09-18-2021 First Day on the Road

I woke at 4 am this morning, listening for the rain.  I thought I needed a good soak in the hot tub for achy legs. By the time I undressed and opened up the tub, the rain was pouring.  It wasn’t a light rain, it was a deluge.  Something we so desperately need here in the Rogue Valley, and all over Oregon and the West for that matter.

In spite of the big drops splashing my face and wetting my hair, the tub felt good.  I love traveling, but I will miss my early morning soaks, and evening  dips with Mo under the stars, watching for airplanes.

We were well prepared for our departure, loading up clothes and food over two days, making the process fairly easy.  I cooked several items for the freezer for the journey.  Mo and I much prefer eating at home in the rig rather than at restaurants, especially in these day of Covid.  Freezer meals make things nice and easy in the limited space of the MoHo.

We were on the road just after 8am, driving south on I-5 from Grants Pass in the pouring rain.  Traffic was light, and I didn’t have to worry much about the blinding spray thrown onto our windshield when traffic is heavy.  It poured all the way south, over Siskiyou Pass, next to invisible Mt Shasta, and for many miles after we turned east on Highway 89.  Since we have moved to Grants Pass, the route between I-5 and Susanville toward Highway 395 is most often our chosen way to cross the mountain ranges between us and the desert. 

I had been tracking road closures along Highway 89 and Highway 44 north of the huge Dixie fire, burning for almost  two months now and decimating almost a million acres of forest, homes, and small communities.  Just two days before our scheduled departure I saw on Caltrans that highway 44 was once again open, with delays and some areas of one way traffic due to the fire.  The alternative would be to travel north toward MacArthur, adding more than 90 minutes to our travel time as we headed toward Reno.

The smell of fire was strong as we drove through thick smoke toward Susanville.  Mt Lassen was shrouded and completely hidden from view.  In some areas the ground was still smoldering, but we made the crossing with only a short delay of 20 minutes. 

Once east of Susanville, as we approached Highway 395, highway signs were flashing and notifying us of reduced visibility due to smoke and dust from high winds.  An app I use called Ventusky showed we were traveling through winds of 46 mph with gusts to 59 mph.  The canyons on the east side of the mountains funnel winds downslope and make for some scary driving.  I had driven 4 hours or so almost to Susanville through all the rain, but I think I had it easy compared to Mo’s stint driving 395 in the high winds.  Nice part about the winds, however, is that they blew away the smoke.  However the dust and sand that we drove through battered the rig terribly in some places.

By the time we reached Fallon we were definitely ready to hunker down.  Once again we boondocked at the Texaco station on the east side of town that is owned by the local tribe.  As long as you go inside and enter your information in their book, the tribal police will leave you alone for the night.  When we arrived the winds were still very high, and yet it was warm enough we needed to open the windows a bit.  A fine coating of sandy dust quickly covered everything. Reminded me a bit of a book I read recently called the Four Winds, by Kristin Hannah.  Her descriptions of life during the dust storms of the 30’s were harrowing.  A little desert wind and dust is nothing compared to life back then.

We had a light supper of salad and a bunless hot dog and within minutes I was ready to hit the comfy bed.  I think it was only 6 or so when I went there to read while Mo stayed up and caught up with some of her internet business.  There is a great Verizon signal here so our phones work just fine.

We talked a bit with Brother Dan who was hunkered down in Winnemucca with Chere.  They decided to eat out, and were concerned that a huge accident east of Winnemucca that was closing the interstate for several hours might not be cleared by morning.  Hopefully all is well and we will meet them tonight in Baker, Nevada.  We will be camping once again at the Border Inn RV Park in Baker.  Tomorrow we will point both rigs toward the east, crossing Highway 50, the Loneliest Road in America, toward  Capitol Reef NP.  Dan made reservations for 4 nights at an RV park in Torrey, so instead of boondocking at Fruita as we often do, we will have hookups for our time there.  I am looking forward to sharing some of my favorite spots in Southern Utah over the next ten days with Dan and Chere.  It is their first time to see the red rock canyons and a few of the big national parks in Utah.

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.

02-14-2018 Last Leg Home

Our main purpose for traveling Highway 395 toward home was an attempt to avoid traveling north through California on Interstate 5.  We have traveled both 395 and 99 entirely too many times, and when compared to the magnificence of 395, it is simply a no-brainer.  Unless, of course, it is winter.  Highway 44 west from Susanville is a decent road

We made it as far as Minden without mishap, but the weather forecast for the next day made us a bit nervous.  Should we scrap our plans for continuing north all the way to Susanville and then over the mountains to Mt Shasta?  Or should we just give up and travel west from Reno on I-80 over Donner Pass and then home, again, on I-5?

If we had traveled the 5, we may have been able to get up the hill to visit Jimmy and Nicky, but we also had the “horse to the barn” thing going after being away 3 weeks.  We were ready to be home, and the visiting desires were waning.  I decided instead to make a special trip next month for visiting, and will include my friend Maryruth on that visit.  I seem to enjoy it much better when the visit is dedicated to actual visiting instead of traveling.

We looked at the weather, I checked all the road cams, watched the radar.  Everything looks almost OK until Susanville, when the blue streak over the mountains to the west indicated snow.  Still, that blue streak was moving east, and maybe it would pass us by as we headed north and west.

We decided to take our chances, and figured that even if we couldn’t get across 89 up to Mt Shasta, we could no doubt manage 44 across to Redding.  Highway 44 meanders along the north side of Mt Lassen, and except for a very few twisty places, is a fairly good road.  It had been a few years since we traveled that route, when we hiked some fabulous trails in Mt Lassen and returned to Klamath Falls via Susanville.

More choices for getting over the Southern Cascades in California

We were right about the snow, and encountered a few flurries along Highway 395 before we arrived in Susanville, but by the time we continued west on 44, the snow was gone.  The highway was clear and we were even treated to some great views of Mt Lassen.

Even though we were fairly close to home, when we arrived in Redding we decided to slow it down a bit, get a place to park for another cold night, and travel the last 4 hours to home in the morning when we were fresh.  In addition, that would put us at home mid day, much nicer than crawling into our driveway in the dark.

Another happy little reason for taking our time in Redding had to do with Valentine’s Day.  We have a tradition to buy some happy See’s Candy to share as a Valentine’s Day treat.  Such decadence, but at least it is only once a year, or maybe twice if I get some at Christmas.  I haven’t had chocolate as creamy perfect as See’s anywhere in the country, even at some of those fabulous artisan chocolatiers in trendy little tourist towns.

Redding RV Park isn’t fancy, but it is right next to the freeway, and if you get a nice long site on the rows farthest from the freeway it is quiet enough for a good sleep, with space to pull through.  What the very nice looking website doesn’t show is that much of the park is on a fairly steep hill overlooking the freeway.  In all fairness, the actual sites are decently level, at least most of them are. We called ahead for a reservation as soon as we were sure of our route, and it was again a good thing that we did.  The park filled up after dark.

The next morning dawned clear and gorgeous, with Mt Shasta looming in the north to mark our route home.  We again took our time, filled up with gas at the station around the corner from the park, (also the cheapest gas in Redding),and got on the freeway.  Yes, it was I-5, but between this part of California and Oregon there are no other real options.

For the first time in a long time, we stopped at the rest area north of Yreka that is down in a canyon along the Klamath River.  It is also a California Welcome Center with a docent offering information about both California and Oregon, some lovely art, maps and tons of brochures for things to do in both Oregon and California.  We enjoyed the sunshine and the river and Mattie loved the spacious unfenced pet area. 

When we pulled into the driveway at home in the early afternoon, the sun was shining, and we were both still fresh and energetic enough to empty the MoHo and start the laundry. A perfect travel day at the end of a rather amazingly perfect trip.  Love to travel and love to be home.  I am so glad that we can do both.

Art from the Palm Springs Street Fair on the wall at home

Our timing was perfect, because in just a few days winter decided to come to Grants Pass after all, and we had real snow right here at home.  That doesn’t happen often in Grants Pass, and this time as well the snow melted with the afternoon sunshine.