Category Archives: Oregon

Biking to Sunriver

We started our Sunday on the pickleball courts. Donna’s friend, Chelsea and her son, Dakota came to learn. They were beginners, but Chelsea had tennis experience and picked up pickleball pretty quickly. There was a broad mix of ability levels at the courts making it difficult to have competitive games, but the cold morning quickly turned into a beautiful, sunny day and we enjoyed our time on the courts.

After pickleball, Donna and Julie decided to ride bicycles over to the bike paths at Sunriver. Julie’s bike is a townie – a cruiser style bike – so Donna thought she should ride my mountain bike as it would be more compatible with regard to pace. I set up my mountain bike and lowered the seat post for Donna, but the bike was too large for her and she wasn’t comfortable. She ended up riding her Trek Madone road bike. They rode to The Village at Sunriver (map) and hit the paved paths there, stopping at various points along the way. They had lunch at El Caporal – a Mexican restaurant at the village. Donna said the food was good. They were out for hours and put in about 17 miles.

Meanwhile, back at the coach I had a task. Our Dometic Penguin roof top air conditioners recirculate air. The fan draws air in from inside the coach through grills equipped with a filter. The air is blown across the evaporator coils which cools it in the cooling mode or heats it in the heat pump mode, then it’s ducted through a series of vents in the roof and sent back to the cabin.

Air conditioner intake grill

Over time, dust and whatnot collects in the intake filters. These filters are sponge-like synthetic material that traps the dust. Periodically I remove the grill covers and wash the filters. That was my big chore for the day.

Sunday’s dinner was pan-seared flank steak. Donna also cut zucchini in quarters lengthwise which I grilled while she cooked the steak. She served the grilled zucchini with a mixture of finely chopped lemon zest and sea salt and we had roasted curry sweet potatoes as a second side.

Seared flank steak, grilled zucchini and fried sweet potato

Seared flank steak, grilled zucchini and roasted sweet potato

It was a simple, delicious meal. We’re still using paper plates to conserve water. Fewer dirty dishes means less gray water production. I opened a bottle of Pyramid Outburst Imperial IPA to go with the steak. Pyramid was an early craft brewer – they’ve been at it since 1984. Their IPA is brewed to style – no gimmicks or latest fads – just good old fashioned IPA made with northwest simcoe and centennial hops.

Pyramid Outburst Imperial IPA

Donna worked at her laptop on Monday. I thought I should take my mountain bike out for a ride. I haven’t ridden it in a long time – I don’t know why I stopped riding. Every time I get back on my bike I remember how much I enjoy being on two wheels.

I followed the route Donna and Julie took the day before through Caldera Springs to Sunriver Village. After stopping at the bike shop at Sunriver for an energy bar, I turned around and headed back. On the way back I rode through some of the paved and unpaved trails that wind through Caldera Springs. Caldera Springs is a community of vacation homes and rental cabins set among pines trees. There’s a creek fed by natural spring water and a couple of man-made lakes. It a beautiful setting and nice place to ride a bike away from any traffic.

Obsidian Lake at Caldera Springs

Vacation home on a spring-fed creek

We left the RV park at 3:30pm and rode the Spyder to Bend. Our destination was Tomo Sushi. On Mondays, Tomo opens at 4pm and their menu is half-price. We pulled into the parking lot for an early dinner a few minutes before 4pm. There were already a few people waiting at the door and a line formed behind us before they opened. Lance told us that he’s waited as long as 40 minutes for a table there.

We enjoyed the sushi but honestly, the prices are inflated so the half-price menu isn’t that great a deal. Two pieces of nigiri was shown as regularly priced at seven to nine dollars. We usually pay four to six dollars for nigiri. The prices on the rolls were a better deal. While we were in town we bought a few groceries and were home by 6pm.

Lance and Boni stopped by last night to say their goodbyes. Julie stopped by this morning. They’re all caravaning this morning along with Mike and Michelle and their respective families to Seaside. They plan to return here after a week. We’ll be here until Saturday, then we’re off to Portland.

This morning I woke to the sound of rain drops on the roof. We had brief showers that lulled me back to sleep. It’s cold this morning and the forecast calls for a high in the mid-50s. Brrr. The weather forecast for the rest of the week isn’t too promising – cool temperatures with a chance of rain.

Today I’ll take Donna to Bend for her hair appointment. While she’s having her hair cut, I plan to shop for motorcycle gloves and maybe pick up an interesting beer or two.

Between Bend and La Pine

The warm weather continued on Monday with a high in the 90s. I rode the Spyder down to La Pine to buy beer and water and check out Ray’s grocery store. After I came back and had lunch with Donna, I realized that Ray’s in La Pine was only about a mile closer than the Walmart Supercenter in Bend. So we rode to Bend to get groceries there – it’s a much larger store than Ray’s.

With the hot weather, we didn’t have much activity Monday afternoon. Donna marinated Jamaican Jerk chicken which I grilled. She served it with a mango salsa topping – we haven’t had this dish in quite a while – it’s a favorite.

Jamaican Jerk chicken with green beans and rice

Jamaican Jerk chicken with green beans and brown rice

Donna served it with steamed green beans and a short grain brown rice she bought at the farmers’ market in Chico. The rice has a nutty flavor and a firm texture. We used paper plates – we’re in a gray water conservation mode since we don’t have sewer hook ups here at Sun River Thousand Trails. I’ve scheduled a pump-out for Friday – that’ll be nine days without dumping the tanks.

On Tuesday morning we joined Julie, Lance, Bonnie, Mike and Michelle for coffee. Mike brews a pot every morning and invites everyone for coffee talk. We exchanged stories for about an hour, then we went to the pickleball courts. Lance, Bonnie, Julie and TJ are avid pickleballers. Donna and I were surprised to find several other people on the courts – we haven’t noticed much activity there other than our group. A couple of youngsters joined in a few games and played surprisingly well. I got my exercise in for the day.

Plenty of activity on the pickleball courts

I’ve ordered new suspension for the Spyder – a custom set of Elka shocks and springs. Good suspension is one of the best upgrades you can make to a vehicle. Most of the motorcycles I’ve owned were upgraded to either Fox, Penske or Ohlins suspension. The folks at Elka specialize in powersports suspension and they make a range of shocks and springs for Spyders. While I was on the pickleball court, John at Elka phoned. He said I needed to measure the rear shock length as Can Am used two different set-ups for our Spyder and he wanted to be sure he was building the right shock for it. I measured the rear shock after lunch and gave him the length. I hope to get the new shocks in a few weeks.

I spent the rest of the afternoon reading while Donna worked on writing her organizing newsletter. The high temperature reached 90 degrees. We heard thunder but the showers bypassed us. We had a brief period of rain Monday night – not much, just a few minutes of rain drops.

Donna made a pot of chili and by 7pm it was cool enough in the shade to sit out at the picnic table and dine.

Dinner al fresco at the picnic table

I had a bottle of IPA with my chili – Ray’s had a large selection of northwest brewed IPA. Oregon has the best prices on 22-ounce bomber bottles of craft beer.

Portland Brewing IPA

Today there will be a change in the weather. The high is expected to be a comfortable 74 degrees – the start of a cooling trend. By Friday, the high will only be in the 60s. Donna and Julie are going to Bend for a lunch meetup with their friends and colleagues from their SendOut Cards team. (That’s how Julie and Donna met.) I’m planning to meet Donna in Bend and we’ll ride the Spyder to the farmers’ market.

A Day in Bend

We dry camped in the Bend Elks Lodge parking lot Friday. I unloaded the Spyder and we took a ride into town. We rode down Colorado Avenue so Donna could see where the hair salon is located – she has an appointment there next week. Then we crossed over the Deschutes River at Mirror Pond where Tumalo Avenue becomes Galveston Avenue. This is an older neighborhood with commercial buildings on Galveston mixed with residential housing on the side streets.

This is also an area with many brew pubs and small restaurants. We parked on a side street between 10 Barrel Brewing and the Sun River Brewing Galveston Pub. We went into 10 Barrel first and found seats at the bar. Donna is getting more adventuresome with her beer tastings and went for their Deep Root – an ale with honey and ginger which she absolutely loved. I had their Apocalypse IPA.

Deep Root – ale with honey and ginger

The woman sitting next to us at the bar was a local. She told us a few things about the area – including the fact the residents in the area aren’t too happy about all of the brew pubs. The parking is limited, so on busy nights the side streets are full of cars parked in front of their houses. She also told us her parents were full-time RVers and she is contemplating making a move to the RV lifestyle.

After we finished our beer we moved on to Sun River Brewing. I had their Vicious Mosquito IPA and Donna tried their SUP summer ale. Two beers was our limit – we had to ride the Spyder back to the Elks Lodge.

We went into the lodge for dinner. I had fish and chips while Donna had a plate of spaghetti and meatballs. This lodge is very nice and we especially liked that no smoking is allowed. We’ve found that some Elks Lodges are exempt from public smoking laws because they’re private clubs. Not so in Oregon. This lodge also had a selection of local brews on tap.

On Saturday morning, I got Donna’s bike out of the trailer so she could take a ride. She was out for about an hour and called me for directions once after making a wrong turn. We packed up and pulled out of the Elks Lodge a little past 10am. The drive to the Thousand Trails Sun River RV park was only about half an hour.

We checked in and were told there may be some sites long enough for us to back in without dropping our trailer. We drove slowly through the dusty dirt roads in the park. I found a long back-in site, unloaded the Spyder and backed the rig into it. It was so narrow that I had to crowd the door side of the coach near trees to have enough room to put the slides out on the driver’s side. I rode the Spyder down the road and found another long site that was wider.

We decided to move to the other site. With Donna directing me with her handheld Cobra CB radio, I maneuvered slowly but always ended up with obstacles – trees and a dumpster – preventing me from being able to get us into the site. We finally gave up and went back to the first site we found. I backed into it, but we still weren’t happy with the situation. Our neighbor told us there were some big, open sites on a grassy area by the road. I rode the Spyder there and saw all the those sites were full. On the way back, I saw a few long, wide sites in the “F” area.

I pulled out of the narrow site with Donna following me on the Spyder. We backed into a long, wider site and are much happier with it.

Long and wide site F12

We were set up in no time. Ozark the cat is always excited to see new surroundings outside the windows. Donna calls it cat TV when Ozark sits and stares out the window watching birds and other wildlife or people with dogs walking by.

Ozark watching cat TV

Donna’s friend Julie Muller and her husband TJ stopped by our coach. They’re in a site near us with their twin teenage sons. The four of them have been on the road for four years. They invited us to come over and join their group for a taco bar dinner.

We went over to their area around 5pm and found them along with four other families they often camp with. They are all full-timers. We had a nice meal and enjoyed meeting new people. It was a little different for us – we don’t often find ourselves among families with children. All of them had kids and were home (road) schooling them. One of the children was a baby celebrating her first birthday.

It was a fun evening. We came home around 8pm and sat outside until the mosquitoes chased us inside. Today the forecast calls for partly cloudy skies with a high of 91 degrees and a slight chance of a shower. We plan to play pickleball with the group we met last night and maybe get the kayak out on the river.

*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!

Mount Shasta View

Wednesday was our last full day in Corning, California. Donna went for a bike ride in the morning. It was already well into the 80s when she left and the temperature would top 100 degrees by the time she returned. But she pledged to ride 250 miles in the month of June and raise $500 for children’s cancer research in the Great Cycle Challenge and wanted to log some miles on day one.

After her ride, she helped me prep a whole chicken to roast on the Traeger wood pellet fired smoker/grill. The chicken was lightly coated with olive oil, then I rubbed it with Lambert’s Sweet Rub O’Mine – my go-to rub for chicken.

Chicken prepped for the Traeger

I took it off the grill at 2pm. I cooked it at a lower temperature and kept it on the grill longer than the recipe I used called for. It came out great. Excellent flavor, juicy with crispy skin. We had a late lunch/early dinner of chicken, sauteed kale and a blend of brown and wild rice.

Traeger chicken, sauteed kale and brown rice-wild rice blend

I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the grills and loading the trailer. I had the Spyder in the trailer and everything buttoned up by 5pm.

Me, taking a break between chores

We were up early and on the road by 9am on Thursday. I don’t know what I was thinking when we left the Rolling Hills Casino RV Park – I got on I-5 south. When Nally – our Rand McNally RVND7720 GPS told me to take the next exit – five miles down the road – I wondered why. Then it dawned on me – I should have got on I-5 north! So, I wasted about 20 minutes and a gallon of fuel before we were headed in the right direction.

Corning, California is just under 300 feet above sea level. Our route had us climbing a gentle incline to Redding, California, then we hit some steeper grades. We drove past Shasta Lake and stopped at a scenic viewpoint to look at Mount Shasta – a 14,179-foot volcanic peak that last erupted in the 1700s. I took a photo, but it really doesn’t do justice to the spectacular sight.

Mount Shasta – 14,179 feet above sea level

There are seven glaciers on Mount Shasta. At the viewpoint there were a few signs with facts about the mountain. One of them showed routes climbers use to climb the mountain. It said that about 15,000 people attempt to climb the mountain every year, but only about a third of them make it to the summit.

Mount Shasta climbers routes

We got off I-5 at the town of Weed, California at an elevation of 3,400 feet and continued north on US97. We crossed a couple of passes through the Klamath National Forest that were over 5,400 feet high. The Cummins ISL pushed our coach along comfortably. Even on the steepest grades we kept our speed over 50mph and the coolant temperature never exceeded 200.

After crossing into Oregon, we stopped in Klamath Falls at the Pilot/Flying J travel center. I put 57 gallons of fuel in the tank and we got Subway sandwiches for lunch. We continued north on US 97 for about 15 miles and pulled into the Kla-Mo-Ya Casino. I had checked out the parking there on Google Earth and it looked doable.

We arrived a little before 2pm and the lot was mostly empty. We found a prime area of pavement on the west side of the lot that was fairly level and parked. Donna and I walked down to the casino and I asked the guy at the security desk about staying overnight. He said, “No problem as long as you don’t plan to stay for weeks at a time.”

The casino is very RV friendly. First-time visitors get a $10 credit on their club card to gamble with. When they heard we were in an RV, they added an extra two dollars! They also gave us a 20% discount coupon for the restaurant – and added a two dollar discount on top of that for being RVers!

Kla-Mo-Ya Casino dry camp – look close and you’ll see Donna in the living room window

Donna and I played a few hands on the poker machines, then went back to coach. Later, we went back to the casino to spend the rest of our free credits. I should have quit while I was ahead but ended up spending all of the free money.

Our spot in the lot was good, but it was close to the highway and somewhat noisy. It wasn’t a problem for me though, I slept soundly. The overnight temperature dropped below 50 degrees. By morning there were more than a half-dozen RVs in the lot.

This morning we had breakfast in the casino restaurant and used our discount coupons. Full breakfast for two came out to eight bucks. Nice! We hit the road around 9:30am and continued north on US97. We had a short climb north of Chiloquin as we drove through the Willamette National Forest. We went past the Sun River Thousand Trails campground where we’ll set up for two weeks beginning tomorrow.

We went another 20 miles north to the Elks Lodge in Bend, Oregon. We’ll dry camp in their lot for the night, then head back to Sun River. This afternoon we’ll take the Spyder out and hit a couple of brew pubs downtown.

Big Rigs and Bad Roads

After enjoying an extended Labor Day weekend on the Row River, courtesy of Scott and Marcia Hicks, we prepared to leave Tuesday morning. We had everything packed, secured the property and rolled out at 10:45am with empty holding tanks and the fresh water tank full.

Our route took us south from Cottage Grove on I-5. We stopped in Medford for fuel and ate a salad Donna made for lunch, then continued south. The terrain became mountainous as we climbed through the Klamath Range in southern Oregon. I spotted elk in a meadow, including a couple of nice bulls. I always like to spot wildlife.

We crossed the California border and continued another 20 miles or so to the town of Yreka (wy-REE-kuh). After we crossed the border, we started seeing smoke from wildfires in the distance. As we came closer to Yreka, the smoke became heavier. Our destination for the day was the WalMart in Yreka. Donna needed to buy groceries – she’d made a list of things she needed for the 21-day sugar detox program she just started. She phoned ahead to be sure we had permission to stay overnight in the parking lot.

As we exited the interstate and stopped at the traffic light, I could hardly believe my eyes. A vintage Newell pulling a long, enclosed trailer came past. I recognized it immediately and said to Donna, “That’s Clarke and Elaine.” I’ve followed Clarke’s blog for two years! We followed them into the WalMart lot. Clarke scooped me on the parking spot I wanted, but we were able to maneuver around and park 100 feet behind them in a level spot.

About 20 minutes later, I reluctantly knocked on Clarke’s door. I say reluctantly, because I knew they were probably road-weary and needed to unwind. I wanted to say “hi” and introduce myself, but I didn’t want to come off as a blog stalker. The usual RV etiquette allows for visitors when your door is open. Knocking on a closed door is generally not the thing to do. Of course, with all the smoke in the air, no one would have their door open.

So I gave a knock and Elaine opened the door. I apologized for disturbing them and introduced myself. They invited me in and we chatted for 15 or 20 minutes.

Clarke and Elaine Hockwald's 1984 Newell

Clarke and Elaine Hockwald’s 1982 Newell at the Yreka WalMart

When I returned to our coach, I started the generator and the air conditioners. It was hot and too smoky to open the windows. Donna returned with a pile of groceries. Once they were put away, she said she was going to walk down the block to Raley’s to get a few things she couldn’t find at WalMart. Raley’s is a supermarket chain found only in northern California and Nevada. Back in the day, they were a supermarket that carried just about everything – kind of like a small WalMart. Today, they are more of an upscale market with a good selection of organic and healthy gourmet food at good prices, according to Donna.

When I was in third or fourth grade, I lived in Sacramento. There was a Raley’s Supermarket about a mile away from our house. I’d heard about a pie-eating contest for kids at Raley’s on a Saturday morning. I entered the contest, thinking at the very least I would get a free cream pie! On that Saturday, I rode my Huffy bicycle to Raley’s for the contest. They had a couple of different age groups for the contest. My age group had 10 or 12 contestants. We were seated around a long, rectangular table. We were given a choice of cream pies – I remember coconut and chocolate cream pie among the choices. I went for the coconut cream pie. We had to keep our hands behind our backs and devour the pie, face down. On the start signal, I pushed my face into the pie and started swallowing it. I thought I was done and pulled my head up. The judge shook his head and pointed to some remaining filling. I lost a couple of seconds in the exchange before I finished the pie, but it didn’t matter. I won! The prize was a Raley’s gift certificate that I used to buy a pair of cowboy boots I’d had my eye on.

On Wednesday morning, we were up by 7am. The Hockwalds had already left. They were pushing to make it to Cape Blanco where they will be lighthouse hosts for the next two months. We visited Cape Blanco last fall – I posted about it here.

Our plan for the day was a longer drive than we usually do. We wanted to reach Ripon, California in the central valley about 330 miles away. My overall plan was to dry camp again, then continue south and check into an RV park in Bakersfield. This would position us close to Tehachapi, where Donna has a bicycle race on September 13th. There aren’t any RV parks in Tehachapi close enough to the race and with sites big enough for our rig. We’ve been told that we can dry camp for the weekend in the school parking lot when we get there.

We did make a stop in Corning, California – the olive capital. In northern California, walnuts, pecans, olives and almonds are big cash crops. Corning has a few olive shops. We stopped at The Olive Pit, which has RV parking in the back. They have every olive and olive combination you can think of. I bought blue cheese – stuffed olives and Tomolives (which are really pickled olive size green tomatoes) for martinis. Donna bought Mediterranean-style olives, Cuban-style olives and anchovy-stuffed olives. She also bought walnut oil and balsamic vinegar, both locally produced.

Spoils from The Olive Pit

South of Sacramento, we hit CA99. This road is in a sad state through many sections. I don’t understand how our elected politicians have allowed our infrastructure to deteriorate to this degree. Transportation, first with railroads, then with an interstate highway system, is what opened this country up and led to prosperity. Some of the roads we’ve traveled have been allowed to fall into such a state of disrepair, they need to be completely torn out and rebuilt. Much of CA99 needs to be replaced.

South of Stockton, we saw an overturned tractor-trailer rig blocking the northbound lanes. The northbound traffic was at a standstill for miles. I hope no one was seriously injured.

After a long day on the road, we pulled into the Pilot/Flying J travel center in Ripon. I found this place on the Internet. They advertised overnight truck and RV parking. We found a long, level parking place and backed the coach and trailer in. I asked the woman in the travel center if RVs were okay to park overnight. She said, “Absolutely, as long as you’re in a marked parking stall.”

By evening, the lot was full. I saw only one other RV, a fifth-wheel trailer. The rest were big tractor-trailer rigs. I had our coach inside the marked stall, but I had us slightly angled so I could put a bedroom slide out. If both bedroom slides are in, it’s too cramped with the full-length queen size bed. Donna would have to climb over me if she needed to get up in the night.

Running with the big dogs

Parked at slight angle to allow the driver’s side bedroom slide to open

I think we stuck out like a sore thumb

On Thursday morning, we were up early again. I didn’t sleep well. Truck stops are noisy places. Everyone, including us, had generators or engines running. Donna injured her eye somehow. It seems that she scratched her cornea – a painful and irritating injury. There’s not much to be done about it other than to let it heal. So she didn’t sleep well either.

We continued south on CA99, taking a real pounding at times on the rough road. We stopped at the only rest area we found on our route and had lunch outdoors at a picnic table. We finally pulled into our destination at the Bakersfield Palms RV Park where we’ll reside for the coming week. Bakersfield is a hot and dusty place. I’m wondering if I made the right choice by coming here.

Today, Donna and I will explore on the scooter and look for possible bike routes. The temperature is forecast to reach 90-plus degrees every day for the next week.

Endless Summer

Happy Labor Day first of all. I saw a post on Facebook commenting on the fact that many people don’t know what Labor Day is all about. Apparently people confuse it with Memorial Day. Here’s the explanation from the U.S. Department of Labor:

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

So, it’s a tribute to all American workers. We celebrate it by taking the day off! Traditionally, Memorial Day and Labor Day are the bookends of summer. One marks the beginning and the other the end. One of the great things about the nomadic way of life is, summer doesn’t have to end. We’ll chase the summer-like weather as we move south.

Yesterday’s weather here was much nicer. The high temperature reached 78 degrees, but it felt cooler than that to me. Today we should be in the 80s again. I worked on the coach yesterday. I drained and sanitized our fresh water tank. Then I refilled it with naturally soft, fresh water from Scott and Marcia’s well.

Donna went out to run on the bike trail while I was puttering around.

I also poked around in the engine compartment. The Engine Maint light on the dash (equivalent to a Check Engine Light in an OBD-II equipped car) lights up intermittently. I checked for fault codes and found a fault for low input from a sensor. I can’t find the part identifier in the code. I’ve searched online and this part identifier code (73) doesn’t appear in any of the documents I could find. I’m thinking that I have a loose or corroded wiring connector somewhere that’s causing the intermittent fault, but I don’t know which sensor it’s associated with.

Later, I rode the scooter to town. I took Row River Road around the east and north shore of Dorena Lake instead of the usual route down Shoreview Road. It was a nice ride and it was about the same travel time and distance either way. From this side of the lake, I found a couple of stopping points to take photos.

Dorena Lake view from the east on Row River Road

Dorena Lake is actually a reservoir created when the Army Corps of Engineers built a dam on the Row River in 1949. Prior to the dam, the valley was often flooded when spring snow melt was accompanied by heavy rains.

Dam at the west end of the reservoir

The campgrounds and parks around the lake were full of people and tent campers.

While I was out, I stopped at a roadside stand and bought half a dozen ears of fresh sweet corn. Cooking on the grill is a Labor Day weekend tradition. There’s nothing better than cooking on the grill by the riverside!

Grilling next to the river

Today I’ll begin to prepare for travel. We’ll head out of here tomorrow. I think our next stop will be in Yreka, California.

Riverside Relaxation

We got off to a slow start yesterday. Donna and I sat at our laptops in the morning. I worked on my post, which took longer than usual due to the number of photos. Before we knew it, it was noon.

Donna was planning to go out for a bike ride, but we were hungry, so she made a salad for lunch. I unloaded her bike from the trailer and found the rear tire was flat. I pulled the tube from the tire and inspected the tire to see what had poked through. I couldn’t find anything in the tire, but I saw a small cut in the casing. The tube held air. I pumped it up and dunked it in pail of water to see if I could find a tell-tale stream of air bubbles. I didn’t find a leak. Maybe the Presta vale leaked?

I replaced the tube anyway. When I pumped the tire up, I looked it over closely again. The small cut opened up. The tube was showing through. I took the tire off. The cut had enlarged, the tire was shot. Donna blames it on all the broken glass she encountered on the bike routes in Portland. Every day she rode, she ended up riding through glass.

I pulled my Orbea road bike down – I had it suspended from the trailer roof beam – and removed the rear wheel. I took the tire from my bike and mounted it on Donna’s wheel. I could have just exchanged the wheels, but I run different gear ratios than Donna. With that done, she was ready to roll.

While Donna headed out on the bike path, I rode the scooter to Cottage Grove. I found a bike shop online in the downtown area. Main Street constitutes downtown and includes five or six blocks of businesses. Some of the scenes in the movie Animal House were filmed in downtown Cottage Grove. With a population of about 10,000 people, the town supports only one bicycle shop. I wanted to replace Donna’s tire with another Continental. The bike shop didn’t have any higher end tires. I’ll leave my tire on Donna’s bike until we can get to a bigger bike shop. I intended to replace my tires when we get to San Diego.

On the way back, I stopped and took a photo of a covered bridge at Dorena. It’s a good thing we didn’t have to cross that bridge in our motorhome. I don’t think it has enough vertical clearance and the weight limit is only three tons. The 18-mile ride to town on Row River Road is scenic, with a view of Dorena Lake. There wasn’t a good place for me to stop and take a photo of the lake. Donna’s bike route took her along the shoreline, but she had left her camera at home.

Dorena covered bridge built in 1949

When I returned, Donna was still out riding. I walked some of the trails on the property and had a look around. Downstream, I found a swimming hole. The water is quite cool. I wouldn’t swim in it unless the day was very hot.

Swimming hole on the west side of the property

I walked past our coach and followed another trail upstream. I found a bench with a nice view of the river.

Sitting area upstream

By the time Donna returned, the temperature was around 80 degrees. I put off riding my mountain bike. We deployed the awning and sat outside reading in the shade. I was feeling lazy and sitting and reading suited me fine. I’m still reading Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Some of the philosophical arguments are a bit of a struggle to follow. It felt like Saturday to me, but then everyday is Saturday for me.

I fired up the Weber Q and grilled bacon-wrapped filet mignons for dinner.

Bacon wrapped filets on the grill

Donna served the filets smothered in sauteed mushrooms and onions with a baked potato and steamed asparagus.

Filet smothered in mushrooms and onions

We sat out on the deck behind the trailer and dined by the river side.

Red wine with dinner by the river

Donna has a project or two in mind for today. Later she’ll go out for a hike. I think I’ll explore upriver on my mountain bike.

Unexpected Ferry Crossing

Donna returned from New York on schedule Tuesday night. She told me all about her trip over a glass of wine. We turned in fairly early.

On Wednesday morning, we finished packing up and left the Portland Fairview RV Park at 10:45am. Our first stop was two miles away at the WalMart. We needed to restock the refrigerator and I bought a few other supplies. While we were stopped there, we walked over to Taco Del Mar for lunch.

Our destination for the day was near McMinnville, Oregon. I’d heard about dry camping in the large parking lot at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum. The Google Earth image looked like it had easy access and a huge parking area.

I punched the address into Nally (our GPS). Two routes came up. One route was only 50 miles, but it would take one hour and 17 minutes. The other route was 73 miles and it would take one hour and 26 minutes. Hmmm…23 miles longer but only 9 additional minutes. I figured that the shorter route must have some slow roads, probably routed through Portland. One shortcoming of the GPS is the inability to preview the route step by step. I can zoom out and see the whole route, but then I lose detail.

I usually take the fastest route, but 76 minutes to cover 50 miles sounded like a lot of stop-and-go driving. I chose the longer route with a higher average speed. Nearly an hour later, I realized it was a bad choice. My preference settings allow tolls. Apparently the GPS sees a ferry as a toll. Since I allowed tolls, the route would take us to Wheatland Road where there’s a ferry across the Willamette River. Once I realized this, I diverted over to River Road. I didn’t know anything about the Wheatland Ferry. If it couldn’t accommodate our size, I might not be able to turn around. I also didn’t know the cost. Later, I found information online. Vehicles over 42 feet long pay six dollars to cross the river.

My new route added a loop to get over the Willamette River on a highway bridge. The trip turned into 100 miles and over two hours of driving. I probably burned $10 worth of fuel to avoid a $6 ferry ride.

We arrived at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum. The front parking lots were full of cars, but the large rear lot was nearly empty. There were a couple of RVs parked back there. We found a level area and parked. Donna and I walked to the museum. There are several large, very modern buildings on the property. One is the main museum with aircraft on display, including the Spruce Goose. There’s another building housing more aircraft, a separate movie theater, and a large water park building.

Main museum building

Museum extension on east side of the lot

Movie theater

Water park with Boeing 747 on the roof

It was very hot, over 90 degrees. The asphalt parking lot seemed to amplify the heat. Donna took her laptop to the museum building and sat in the restaurant area. She enjoyed some ice cream while she worked on her monthly organizing tips newsletter.

I’ve been in the Spruce Goose before, when it was displayed in Long Beach, California. I didn’t want to pay $25 to see it again. I went for a walk outside and looked at aircraft on display. The 747 on the roof of the water park is interesting. It has slides built into the exit doors. You enter the 747 and slide down into the enclosed pool below!

A relic of the Cold War - MIG 29 Fulcrum

A relic of the Cold War – Soviet MiG 29 Fulcrum

Delta Dart from the 1950s next to the MiG

As I was walking back to the coach, I talked to a worker from the museum. I asked about the overnight parking policy. He told me they welcome overnight visitors to the museum as long as we’re fully self-contained and pack out whatever we brought in. He said to limit the stay to two nights maximum. With permission secured, I moved the coach to a shaded corner of the lot.

Our place in the shade – generator slide is open to release heat

The museum closed at 5pm and the parking lots emptied. We were the only RV left and had the place to ourselves. A private party was being held at the east building, but it was far enough away that we didn’t hear them.

Thursday we hit the road by 9am. We were going to Junction City, where we had an appointment at Amazing Creations. Scott Adams and Bobby Vodden were going to remove the rear TV and make the space into a cabinet for us.

Old bedroom TV

I tried to remove the TV, but the wood surrounding the opening had been added after the TV was installed. The TV was larger than the opening. I didn’t want to break the trim, so I left it to the pros. Scott removed the wood on the right side and pulled the TV out. Then they built new trim, added a shelf and put doors over the opening.

New cabinet doors

The cabinet houses our printer, which was taking space in the closet before. We can use the shelf to store printing and office supplies.

Printer cabinet with shelf

They did a great job. The work was first class. It took a few hours to get the job done. This was mainly due to the time it took to stain the wood. They waited until we got there to match the wood stain. They stained the wood before their lunch break, so it was drying while they were out for lunch. Donna and I had lunch in the coach. We were out of there by 3pm.

We got back on the road and headed south to Cottage Grove, Oregon. Our destination was our present location on the Row (rhymes with wow) River. Our new friends, Scott and Marcia, who we met at the Alpine Coach Association rally, invited us to stay on their vacation property on the river outside of Cottage Grove.

The river runs along the north side of their property. They have a trailer and a few outbuildings on the property. One of the buildings is a workshop with a fresh water spigot, plus 20-, 30- and 50-amp electrical outlets and a sewer hook-up. We’re parked between the workshop and the river. The river is about 30 feet from our doorstep.

Row River view from our doorstep

We’re far enough from town to have very little traffic on Row River Road. It’s very quiet and peaceful here, a welcome change from the time spent in RV parks over the last few weeks. We don’t have cell phone coverage. But Scott and Marcia’s generosity included the password to their wifi network in their trailer.

Last evening, Donna and I enjoyed cocktail hour outdoors, soaking in the sounds of the river. Scott told us we could stay as long we want. We want to stay forever, but we’ll have to start moving south next Tuesday.

Happy hour in the shade, looking at the river

There’s a paved bike trail running along Row River Road. The path is on the south border of Scott and Marcia’s property. Today, Donna wants to go biking. I’ll do the same and explore the area.

Day Four Without Donna

I kept myself busy on Monday, day four without Donna. After I posted to the blog, I found a Costco store about five or six miles from here. I wanted to get coffee K-cups and more bottled water. On an impulse, I bought a big bag of mixed rice crackers with nuts for snacking.

Scooter loaded up and ready to roll

After I dropped the stuff off at the coach, I rode to Taco Del Mar for lunch. Then I went to WalMart to stock up on paper towels. I’m stocking up on these supplies in preparation for the month ahead. We have a few planned stops, but expect to be off the beaten path for much of the time. This will mean dry camping or boondocking at times without any idea of services available in the area. We’ll be in Tehachapi, California in a couple of weeks for Donna’s next bike race.

I spent most of the afternoon defrosting the refrigerator. After packing perishables in a cooler, I sat and read for awhile. Once the ice on the refrigerator cooling fins started to melt, I was able to pull loose chunks away. It took a little over two hours to defrost. Then I reloaded the refrigerator. The timing was good as supplies are currently low. We’ll re-supply on Wednesday.

Today, I plan to make another Costco run for more coffee and water. The Kirkland Signature Pacific Bold is a good dark roast coffee that Donna and I like. Costco sells it in 100-cup boxes that bring the cost down to about 35 cents per cup. We’ll have enough on board to get us to San Diego on September 24th.

Then I need to add air to the trailer tires and check the lug nuts for tightness. I’ll organize the trailer and load the scooter. Donna will return tonight. We will hit the road again tomorrow morning by 11am at the latest.

We have an appointment on Thursday with the guys at Amazing Creations in Junction City. They will remove our bedroom TV (which we don’t use) and add a shelf and cabinet doors in the space it occupies. We’ll use the cabinet to house a printer and provide additional storage. When we leave here tomorrow, we’ll dry camp somewhere near Junction City.

After we have the work done, we’re going off the grid for the long holiday weekend. We’ve been invited to stay at a friend’s vacation property near Cottage Grove, Oregon on the Row (rhymes with wow) River.

This isn’t the usual “courtesy park in my driveway” offer. His property is right on the river and has – wait for it – full RV hook ups! That’s right! Water, sewer and 50-amp electrical service. There’s good biking in the area and, of course, recreation on the river. We know we won’t have cell phone service. We may have limited internet access. I won’t divulge a detailed description of his property location in consideration of our host’s privacy. The offer is most generous and we’ll be away from crowded campgrounds over the Labor Day weekend.

The forecast today calls for a high of 93 degrees, a few degrees warmer than yesterday. I have much to do, so I’d better get started.

Day Three Without Donna

Sunday was day three on my own while Donna is away. My plans for the day would have bored Donna. I spent the morning watching the coverage of the Formula 1 race in Spa, Belgium. The race was full of surprises – I won’t spoil it in case a reader has it recorded for viewing later.

Before I turned on the race, my neighbor was preparing to pull out of the park. I could see he was checking some wiring looms in a rear compartment. I stepped outside to see if I could help. He said the bedroom slide wouldn’t retract. It was a Power Gear system, which operates the slide via an electric motor. The connection on the circuit board was loose. He wiggled the connector while his wife tried operating the slide. It moved about an inch, then stopped again. He tried to unplug the wiring harness and the connector pulled out of the circuit board! The connector should have been soldered in place as it’s essentially part of the board. I suggested disconnecting the front slide harness from its circuit board, which was next to the board for the bedroom slide. Then we plugged the wiring harness for the rear slide into that board. His wife hit the switch and the slide retracted. He’ll have to replace the bedroom slide circuit board.

While I watched TV, I followed the progress of my friend, Allen Hutchinson, with my laptop. He was competing in the Ironman Triathlon in Louisville, Kentucky. I don’t know anything about the course, but the temperature was reported to be 90 degrees with high humidity. It had to be a tough grind.

I didn’t leave the coach until noon. It was warm out. Our temperature reached the low 80s. I rode the scooter to the store and picked up bottled water and beer.

At 1pm, I tuned in the Charger game. They played against the San Francisco 49ers at the new stadium in Santa Clara, California. Yesterday’s earthquake in the bay area was centered near Napa, north of San Francisco. Santa Clara is south of San Francisco, about 80 miles from Napa and didn’t suffer any damage.

The Chargers played their starters on the first three offensive series. They looked sharp and moved the ball well. Other than getting stopped on a fourth and one, they controlled San Francisco and finished the third possession with a touchdown. The defensive starters forced two turnovers, although the officials blew the call on the first one and San Francisco kept the ball. They tackled well and dominated San Francisco’s first team offense.

The second and third string back-ups didn’t fare as well. At the end, the score was 21-7, San Francisco. The pre-season games are all about getting some action for the starting team and then using the remainder of the game to evaluate the rest of the players. I’m encouraged by what I saw and I’m looking forward to a good season. The roster will be cut down from 90 players to 53 before the first regular season game.

After the game, I went out for a walk through the RV park. I needed to get some exercise. The park is large enough to take a 20-minute walk without retracing your steps.

After I returned, I checked my laptop and saw Allen had finished the race. He was out on the course for 12 and a half hours. He’s a 4-time Ironman finisher now.

Today, the forecast calls for a heat wave. We should hit 90 degrees over the next few days. I have no plans.

I forgot to include this photo in my last post – this is my new ScanGauge D mounted on the dash of our Alpine Coach.

ScanGauge D set to read out oil pressure, coolant temperature, boost, transmission fluid temperature

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Oregon

Biking to Sunriver

Between Bend and La Pine

A Day in Bend

Mount Shasta View

Big Rigs and Bad Roads

Endless Summer

Riverside Relaxation

Unexpected Ferry Crossing

Day Four Without Donna

Day Three Without Donna

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: