overtook us. But that just got him ahead of us, he was still trapped behind a few cars and two slow moving RVs. I lived in western Washington for 15 years and I’ve had plenty of experience with log truck drivers. I know they tend to be impatient and aggressive. I was hoping the lead motorhome would take a clue and turn out, but he just plodded along. When we hit another long straight section, the log truck went for it. He passed the cars and two RVs all at once – it looked a bit scary, but he got it done.

At New Meadow, we turned away from US95 and took ID55. This brought us to McCall at Payette Lake. We continued south another 14 miles or so to the town of Donnelly. Donna had found information on a city run campground an the edge of town right on the water at Lake Fork – an offshoot of Lake Cascade. It is a dry camping area with 15 marked sites that have picnic tables and fire rings. We pulled in and walked around to check it out.

The dirt roads to the north end have low hanging tree branches and looked to be very narrow for our size. There’s another entrance to the south of the main area with two sites down by the beach area, but a travel trailer was down there with a noisy generator running. We decided on site 11 and pulled in with our windshield facing the lake. It’s a nice view. Only two of the 15 sites were occupied and we feel like we have the place to ourselves.

The site is long enough to fit our coach and trailer. When we dry camp, there isn’t much to set up. I hit the HWH automatic leveler and put the slides out. Unload Midget-San and we’re set.

When we were in Grangeville, there were two grocery stores in town. Donna bought a rib-eye steak at Cloninger’s Grocery and told me they had a good selection of meat. Later she saw a sign advertising babyback ribs for $1.99/pound.

I grilled the steak and Donna served it with baked potato, green beans and corn from the farmers’ market. The corn was something called 90-day corn and was the second crop of the season. It was a real disappointment as it was starchy and neither of us finished a cob. The steak was excellent though.

We went back to Cloninger’s and I looked the meat over. We found that many small town grocers have their own butchers and they have great cuts of meat. The ribs looked good but they were frozen rock hard. I bought a rack and also picked up a London broil that was trimmed perfectly.

When I prepped the ribs, I found the membrane on the bone side had already been removed and the ribs had almost all of the fat trimmed. It made for an easy prep. I put the ribs on the Traeger Sunday afternoon and did my usual method. We had the ribs for dinner but something was wrong. I have my Memphis style rib routine down and they always come out tender, juicy and flavorful. Not this time. Something was off with these ribs, the meat seemed stringy and chewy, not all tender. Bummer.

I couldn’t figure out what went wrong and chalked it up to a bad cut of meat. Maybe it was too lean? I came up with an idea – Donna cut the rest of the rib meat from the bones and made a vegetable soup and added the rib meat to it. Now that worked. We had the soup for dinner last night and it was great.

I made a batch of beef jerky from the London broil and really outdid myself. I think this is the best I’ve made so far and I’d put it up against any jerky you can find.

A cold front swept over most of the country on Sunday night and Monday. Yesterday, I heard many conversations on ham radio about the abrupt temperature swing. Areas of the Rocky Mountain states went from near record heat to snowfall overnight. When we left Grangeville, it was only about 60 degrees. Last night the temperature here at Donnelly cooled quickly once the sun set over the mountains to the west. We went outside last night and the lack of light pollution here made the stars in night skies unreal. We could see the Milky Way and hundreds of stars we don’t usually see.

This morning, it was 49 degrees in the coach and I had to run the heat pumps with the generator. We’re at an elevation of about 4,900 feet above sea level and we expect it to get warmer over the next couple of days. We’ll move on to Mountain Home, Idaho on Friday.

*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

Amber Waves of Grain

I dismantled my antennas and organized the trailer Sunday afternoon. I only had a few things left to do Monday morning before we hooked up the trailer and loaded the MG Midget in the parking lot. We weren’t in a hurry, but it was nice to have things 80% road-ready when we got up in the morning. We hit the dump station again before heading out of town on US95 south.

This route had a series of short climbs and descents as we drove through forest land at first, then farmland. We only planned to travel about 135 miles to the McKay’s Bend Recreation Area at Myrtle, Idaho. When we were going through Moscow, Donna called the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) office at McKay’s Bend to inquire about site availability – they don’t take reservations. They didn’t have anything available for rig of our size.

So, we switched to plan “B”, which was the Elk’s Lodge in Lewiston. The descent into Lewiston on US95 is a six-mile 7% grade! I’m always thankful for the Jacobs Engineering two-stage compression brake in these situations. The Elk’s Lodge in Lewiston boasts of 10 RV sites with electricity and water. What we encountered was indeed 10 hook-ups, but the layout was goofy. They had the power pedestals and water spigots for each site spaced about 15 feet apart. Apparently whoever laid out the plan thought RVs could back in to the pedestals. The problem is, the lot is too small for anything larger than a pickup truck to back into the site in that fashion. We found four RVs – three fifth-wheels and one motorhome all set up parallel to the hookups – each occupying about three sites. There wasn’t any room for us to park near a hook-up.

The lodge was closed on Sunday and Monday, so the large paved lot in front of the lodge was empty. We found a fairly level spot and decided to just dry-camp overnight.

Lewiston Elk’s Lodge – our coach is in the distant background above the “K” in the sign

The lodge is beautifully located above the Snake River. We wished we could’ve entered the lodge – the backside of the lodge is all glass and I’m sure the view is stunning.

Snake River from the lodge parking lot – that’s Clarkston, WA across the river.

Explorers Lewis and Clark had a great influence in the Northwest. The Snake River separates Washington from Idaho here and the two towns at the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake Rivers are Clarkston, Washington and Lewiston, Idaho. Two bridges span the river to join the two towns. The Southway bridge is visible from the lodge.

After we set up, Donna needed to stretch her legs, so she went for a walk. She went downhill on Country Club Drive from the lodge and found a tunnel under Snake River Avenue that brought her to a bike/hiking riverwalk. Here are some pictures from her walk.

Looking west across the river – Clarkston

Without electricity and water, we didn’t see any point in hanging around the Elk’s Lodge. We looked online for something down the road on US95. The problem was planning around the upcoming holiday weekend. Most of the campgrounds on our route are state parks and they were all booked. There were some RV resorts, but even the most expensive places were booked over the Labor Day weekend.

We thought about booking a couple of nights, then finding a place to boondock over the three-day weekend, but we needed to get caught up on laundry. We found a place in Grangeville that could accommodate us through the weekend with full hook-ups, albeit just 30-amp electric service. The owner took credit card information and told us to take site 25 when we arrived. He said it was a long back-in and we would be fine without dropping the trailer.

It was only about an 80-mile run to Grangeville. Most of the drive was through wheat fields with some forest land in between. From Coulee City near the center of Washington to western Idaho, we have seen an unbelievable amount of wheat. In some areas, the golden wheat fields stretched as far as we could see. Harvest time is now and we saw a lot of wheat farmers working the fields.

This was a fresh cut “small” wheat field

Train trestle spanning a deep gulch along US95

We arrived in Grangeville around 11am. We were in for another unpleasant surprise. Site 25 wasn’t a long back-in – it was cramped site with a low tree blocking the rear of the site that was so low we wouldn’t be able to get the cargo trailer under it. If we parked there, half of our coach would be in the roadway and the power pedestal at the rear of the site would be 50 feet from us. Donna made a call to the owner, Greg. He wasn’t onsite and she had to leave a message. While we waited for a call back, I looked over the place and found four or five sites that would work.

When Greg called back, Donna told him what the problem was. She told him which sites I thought would work. Donna turned the phone over to me and Greg told me to use either pull-through site 7 or site 8 – preferably 8 and to pull in facing north. Site 8 looked like the best choice, but we had another issue. The tree on the west side of the site needed to be trimmed. I ended up getting a ladder and saw out of the trailer and removed several branches. This place could use some maintenance.

We got settled in and for $130/week, I’m not complaining. The thing is, Grangeville isn’t near any recreation areas so it’s not a tourist destination. Both RV parks – Sundown RV Park where we’re at and Bear Den RV Park had availability through the weekend. There’s a ski area nearby, so I imagine that brings some tourism in the winter.

We took a drive to have a look around in Midget-San. We saw large plumes of smoke past the airport. It turned out to be controlled fires where farmers were burning the wheat stubble before plowing.

This morning, Donna took a walk through town up Main Street. She saw a few interesting things. Grangeville is the largest town in Idaho County with a population of about 3,100 people – it’s also the county seat. It also boasts the county’s only stoplight! Here are a few pictures Donna took this morning. She found a series of murals depicting some of the history here.

Logging is also part of the economy here

At the sheriff’s office, she found an old steam tractor on display.

I set up my ham radio gear while Donna was out. I’m not sure about getting good reception here as we’re in a bit of a hole.

The temperature reached the mid-80s yesterday afternoon and it looks like we’ll see the same today and tomorrow. The weekend is forecast to hit the low 90s but it should cool off to the 70s for Monday and Tuesday. No rain in the forecast – we’ve seen rain when the weather guessers told us “zero percent chance of precipitation” before, so we’ll see how that works out.

One Night in Montana

Sunday was our last full day in Salmon, Idaho. When I wrote my last post Sunday morning, I mentioned I had a pork Boston butt in the Traeger wood-pellet fired smoker-grill. I wouldn’t set up the Traeger and then have to re-pack it the day before we traveled normally, but I wanted to smoke the pork and not have to freeze it.

I set up the grill at 8am and had the pork on it 8:20am. I wrote about temperature settings on the smoker/grill in this post. The thing is, traveling around with different climates, full sun versus shade and varying wind conditions makes getting the temperature right difficult at times. For pulled pork I wanted to smoke it low and slow. I wanted to keep the pit temperature around 210 degrees. I started out with the 225-degree setting on the Traeger, but it kept over-shooting and getting too hot.

I tried P-settings that would run at a lower duty cycle to allow the temperature to cool. The problem with that was, with the duty cycle too low, the temperature would drop below the 225-degree setting. Once that happened, the controller would turn on continuous pellet feed until the temperature reached or exceeded 225 degrees. This resulted in too many pellets in the fire box and and the temperature sensor for the controller would shoot up to 260 degrees or more. This made the pit temperature hover around 240 degrees. That was hotter than I wanted it to be.

So, I tried something different. I set the controller to 180 degrees, then set the P setting at 0. This setting will have the auger feed pellets for 15 seconds, then shut off for 45 seconds as long as the temperature stays above 180 degrees. This worked great. The temperature sensor for the controller read 220 to 240 degrees while the pit temperature ran at 210 to 220 degrees. Perfect!

It was a good thing that I put the pork on early. I thought it would take about seven hours to cook the 3.5-lb. Boston butt to reach an internal temperature of about 200 degrees. It turned out I need more than eight and a half hours! Then I wrapped it in a double layer of foil, put that into a thick bath towel and stuffed it into a small cooler. I left it in there for an hour. When I unwrapped it, it was still too hot to touch. The meat was tender and pulled apart easily and it was juicy – not at all dry. Excellent!

Donna made garlic smashed potatoes and sauteed a medley of corn, zucchini, red onion and jalapeno pepper for sides. We had Stubbs hickory-bourbon barbeque sauce on the side.

After dinner, I packed the Traeger and loaded the Midget in the trailer. Clouds had moved in and the sun on the mountains across the valley made a lovely contrast of light and shadow. The picture below doesn’t do it justice.

Later, as the sun was setting, the clouds reflected nice colors.

Monday morning we left the Elk’s lodge and hit the road around 10:30am. We had overslept a bit and got a little later start than I wanted, but it was no big deal. Our route took us north on US93. We had to climb to Lost Trail Pass at the Montana border, right next to the Lost Trail ski area. This was a steep climb with several switchbacks, but the road was good and the lanes were wide. The pass is over 7,000 feet above sea level and quickly drops back down to about 5,000 feet. From there, it was a gradual descent into the Bitterroot Valley around 4,000 feet above sea level.

We drove alongside the Bitterroot River through several very small towns and the larger town of Hamilton. The last time I came through Hamilton was nearly 30 years ago and I could hardly believe how much it has grown. We made a stop at the Pilot Travel Center in Lolo and that turned out to be a bit of an ordeal.

It was okay for Donna as she was on a phone interview with a freelance writer and the break worked out for her. What happened was, we entered the travel center to find the pumps open and only a few trucks in the lot. I pulled up to a pump and got out. I couldn’t find a card reader to swipe my Pilot/Flying J RV Plus card. I saw a guy by a pump a couple of stalls to our left. I asked him about using a card at the pump. He said only the first two lanes had card readers. Okay, I figured I would pull through, circle around and go into the second lane, next to the stall he was standing in.

When I got out to start the pump, the guy told me I would have to wait a few minutes as he was reprogramming the pumps. Ten minutes later, he told me to go ahead. I swiped the RV Plus card and got an error message. I swiped it again and it said “See cashier.” I told the guy what was happening. He said I should wait a couple more minutes while he re-booted the master pump. Five minutes later, he said try again. I got the same result. He tried his Visa card and it worked. He canceled his card transaction and told me my card was the problem and to see the cashier.

I went inside (with the required face mask) and the cashier turned on the pump. He told me to come back after I filled up and he would run my card. I put 50 gallons of the lowest priced diesel fuel we’ve seen since we hit the road in 2013. It was $1.98/gallon! When I went back to the cashier, I swiped my card at the counter and it worked, no problem. It turned out the card readers at the pump were Exxon Corporation card readers and they would only accept MasterCard, Visa or Exxon cards. Even though I was at a Pilot Travel Center, I couldn’t use the Pilot/Flying J card at the pump, but it was okay in the travel center. It turned out to be a 30-minute fuel stop.

We continued on US93 which I expected to bypass Missoula. Missoula has so much sprawl these days that the last few miles before US93 hits I-90 was totally built up with businesses, traffic and stop lights every quarter of a mile! We took I-90 west and expected to stop for the day at St. Regis where Donna found a dry camping spot. When we got there we saw the boondocking spot was next to the interstate in a busy area. It had a few tractor-trailer rigs in it and the marked parking stalls were closely spaced and too narrow for slide-outs.

We decided to move on. We knew we could stay at a tourist attraction called 50,000 Silver Coins at exit 16 – only another 17 miles down the road. We had stayed overnight there before – they advertise a free RV “Park.” It’s not really a park, just some dirt sites in the trees behind their restaurant-casino. When we stayed there a few years ago, they had a couple of sites with 30-amp power, but I’m not sure if that’s still true.

We found a nice pull-through spot and set up to boondock for the night.

Our boondocking spot behind 50,000 Silver Coins

It was 78 degrees out, but felt cooler in the shade. Donna walked to a historic nursery next door. It was founded in 1908, but was wiped out by a wild fire that swept through the area in 1910. It was rebuilt in 1912 and operated until 1969. It’s called Savenac Historic Tree Nursery and it’s owned by the USDA Forest Service. She took a few photos.

We had a hearty take-out breakfast from the restaurant this morning and made a relatively early start. We were only 16 miles from the Idaho border and when we crossed it, we gained an hour as we are now in Pacific Daylight Time Zone. We had to climb two passes – Lookout Pass and Fourth of July Pass – but these were easy with no switchbacks!

Coming down the west side of Fourth of July Pass brought us to Lake Couer D’Alene. I-90 follows the Couer D’Alene River westward from Wallace, Idaho to Couer D’Alene. We found the Couer D’Alene Elk’s Lodge – it’s been three years since we were last here. We checked in, unloaded Midget-San and dropped the trailer before setting up. This is the first time we’ve dropped the trailer since we left Mesa, Arizona in April.

We have 50-amp electric service and fresh water, but no sewer here. We’ll have to watch our waste water. We plan to stay here until Sunday – I paid for five nights at $20/night. We’re at an elevation of about 2,300 feet above sea level.

The weather looks delightful We can expect highs of 80-85 degrees and overnight lows of 55 degrees with no rain in the forecast. The relative humidity is 25-35%.

Two Nights Out

We pulled out of Mission Bay RV Resort on Sunday as planned and left San Diego. I took my time packing up – I was still feeling a bit under the weather as I’m having a hard time shaking the head cold that hit on Christmas day.

We have an inline dual canister water filtration set-up that I always use to filter fresh water coming into the coach. I’ve had a few people question whether it’s necessary when they are connected to city water. When we arrived in San Diego, I put a fresh, new sediment filter in the first stage canister. This filter element is made from spun polyester and was pure white. When I disconnected the water supply, I removed the filter element. This is what three months of city water left in the sediment filter.

Sediment filter after three months of city water

You can see the amount of rust and dirt particles it captured. The city water supply may be sanitized through the use of chlorine, but whenever a line is opened up anywhere along the supply route, dirt can enter and old valves may be rusty. This is why I always filter our water. I change out the sediment filter every three months. The second stage is an activated carbon block filter that removes chemicals and odors and I change that after six months.

We made the usual eastbound run on I-8 over the three summits in the Laguna Mountains – Laguna Summit, Tecate Divide and Crestwood Summit. Each summit is over 4,000 feet above sea level and there was snow on the side of the road. We exited I-8 at the Imperial Dunes Recreation Area – about 10 miles west of the Arizona border.

Our friends, Jeff and Deb Spencer (Rolling Recess), were boondocking there off American Mine Girl Road. Donna had texted Deb and she met us on the side of the road and led us to their piece of desert. Donna mentioned to me that when she tells people we’re going to spend the night “out in the desert,” some people ask how do we get “out in the desert?” First of all, you need to know the rules for the area you’re in. At Imperial Dunes, some of the public land requires a camping permit. Other areas of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) are open for free dispersed camping.

Again, it’s public BLM land and it’s free, but there are rules. You can’t just bushwhack your way into an unmolested area – you have to stick to established paths. Of course most of those paths became established after someone starting driving in and others followed. Many of the points of entry are created by BLM personnel and some have markers and numbers. So, these paths are dirt two-track trails that lead away from roads and civilization. You are allowed to camp for up to 14 days, but you are supposed to leave the site as you found it – no improvements or structures are allowed.

Two-track on BLM public land and dispersed campers

Many people camp in groups in this area and use their ATVs or sand buggies to explore. I think they like the comradery and sense of safety in numbers. Others prefer solitude and keep plenty of space around them. We usually keep our distance – about a quarter of a mile is good separation – unless we’re with friends. In this instance, we camped near Jeff and Deb’s rig.

When we did the RAGBRAI event with them in 2017, I made Memphis-style babyback ribs one night on the Traeger for us to share. Jeff decided he needed a Traeger wood-pellet-fired smoker/grill. The thing is, they have a fifth-wheel RV, so storing a Traeger is problematic. He could store it in a basement compartment, but it would be a pain to remove and set up and put it away again. So he mounted it on the rear rack on their trailer.

He used an aluminum drip pan as a heat shield to keep excessive heat from reaching his bicycle or the rear of the trailer. He has a thermocouple he puts on the pan and an alarm set to notify him if the temperature exceeds 135 degrees. Smart set-up!

I kept my visit with Jeff and Deb brief as I wasn’t feeling good and didn’t want to infect anyone. Donna visited for a while. Later Jeff brought us a plate with St. Louis spare ribs he cooked on his Traeger. Yummy! Thanks, Jeff!

Sunset in the desert can be spectacular, especially when high clouds are present. I shot these photos within a few minutes of each other – the first just as the sun was setting and the second a few minutes later when the sun was below the horizon.

Monday morning we rolled out of there and continued east on I-8. We found a new Pilot/Flying J Travel Center had opened at Tacna – about 40 miles into Arizona. I topped up our tank there. We continued east past Casa Grande where I-8 merges with I-10 and took the first exit at Sunland Gin Road in Eloy. I needed to have the oil changed and chassis lubed on the coach. The Cummins ISL diesel engine holds 28 quarts of oil. I don’t change the oil because I can’t deal with seven gallons of waste oil!

Last year, Speedco was bought out by Love’s Travel Stops. I wasn’t too happy with their service in Denver. I’ve used the Eloy Speedco several times before. Love’s ownership hasn’t been an improvement. They’ve raised their prices and the employees seem indifferent and lacking motivation. The good news was, I didn’t have to drop the trailer and there was no wait. They had me pull in over the lube pit with the trailer still with us. We were in and out in about half an hour!

From there, we backtacked a bit through Stanfield and headed north on AZ347 toward Maricopa to Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino to spend the night. The paved RV lot was a little crowded but we found a new graded dirt lot. This large lot was level and only had one motorhome and one tractor-trailer rig in it. We set up for the night.

Shortly after we set up, another RV arrived – a truck pulling a small fifth-wheel trailer. You would think that a lot with a few acres of open space would allow him to give everyone some space. For some reason, he set up right next to us.

I don’t mean to be unsociable, but I don’t understand what he was thinking.

It was cold overnight – the temperature might have been down to the 30s. We had the heat pump on before we went to bed and it’s back on again this morning. The high today will barely break 60 degrees. That’s how we’ll end the second decade of the millennium. Tomorrow we’ll welcome the 20s – hopefully with a roar!

We’ll head to Viewpoint Golf and RV Resort this morning. We plan to pick up Donna’s new Trek Dual Sport 2 bicycle this afternoon and settle in for another three-month stay.

A Safe Bet and Crater Lake

Happy Labor Day first of all. I hope you’re enjoying the fruits of your labor whether you’re retired or still working toward retirement. It’s hard to believe I retired more than six years ago, but I’ve enjoyed every bit of retired life!

In my last post, I left off when we pulled out of Crescent Junction RV Park. We drove south on US97 to Kla-Mo-Ya Casino near Chiloquin, Oregon – a trip of about 70 miles. We stayed overnight there three years ago, but I hardly recognized it when we pulled in. There have been changes made to the parking area and a new motel is on the north side of the lot.

We had a loose plan of spending one to three nights there to get through the holiday weekend. Holiday weekends can be a bit of a pain when you’re on the road. The weekend warriors book most of the available campgrounds well in advance while we tend to be a little more spontaneous over the summer months. Casinos are usually a safe bet – no pun intended – as families don’t tend to congregate there for a long weekend.

When we stayed here before, there were only a couple of RVs in the lot until evening. Not so this time. There were a few RVs already there when we arrived and several more pulled in during the afternoon. We parked next to a National Tradewinds motorhome and met our neighbors. They were Don and Karen from Rochester Hills, Michigan. Small world, we lived in Rochester Hills in 2009-2010 before we bought a house in Shelby Township. We enjoyed conversation and cocktails after dinner with them. Several horsetrailer-camper rigs pulled in before dark. We guessed they were headed to a rodeo. They all pulled out early Saturday morning.

Donna and I took a drive up OR62 in Midget-San to the south entrance of Crater Lake National Park. I had visited Crater Lake before in the year 2001 on a motorcycle trip from Arlington, Washington to Monterey, California for the World Superbike races at Laguna Seca – but we entered from the north side then. The trip to the park was about 40 miles and the road was smooth with mostly sweeping curves and gorgeous views. We thoroughly enjoyed the drive under clear skies and 80 degree temperatures.

The lake was formed about 7,700 years ago when a 12,000-foot tall volcano erupted, then collapsed. The caldera filled with water from rain and snow – no rivers or streams empty into Crater Lake. The intense blue lake is considered to be the cleanest large body of water in the world. Crater Lake also has the distinction of being the deepest lake in the USA with a measured depth of 1,943 feet – followed by Lake Tahoe at 1,645. A later eruption formed Wizard Island in the lake – a cinder cone near the southwest shore.

The photos of the lake below are not enhanced or saturated for color – that’s the color of the water straight from the camera. The shoreline doesn’t have beaches. The sharp waterline along cliff faces looks un-natural and is surreal.

The holiday weekend meant crowds in the park. When I visited here before, we came mid-week and found it to be mostly empty. Not so on this weekend – we had to search a bit before we found a place to park.

We walked down to the Crater Lake Lodge intending to get lunch and fully expecting to have to wait for a table. Luck was with us though – we were led directly to a table for two with a window view of the lake. The food was excellent and service was great. I had the grilled chicken and provolone melt with sweet onion marmalade and spicy slaw while Donna went for the Crater Lake Cobb salad. After lunch we walked along the paved path on the rim of the lake behind the lodge. The lodge also has a deck overlooking the lake where you can enjoy cocktails from 1pm to 9pm.

Another lake view from the rim walking path

Don’t stray from the path – it’s a steep drop

We came home and watched more of the US Open tennis tournament and came up with a plan. We figured we should head further south on Sunday to position us closer to Carson City, where we are meeting up with the Alpine Coach Association rally on Thursday. If we waited until Monday, we thought the holiday traffic might be a bother while Sunday traffic on a long weekend would likely be light.

On Sunday morning, I watched the Formula One race from Belgium and became so engrossed that I forgot about our plan until Donna had the interior of the coach nearly ready for travel. I didn’t have much to do in way of preparation. I secured Midget-San and put away our camp chairs. After checking tire pressures, we were ready to roll – it was nearly noon. I topped up the fuel tank at the travel center next to the casino – our next stop will be in California with higher fuel prices. The travel center had B5 diesel which is my preference. I try to avoid B20 biodiesel.

We drove south on US97 along the eastern shore of Upper Klamath Lake. In Klamath Falls, we hit OR39 to the California border where it became CA139. The elevation back at the casino was about 4,200 feet above sea level. Our route had us climbing and then dropping back down. It seemed like we climbed more than we dropped and I thought we would net a fair amount of elevation gain as we drove through the Modoc National Forest.

Most of the traffic on the road was in the northbound lane. There were very few cars on our side heading south. We noticed a number of cars and RVs were filthy – covered in a light tan powdery dust. Some were so heavily coated, it looked like off-white mud. We wondered where they might be coming from.

At the town of Canby, we hit CA299 which took us to the small town of Alturas. We found the Desert Rose Casino there on the border of the Modoc National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). The Desert Rose Casino is on a small plot of Indian land – no more than a couple of acres. They offer free RV parking on a level gravel lot behind the casino. We were the only RV in sight when we arrived. I parked on the east side of the lot at the fenceline of the NWR. We didn’t net as much elevation as I thought – we’re just under 4,400 feet above sea level here.

Donna and I went into the casino for happy hour. The bartender solved the mystery of the dirty cars and RVs. She told us they were coming from Burning Man. Apparently, the popular boondocking event in Nevada results in clouds of dust.

Today we’ll take a drive through the NWR and look around town. The forecast calls for a high temperature of 90 degrees this afternoon and tomorrow. We’ll stay for at least one more night – we’ll come up with a plan later today. The biking looks like it would be great here – except for the numerous goathead stickers. We know from experience in Albuquerque that unless you have Slime tubes or Stan’s sealant, a flat tire is guaranteed. I should have installed Slime tubes on Donna’s new bike.

*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

Double Trouble

Florence has a farmers’ market at the Veterans Memorial Park on Bay Street Tuesday afternoons. Donna and I drove to town around 3pm. Our first stop was at the post office where we had our mail forwarded to General Delivery. Donna retrieved our packet of mail sent there from Your Best Address in South Dakota. Then we proceeded to the farmers’ market.

We always enjoy local farmers’ markets and this one was small, but it was the real deal. Not a craft show or anything like that, but fresh produce, cheese and meats from local farms. On the way back we did a drive-through at the Fred Meyer fuel pumps. Getting diesel fuel in a big rig can be a challenge on the Oregon Coast. You don’t find any truck stops and most of the gas stations are small and too tight to maneuver our rig through. The location of the diesel pump at Fred Meyer wasn’t ideal, but it was probably our best option. We planned to get fuel on our way out of Florence on Thursday.

I loaded the Midget into the trailer when we returned. Rain was forecast and I didn’t want to leave it out and have to load it later when the meadow was likely to be muddy. The rain came on Wednesday morning as predicted. It rained off and on all day, so we had an uneventful day. Donna put the finishing touches on a post for her Unclutter blog.

On Thursday morning, Donna phoned Salmon Harbor Marina in Winchester Bay to see if they had any open sites. She was told five sites were available. We finished packing up and made the winding drive to the dump station. We pulled out of the Elk’s RV park around 10:15am.

The diesel pump at Fred Meyer had a couple of motorcycles in front of it, behind a gas powered motorhome. They cleared out just as we were pulling in. The diesel pump is located at the end of an island closest to the entry lane. This meant our trailer partially blocked the entry lane. We needed the fuel though. Our Onan 7.5kW Quiet Diesel generator is fueled by the same fuel tank that supplies our engine. The fuel pick-up for the generator is located about a quarter of the way up from the bottom of the tank. This is done by design – the thinking is, if we were boondocked in a remote location, the generator would stop running when we still had a quarter of a tank of fuel, allowing us to get on the road. Running the fuel tank dry with the generator in a remote area wouldn’t be good.

We took 73 gallons of fuel, so we were near the quarter tank level. The Fred Meyer pumps are standard nozzles – I’ve become jaded by the high-volume trucker nozzles at Pilot/Flying J where I can pump 50 gallons in five minutes or less. Getting 73 gallons at Fred Meyer took about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, a motorhome pulled into the Fred Meyer entrance and stopped at the fuel station entry, waiting for us to move. This led to another motorhome stopping behind him. A third motorhome showed up and stopped in the highway lane. By the time I was finished filling up, cars and RVs were backed up down the highway. Sorry about that.

The time it took at the dump station and Fred Meyer had us running a bit later than we hoped. We headed south on US101 where it’s only a 30-mile run to Winchester Bay. However, it’s a relatively slow run with hills and turns marked with 35-40 mph advisories. On the way, Donna called the marina again and asked about site availability. Now there were only three of the first-come, first-served sites open. The gal on the phone – who shall remain nameless – did us a huge favor by putting a cone in site E14, blocking anyone from taking the site. She told us to proceed to that site and set up, then come by the office to pay.

When we pulled into the marina, the camp host stopped us in his golf cart. He said the campground was full. I told him we were going to site E14 – it had a cone in it. I mentioned the name of the gal that blocked it for us, then realized I may have gotten her in trouble. He asked if it was done in the last 20 minutes or so and I said yes. He directed us in.

The Salmon Harbor Marina RV Park is really just a paved parking lot with marked sites, surrounded on the three sides by the marina on Winchester Bay. All of the sites are dry camping only, no hook-ups. Across the street, an RV park called Windy Cove is run by the county and it has full hook-ups. There’s also a privately run RV park called Winchester Bay RV Resort with full hook-ups on the west side of the marina. Lots of RV spaces, but if you don’t reserve well in advance, the first-come, first served dry camping is the only option. We’re still trying to figure out why the campground has “full” and “no vacancy” signs out when we can see a few open sites that are blocked by cones. Maybe we aren’t the only ones that had a site held for us.

Salmon Harbor Marina – Winchester Bay RV Resort on the far bank

The sites are very wide. We unloaded the Midget and dropped the trailer on the left side of the site, then I looped around and parked the coach on the right side. The site is surprisingly level although there’s a dip running across the center of it. Our wheels are equidistant from the dip and left us level!

We headed out in Midget-San to get provisions back in Reedsport at McKay’s Market. We’ll stock up now and also when we leave on Sunday as we expect to be away from easy shopping for at least a week. Reedsport is about five miles from the marina.

As we headed to Reedsport on US101, I noticed the water temperature gauge read unusually high. I thought the slow drive out of the marina plus a long wait at an intersection had raised the coolant temperature. But now we were cruising at 60mph and it should have dropped back to the normal range of around 7 o’clock on the gauge. Instead, it kept moving toward the hot danger zone. I pulled off on the shoulder and with the engine idling listened for the electric cooling fan. I didn’t hear it. I shut off the motor.

I got out and popped the hood – or bonnet as the British car maker calls it on the MG. Yikes! A coolant hose had loosened up and disconnected from the water pump. We were pumping coolant through the radiator and out onto the ground!

I was able to reconnect the hose and tighten the clamp with a bottle opener on my keychain. I told Donna we had to wait for the motor to cool. I retrieved two bottles of water from the trunk – er, boot – of Midget-San and waited. After a while, I removed the radiator cap and slowly added a bottle of water. I opened the second bottle and it only took half of that bottle to fill it. I squeezed the upper coolant hose a few times to work any air pockets out and topped it up. We were good to go.

I told Donna this is why I always scan my gauges periodically. In the motorhome, situational awareness is important when you’re piloting a rig 65 feet long weighing 18 tons. In Midget-San, this awareness is also paramount – we drive it like it’s a motorcycle, always defensively and assuming we’re not seen by other distracted drivers.

Before getting groceries, we stopped for lunch at Ocean Garden, a Cantonese Chinese restaurant. Wow, was it ever good. We both ordered spicy dishes off the luncheon special menu which included soup, fried rice, and crab rangoons. Service was great, too, and portions were very generous.

Back at the coach, I topped up Midget-San’s coolant reservoir with coolant and checked all of the hose clamps. After going for an exploratory walk, Donna was ready to make beef ragu for dinner, so she fired up the generator. It ran normally for about a minute, then suddenly shut off. I tried to restart it, but it cranked without starting. Oh no! We can’t dry camp for three nights without recharging the batteries with the generator. The diagnostic blink code on the switch flashed three times. This is the worst diagnostic code. One flash means “High Temp,” two flashes means “Low Oil Pressure” and three flashes means “Service Required.” So, basically three flashes only tells you it’s not high temperature or low oil pressure – it’s something else.

I opened the generator slide and checked it for leaks. Then I checked all of the electrical connections at the generator and battery bank. I turned off the circuit breaker at the generator to remove any electrical load and tried restarting it. It started and ran for a few seconds before it sputtered and died. I could hear the fuel pump run before it started, so I didn’t think that was the problem, although it acted like it was starved for fuel. I wondered if we had a plugged fuel filter.

I pushed the start switch a couple of times to run the fuel pump, then started it again. It started and ran. It faltered a couple of times, but regained a smooth idle speed. After a minute, I flipped the breaker to the on position and the rpms increased and it ran fine. I ran it for an hour without any problems. This morning, I’ve had it running for two hours without an issue.

After thinking it over, I have a theory. Remember how the fuel pick-up is at a quarter tank level. When we filled up we were at about a quarter tank. I think air got into the generator fuel line before I filled the tank. When the air bubbles reached the injection pump, it “ran out of fuel” and shut off. Once the air bubbles bled off, it’s fine.

The forecast here is for sunny days and high temperatures around 70 degrees. Yesterday was windy and it’s supposed to get gusty again this afternoon. The weekend should have calmer breezes though. Sunday we’ll head out east to the Cascade Mountains. We have reservations at Crescent Junction RV Park which is either in the Umpqua National Forest or the Deschutes National Forest – I’m not sure where the boundaries lie.

The Goonies

On Tuesday afternoon, we rode our bikes through town. I couldn’t believe how crowded it was – this is the height of the Oregon Coast tourist season. The sidewalks were crowded like a Disneyland street. Bicycles were probably the best way to get through town.

We went north across Ecola Creek on Fir Street then found Ecola State Park Road. The park is on a bluff and the road climbs steeply. About half a mile up the road – maybe halfway to the park – it became steeper with sharp curves. I dismounted and asked Donna to remind why we were doing this. We decided to turn around and go to the beach access at the end of 5th Street.

Another view of Haystack Rock and the beach at Ecola Creek

Although it was cloudy and the temperature was only in the low 60s, there were people on the beach. Not this San Diego boy! We rode back into town and stopped at the bike shop – I wanted to buy a tube patch kit. The store owner was the only guy working there and he had his hands full. One large family was renting bikes while another family was returning rental bikes. When I mentioned the steep entrance to Ecola State Park, he told me that not only was it steep, but it’s dangerous. He said cars whip through the curves on the narrow road. I was glad we bailed on it.

We made another stop at the Tuesday farmers’ market in town. It was smaller than we expected, but Donna bought some produce there. Donna had posted some pictures from her walk earlier on Facebook and a few people mentioned the movie The Goonies when they saw where she was. On Tuesday night, we watched that old movie. Although it’s supposed to be set in Astoria, Bird Rocks and Haystack Rock are prominent in some of the scenes. We thought the movie was a bust.

On Wednesday, Donna took another bike ride, this time to the south toward Tolovana Park. She shot another photo of Haystack Rock.

Haystack Rock on the right, Needles on the left

In the afternoon, we rode our bicycles to Pelican Brewing for a couple of cold ones. Pelican has been brewing since 1996 and they have some great beers. They have three brew pubs on the coast in Pacific City, Cannon Beach and Tillamook.

Speaking of Tillamook, we loaded up Thursday morning and pulled out of Cannon Beach RV Resort. We headed south on US101 – it’s very scenic. We went about 50 miles to the Blue Heron French Cheese Company. This is a country store featuring a deli, wines, cheeses and assorted gifts. It located right on US101, a couple of miles south of the Tillamook Creamery. The property is an old farmstead and they offer free overnight dry camping.

We found a level spot to claim and went inside to check in. They gave us a parking pass and a list of rules. They allow up to two nights of dry camping – no tents. They have farm animals and lots of fowl – chickens, turkeys and peafowl along with goats and sheep. It’s a popular lunch stop for families and lots of kids enjoy the animals. We had a very good lunch at a table inside. The deli service is a little slow, but the food was great.

In the late afternoon, the cloudy skies finally cleared and we had the first sunset we’ve been able to see in days. Today we’ll continue south on US101 to an RV park right at the marina in Newport. We’ll be there for the next week.

Across the Columbia

Sunday was our last full day in South Bend. We rode our bikes across town at mid-day and found Linda’s Fish and Chips on the east end of town. It’s a popular spot and has a large parking area that can accommodate RVs. It’s just a food trailer, but the food is good and the property is nice with a large lawn area and several picnic tables with umbrellas. The view downriver from the lot is nice. We stopped for lunch and ate at one of the tables.

From there we rode across the lot to the bike path to Raymond. The bike path is mostly paved, but there are several short unpaved sections. Donna is loving her Trek Dual Sport 2 – it handles the dirt sections almost as well as my mountain bike. Her bike is faster than mine on the pavement though.

About halfway between South Bend and Raymond, we found a small RV park right on the river. It had about a dozen sites and was next door to a boat shop specializing in catamarans. They had two very large catamarans on the lot – I wonder how they launch these behemoths. They looked like you could easily live aboard and cruise the ocean. I could get used to that!

We stopped at the grocery store in Raymond and Donna bought cereal and bananas before we rode back. We were within a quarter-mile of our coach when my front tire went flat. I must have picked up a blackberry thorn. This close to the trailer I didn’t mess with it on the side of the road, I just walked it back.

Sunday evening, I watched the Moto GP race – it turned out to be one of the least exciting races of the season. I had most of our things packed in the trailer – I only left Donna’s bike and our camp chairs out to pack in the morning. Donna wanted to ride her bike to the market in the morning. Our new set-up in the trailer is working well, but I have a few items I’d like to find a better place to store. This photo illustrates why I wanted such a small car. Midget-San is small enough for me to open the driver’s door and exit without any trouble once it’s inside the trailer. I keep a car cover on it in case anything gets loose in the trailer.

We were on the road again by 10:30am Monday morning. As we headed toward Bruceport on US101, I was behind a few cars that were traveling about 50mph. I kept a distance of about 100 – 150 feet behind the car in front of me and matched their speed. Behind us was a tractor trailer rig. Apparently the truck driver couldn’t see the traffic in front of me and decided he needed to get past me. When I noticed him swinging out to the oncoming lane to pass, I was shocked. There was a downhill curve ahead and he wasn’t going to get past me before we hit it. I braked to 40mph so he could overtake us and get back into our lane. For the next 20 miles he was about 150 feet ahead of us. His dangerous maneuver netted him a two-second advantage.

We cut south on WA4 and WA401 to the mouth of the Columbia River where we rejoined US101 and crossed the bridge to Astoria, Oregon. We had planned a stop there to pick up beer at the Safeway store – I had scoped out the parking situation on Google. We also wanted to walk on the Astoria Riverwalk.

Our timing was impeccable. They were repainting traffic lines on Highway 30 through Astoria and traffic crawled through town. We could have walked the three miles to the store faster than driving there, but that wasn’t an option.

We parked behind the Safeway store by an abandoned building. A travel trailer was directly in front of the building, so we were partially blocking a driveway. The driveway had a cable locked to posts in front blocking access, so I didn’t worry about it.

The Astoria Riverwalk is a paved multi-use trail along the Columbia River. On the south side of the trail, there are a number of office buildings interspersed among townhomes and condos. It’s gentrified and appears upscale.

I think this was a cannery – abandoned now

There were eight cargo ships we could see moored in the Columbia. Most of the cargo ships entering and exiting the river are bringing cargo to Portland from other West Coast ports or the Far East.

With few exceptions, ships entering the Columbia River are required to have a licensed pilot guide it through the treacherous Columbia River Bar. Pilots from Astoria take control of the ships and navigate past the bar. Then a licensed Columbia River pilot takes over for the remainder of the cruise to Portland.

When we got back to the coach, someone had unlocked the cable and managed to drive around us. I felt bad about us blocking it. Donna talked to the guy and he was alright with it though.

From Astoria, we continued south on US101 – it’s a scenic drive down the Oregon Coast. We checked in at Cannon Beach RV Resort around 1:30pm. They have a bit of a branding issue here – in some cases, the RV park is called Cannon Beach RV Resort, other times it’s called the RV Resort at Cannon Beach. In fact, their campsite map and information flyer has both names on it!

We dropped the trailer near the entrance. We decided to leave Midget-San in the trailer. We can ride our bikes to anywhere in town or up to the state park if we want. We have a full hook-up, 42-foot back-in site. It’s paved with a nice lawn area and the park is surrounded by mature trees.

I set up and immediately dumped and flushed our black tank. Over the last two months, I only got to dump it twice and both times, I couldn’t use the flushing system. With that done, Donna told me she was going to try the Dish satellite network. I thought “Good luck with that” as I eyed the trees. Five minutes later, she had satellite reception! The park wifi was also very good – at least at first it was. Verizon signal is not good here.

In the evening, when more users were on the park wifi, it totally bogged down. It was even worse first thing this morning. I’m typing this post on Word Pad, then hopefully I can successfully transfer it to WordPress for publication. I probably won’t try to post again until we move on to a better signal.

We’ll explore on our bikes today – I fixed my flat tire this morning. We’ll have another full day tomorrow before we continue south. This park is a little pricier than we usually like to pay, but that’s the coast in season. When we left Arlington, our first night at Cabela’s was free. Then we had three nights at South Bend for $10/night. So we averaged $7.50/night for the first four nights. Three nights here came to $165 with tax, bringing our total to $195 for a week. That’s an average of $27.85/night. Mixing it up like this keeps costs low. Thursday night we’ll boondock before we hit Newport and another pricey place.

The weather here is much cooler with highs in the 60s. The mornings are cloudy with a marine layer that’s expected to burn off in the afternoons.

Blackberries and Deer

We pulled out of Alana’s driveway as planned on Thursday. On Wednesday afternoon, we finished most of the trailer details, moving everything into the first third of the box. This left the rear two-thirds open for loading Midget-San. I parked the coach and trailer around the corner from Alana’s place Thursday morning after putting the last items away and loaded the Midget without any drama.

We drove out of Arlington through Smokey Point and entered I-5 north so we could stop at the rest area at mile post 207. We had a short wait for the dump station there. By the time I was finished, there it was nearly 12:30pm. Our plan was to go south through Seattle to Lacey and spend the night at Cabela’s there. The short drive was a good plan as traffic was a nightmare. The 90-mile run down the interstate took three hours!

We’ve stayed at this Cabela’s overnight many times. We stopped at our usual spot which is level and found several tractor-trailer rigs in the lot as well as a few other RVs. I think the truckers decided to get off the road for several hours until the northbound traffic opened up. Knowing this place as we do, Donna knew precisely where to go to find blackberry bushes full of fruit. She picked a bowl full.

It rained overnight and a few showers lingered in the morning. We hit the road around 10:30am and hit US101 in Olympia and had a few rain showers in the first hour. It was a pretty drive west through Montesano then south through Raymond and on to South Bend. We last visited South Bend five years ago. We pulled into the Ron Craig boat ramp area on the west end of town. Overnight RV parking is allowed for a $10 fee. I paid at the kiosk and we set up.

I retrieved our bicycles from the trailer and we rode into town. We had lunch at Chester Tavern and took a look around. South Bend is located on the Willapa River. As the river flows west from Raymond to Willapa Bay, it hooks south then turns north making a horseshoe bend. South Bend marks the southernmost point in the bend.

From the marina in town looking east where the river comes down from the north

Looking west from the same point – the river turns back north before continuing west to Willapa Bay

The skies cleared by late afternoon. There were a few other RVs here for night. Several boat trailers behind trucks were in the lot when we arrived, but they were gone by early evening. Donna took a walk back to town to pick up a couple of things at the store and also took a look at the county courthouse which is a beautiful property – I documented it in this post five years ago.

On Saturday morning, Donna rode her bike to the store in town and bought a plate of biscuits and gravy for me. It was a hearty serving and I finished it for breakfast. It was very tasty, but later I wasn’t so sure that it was a good idea. It ended up being a lazy day for me.

We got the Sea Eagle inflatable kayak out of the trailer and Donna paddled up river to town, then looped back past the boat ramp before coming back in. I paid for another night at the kiosk.

I recorded the Moto GP race from Czech Republic and the Formula One race from Hungary overnight. Usually I’ll add recording time to each race to ensure I get the end of the race, but with the schedules being back-to-back, I couldn’t extend the Moto GP race. Our set-up only allows me to record one channel at a time via the satellite. The Moto GP race had a rain delay, so I didn’t get the whole race. No worries – there’s a replay at 7pm – I’ll get the rest of the race then.

We had visitors this morning – a doe and her twin fawns came up to the coach to feed on the blackberries and shrubs next to us.

Doe and twins in front of our windshield

The weather has been terrific – highs in the upper 70s with clear skies. We expect more of the same today. As soon as I post this, we’ll ride our bikes on the trail to Raymond and get lunch out. We’ve paid for another night here. Tomorrow, we’ll pull out and head down to the coast. We’ll cross into Oregon at Astoria and we have a few nights booked at Cannon Beach.

*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Boondocking

Smoke on the Water

Rock Slide Delay

Amber Waves of Grain

One Night in Montana

Two Nights Out

A Safe Bet and Crater Lake

*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

Double Trouble

The Goonies

Across the Columbia

Blackberries and Deer

*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

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*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

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*Just so you know, if you use this link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

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