Stops and Starts

Our travels on the next leg took us from Eugene, south to a county regional park just outside of Crescent City, California. The drive was harder than the last two days due to some stretches of very curvy roads. I got tired by the time we stopped at 1:30 PM. 

It rained hard all night and we woke up early enough to enjoy a cup of coffee/tea as we packed up to explore the fourth leg of the trip. After many years of camper life, we have gotten as good as a NASCAR pit crew at hitting the road. 

Our first stop was just down the road at a local Safeway grocery store. The early departure called for a warm breakfast sandwich, and we like to try the local deli. Linda and I walked up to the counter and chose the breakfast burrito from their list of delicacies. The lady asked for our order, and we gave it to her and she said, “We can't make the burritos today, we have no tortillas!” We paused and looked at each other, and then we both looked around the store and replied, “No tortillas?” The attendant shook her head. It seemed to both of us that one of the four counter clerks could go to the Spanish food aisle and grab a package of tortillas to sell some burritos. They must have had their reasons. We purchased our sandwich and went on our way. We ordered the breakfast sandwich instead. As she prepared the sandwich, four customers ordered the breakfast burrito and were told the same thing, “No tortillas.” Each time Linda and I looked at each other and then around the store. I leaned into Linda and asked, “Isn't this a food store? Don't they sell tortillas?” Linda replied, “I know” and shrugged. We didn't say anything. Maybe it was store policy.

Just south of Crescent City on Hwy 101.

The road we were following, Highway 101, took us along the ocean and then dipped inland, aiming southeast to our next campground at Clear Lake State Park. It was a curvy, very hilly two-lane road most of the way, and we had to go very slowly in many places. By the time we arrived at camp at 2:45 PM, I was road-beaten, and Linda was ready for a walk. Linda went for a long walk, and I fell asleep.

Clear Lake is California's largest natural lake. The campground was well-maintained and had a nice feel. We were one of four vehicles camping in the park so it felt like we owned it! Linda and I planned to have a layover day and allow our bodies to rest. This site had no hookups, but the campground showers were close by and clean. 

At our spot at Clear Lake.

Getting used to the table clutter.

Second Stop

It rained all night, but we slept like logs and woke up ready to get on the road. Our next leg took us to Eugene via I-205 passing around Portland to I-5. We arrived at the Sollingers at about 1:00 PM and got all set up in their driveway. After everyone had gathered and chatted for a while, Diane, Al Dee, Linda and I loaded into their car and we drove to the Eugene Fairgrounds where we met Alayna at the main entrance to an event called Glow. 

Glow is a traveling Christmas light show. It is popular because of its many beautiful lights and the fact that it is held entirely under cover. That was the key that evening because it was pouring buckets outside. We walked through various countries of the world-themed displays and enjoyed the tens of thousands of lights each area contained. After the Glow walk, we picked up some dinner at their local WingStop and returned to the house to eat and play SkipBo. That was our first experience with WingStop. We thought it was delicious. I continued my reign of terror through SkipBo. I won again!

South

By the end of October, the weather in our area gets freezing and gray. It is hard to keep your spirits up as the rain and wind knock all the beautiful bright-colored leaves to the ground. We have always tried to add a little adventure south into warmer climates to help us through the winter months. It lifts up our spirits and gives us something to concentrate on.

We've been busy getting ready for our next adventure. We've packed clothes and removed stuff we don't use from the camper. We've evaluated each item and decided whether it's going or staying. This includes finding a storage location for our items and packing them away. Our lists grew and then got shorter as we made decisions. We're almost ready to hit the road!

Our truck should be in tip-top shape for this trip. It cost us some savings to get it ready, but they were items we deemed necessary for our peace of mind. We also have confirmed our house visitor's schedule, and the place will be in great hands once we leave. Thanks to all of the folks who will be helping in this endeavor. It's so nice to have someone taking care of the home front.

Weather-watching has become an obsession. Ideally, we would like a window with a slight warm-up and no precipitation called for, but that will probably not happen. We will leave when we feel safe from ice on the roads. A little snow is manageable until we get past the Tri-Cities and closer to Eugene.

Finally, the day of departure arrived. Leaving Post Falls at about 8:00 AM, we drove to Ritzville, turned south, and followed Highway 396 southwest, turning west on Highway 84 to Boardman, where we fueled up.

Remember the weather window we were watching? Well, we hit it! As we left Post Falls, snowflakes slid gently down the truck window. When we hit Spokane, the snow had stopped. When we stopped at the rest area by Sprague Lake, the sun came out, and we had beautiful weather the rest of the day.

We continued downriver on Highway 84 past one of our usual spots, Arlington, assuming we could boondock at a flat gravel bed called Rufus Landing. When we arrived, we found that the site was closed until April 1st. Linda did some quick map reading and Googled up some options. Continuing on down the Columbia, we chose to spend our first night at Deschutes River State Park on the Deschutes River.

We chose site 21, a very nice spot just yards from the river. It was an easy day and our adventure has officially begun.

Below is a map of our travel route down to Yuma. I will update our progress the best I can so bookmark this post and enjoy the ride!

Back to the Fort

Check out the new wheels!

When we returned from our last trip, I noted that the truck had felt slightly different when driving at lower speeds. My mind always jumps directly to the worst-case scenario; in this case, my scenario was "our transmission was going out."  We made an appointment with our auto repair folks and I explained my feelings when driving. I thought it felt like I was driving a manual transmission, and not giving it enough gas when accelerating. There was definitely something making the vehicle shudder and the most expensive thing I could think of was the transmission.

I delivered the truck to Lake City Auto and they sent their transmission specialist out to give it a test. Within a half hour, I had my answer. The drive lines were out of balance and the U-joints were failing. 16 years of carrying the camper had taken its toll.  We needed it repaired, so I tossed my credit card on the counter and said "Git er done!" I talk like that when I am talking to mechanics. 

To do this I had to remove the camper from the truck and they would have to keep the truck for three days. As unexpected as the repair was, it gave me time to do some much-needed cleaning and caulking on the camper. For two days I worked my butt off waxing, polishing, and renewing the caulk on the big white box.

I picked up the truck and it drove great! No shuttering when accelerating.  I kept the camper off the truck and at our friends the Anderson's farm, while I worked on it. As I drove back and forth to the farm I was on newly paved roads and I noticed a bit of bumping as I drove. Normally I would think it was the old roads of Idaho, but like I said they were fresh surfaces. Bumping along, I figured that the truck tires needed to be balanced so I took the truck to Les Schaub the next day.

At Schaub's, they took the truck into the bay and within 10 minutes the tire tech called me over and showed me one of my tires and wheels on the balancer and it looked awful. The wheel had a very apparent wobble. The tech told me that all the wheels were just like that and they could not get them balanced. Short story, we needed new wheels. Once again I had to remind myself that all the running gear on the truck has been carrying heavy loads for 16 years, and the camper is rarely off. It makes sense, so I once again opened my wallet and tossed the old credit card on the counter.

It always hurts to make repairs to the truck and camper. Linda and I have talked about this many times. We came to the conclusion long ago that we love our house on wheels, we use it more than most people use theirs, therefore we will always make the needed repairs. In fact, we have a savings account set aside for repairs.

Finally, after a week and a half and several dips into the Repair account, we now have a truck and camper that runs like a dream. No bumping or wobbling. We are once again ready to hit the road!

Looking back. It's a long line!

We slid out onto the highway at about 10:45 AM and pointed the nose of the truck west with our sights set on Cle Elum, WA, on our way to Fort Worden to meet up with Don and Caroline Samuelson. We were looking to boondock at one of our favorite spots that we use when we drive to the Seattle area.

All was well and we were cruising along when suddenly the traffic slowed to a snail's crawl. We had just passed the rest area by Sprague Lake when the traffic started backing up.

There was nothing we could do except crawl along at maybe ten miles an hour for twelve miles. At the end of the jam, a lone semi-truck filled with onions sat at the side of the road, totally burned up. We never heard or read anything about what happened.

Forward doesn't look good either. 

We pulled into our boondocking spot in Cle Elum and settled in for the night.  We ate dinner and took a walk. Then it was off to sleep.

Community gardens in Cle Elum.

In the morning we did our thing and got ready quickly and efficiently. Our fuel tank was full because we took time to fill up before we stopped for the overnight stay.  As we drove out of town, we stopped at Safeway for our traditional shared road breakfast, a deli burrito and a donut.

We hit the road for day two of our adventure. We did a quick stop at the North Bend Outlet Mall so Linda could do a bit of looking around before we took I-90 to Hwy 18, 18 to I-5, then on to Hwy 16 (Gig Habor), Hwy 3 (Bremerton), Hwy 104  (Shine), and then on into Ft. Worden State Park.  Did you get all that?

Point Wilson Lighthouse.

I will explain that part of the trip was filled with a large amount of construction, huge amounts of traffic, and speedy rude drivers. We made it to our campsite just a little later than we had planned and were happy to be finished.

Don and Caroline were all set up in their camp spot. we pulled in across the road from them and got set up.

Otters checking out the Coho.

Caroline loaded us into their car and took us down to the lighthouse where she wanted to fish. There were no locals fishing and she didn't catch anything. We did see seals and Linda was approached by a sea otter. The little critter almost walked on Linda's shoes before he scampered off.  As we left the beach a couple local fishermen came down. Caroline chatted and the info they gave pointed to poor fishing.

We spent the evening talking and enjoying being with Don and Caroline.

The next day was a bit of a blur, but the highlight was Caroline catching a Coho from shore. She had been researching fishing in this area and sure enough she hit one! I spent most of the day feeling under the weather. 

One of the bunkers which housed
the coastal artillery.

Finally, it was 6 PM and we turned on the Presidential debate. All of us were nervous and hoped the best for VP Kamala Harris. She didn't let us down. Now we need to get her elected as President!

The next few days were filled with debate talk and fishing. Cohos were starting to run so we fished early afternoons to try and catch one. Of the four days of fishing only one fish was landed by Caroline. Overall, we were early, and only one day displayed fish moving and catchable. We fished hard anyway.

On Friday we quietly got ready and hit the road. We set our sights on Wanapum State Park Campground and exited Ft. Worden early, trying to miss Tacoma traffic. Our route back to the east side turned out to be easier than we anticipated and we pulled into the campground very early. Our site was empty so we settled in and enjoyed the sunshine. 

On Saturday we drove home with no problems. WSU was in the Apple Cup against Washington and we were able to watch the game. Cougs won, which was good. We were happy to be back home and as usual, we started cleaning the camper and getting ready for our next adventure.

Beautiful evening with a view.

Northern Meeting of Southern Friends

Our Site at Lake Wenatchee.

Melaque, Mexico is a small farming/fishing community south of PV and north of Manzanillo. This town has been our winter retreat for 25 years. We started spending 2 weeks over Christmas vacation. The stays were extended to over three months after our retirement. Many posts to this blog took place in this quaint little hideaway.

Traveling south also allowed us to meet many people we now consider friends. We are part of their lives while in Melaque, but when winter passes we go our separate ways until the next migration south. 

Lake Wenatchee views.

Over the past spring one of our friends put together a gathering for all the folks connected by this winter community.  Annie and Mac invited anyone who wanted to join the gathering, to meet at their farm in Ferndale WA, for three days of food and fun. All they had to do was show up with their tent or RV and they were welcome to join the fun and get reacquainted with all their winter friends.

To join the group Linda and I loaded up the camper and made our way west on I-90 to George, WA where we then took Highway 28 northwest through Wenatchee, Leavenworth, and on to Lake Wenatchee State Park where we stayed the night. The drive was good and we only had traffic coming into Leavenworth which made our day very nice.

Once we were all set up for the evening, we walked some trails and enjoyed a nice dinner. We were tired so we went to bed just after sundown.

Our drive the next day took us over Stevens Pass on Highway 2 dropping down to follow the  Skykonish River. The smaller highway was narrow and very curvy. We took our time and only had one seat-grabbing moment. We connected with I5 North at Everett and proceeded to our destination in Ferndale.

When we arrived at the farm, Mac pointed us around the back of the old barn and we found a spot to level the camper and settle in for our visit.

Over the next few days, the group of Melaque friends grew. At one point I estimated our group of people who got to know one another via Melaque to be about 35. With friends and families the total was over fifty guests.

Everyone mingled around the farm setting and found out what was happening in each other's lives beyond Mexico.  Food was in abundance and the entire group explored culinary delights at each meal. Annmarie and Mack were wonderful hosts. None of this would have happened without their hard work.

The Melaque Mob!

Wednesday morning Linda and I quietly packed up, said goodbyes and headed down the road.  We had a couple state parks in mind for our night stay, but no reservations. The drive was all freeway. We hit some traffic slowdowns but in most respects, it was an easy drive. At 2:30 PM we drove into Wanapum Dam State Park where we spent the final night of our adventure.

Annie and Mac's home.

The next morning we got up and drove the rest of the way home. We did have a minor problem at one of the final rest areas we stopped at. Our passenger side window rolled down but refused to roll back up into the closed position. Linda was forced to ride with the window open which was a bit noisy, but she was comfortable with the wind blowing on her the final miles home.

PS  As Linda and I greeted the numerous Melaque friends, the folks with RVs were very interested in our truck and camper.  They inquired about our travels and asked how many times we used the camper.  I looked back in the blog and found that I have documented taking 335 trips in our rig. A trip can be overnight, or multiple nights. These numbers come from the posts I make in the blog only. They don't represent the number of nights we have stayed in the camper. I thought this was a fun little fact to share.

Wanapum Dam State Park.