Category Archives: Boondocking

Don’t Do It!

We decided not to go to the Basque museum on our last full day in Boise, Idaho. Donna went grocery shopping, then she had some cooking to do. She baked a French style cherry pie and added apricots to it. She also made prosciutto-wrapped asparagus spears with garlic and herb boursin cheese. She wanted to bring the appetizer and dessert to our friends, Mike and Dina Martin’s place where we were invited for dinner.

Mike and I chatted outside their coach at Riverside RV park in Garden City – a Boise suburb north of town along the Boise River. Meanwhile the girls had girl-talk inside while Dina prepared an awesome chicken piccata.

Chicken piccata plate ala Dina Martin

As usual, the time got away from us and it was after 9pm before we got home.

On Wednesday morning we prepped for travel and pulled out of Mountain View RV Park. Our first stop would be in Jerome at the Pilot/Flying J travel center about 120 miles away. I planned to fuel up there and also have the coach and trailer washed at the Blue Beacon truck wash that shares the lot with the travel center.

We got there around 12:30pm. While I pumped 67 gallons of fuel @ $2.48/gallon, Donna walked across the street to Subway to get meatball marinara subs for lunch. I told her I would be at Blue Beacon by the time she came back. I pulled over toward the Blue Beacon and found a queue of trucks. I stopped short so I could allow room to maneuver and got out to see if this was a line for the truck wash. I asked the trucker ahead of me and he said it was. I asked how long he thought it would take, he said, “Figure 20 minutes per truck so we’re looking at about two hours.” I was glad I stopped and allowed room to move – I moved out of line and parked on the street. I phoned Donna as she was leaving Subway and told her where to find me.

Boise sits at an elevation of around 2,700 feet above sea level. As we drove east on I-86, it’s a gradual but constant climb. Pocatello sits at an elevation of 4,460 feet above sea level. Along the way, we were involved in an incident.

You’ve probably heard the old saw about the difference between being involved and being committed where a plate of ham and eggs is the example. The chicken was involved while the pig was committed.

We were cruising along on what had been an uneventful few hours of driving. We passed a few signs warning of game crossing the road, but at 2:30pm, I wasn’t too concerned about game crossing. I could see the Snake River on our left and thought maybe deer or antelope might come out of the hills and cross the interstate to reach the river for water in the morning or evening.

Around mile post 49 I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. It was a deer – a large bodied buck crossing the westbound lanes toward us at full speed. I said out loud, “Don’t do it, don’t do it!” Donna heard this and saw the buck come flying into the center median where he made a quick cut to his left. I could see our paths would coincide and for a split second, I thought this cut to the left would avoid us meeting. But then he bounded to the right onto the eastbound interstate and took a flying leap into the side of our coach.

The force of the impact made a loud bang but otherwise didn’t disturb our 35,000-pound rig moving along at 60mph. The buck didn’t fare so well. The moving coach spun him around and hurled him to the pavement. It wasn’t a survivable impact. He was committed to getting across the interstate and unfortunately we became involved. I don’t think there was anything I could have done to avoid it – it happened way too fast.

I pulled off the road at the next off-ramp and checked the damage. We have a dent and crack in the fiberglass laminate sidewall on the driver’s side on the living room slide. A basement compartment door also has some damage and there are a few paint scrapes.

Crack in fiberglass laminate side wall

Looks like I’ll be dealing with insurance again.

Our plan was to boondock for the night at a spot Donna found on the Escapee’s directory outside of Soda Springs. The last update was about two years ago, so we figured it would be a safe bet. Not so much. It’s currently an active gravel pit with loaders and construction trucks. We kept moving.

Eventually I found a pull-out on US30 at Georgetown Summit where we’re parked at an elevation of 6,280 feet above sea level. It turned out to be more than a 300-mile day – longer than we’ve been driving lately.

The temperature dropped to the 40s overnight and although there was some road noise, I slept soundly. Today we’ll press on to Rock Springs, Wyoming. We plan to check in at the fairground RV park and hit the Blues and Brews festival this weekend.

Smoke on the Water

Our overnight in Grangeville, Idaho at the Bear Den RV Park was surprisingly nice. Who would have thought that such an out-of-the-way spot would have a clean, friendly park with all pull-through sites and lightning-fast, free wifi! This was probably the best park wifi we’ve ever experienced.

We pulled out a little before 10am Friday morning and headed down US95. It started out flat and I was cruising at 60mph with a tractor-trailer rig behind me. After a few miles, we hit a steep upgrade with a passing lane. I didn’t have to worry about the tractor-trailer – we dropped him like a rock on the incline. A few cars cleared out and we were traffic-free as we crossed the White Bird Summit at 4,245 feet above sea level.

At the summit, there was a sign that said we were in for seven miles of seven percent downgrade! Trucks were advised to maintain 35mph. Like the drop into Lewiston, this is a long drop with several runaway truck ramps. If a trucker allows too much speed or overheats his brakes through poor technique, all braking power can be lost with a heavy load and gravity hurling his cargo down the grade.

Runaway truck ramp with deep gravel

As usual, I silently thanked Jacobs Engineering for the development and release of an engine compression brake for diesel engines in 1961. Using our “Jake” brake, I controlled our downhill speed and only used the brake pedal a few times for some of the curves. There were a few signs warning “Grade Steepens” – really!?!

The view to the south toward the Hell’s Canyon Recreation Area is spectacular and you can see for miles as you descend from White Bird Summit.

The photo from Donna’s seat cannot capture the grandeur of the view

We leveled out and followed the Salmon River. It was so pretty, Donna took a few passenger seat photos along the way. You really have to see it to appreciate it though.

US95 along the Salmon River

Another passenger seat view with what appears to be sandy beach

We saw several areas with what appeared to be sandy beaches. I think it’s more likely to be clay silt deposits, but without wriggling our toes in it, we’ll never know for sure.

At New Meadows, we hit the junction with ID55. We took a left and followed ID55 through Meadows toward McCall. It was twisty and steep at times – also narrow. After a while, we ran into a construction zone with a few tight, tricky, turns then finally an area with only one lane of traffic. The sign warned of delays up to 30 minutes, but we were only stopped for about five minutes. We lost an hour though as we crossed into the Mountain Time Zone.

I had programmed GPS coordinates into our Rand-McNally RVND 7720 GPS to find Mark and Emily Fagan’s boondocking site – Emily had sent the coordinates to Donna earlier. For those who may not know, GPS coordinates are latitude and longitude markers using a geographic coordinate system. This system sets up a grid for world geography. Latitude sets a number of parallel lines around the earth starting at the equator. The equator is zero, the north pole is 90 degrees north and the south pole is 90 degrees south. One degree of latitude is 69 nautical miles and one minute of latitude is one nautical mile. It’s then further broken down into seconds which can then be further defined with decimal points.

Longitude is a little more difficult due to its point of origin. Instead of something easy like the equator, we have a seemingly arbitrary starting point. Zero degrees of longitude coincides with a north-south line through Greenwich, England and aligning with the north and south poles due to England’s mastery of the seas when this system was devised. These lines are called meridians. Once again we have defined degrees west of Greenwich and degrees east of Greenwich. On the opposite side of the earth we reach a longitude of 180 degrees where east and west meet. Anyway, using a coordinate system can pinpoint a spot without an address.

As we rolled along toward our turnoff point, Donna spotted Mark on the left shoulder among some Ponderosa pines waving at us to get our attention. We pulled off the road into a Forest Service area set aside for snowmobilers in the winter months. As usual, Mark and Emily found a nice, free boondocking spot. We first met Mark and Emily in San Diego in 2013 – read here.

Boondocking with Mark and Emily (Mark Fagan photo)

It was a roomy lot and we got turned around and lined up with them easily. It’s hard to believe, but it’s been more than two years since we last saw Mark and Emily. It was great to hook up again. Once we set up, we sat together at their rig and talked for a bit. Mark and I drove into town in their new Dodge Ram 3500 dually to refill one of their propane tanks and hit the grocery store while the girls caught up.

After we returned we decided to go back to town – McCall is only a few miles from this spot – and check out the Salmon River Brewery pub. This area of Idaho has been hit with smoke from fires to the north and fires in eastern Oregon. Depending on the wind direction, the smoke can be a distant haze or it can be be a fog with a campfire smell. When Mark and I went for propane, Payette Lake was clear and the view was beautiful.

When we returned to hit the pub on the lake, the wind had shifted and the lake had so much smoke that you could barely make out the scenic hillsides and forests on the far side.

Smoke on the water

Smoke and clouds

Emily, Donna and Mark at Salmon River Brewring

Emily, Donna and Mark at Salmon River Brewing

We ordered food and few beers, then took a walk by the lake. The sun broke through the clouds and smoke briefly and left a beautiful reflection on the lake. Mark was pining for his camera.

Should I say – a fire in the sky

On the way home we parked at Rotary Park and walked across the bridge to Shore Lodge. This is where visitors to McCall and Payette Lake get first-class accommodations and services. We took a stroll through and looked around. They had a nice seafood display on ice in a canoe in front of the restaurant that looked very appealing.

Seaweed, oysters, king crab legs and prawns

We made our way back to camp and sat outside and talked for a while. I had unloaded the Spyder when we arrived, but it turned out to be unnecessary since we never used it. I left it outside overnight and regretted it as unexpected raindrops fell overnight. I’m blaming the raindrops on the smoke – particulates in the air can collect moisture. If they collect enough, it gets heavy and falls to the ground as rain – that’s the theory behind “seeding” clouds. It’s my theory here and I’m sticking to it. I slept poorly overnight with the intermittent rain showers and sudden humidity.

We said our goodbyes Saturday morning as Mark headed out for a bike ride. Emily had a stomach bug and wasn’t feeling well – it’s funny as she was the one who only had one beer the night before. Earlier, Donna needed to get in a quick hike. She walked up a trail – everything is up from here – for about 20 minutes, then ran back down and covered it in 10 minutes.

Donna’s hiking path

She saw a few mountain bikers on the trail.

Coming through

We headed out toward town on ID55. Nally, our GPS had us turn before town. She had a clever route that bypassed the town and its tourist traffic and took us past the airport where we rejoined ID55.

Although we only had to cover about 120 miles, Nally predicted a two-and-a-half hour drive. I expected more like three with weekend traffic. Our route turned out to be very scenic although challenging at times with steep grades and tight turns. Some of the tight turns had us right up against sheer rock walls and I had to be mindful of how the trailer was tracking so I wouldn’t scrape them.

We drove into more smoky areas. This route on ID55 through McCall, Cascade and Smith’s Ferry to Boise is also known as the Payette River Scenic Byway. It’s aptly named as we followed the river almost the whole way. It’s a great recreational area and we saw several rafters and kayakers on the river. From Smith’s Ferry on down, we saw more and more and Donna kept trying to capture photos, but it’s hard when you’re rolling down the road. I tried to keep my attention on the road and concentrate on driving, not sightseeing.

Keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes upon the road

Keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel

Rafters on the river

Heading for whitewater and more smoke

This post is getting too long, so I’ll post about our current location later.

Breaking the Law

Friday morning started much like Thursday – we were up early and I took Donna to her class on the Spyder. When I dropped her off, she put her jacket and helmet in the front trunk (frunk) of the Spyder.

Back at home, I got to work organizing the trailer – I packed the bikes and the grills and straightened things out. Then I took Donna’s jacket and helmet out of the frunk and rode the Spyder to Costco. When I was there earlier in the week, I saw 33-pound bags of Traeger gourmet wood pellets. I wanted to buy a bag, but didn’t have enough room on the Spyder at the time. With the frunk empty, I had room for the bag.

I made a stop at a Japanese restaurant called Yuki & Song at 122nd and Sandy Boulevard. They had lunch specials – I ordered their teriyaki beef plate. I was surprised to find it came with a bowl of miso soup, salad, tempura veggies, rice and of course teriyaki beef for $8.95! Nice lunch find.

Donna sent me a text and said she would be finished with her class no later than 4pm. I hit the road on the Spyder to pick her up around 3:15pm – I wanted to be there before 4pm and I wasn’t sure how heavy the traffic would be on Friday afternoon on the Fourth of July weekend.

I made good time and got there at 3:45pm. I could see the traffic heading north was heavier – our trip home would take longer as volumes were building. Just before I pulled into the lot, I realized that I didn’t put Donna’s jacket and helmet back into the frunk. Oh no! We generally don’t ride without helmets and Oregon has a law requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets. The Spyder is legally considered a motorcycle.

If I went back for her helmet, it would take over an hour. When Donna came out from her class, I told her about the problem. We decided to take our chances and avoid any freeways on the way home. As we were riding in traffic on MLK Boulevard, I saw a police car on a side street ahead. The traffic was stopped and backed up for an entire block at a stop light. The car ahead of us stopped short to let the police car in. As the traffic began to move, another police car appeared. The driver ahead held up and let him in. Two more police cars merged ahead of us.

I changed lanes and put a large box truck between us and the police cruisers. Instead of changing lanes to move ahead in the traffic, I changed lanes when possible to put more vehicles between us and the police. Being a scofflaw isn’t much fun. We made it home without incident or ticket.

The day before, new neighbors moved into the site next to us. It was Jim and Gayle (Life’s Little Adventures). We met them before at Mission Bay RV Resort in San Diego. We had plans to get together for happy hour snacks and drinks. Gayle brought tortilla chips, guacamole and salsa and Donna fixed a couple of plates – there was a good spread on our new folding table. We sat and talked for a few hours – it wasn’t dark yet at 9pm. I neglected to take any photos as I was caught up in conversation.

The only photo I have is a bottle of limited release “Summer Style IPA” from Ninkasi Brewing. I don’t know what makes it a summer IPA – it was tasty but typical west coast IPA.

Maiden the Shade summer IPA

Saturday morning we prepared to hit the road. I dumped and flushed the tanks, filled the fresh water, put away the window shades and finished loading the trailer. We hitched the trailer and pulled out of the park around 11:30am. I wondered what the traffic would be like on the I-5 bridge to Vancouver, Washington. The traffic is usually crawling across it. I was surprised to find the traffic light and moving right along on I-5.

We stopped around 1pm in Chehalis to top off the fuel tank at a CFN truck stop and had lunch at Subway. Our destination for the day was the Cabela’s store in Lacey, Washington. We stayed there overnight two years ago and found it to be a good overnight dry-camping spot.

We claimed a spot in the large west lot which was nearly empty. They have signs advising “No Overnight Parking” however, these signs were here before and they allowed us to stay. To be sure I went to the customer service desk and asked. I was told it’s no problem – they have the signs so they can keep people from setting up for more than one night.

Dry camp at Cabela’s

Donna shopped for hours in Cabela’s and found shorts, tops and sandals she couldn’t do without. Since losing weight this past year, she’s had to buy new clothes. But I haven’t heard her complaining.

This morning, Donna went out for a run. I’m watching the Formula One Grand Prix of Austria, then we’ll head up to Arlington, Washington. Our destination is my oldest daughter Alana’s driveway in Arlington. We’ll moochdock in her driveway for the next week or two and spend time with her and our granddaughters.

Contingency Plans

It was nearly 2pm by the time we pulled out of Celilo Park on the bank of the Columbia River on Friday. While Donna worked on a project, I changed our fuel filter before we packed up and left. I change the fuel filter annually and always mark the month/year with a permanent marker so I know when it was changed.

Diesel fuel filter

Before I changed the filter, a COE employee stopped at our rig. He asked how long we planned to stay. I told him we would be leaving in an hour or two. He said he expected a lot of wind surfers to arrive for the weekend and said we were taking up too many parking spaces to stay over the weekend. Good to know for future reference.

We planned a short drive of about 35 miles to the Walmart in Hood River. I had looked at it on Google Earth, the lot looked large and I could see a few RVs in the image. When we got there, the lot was large enough, but it was posted “No Truck or RV Parking.”

The thing is, you never know when the Google image was taken and things can change. We had a plan “B”. We would continue west on I-84 to Troutdale, a suburb east of Portland. We stayed at the Fairview RV Park on Sandy Boulevard there two years ago and saw RVs overnighting at the Walmart. It was another 45 miles away.

The parking lot at this Walmart was a nightmare. It was busy and I had drivers in cars cutting me off, other drivers stopping and waving me through when I couldn’t possibly get by them – I even had a car pass on my right when I had my right turn indicator on and swung wide to make the turn. It’s a good thing I checked my mirror or I would have pinched the car.

Then we saw that the lot was posted – no overnight parking. Donna called the store and was told a city ordinance had been passed prohibiting overnight parking in public areas. I could go on a rant about politicians taking control of corporate business decisions. On the other hand I’ve seen too many people taking advantage of Walmart by setting up long-term, not just overnight. Bottom line: we needed to find an overnight spot.

Donna phoned the Columbia River RV Park to see if we could move our reservation up one day. No dice, they didn’t have any open sites. Next, I called the Elks Lodge across the river from Portland in Vancouver, Washington. They very friendly as always and told me they had one back-in site with electric and water open or I could dry camp in their lot. The lodge was about 15 miles away.

It was 4pm by then and the rush hour traffic was building. I was already feeling tired from maneuvering through Walmart lots. The bumper-to-bumper traffic getting on I-205 didn’t help. The 15-mile drive took about 40 minutes. I missed the entrance to the Elks Lodge – it’s hidden in what appears to be a residential street. I made a loop through a residential area and found the lodge. We went inside and were welcomed to stay in their lot. I paid a dry camping fee of $10.

When we’re traveling and winging it, looking for cheap or free overnight stays, it pays to be flexible and have contingency plans. If the Elks hadn’t worked out, I’m not sure what our next move would have been, but we would have come up with something. There are a number of state parks along the Columbia River, but we’re too large for most of them. Sometimes a smaller rig can be advantageous.

We had dinner in the Elks Lodge – it was a busy Friday night there. The lodge is next to I-205 so we had traffic noise throughout the night, but other than that, we had no complaints.

Ozark the cat has been acting strange the past few days. When we were at Celilo Park, the passing trains with their loud horns frightened her. She took to hiding behind the vanity in the bedroom slide or hiding behind the sofa. We had to entice her out before I could pull the slides in. I won’t move the slides until I know where the cat is. The slides are powerful and trapping the cat in the mechanism would not be good.

Donna went out for a quick bike ride in the morning and then we left the Vancouver Elks Lodge a little past 11am and arrived at the Columbia River RV Park just past noon. It’s off Marine Drive, right on the river west of the airport. We’re looking forward to biking on the paved paths in the area. Checking in gave me a moment of concern. The guy behind the counter asked for my last name and said, “Mike, right?” Then a cloudy look came over his face and he said, “Uh-oh.” The sign on the door said no vacancy – I wondered if they overbooked and our confirmed reservation maybe wasn’t so confirmed. Then the woman at the counter said we may have to wait as check-out time is noon and they had to see if our site was available.

It turned out the people had already left site 109 and we had a choice of taking either 109 or 101. We looked the sites over and decided to take 109 – it had more space for the trailer. The site is a 50-foot pull-through. The concrete pad for our coach is level, but it’s narrow. There’s a shorter pad beside it for the trailer.

I pulled all the way through, then Donna directed me as I backed the trailer in place and dropped it. Then I backed the coach into the site. We had a few obstacles to overcome. There’s a four-inch steel pole protecting the electrical box that extends at least 12 feet high. Our first position would have the bedroom slide hit the pole, so I moved back. Now the slide was clear, but I couldn’t open the wet-bay door. I need to open this door to hook up water and sewer and access it when I dump.

I ended up parking the coach at an angle that gave me clearance for the slide and wet-bay. Then I moved the trailer slightly by hand to allow us access to the large basement compartment on the passenger side. It’s tight but it all worked out. Our neighbor was impressed by the way we dropped the trailer and got everything positioned.

Steel pole at utility box

Not much room

Trailer and coach staggered to allow basement access

The skies were overcast all morning and wouldn’t you know it, as soon as we started to back the trailer in, the skies began pouring rain. By the time I had the coach positioned, it stopped raining. Donna was drenched from directing me and I was wet from disconnecting the trailer.

After we set up, I went for a walk in the park. I couldn’t believe it when I saw a coach that was painted black with spray paint. I thought it was the Black Coach Guy from Mission Bay that I wrote about two years ago. I also saw a rig I recognized two sites down from us. It belongs to Eric and Brittany Highland (RvWanderlust). Eric has a Facebook group called Full-time Diesel RVers. I met them at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta last October. Their car was gone, so they must have been out for the day. I’m sure we’ll get a chance to visit before they leave.

Could it be the Black Coach Guy?

Later, when I took out trash to the dumpster, I met a long term park resident. He told me the black coach had been there for two years and was occupied by two women. So, it wasn’t Black Coach Guy, but it had a similar paint job.

Today the weather forecast looks good. Partly cloudy with zero percent chance of rain and a high in the upper 70s. Donna plans to write an article this morning, then ride her bike to meet up with her friend Marlo at a coffee shop. I’ll start with the Formula One race from Baku, Azerbaijan. Then I’ll get my bike out or explore on the Spyder.

Celilo Park

After looking at our options, we pulled out of our boondocking spot on the Biggs-Rufus Highway around 11am. I looked at the Google Earth image of the Elks Lodge in Hood River again and decided it would be too tight for our rig. We didn’t want to risk getting into a place we couldn’t exit from.

One of the places we found is a small Corps of Engineers (COE) park on the Columbia River called Celilo Park. It’s off exit 97 from I-84, between the interstate and the river. Celilo Falls is a place of historical significance to northwest native Americans. There were a series of waterfalls, pools and eddies here where the Columbia River squeezed through basalt formations. This created a natural choke point for salmon swimming upriver to spawn. It’s said the native Americans gathered here to fish for 15,000 years, using dip nets or spears to catch salmon. This ended in 1957 when the COE completed construction of The Dalles Dam. The dam flooded the back water and covered the falls.

The drive westbound on I-84 to exit 97 was only about seven miles. We pulled into Celilo Park and found a large paved lot with parking stalls for RVs about 40 feet long. The lot was mostly empty. We checked the sign boards and found the eastern end of the park and lot were for day use only. The west end has free camping for up to 14 days. There’s also a boat ramp.

We had to park across a number of the painted lines marking the parking stalls – we’re too long to fit in a single stall. There weren’t many people here, so we thought it wouldn’t be a problem. The view is great and the park is well-maintained. The downside is noise. On the south side, between the park and I-84 are two railroad tracks. Several trains come down the line – day and night. The tracks cross the road at the park entry. Due to the road crossing, the engineer is required to blow the train horn – two long blasts and one short – 15 to 20 seconds before crossing the roadway. That puts eastbound trains right at the end of the park when they blow the horn. There’s also a train track on the Washington side of the river, but it doesn’t contribute much noise.

Train tracks run next to the lot

Noise notwithstanding, we thought it was a beautiful spot and decided to stay for the night. Donna had a project she needed to work on, so we settled in. There were a couple of tent campers when we arrived, but they packed up and left around 1pm. One tent was left behind. It seemed odd. Several RVs – motorhomes, fifth-wheels and travel trailers stopped in the lot in the afternoon, but they only stayed a short while then moved on. One other RV stayed overnight – a Volkswagen Rialta van conversion by Winnebago. These were made in the ’90s.

I went for a walk through the park and saw barge heading upriver. The tow had two barges pushed by a tugboat. It’s nothing like the huge barge tows I wrote about on the Mississippi River. Barges have transported goods on the Columbia River and Snake River since the 1800s. Until the dam system and locks were installed, barges had to be off-loaded and goods portaged to another barge above the falls at a few points on the Columbia – including Celilo Falls.

Columbia River barge

We had nice weather – a few high clouds at times, but it was mostly sunny. We’ve dropped nearly 4,000 feet of elevation from Bend-Sunriver. The elevation here is less than 300 feet above sea level. Using the standard calculation of three degrees temperature drop per thousand feet of altitude, I would expect it to be about 10-12 degrees warmer here under normal conditions. Sometimes the standard calculation doesn’t work out due to atmospheric anomalies like temperature inversions and such.

The color of the clouds before sunset was reflected off the river. It was gorgeous – I shot a couple of photos but really couldn’t capture the beauty of it.

Looking up river – that’s Washington on the far bank

Looking down river toward The Dalles

The wind blowing from the west made small white caps on the water in the afternoon – it looked like the river was flowing east as the white caps were pushed along the surface. Of course, the Columbia flows westward to the Pacific Ocean.

When I took the photos just before sunset, I looked at the tent that was left behind. No one had come out of or into the tent all afternoon. I wondered if someone was inside, maybe ill or in need of assistance. I walked next to the tent and called out, “Hello.” After walking around a couple of times, I pushed against the sidewall with my foot in a few spots. I thought I felt something or someone inside. I opened the door zipper a few inches to take a look. No one was inside, just a pile of bedding and clothing. No one came that we saw in the night and the tent is still here this morning

We’ll hang out here for a while, then we’ll move on west after lunch. The weather forecast calls for another 70 degree day with a possibility of rain showers in the afternoon. We’ll look for a spot in Hood River for the night before we move to the Columbia River RV Resort in Portland tomorrow.

Can’t Stand the Cold

With the temperature still in the 30s at 9am on Wednesday and continued cold and wet weather in the forecast, we made the decision to move on from the Bend-Sunriver Thousand Trails campground.

I had much to do. All of our gear – chairs, Traeger, Weber grill, awning mat and bicycles needed to be put away. I also needed to remove and store the front window covers, water filters and hoses, check tire pressures and load the Spyder. This took some time. It was close to noon by the time I finished, so Donna fixed a plate of leftovers for lunch before we pulled out of our site.

Before leaving the campground, I spent another half-hour at the dump station dumping and flushing our holding tanks. We hit the road with empty holding tanks and a full fresh water tank. We had three more nights available at Thousand Trails but felt it wouldn’t be good to hang around. With cold, rainy weather we wouldn’t be doing much and I would have to pack things away before everything got wet anyway.

Flexibility is one of the keys to this lifestyle. We don’t have a reservation in Portland until Saturday so I found a couple of boondocking options and we winged it. We drove up US97 about 150 miles to Biggs, Oregon where US97 and I-84 meet. After filling up at the Pilot/Flying J we drove west on Biggs-Rufus highway a few miles to the Deschutes River State Recreation Area.

I crossed the Deschutes River bridge and pulled in at Heritage Landing. Looking at Google Earth, it appeared to be a likely boondocking spot. But, it had signs prohibiting overnight camping. So, I drove back across the bridge and pulled into the recreation area campground. Sites were $10/night but they were too small for our rig.

We drove back toward Biggs and pulled off in a large, level gravel lot overlooking the Columbia River. We found a nice spot in the back of the lot with trees protecting us from the wind. We thought it would be a good place to spend the night.

Boondocking site for the night

A train track runs between our location and the Columbia River. There’s another train track on the Washington side of the river. There were a few trains in the night but it wasn’t too bothersome.

View from our boondocking site

It was windy but much warmer than Bend. Last evening Donna went out for a walk around 6pm and it was 65 degrees out. It’s 50 degrees at 8:30am this morning. Much better than the overnight lows in the high 20s at Sunriver.

Today we plan to move on to Hood River. There’s an Elks Lodge there that will allow us to overnight in their parking lot. It looks a little tight on Google Earth, but if it works out, the location is good – right in the heart of town with restaurants and a brewery within walking distance.

Leaving Las Vegas

Wednesday was our last full day in Las Vegas. We had plans, but first we had to take care of a few things. Donna was hard at work putting the final touches on an article and also working on a press release for her piano teacher back in Mesa. I had the usual pre-road chores – checking tire pressures, lug nuts on the trailer and getting things squared away in the trailer.

We finally made it over to the Las Vegas Convention Center a little before 3pm – later than we planned. We hit the usual traffic tie-ups as we approached Las Vegas Boulevard and turned off onto Paradise Road. We both had press credentials to enter the National Hardware Show at the center – we were identified as editorial media.

Once inside, we split up as Donna headed to the housewares area and I went to the tools and hardware section. Coming in as late as we were, we couldn’t possibly see all that we wished to see before the 5pm closing. Also, photography inside the show was forbidden, so I don’t have photos to share. I found a few items of interest that I think will be useful for RVers and I’ll write about them in a future post once I try them out. Donna also found a few products and made some contacts.

In front of the entrance, I shot a couple of photos of the baddest Ford Super Duty truck I’ve ever seen. I think it’s an F-550 belonging to Jack Link of jerky fame. It has six doors and could probably seat at least eight people. This would pull a fifth-wheel or Airstream nicely.

Jack Link’s truck – look at the fuel tanks!

Six doors

Just before closing, we made our way to the outside display area and found our friend Jeff Spencer (Rolling Recess) at the Dometic display. In my last post, I said Jeff was a rep for Dometic, I should clarify that and identify him properly – he’s the national marketing manager. Dometic supplies a number of RV products – our Penguin air conditioners, our refrigerator and our A & E power awning are a few examples.

Jeff and Deb at the Dometic display ( photo courtesy of Jeff Spencer)

Donna snagged a deal for dinner for four at a highly rated restaurant called El Sombrero in the arts district of Las Vegas. It’s supposed to be the oldest Mexican restaurant in town. Donna and I usually go out for dinner on our anniversary, which coincides with the Cinco de Mayo celebration. This year we knew we would be traveling on May 5th, so we thought dinner with friends at a Mexican restaurant on May 4th would be a fine substitute.

We rolled up to EL Sombrero right at 5:45pm, the time of our reservation, with Jeff and Deb right behind us. I have to admit, it didn’t look like the nicest of neighborhoods. The street had buildings with graffiti and bail bond offices. The restaurant itself and the adjoining building though were freshly painted and looked well-kept.

El Sombrero entrance – bail bond office in the background

The sign on the facade called it the El Sombrero Mexican Bistro while the overhead neon sign was little less pretentious calling it El Sombrero Mexican Food Cafe..

We enjoyed conversation and looked the menu over. Things got a little confusing when the server, Jose, told us the menu items for the special deal Donna purchased online were limited. He pointed out the areas of the menu we could select from. Jeff asked about getting the fajitas plate and paying extra, which Jose agreed to. We had some difficulty with drink orders – apparently if you order a margarita, you’re gold. I ordered a margarita and it showed up in no time. Jeff and Deb wanted tea and was told they didn’t have it. Later he asked again for iced tea and was told no problemo. Then he asked for it again. And again before it finally showed up. Donna ordered sangria which is a house specialty. And asked for it again. It took a while to get everyone something to drink.

We ordered appetizers, which were part of the deal. Donna and Deb got the salads which were huge and very good and I ordered the guacamole to go with the excellent chips. Jeff ordered the bacon-wrapped cheese-stuffed jalapenos. About 10 minutes later, Jose came to our table and told Jeff they didn’t have any bacon, but not to worry – the cheese and the sauce are what make the dish and it would be fine without bacon. What!?

Then it was entree time. Donna ordered the pollo tamal (chicken tamale) and was told they didn’t have any tamales. Jose explained that with Cinco de Mayo happening the following day, the kitchen was fully stocked with the popular items for the celebration (mostly street tacos), leaving no room for bacon or tamales. Anyway, the food we ended up with was good and we had some laughs and a great time.

Good times at El Sombrero (Jeff Spencer photo)

Thursday morning we were up early and prepping for the road. I wanted to get a reasonably early start as the wind was forecast to pick up late morning. As I was outside making preparations to leave, our neighbor stopped by and said I should put out chairs and sell tickets – everyone wanted to see how I was going to get our coach and trailer out of our site. I have to admit, getting out without hitting anything or losing my patience weighed on my mind. Looking down the lane from our site, I could see we would be running the gauntlet.

Luckily our neighbor moved the silver Dodge on the left and the blue Toyota on the right pulled out

I parked the Spyder by the office, planning to load it on the way out. I had no way to get it to the back of the trailer while we were still in our site. Our neighbor kindly moved his truck, allowing me a little more room. I walked through my planned maneuver and explained to Donna what I intended to do. I made sure she understood what my concerns were and what I needed her to watch and advise me on.

In the end, it was anti-climactic. Preparation and patient maneuvering did the trick. We backed up to the trailer hitch in one shot and pulled it out with no drama at all for the peanut gallery.

The traffic getting away from Las Vegas was the usual jungle, but US95 quickly thinned out once we were past the construction and madness on I-515. We settled in for a long haul northbound through the desert. The wind was from the south – southwest meaning we had a tailwind component most of the time.

People often imagine the desert is a flat, barren terrain. This isn’t the reality. The desert is made up of a series of basins. We were constantly on a slight descent into the bowl of a basin, then gradually climbing out of it only to begin another barely perceptible downhill run. The terrain may look all brown at first glance, but on closer observation, there are many colors and a variety of plants. The mountains are always there in the background.

As we headed north, the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada range was off our left. We saw snow-covered peaks in the distance. The tailwind made the drive relatively easy. At one point, I passed a Toyota Prius traveling at about 55 mph while we were going 61 mph. Then I noticed he was right behind us – a few feet from the back of our trailer. Apparently he wanted to take every aerodynamic advantage and stay in our draft like a NASCAR racer. The driver did this for about 30 miles before he exited. I didn’t like it.

At another point along the lightly traveled road, a tractor-trailer rig was behind us. I could tell the driver wanted to overtake, but his speed was probably governed and he could only go a few miles per hour faster than us. We came to a section where I could see well down the empty highway. I picked up the CB radio, switched to channel 19 and said, “Make your move now, I’ll slow down so you can get past.” He immediately responded with a thank you and went by us. For a trucker trying make a living, going four or five miles per hour faster makes a difference at the end of the day. Slowing down and letting him by didn’t affect my day at all.

Windshield view of US95

I was surprised to find us 6,000 feet above sea level as we passed through Tonopah. All the gradual up and down through the desert basins netted us an elevation gain of more than 4,000 feet.

Donna looked through the Escapees Days End Directory and found a few places where we could stop for the night. We pulled off in a tiny desert community called Mina at 4pm. Donna went for a walk and found that more than half the properties are deserted – the other half is inhabited by collectors apparently.

This block-long property is full of military stuff

Old cars at this place

This one was offering his old wooden boxes for sale – and had an old Ford Econoline and Pinto Pony

We spent the night in a large pullout area across from town on the east side of US95, a two-lane highway.

Our big rig is dawrfed by the scale of the area

Our big rig is dwarfed by the scale of the area

After dinner, we watched a recorded episode of The Americans. It was very windy and a thunderstorm rolled in at 8:30pm. The thundershowers continued intermittently throughout the night. I woke up several times as lightning and thunder accompanied rain driven by the wind. At one point, I heard hail stones lashed by the wind. We’re at an elevation of 4,700 feet and the temperature dropped to 45 degrees overnight.

I’ll check everything over for damage this morning, then we’ll be on our way to Sparks, Nevada. We have less than 200 miles to go after traveling nearly 300 miles yesterday.

Sitting Tight in Vegas

After another quiet night at the Kingman Elks lodge, we woke up early on Wednesday. Donna finished writing an article that was due. Then we rode the Spyder up Stockton Hill Road. After a mile or so, Stockton Hill Road becomes Hualapai Mountain Road. The road goes uphill as you head east, rapidly climbing to 5,000 feet above sea level at the Hualapai Mountain Park ranger station. The peaks in the park reach elevations greater than 8,400 feet. Hualapai (pronounced wah-lah-pie) is the name of an Indian tribe. It means “People of the Pines.”

Hualapai Mountain Park

We rode to the resort – it’s a small hotel, restaurant and store popular with ATVers.

Motorcycle parking

We went into the restaurant for lunch.

Donna in front of the restaurant

It’s a typical rustic setting with tables mostly set for parties of four. There’s also a bar and patio. It was larger inside than it looked from the entry. Donna had half a grilled turkey and cheese sandwich and a bowl of minestrone soup. I had the chili burger which was real man food. It was a ground beef patty covered with chili, smothered with cheese. The chili had chunks of beef and beans – lots of protein.

We took a look around but didn’t hike anywhere. There are a number of hiking trails in the park, but after a big lunch we weren’t up for it. The views coming down Hualapai Mountain Road were spectacular. On the way home, we reconnoitered the Super Walmart parking lot. We thought about stopping there on our way out of town to pick up groceries. However, the entry/exit was narrow and I decided it was too risky to try to get in there with the coach and trailer. The truck entrance led to a loading dock – not a place for us to park. We went back to the Elks Lodge and I loaded the Spyder in the trailer.

Later we popped in to the Elks Lodge for a cold one at happy hour, then returned to the coach to prepare dinner. Donna made yet another version of lemon-butter chicken – this one with chicken breasts instead of thighs.

Lemon-butter chicken breasts with roasted zucchini and tomatoes

She served it over leftover herbed brown rice and roasted zucchini and tomatoes. Yummy!

It rained overnight. On Thursday morning, we had a few sprinkles as I prepared to move. Donna went for a short run and did some exercises, then we finished packing up. We pulled out of the Kingman Elks Lodge a few minutes after 10am.

I expected rain on the way out of town. Heading up US93, I figured we would put the rain behind us after thirty miles or so. This turned out to be the case – and the forecast called for 0% chance of rain in Las Vegas.

Google maps and our GPS showed a route to the Thousand Trails Las Vegas RV Resort that took us up US93 until it becomes I-515. Then we would exit onto Boulder Highway and backtrack south, make a U-turn and enter the park. This may be the fastest route, but I wasn’t too keen to try it. The exit from I-515 onto Boulder Highway south requires a sharp right turn of about 135 degrees. Also, making a U-turn isn’t advisable with our overall length.

I modified the route to exit I-515 at Tropicana so I could make an easy 90-degree turn to the right. Then I turned left on Nellis taking me north. Nellis intersects Boulder Highway, which is a diagonal road compared to the north/south – east/west grid of the other major roads in the area. It was a gentle left turn of about 45 degrees onto Boulder Highway.

With our overall length of nearly 65 feet now, it pays to take a few minutes to study a map and plan for alternate routes. We could easily find ourselves in a bad situation otherwise. We pulled in to the RV park just after noon. The girl at the security station told me the biggest site they had available was 55 feet long and 24 feet wide. I said it sounded big enough for me to drop the trailer and park the motorhome next to it.

Once we were in the park, I could see we had our work cut out for us. The roads in the park are narrow, the sites are tightly packed together and I have my doubts about the 24-foot site width. We found site 34 and Donna and I talked over our plan for getting the trailer in it. With the narrow road, I was limited on how much maneuvering I could do without hitting anything with the coach.

Donna stayed in the site at the rear of the trailer and directed me with her handheld Cobra CB radio. I was having problems at the front of the coach. There were a couple of vehicles on the opposite side of the road. As I backed the trailer in, I had to swing the front of the coach to the right, toward the vehicles. As I got close to the vehicles, they disappeared from sight as they are much lower than the front of the coach. A neighbor came over and started directing me from the front. With Donna at the back and another set of eyes at the front, I worked my way into the site. It took a few attempts to get the trailer positioned where I wanted it.

We finally dropped the trailer, then I had to maneuver the coach into the site right next to the trailer. It took more than 35 minutes of jockeying back and forth to get the trailer and coach into the site. It’s tight. Our door clears the trailer with only a few inches to spare.

It’s a tight site – the yellow line marks the boundary

I got the Spyder out and made a quick beer run. I had a few raindrops on the way. I hurried back to coach as I could see heavy, dark clouds looming. At the park entrance, a car was stopped at the entrance barrier. The guy in the car stuck his head out the window and asked me if I knew the entry code. I said I knew the code, but I didn’t know him. He got out of his car and started yelling at me and cussing me out for not letting him in. A few big rain drops started falling. I punched in the code and told him to move his car. He kept yelling at me. Now it was really starting to rain. He finally got the message and got in his car and pulled through, letting me get into the park.

I got to our site and covered the Spyder just as the clouds really opened up and started pouring rain. So much for the 0% chance of rain in Las Vegas.

Donna made sweet and spicy salmon in the convection oven – last time I cooked it on the grill. It came out great. She served it with spinach sauteed with garlic oil and leftover Israeli couscous.

Sweet and spicy salmon with spinach and Israeli couscous

We had more rain into the night. We sat up and watched another recorded episode of The Americans that now brings us up to date with the live series. We expect a sunny day today with the temperature in the high 70s. Rain is forecast to return tomorrow, then we should have nice weather for the rest of our week in Las Vegas.

*Just so you know, if you follow one of my links to Amazon and decide to make a purchase, 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!

Dust in the Wind

As I mentioned in the previous post, we had to change up our plan on Monday. We took our time getting ready to leave the Thousand Trails Verde Valley RV Resort and Campground. Our original plan would have had us on the road earlier to make the drive to Flagstaff. But there were high wind advisories – sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph. Up toward Flagstaff it was worse.

We headed out of the campground just before noon. Our destination was about two miles away on the west side of Thousand Trails Road before we reached AZ260. We spotted free dispersed camping there on National Forest land while we were out on the Spyder on Friday and Saturday. There were two distinct camping areas with a number of rigs in them. The dispersed camping was not so dispersed.

We bypassed the first area – I was concerned about getting our 65-foot length turned around to exit there. The second area was larger and had more room to maneuver. After looking around, we found a fairly level pullthrough spot and set up to ride out the wind storm.

After getting the coach leveled and putting the slides out, we were hit with a few strong wind gusts. The gusts rocked the coach and had the living room slide topper flapping like crazy. I decided to pull the living room slide in. It was better to be safe and not damage the slide topper – our layout works okay with the living room slide in. The bedroom slides are smaller and the toppers on those are less susceptible to wind damage.

Our dispersed camping boondock spot

With wind gusts slamming the coach, I was glad we made the change in plans and didn’t risk driving. We were hit with a few raindrops at times – passing showers that dropped just enough moisture to wet the windshield and the ground. Wetting the dirt was beneficial – before the rain fell wind gusts were kicking up clouds of dust.

Dust in the wind

Donna braved the elements during a lull and went out for a short hike around the area. I spent most of the day reading and looking at possibilities for Tuesday and Wednesday nights. We will check in at the Thousand Trails RV park in Las Vegas on Thursday.

After looking at a number of options, I called the Elks Lodge in Flagstaff. Local ordinance prohibits overnight parking there. Then I called the Elks Lodge in Kingman – that would position us more than half way to Las Vegas. They welcomed RVers in their lot – no hook ups, but no charge either. After talking it over, Donna and I thought two nights at the Kingman Elks Lodge was the best option.

The storm passed shortly after sunset

We ended the day by watching a couple of episodes of Homeland before hitting the sack. The wind finally died down after dark. We both slept soundly. It was cool – the outside temperature fell to the 40s after the front passed through and the temperature inside the coach was 55 degrees when we woke up at 6am. We stayed under the comforter until nearly 7am. I could hear a generator running and cars moving about the campsites, so I got up and fired up our generator. Then I turned on the heat pump.

We pulled out of the area around 8:45am and headed north on I-17. This had us climbing out of the Verde Valley up to the Mogollon Rim. By the time we hit I-40 west near Flagstaff, we were nearly 7,000 feet above sea level. The traffic was fairly light and the going was easy. I-40 westbound from Flagstaff drops gradually for the most part but there are a few steep downgrades.

We stopped at the Pilot/Flying J travel center in Kingman, a few miles short of the Elks Lodge. They had construction going on and only three truck lanes were open. It was crowded and we were in for a wait. After topping up with 66 gallons of diesel fuel at $2.26/gallon, we were on our way again after about 30 minutes.

When we found the Elks Lodge, I drove up slowly looking the parking lot over before I committed to anything. The parking lot on the east side of the lodge looked tight and I didn’t see a way out. Driving past the lodge to the west side I found a large open paved area that looks like it was once the site of two tennis courts. I pulled in there and made a U-turn. I positioned the coach next to a retaining wall separating the old courts from the parking lot.

After entering the lodge and verifying that it was okay to park where we were, we leveled the coach and put the slides out.

Paved and fairly level at Kingman Elks Lodge

Paved and fairly level site at Kingman Elks Lodge

In the photos of the coach and trailer it looks like the trailer rides nose down. This is because I dump the air from the coach suspension, lowering the coach before I level it. When the coach is at normal ride height, the trailer is level.

Our windshield view is a golf course and around the lodge is a nice, well-kept neighborhood. Behind us there are a few houses and desert bluffs. All in all, pretty nice surroundings and you can’t beat free! We’re at an elevation of about 3,500 feet above sea level – nearly the same as Verde Valley.

Windshield view

Not only does Elks membership give us the ability to stay at certain Elks Lodges with our coach, it also ensures that we’re within walking distance of food and drink! I went to the lodge at 4pm for happy hour. It was Tuesday – taco Tuesday to be precise. I texted Donna who was working on an article back in the coach and she joined me at 5pm to take advantage of the taco bar.

We had a drink and a couple of tacos and met a nice couple, Jason and Mona. They gave us a few tips for interesting things to do and see while we’re in Kingman. We’ll probably go to the Hualapai Mountain resort to take in the views and have lunch.

On Thursday, we’ll head up US93 to Las Vegas and the Thousand Trails Las Vegas RV park. I probably won’t post again until Friday.

Hot Days and Sad News

My last post mentioned a change at the Phon D Sutton recreation area on the Salt River in the Tonto National Forest. This recreation area was open to self-contained RVs for overnight stays – no hook-ups provided. It required a pass which cost six dollars per night. That changed and it is now open for day use only.

Donna said the place really deteriorated and was in need of general maintenance. When RVers were there, we watched out for each other and bagged our trash and used the dumpsters. Now, the day-use visitors leave beer cans and trash all around the parking lot. We wondered why it changed. Our friend, Emily Fagan, already researched the issue and wrote about it in this post. The area definitely isn’t being managed with the public interest in mind. Something’s rotten in the Tonto National Forest. By the way, the header photo for my blog was taken by Mark Fagan at Phon D Sutton.

On Monday night, Donna made yet another new dish. She prepared wild Alaskan cod fillets steamed in parchment paper with orange juice, asparagus and fresh tarragon. This was a tasty dish – the fish was so tender and yummy.

Fisk filet steamed with asparagus and terragon in parchment

Fish fillet steamed with asparagus and tarragon in parchment

Great combination

Tuesday morning at the pickleball courts I heard some sad news. Our pickleball friends, Howard and Nancy, left the park on Saturday to head home to Arkansas. Howard was driving the motorhome with his 92-year-old mother-in-law in the passenger seat. His wife Nancy was following in their car. Somewhere near Tucson, the motorhome went off I-10 and crashed down a steep embankment. Howard and his mother-in-law had to be airlifted to Tucson. I was told he had a broken back. His mother-in-law also broke her back and both legs. I don’t know anything else about the accident. I searched online to see if I could find any more information, but couldn’t come up with anything. We’re wishing the best for them and hope they make a full recovery.

After pickleball on Tuesday, I had a delivery. The two Suncast cabinets I ordered arrived. I assembled the cabinets and mounted them on the wall in the trailer beside the cabinets I had installed earlier. Now I have two cabinets on each side. I used the same Munchkin Xtraguard latches I used on the first cabinet installation to keep the doors closed

Suncast cabinets mounted side-by-side

After installing the cabinets, I spent the rest of the day relaxing and reading. The thermometer hit 90 degrees, so reading indoors with the air conditioners running was the way to go. Donna rode the Spyder to her piano lesson at 3:15pm. When she returned an hour later, I rode it to the store. It was not happy after a hot start in this heat. Apparently the refineries haven’t switched to the summer blend gasoline.

Gasoline in the summer has lower volatility than winter blend fuel. The switch to summer blend gasoline is federally mandated from May 1st to September 15th. In high temperatures, the winter fuel can boil in the fuel lines, fuel rail or injectors. This can cause hard starting, rough running and stalling.

The Spyder starts fine, but if it sits for a short time after running at full temperature, it runs rough for a minute or two until the fuel vapor clears the injectors. I’m sure it’s a fuel issue – it has only happened when we have high ambient temperature. I don’t think there’s a fuel pressure or injector problem. The engine starts right away and only runs rough for a minute or so. I think I’ll try a fuel additive to lower the fuel volatility.

Today the forecast calls for the temperature to reach the upper 90s here in Mesa, Arizona. It should cool down to the lower 80s by Friday.

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Boondocking

Don’t Do It!

Smoke on the Water

Breaking the Law

Contingency Plans

Celilo Park

Can’t Stand the Cold

Leaving Las Vegas

Sitting Tight in Vegas

Dust in the Wind

Hot Days and Sad News

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