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.