09-27-2019 Traveling To Albuquerque for the Balloon Festival

We pulled out of our Grants Pass driveway at exactly 8:45 AM, just as planned, in excellent weather.  We felt well prepared for the trip and there wasn’t a single last minute glitch to handle.  Love it when that happens. 

Dropping down the grade toward Susanville on Highway 44

Deciding on the shortest route over the mountains, we traveled Interstate 5 south as far as Mt Shasta and then turned east toward McCloud on Highway 89.  The two lane road meanders through the beautiful mixed conifer forests of this southernmost portion of the Cascade Mountains, with views of Mt Shasta and Mt Lassen peaking through the slight overcast as we traveled east.  The road was quiet and gorgeous, with very little traffic.  We stopped at the beautiful Bogard Visitor Center on Highway 44.  It is a great rest area, and we discovered that in a pinch we could park there for 8 hours if we needed a break or the weather turned iffy. 

Just under 400 miles in a day takes us closer to 8 hours in the MoHo rather than the google estimate

I have to admit I wasn’t quite up to snuff due to a tough head cold and sore throat that attacked me on the day before we left.  I had been to Urgent Care to be sure it wasn’t a strep infection, but that surely didn’t make traveling or driving with a stuffed up head much fun.  Mo had to do a lot of the driving during the early days of this trip.

Using Gas Buddy we tracked down the cheapest gas we could find in Susanville, CA. Mo had driven all the way to Susanville, and we did a bit of meandering before we managed to find lower priced fuel with an accessible driveway and overhang.  After fueling, I took over and drove for just two hours before Mo took over once again and drove through Reno afternoon traffic while I navigated.  The route through Reno was fast and easy, and within a few minutes we were heading east on Highway 50 toward Fallon.

We had planned to boondock in the free parking lot at the Bonanza Casino in Fallon, NV, listed in the AllStays app, but it turned out to be crowded and tight, and didn’t look the least bit inviting or accessible.  On our way through Fallon looking for the casino, we saw that the WalMart on the west end of town had some RV’s parked, and decided to return there for the night. 

Best little travel dog ever!

I talked to a couple of the people parked right under the signs that said “no overnight parking”, and they said it wasn’t a problem.  I did go inside and attempt to speak with the management, but got three different stories about whether or not we could overnight in the lot.  Bought some Robitussin and a few other items and decided that it would be fine to spend the night between the other two rigs parked on the west side of the lot.  There were lots of lights, but our shades keep the interior dark and the night was beautifully quiet.

09-28-2019 Crossing Nevada on Highway 50, the Loneliest Road in America

After a good night’s sleep for Mo and a rather awful night for me, in spite of the Robitussin and Extra Strength Tylenol, we woke at sunrise around 7 and were on the road by 8:15.  Once again we realized how very much we love traveling Highway 50 through Nevada.  Eastern Nevada is no doubt the very best example of Basin and Range topography in the country, and the road climbs over countless mountain ranges before descending  onto open playas and stick straight stretches of highway.  Nevada must be doing something right because the pavement on Highway 50 was in great shape, smooth as butter. 

Huge rain clouds were all around us, but we only got hit a couple of times with raindrops big enough to clean the windshield. We passed through the tiny towns of Austin and Eureka without taking time to stop for photos.  We have traveled this road in the past, several times, and while the towns are cute and historic, they are no match for the magnificent vistas that open up around each curve in the road.

Once again, our plans shifted with timing and weather.  We fueled up in Ely, to be sure that we had gas for boondocking if needed and continued past our original destination of the Ely KOA.  We have camped there in the past, but it is expensive, right on the highway, and we still had some driving time in us so continued east toward Baker.

AllStays was helpful again and we decided to camp with full hookups for a mere $25 bucks at the Border Inn RV Park.  The clouds were darkening, the winds were increasing and we were happy to be indoors enjoying warmed up leftover enchiladas and cozy warmth. Only funny part of the evening was that neither of us could hear each other because of our stopped up ears thanks to all the Basin and Range ups and downs.

Easy day for us, just over 300 miles

09-29-2019 Continuing on US 50 toward Capitol Reef National Park

The winds blew hard most of the night, and when we woke, it was very cold.  Nice to have hookups so we were cozy without having to use up propane.  We knew that we would be without hookups for the next few days and planned to be sure we had water and empty tanks before arriving in Capitol Reef.

Unknown to us until I stepped outside, was that the water hose was leaking from the inlet point and there was water puddled all over the place under the rig…right where we needed to hookup the sewer line to dump.  Not fun!  We managed to get the tanks dumped, although for some reason unknown to us, there was effluent in the pipe and it ran all over the ground.  We didn’t realize at the time that it was a hint of what was to come later, but that story will be saved for the end of our trip. 

We managed to get it all cleaned up and the tank dumped and water filled in spite of the cold winds.  Mattie wasn’t very interested in her walk and when I turned back to head for the rig she was in a BIG hurry to get back to a warm place.  She also wanted to visit with the very sweet little tabby kitty who visited us at our site, but Mattie isn’t very polite around cats, and her idea of play isn’t nice so the cat stayed away from her.

We left by 9, knowing that our 233 mile day ahead of us would be easy and enjoyable.  Continuing east on US 50 we had many miles of open rangeland, passing large saline lakes and playas before we did the meandering route where Highway 50 crosses over I-15, follows it for a bit, and then takes off east toward Scipio. 

I was feeling much better this day and drove as far as Aurora, Utah.  On the far end of town we found a beautiful city park with plenty of parking space, lots of open grass, and not a single “no dogs allowed” sign anywhere.  Mattie loved running on the soft grass and I loved the warm sunshine.

Once again checking in with Gas Buddy, we decided to fuel up in Loa, Utah rather than paying the much higher gas prices closer to the National Park.  I picked up a few groceries at the surprisingly well stocked grocery store and we continued east, arriving at our campground by 4pm.

The Fruita Campground in the heart of the Capitol Reef National Park, in Utah, just a mile east of the Visitor Center is lovely, although there are no hookups and now it is reservation only.  I’m glad I made our reservations several months ago since everything was completely full each day we were in Capitol Reef.

Mo was a bit frustrated because it was obvious that the campground was laid out before RV’s were popular, and the sites are angled such that your door opens on the opposite side of your table and fire pit.  Kinda dumb.  We did discover that the newer Loop C has sites angled correctly.  We were in Loop B

I do love Capitol Reef so much, and couldn’t believe that it had been 5 years since our last visit.  For many years I spent most of my time in this national park in the wild outskirts, but this time I was looking forward to the simplicity of a “real” campground, and exploring the local sights around the Visitor Center.

We settled in for the evening, took a short lovely walk to the nearby historic Gifford House, and enjoyed the gorgeous setting sun on the cliffs.  Time for a favorite soup, Martina McBride’s Bowl of Comfort, pulled from the freezer. We didn’t need to worry about the fire pit and picnic table location, and were perfectly happy to sit inside at our comfy dinette.

As we knew beforehand, there wasn’t any sign of a cell signal to be found.  I warned my kids and friends that I would be out of touch for a few days so it wasn’t a problem.  Funny how often I go to google to answer a question that one or the other of us has raised.  No google for a few days is an eye opener for sure.