Oregon to PA Oct-Nov 2015

Upper North Falls, Silver Falls SP

After we replaced the last 2 original tires, we headed to Oregon’s most visited state park, Silver Falls SP. This park features 10 waterfalls that you can see on one long day hike. Due to its popularity, we could not get a camping spot there over the weekend, so we stayed in nearby Silverton. This town is known for its murals. Also nearby we visited the Oregon Gardens and a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

from Four Freedoms (Speech,Want, and Fear)

Oregon Gardens

Mr and Mrs. Potts and son Clay

Frank Lloyd Wright design

Mt Shasta  

We headed into California, and hiked in Castle Crags SP and toured Lake Shasta Caverns before we spent some time with Elizabeth and Helen. On our way through Nevada to Kingman AZ, we found the road closed due to a fire at a hazardous waste disposal site. They were unable to tell us how long the road would be closed, but since the detour route was an additional 120 miles, we settled in to spend the night on the side of the road. Fortunately, our wait was only four hours. We found out later, that some travelers were delayed more than 24 hours. I guess we were lucky. We spend several days with Phil and Connie, before moving on to Sedona AZ.

Elizabeth and Helen

Donner Memorial

Only in Vegas

Monolith Gardens Kingman AZ

Devils Bridge Sedona

At Sedona we went to Sedona Summit timeshare to check in. After much searching, they could not find our reservation. I checked our documents and came up empty.  Somehow I had noted on our calendar that we had a confirmed reservation. We ended up camping the entire week in and around Sedona. We drove to a lookout one evening to see the sunset, and found Frank Carpenter there. I had not seen him for 10+ years. He was on his way to California.

Red Rock Country

After Sedona, the original plan was to drive back to MD/PA via Lewisburg WV, but since we had been looking to replace our RV, we decided to visit a few RV factories on the way home. The first stop was Born Free in Humboldt, IA. We soon found out that a new Born Free was out of our price range. We traveled to Forest City, IA and toured the Winnebago factory. We found one RV that could work for us, but it just seemed too big. We drove over to Elkhart, IN (where most RVs are built) and toured the factory for Phoenix Cruiser. We found what we wanted and ordered our first brand new RV. It should be ready in February. We are selling our Born Free on our own.

Ruxton - front wheel drive classic

While in the area we toured the RV/MH Hall of Fame and the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Auto Museum. We got stuck in the area due to 50 mph wind gusts that made RV driving very difficult and dangerous. We did get out of the area a week before a big snow storm arrived. We made it to Lewisburg and checked on our property there. We also did the Bunker tour at the Greenbrier Resort. This was a secret Cold War bunker for the US Congress.

1937 Cord

We camped out in Shirley’s driveway and checked out her new house in Dayton, VA and made it back to York, PA in time for Pat’s Dad’s 88^th birthday.

MT, ID, BC, WA, and OR August & September 2015

Cow Moose

After we left Fernie, we headed toward Missoula, MT to pick up prescriptions.  On the way we did a bike trip on the Route of the Hiawatha, one of the best rail/trails in the country (all downhill with return by shuttle bus). We visited Savenac Nursery, where we previously volunteered, and caught up with Robert, whom we worked with there.  Missoula was very smoky from all the forest fires in WA and ID. We headed south-west into Idaho and followed the Lewis and Clark Trail. We wanted to circle back north, but the roads were closed as some towns had extreme fire activity. We headed back into Missoula, and had numerous tires problems (including 3 more flats). We toured the Smoke Jumpers Training Center, and killed some time at Holland Lake NF, while waiting on wheel accessories (lost during last double blow-out). The parts didn’t arrive so we left town and headed back to Fernie.

Demolition Derby

View from Steptoe Butte

 At Fernie, thanks to many rainy days, we got out of the smoke cloud we had endured for the last 3 weeks. We almost ran into a cow moose and calf on one of the trails. We slogged through the mud to see Fernie’s Demolition Derby. After two weeks in Fernie, we headed into Washington. We made stops at Steptoe Butte SP and Palouse Falls SP before arriving at Tom and Cornelia’s home.

Wildflowers

Palouse Falls

Lighthouse at Ft. Casey

 The four of us did some touring around Tacoma’s Point Defiance Park, before we took a RV trip to the San Juan Islands. First we went to Whidbey Island and Fort Casey SP. We toured the gun placements, the lighthouse and watched the sea lions.  At Deception Pass SP we hiked the trails and walked across the bridge. Below the bridge, dozens of fishing boats jockeyed for position as the salmon rushed by.

10 inch Disappearing Gun

Dahlia

San Juan Inland Ferry

 We camped in Anacortes and took the ferry to a different San Juan Island each day. Tom and Cornelia drove their car and we visited various attractions and parks on San Juan and Lopez Islands. San Juan is infamous for the Pig War. On Orcas Island, we did a hiked around Mountain Lake and got a view of all the islands from the lookout on Mt Constitution. We really enjoyed the brief time we spent in the islands and we plan to return and overnight on the islands next time. From here, Tom and Cornelia returned home and we went to the Olympic Peninsula. Here we had another flat tire (bad valve stem). We did manage to get our exhaust pipe replaced after it was damaged by the first tire failure in WY. We spent a day touring Ft Vancouver and then drove out to Ft Clatsop near Astoria, OR. Would you believe we had another flat tire here, and put two new tires on the front? (For those who lost track, we had 7 flats on Michelin tires and bought 6 new tires in 4 months).

Cornelia, Tom, Pat and Don

Sculpture Gardens, San Juan Island

View of San Juan Islands

New Mexico to British Columbia, June-July 2015,

Linda & Pat

After two weeks in MD/PA visiting friends and family, we flew back to Albuquerque, NM. We headed north into the Pecos Wilderness area to camp and hike. We tried to contact Linda Erby, who was in the Santa Fe area, but it seemed like whenever we had phone service, she didn’t and vice versa.  After a few days of missed calls, we figured it just wasn’t going to work, so we headed to Capulin Volcano. Just as we started to leave on a hike there, Linda showed up! I’m not sure who was more surprised. We lucked out because RVs were not allowed up the road to the volcano where the best hike was located. Now we could ride up the mountain in Linda’s vehicle.

 

Garden of the Gods

We all camped at Sugarite Canyon SP for a few days. Then Linda returned to the Santa Fe area and we headed north into Colorado. We went to the Garden of the Gods, toured the Air Force Academy and visited the very interesting National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder. 

USAFA Chapel

Jackalopes do exist!

Pat leading our first RV down the Oregon Trail, Scott's Bluff NM

Chimney Rock NHS

After a few days camping near Cheyenne, WY we headed into Nebraska. Believe it or not, we found several interesting sites as we headed north. These included: Scotts Bluff NM, Chimney Rock NHS, Carhenge and the Museum of the Fur Trade. Carhenge was an attempt to duplicate Stonehenge, except cars were used in lieu of stones.

Carhenge 

Shooting Star

Rattlesnake

Tire Blowout

Our main destination on this trip was to get to South Dakota, so we could meet a requirement (one night in SD) for driver license renewal. We only planned to spend a couple nights in SD then head to Yellowstone where we had reservations. Only 20 miles west from the WY/SD border, we had a major tire failure in Middle of Nowhere, WY. Road service brought us a new tire, but the failed tire tread had done noticeable body damage. We returned to Sturgis, SD (motorcycle heaven) to get some body work done. We had to reschedule Yellowstone, but we were back on the road five days later. 

Bear Butte SP, SD

Yellow headed Blackbird

Subalpine Daisy

Baby Mountain Goats

We also had our A/C die on us, but we thought we could live without it. We realized we were wrong a few days later when it hit 101 degrees in Billings, MT. Getting the A/C fixed now became a top priority. Getting RV service work done on the road, on short notice, has always been difficult, but we lucked out and found a willing repair shop not far from Big Horn Canyon NRA. 

Big Horn Canyon NRA

Yellowstone River.

 We finally made it back to Yellowstone, our favorite park in the whole world. We spent about a week there, hiking, looking at thermal features and waiting in long lines at bear jams.

Lower Yellowstone Falls and Canyon

Here I come!

Midway Geyser Basin

Wildflower YNP

Kings of the Road

At Natural Bridge, YNP

Red Fox

Mammoth Hot Springs

Mammoth Hot Springs

Elk

Don, Pat, Art, Carol, Eldon, Lois, and Nature Bob (our guide)

After Yellowstone we headed to Fernie, BC to join Eldon and Lois and their guests Art and Carol, from Nova Scotia. The six of us took a hike with a nature guide up the ski mountain to Lost Boys Pass. 

Sagebrush Mariposa Lily

Rafting the Elk River Canyon

. The following week, after everyone else had returned home, Pat and I rafted the Elk River Canyon, a trip Eldon and Lois had highly recommended. The weather was perfect and we had a great time.

Elk River Canyon