SW Tour - Gods' Country

Monterey - 3 days at the county fairgrounds and a bus ride to the pier, then a fairground in Santa Rosa for 1 day after passing through Santa Cruz for b'fast on the pier watching dophins compete with Penguins for their b'fast. Even on Sunday, driving through SF was ugly. Then the Benbow RV Park deep in the redwoods.  The next morning a visit to small, lovely Trinidad for another pier breakfast, and then Brookings - 2 days on the Ocean front with sun.

Highway 101 on the Oregon coast has always been the best.  This trip we discovered Bandon just south of Coos Bay.  Lots of state park access to beaches and overlooks on a scenic byway, and lots of development accelerated by the Dunes golf course.  Now on the river at Coos Bay.

SW Tour - All the Way West

Done with the flat arid landscape? - not a chance.  One needs to distinguish between S CA east and west.  Heading west from Laughlin NV to the ocean we drove to Barstow, then Bakersfield.  It was just more desert.  Most of the highway was nice - smooth and 55 mph.  We arrived at Pismo Beach for a two day stay.  The ocean was welcome.  The Pismo pier was great with a fisherman catching smelt and feeding pelicans.  Kathy was happy.

We're now in Monterey at the Monterey Co. fairgrounds.  It is real laid back and comfortable after all of the commercial parks we have stayed at.  We plan a day on the waterfront, then some planning given a forecast of a "seasonal change in the weather".  All we are sure of is we want to blow through San Francisco on Sunday.  Beyond that?  dunno yet.

SW Tour - Westing

Flagstaff provided a nice no-kids RV park and cable for the VP debate.  We woke up to snow.  We discovered the part of Aridzona we missed going because we arrived in Gallup from the north.  Our objective was Laughlin NV so we could price spirits givin the sellers market in WA.  The high point of the trip across AZ was the continental divide.

After endless miles of high desert, we crossed a low pass into the Colorado River valley.  As we descended we faced a dense storm - we could see the whole thing - it looked like a column from heaven to earth that took up about one third of the middle of the valley we were headed into.  Rain pounded the windshield a couple of times, however our course to Laughlin skirted the worst of it.

Laughlin sits on the west (NV) side of the Colorado facing Bullhead on the east (AZ) side.  Bullhead came to pass from the construction of the dam upstream - begun before WW2 and not finished until the war was over.  Laughlin came to pass from the vision and determination of a man who build a small casino on the other side of the river that grew from a roadside bar and casino with two tables to a city with his Riverside Casino soon joined by several of the well known gambling palace names.  Laughlin included a huge hillside RV park of 500 sites in his development and we enjoyed one of them.  In a departure of our normal routine we ate in the Gourmet Room two nights in a row and enjoyed our dining experience immensely.  Two classic car displays added to the experience.



The most interesting sign was at a rest stop

    

Our first thought was someone had painted over the real amount.  But, there was no evidence.  It's almost an invitation.

Entering the valley where Laughlin lies, we descended a mountain pass facing a huge dark grey storm cloud from heaven to earth.  While we were whacked with the edge of it, it largely missed us.  Laughlin is on the Nevada bank of the Colorado.  The older, Bullhead AZ is on the opposite bank.

The story has it that Mr. Laughlin opened a two table casino across from the town of Bullhead - itself an outcome of building the dam upstream - and did very well expanding from humble beginnings to a Vegas-like strip. Laughlins Riverside Casino includes a tiered destination RV park where we stayed in comfort for two days.

SW Tour - Headed West

The brick red adobe beauty of Santa Fe and a one day trip to Taos are behind us - the grandure of 500 hot air balloons a vivid memory - and we can imagine the salt air.  That is several days away, of course.  We made the New Mexico border today.  We are staying in a completely adequate Gallup NM RV park, and planning to leave early to keep the sun behind us, expecting to make Flagstaff before the sun passes us.  As has happened a couple of times we revisited a restaurant in Gallup we were pleased with on our way east - Jerry's Mexican-American Restaurant - meals with green chili have elevated in our couisine during this trip.

 We've been a 60 mph impediment on 75 mph Highway 40 since Albuquerque, and will continue to do so to Flagstaff.  From there we understand there are more sections of Route 66 available.  If they are as rough as a section we took east of Flagstaff we may return to 40.

Retired, on the road, and loving it.

SW Tour - To Taos

Headed to Taos today - and still reeling at the overwhelming beauty of the hot air balloon mass ascension yesterday.  They say 550 balloons went up.  Wind prevented the event on Saturday and also prevented an event today, Monday.  We feel fortunate all went well yesterday.

...there was a car show after the balloons cleared.

SW Tour - All the Way There

We have made our destination. We got up at 3:30 this morning to make the trip from Sante Fe to Albuquerque for the before dawn mass ascension of hot air balloons.

You really have to see it to believe it.

Starbucks seems to be the most reliable strong enough wi fi signal.  There have been many hour of trying from other places or with the expensive Verizen feature of the iPad.  Live and learn.

...and here is a photo from the corner of Winslow Arizona.

SW Tour - into New Mexico

But first, a photo from the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point, Utah, just south of Salt Lake.  The museum had some incredible exhibits, particularly dinosaurs.

This post is something of a test, as we are in range of decent wi-if.

SW Tour - some pics

A photo of the alligator at Miracle Hot Springs (and a turtle in the background...

 And a couple from Crystal

Southwest Tour - On the Road

We headed SE with dispatch toward our first purposeful destination at Miracle Hot Springs in Idaho. Our first two nights were waypoints we had visited before - the Wild Horse RVP near Pendleton and the Mason Creek RV Park in Nampa Idaho - both of them nice, easy in-easy out stops.  We also stopped at another previously visited park in Baker City to follow up on a shirt Kathy found in May with a nice motor home theme.  She has considered doing something similar.  We learned the shirt was not mass produced, but rather a hand made item.

Miracle HS was full when we tried to stay in May.  It is a nice park with a great combination of large pools and smaller hot spaces.  Flies are a problem this year due to a not-so-cold winter, and we picked up our share.  Our next destination was Crystal HS.  This was a very welcome 3-day stay after daily drives.  Our space was on the bank of the outlet stream where a number of ducks and geese went about their day providing us much entertainment.  We were issued a spot with 50A service and because they did not have the correct adapter, and we liked the spot, they allowed us to cross our cable over to the next site, basically giving us two spots (gotta love off season travel).  The pool area was a long walk - made easier by a neighbor who transported us in their van.  Crystal has a number of pools and a big tubular slide, and yes, we both "shot the tube".  They also had an Olympic size pool that was being refinished so not available.  We continued to battle the flies.

Our next destination was Salt Lake City.  We arranged a pedicab tour of temple square.  The temple provided free transportation to the square on the condition we took an escorted tour of the tabernacle and visitor center.  Two missionaries - nice young ladies from Germany and Latvia - showed us around and waxed Mormon.  We met up with our pedicab driver (peddler, actually) and had a tour of south temple street.  It included some magnificent buildings.  We saw homes of the silver mining wealthy, the church of the magdalene, the Masonic Hall and a number of other sites.  It sure beat walking.  We finished the day with a lovely dinner at the Market Street grill and a cab ride home.

Having had some success with those long sticky fly strips, but finding them pretty icky, we tried some flat sticky pads on the dash board that were successful and allowed us to watch the little pests struggle to free their feet - a satisfying payback for their bother.
.  It was very interesting.

Southwest Tour - On the Road

This is a test - the iPad/blogspot means of communicating has not been successful.  If you can read this more is sure to follow.

Year Two

July marked the beginning of the second year of retirement for Paul and Kathy.  Family drew us to several great events: a HS graduation party for Haily Hage (who is moving on to the UW), a gathering of the McDonald Clan and an old friends reunion.  Before we left, the Land Yacht dashboard A/C and heater was repaired and a visit to the shop took care of routine PM and a list of things that should receive attention on the next visit.  Then it took us on a voyage back to Bayshore RV Park in Tokeland the week before the old friends reunion in Onalaska WA and then to Totten Inlet to see, and participate in, an old friends geoduck planting operation.

Tokeland was again a nice quiet stay on the north shore of Willapa Bay and this time, with warmer weather, included a long walk out on the tide flats.  Much to our surprise, we learned for the first time that Jack could swim.  Previously he had strongly avoided water.  This time there was no transition - he just walked out in the water and swam - truly amazing.   Making the best of our time, we assembled a jig saw puzzle of New Yorks' Times Square, and then traded it at the park clubhouse for a puzzle we had not seen for assembly during a future trip.  Kathy continued to get the most out of our small galley with a little help from Smoky Joe, and we enjoyed a couple of meals at the nearby Tokeland Hotel.  The picture below is the view from our site at Bayshore RV Park.  Jacks first swim was out to Paul knee deep in the ocean while we were walking along the shore in the distance.  On the way back he was fifty yards ahead of us just swam across the twenty yards of three foot deep water in the foreground.

From Tokeland we drove east through Pe El to Centralia then to Onalaska.  We spent Friday before the reunion with an old friend and his new wife.  We broke bread, made a new friend and reminisced with an old one.  One benefit of RV travel is visiting with minimum imposition (provided there is space) on the visitee.  Saturday morning we drove a few miles to another friends place where family and friends made up a gathering of maybe a hundred people.  For many of us, we were rejoicing fifty or more years of friendship.

We were two days ahead of our geoduck engagement in Shelton, so we cruised 20 miles further to enjoy the waterfront at Potlatch on Hood Canal.  It was a beautiful respite.  Then back to Shelton.

After a half day of bending down to plant geoduck, we were fed well off of the beach.  It was very interesting.

Rather than hurrying back to a ferry home, we made a way point on the trip and spent the night at Belfair State Park.  We have been most impressed with state parks on our voyages and Belfair (picture below) is yet another wonderful example.

Salt Creek mid week

Took the Land Yacht to Salt Creek for a mid-week stay.  We made reservations but they were not necessary - but probably will be once school is out.  It was a great getaway.  The Salt Creek shore remains rich with tidepools, there were low tides in the morning and the weather was nice.

Hot Spring Cruise: Fini

It was a great voyage in the Land Yacht.

It's nice to be home

Hot Spring Cruise: One more Soak?

The Hoquiam River RV Park - first class in every respect. We left Long Beach this morning for points north. We pulled up short of our initial destination at Kalalock because we were tired of driving, and we're retired, so we can. We are right on the bank of the river.

Long beach was fun. We spent most of Saturday hitting sales and taking in the Saturday Market and an antique shop in Ilwaco. We had such a great breakfast at Laurie's Homestead we returned on Sunday and again today (Tuesday). We also reacquainted with the folks who ran the Arc restaurant - we had missed them since the Arc closed a few years ago. They now operate Ginelles Cafe. If your looking for a nice meal in Long Beach - actually Ocean Park - Ginelles is the place. On Monday we walked out to the ocean. It is always such a deeply engaging experience. We were reminded again just how nice Cape Dissapointment was.

Someday I'll figure out how to add a photo or two.

Tomorrow we head north.

Hot Spring Cruise: Long Beach

Weather at Garibaldi became a full strength Gale. It was nice to have cable TV. In the late afternoon we leaned into the wind and walked to the Troller for drinks, dinner and long and enjoyable conversation with the locals.

In the morning we headed north with several possible destinations for the next two days before a reserved Memorial Day weekend at Long Beach. We benefitted from a local gas price war and a ten cent QFC discount, but still paid four dollars per gallon. We planned on finding crab for dinner and pursued a source for a camera to iPad connector. We succeeded with the cable and waited to long for crab. Our final choice for the two nights was Cape Dissapointment (formerly Fort Canby) State Park. Ilwaco provided crab, albeit frozen. We don't know if Oregon suppliers might have had fresh. The park was fantastic - two days on the wild Pacific Coast in the woods with a spectacular primordial beach.

We're now at Long Beach in a fairly crowded park to enjoy the weekend and the annual garage sale. Jim, Abbie and Charlie the dog have joined us, and are providing local transportation. The forecast calls for sun. However it is now quite grey and cool. We are headed to breakfast before the crowds.

Hot Spring Cruise: Soaking Rain

Tuesday, May 22 - We are on the bay at Garibaldi in the rain. We normally wait until 5 - but this morning it is French Roast and Jim Beam and it has warmed up. On the bright side, we woke up to tide flats and two dozen cranes feeding out our front window. Tried to get a picture, but the gentle opening of the door spooked them and the closest dozen flew out 100 yards. We are now taking pictures with the iPad because we don't have a camera to iPad cord and there are none for sale - live and learn.

Like learning how to make page breaks. We arrived at the ocean on Friday and after a visit to Depoe Bay settled in at the Sea and Sand RV Park (another keeper). We signed up for two days, and extended by one. The weather was beautiful - wish you had been there. Yet another front row seat to view the water - there was a tier of RVs below us, but it was not visible - and again we had privacy on our patio side. Beyond the grace of a great location with nice weather we had two remarkable experiences. First, several sightings of gray whales. They were less than 200 yards off shore and were rolling so you could see their flippers. This indicated they were among the few that do not continue their migration from Baha to Alaska - but rather, settle in and feed in local waters. On Sunday the generally overcast day where sky and ocean become one visually changed - we were treated to a break overhead right where the moon eclipsed the sun. It lasted from 5 PM through the peak at about 6:25 and by 7 the sky and water were once again monotone - a lucky break.

So, here and now at Garibaldi in the rain it looks like a good day for cribbage, dominos and a puzzle.

The Hot Spring Cruise: Back to the Sea

May 19 2012 - Leaving Boise, the course was set for the northern route, passing on a return to Crystal Crane Hot Springs and Florence - opting instead for faster travel on Hwy 84, a visit to Maryhill museum, and the possibility of obtaining a spring chinook. We considered a stopover at Hot Lake RV Park adjacent to Hot Lake Hot Springs. However the toll of a days drive weighed us down by the time we made Baker City and the offer of shade trees at the Mountain View RV Park drew us to a stop. The park looked kind of grim as we entered a triple row of live-ins, then narrowed to a set of old western themed buildings where the office was located, and then opened up to an inner park for transients with lots of shade trees and grass. It was very pleasant. The office even had some materials for construction of a perch for Jack. He has had difficulty finding a proper berth in the Land Yacht as he is used to when traveling in the Element. A nice space is available between the drivers door and left arm rest. A platform was built out of finished lathe pieces where Jack has finally found his place. Smokie Joe cooked up a rack of lamb. The next morning we had breakfast at the Inland Cafe, a place that impressed us when we stopped with Jim and Abbie on the Burgdorf trip. They had a low carb option - it was very good. Our departure was complicated by an unfastening of the door step, which was gratefully repaired at Grumpys in short order. Wednesday's drive was long, hot and windy as we approached the Colombia River. We pondered various places to overnight and settled on Maryhill State Park. That got us near the museum and made reaching the ocean possible - we decided on Depoe Bay as our sea side destination - with one more overnight. Maryhill Park was beautifully laid out and landscaped and very spacious with good, clean functional facilities. In the morning, the museum was once again a stunning reminder of the age of road building up the Colombia and the fascinating life of Sam Hill. With what was left of the day we fought greater wind than Wednesday traveling further west to Troutdale. On the way we stopped at Cascade Locks and scored a fresh, today's catch, spring chinook. We overnighted at the unremarkable Sandy River RV Park in Troutdale where we determined a pan we bought for the Smokie Joe failed at its imagined purpose. It might have been dinner ruined - were it not for the unsurpassed quality of spring chinook shining through. Friday morning we set sail for Depoe Bay. We passed by the Sea and Sand RV Park, where we had a reservation for two, maybe three days, and drove into Depoe Bay. We saw a little more of the town than we did on our trip south two weeks before, spent an hour at a roadside one-mans-junk-another-mans-treasure store, had a great lunch at a cliffside restaurant and settled in to the park. The ocean front part of the park is tiered lanes along a sloped bank with back-in spaces so everybody has a direct view of the Pacific Ocean, as I have right now. Sweet.

Hot Spring Cruise Redux

May 15 2012 - HI VALLEY RV PARK, Boise Idaho and we are at the mid point of our voyage. Nat Soo Pah Hot Springs was an oasis in the middle of a sage brush desert. When we arrived last Friday Nat Soo Pah was buzzing with the activity of a boy scout outing - scouts, dads and tents everywhere. Luckily, we were assigned a site at the far end of the row, so our patio side was open to a field. The field looked like open grazing as it was sage brush with cows. It was fenced and doubled as the dog walk. Jack loved passing muster on all dogs who were walked in and out. Nat Soo Pah facilities included about two acres of camping and RV spaces in a beautifully wooded glen. The pool is outdoors behind a wood fence. The main pool is 40X80 feet and 95 degrees. There are two smaller hot pools, one an 8 foot circular - the other rectangular and 10 X 18. Both were held at 104 degrees or so. We waited for the scouts to break camp to soak. The soak was great. Saturday evening we had a planning epiphany. We had scheduled a stay at Indian Falls Hot Springs, then a couple of days at Lava, then to Yellowstone. While registering at Fishing Bridge Campground, the only RV park in Yellowstone, it came up that no dogs were allowed - which pretty much rejects the pack. We were already troubled by there being no RV parks at Lava Hot Springs that appeared to be convenient to the pools, we were sated with soaking, and tired of the desert. We considered where we were in our travels and decided to return to the Pacific Coast. Our return took us back to the valley of 1000 springs along the Snake River. We stayed at the 1000 Springs RV park - arrived to a full park on Mothers Day and by days end we were one of only three campers remaining. Prehistoric lava flow created a canyon wall where a multitude of springs spewed water from the rock face of the canyon - quite spectacular. We are now at HI VALLEY RV PARK in Eagle (actually Boise). It has no particular draw beyond very clean and efficient. They even have cotton bath mats in the shower room. We don't know our next destination yet. The sun is just rising. We may head back across mid Oregon, or up Highway 84. Maybe we'll flip a coin.

The Hot Spring Cruise

Paul and Kathy are keeping a running log of their travels with Jack. Paul has been reluctant to post to Blogger because he discovered he was unable to edit blog posts done with the home computer when mobile using the IPad. Paul needs to be able to edit. This post comes from the Mason Creek RV park and is kind of a moment of pause. We are in between hot springs because Givens Hot Springs did not take dogs - can you believe that - they don't take dogs! This blog is about Jack and his travels with the pack. Jack is a dog...Forget Givens Hot Springs. After a couple of beautiful (if wet) stays on the Pacific Coast, we headed east. We experienced a bust at McCredie Hot Springs because it was a streamside hot pool and was inundated by high cold water - we did suit up and walk down in the rain, so we did our part. Our first hot soak was at Summer Lake Hot Springs. Summer Lake was very laid back. Locals said it was too often "just a bunch of hippies". There is a wonderful 15x30 pool in an out building - the water is maintained at about 100 degrees, and is classic mineral water. There are two adjoining small ponds with marginally higher temperature. We enjoyed it enough to extend our stay. On Tuesday we drove to Crystal Crane Hot Springs. It had a 50 foot diameter outside hot pool with constant input of about 160 degree water from a multi-spout manifold. The water was about 100 degrees - colder at the fringes and hotter near the input. We are now at a on the road RV park where we've done laundry, have the first TV connection in a week, and are preparing for the next leg of our trip to Miracle Hot Springs and Nat Soo Pah Hot Springs where I will make another post. I would not have done this one were it not for Lance LaPrarie, who is my first reader - thanks Lance. I was so frustrated with the constant "which platform works with which service" debacle that I figured I would just email people I thought might be interested. This is a test. I hope Blogger just puts this up as my next entry. May 12 - This blog has been re-opened and is being edited - maybe things have changed, maybe it's just the learning curve. We will see.