On Thursday (6/19), we crossed the border into Oregon - and lost an hour again! We had two nights in Pendleton - home of the Pendleton Wool mill - where they make those famous blankets. A nice little park here - one that is new to the KOA system.
Getting to stop for 2 nights is something of a treat for us. And to make it even better, we got to meet up with one of our other teams for a late lunch on Friday. It's not often that Pendleton, OR is the perfect meeting place where folks from Oklahoma and New Hampshire meet up! But here we were in Pendleton - and they were traveling from Pomeroy, WA - on their way to Mountain Home, ID. We hadn't seen them since last fall in Phoenix, so we had a lot to catch up on. Thankfully, it was mid-afternoon - so the waitress was very patient & understanding. We talked so long that by the time we ordered our meals, she told us we could have lunch OR dinner! Roger & I definitely got the good end of the deal, for they still had to drive on to Mountain Home - about 250 miles - and they lost an hour when they crossed over into Idaho. All we had to do was drive back to the campground and crash for the evening.
But it was back on the road again this morning. The highway took us about 150 miles straight west to Cascade Locks. We followed the mighty Columbia River that divides Oregon & Washington. The further west we got, the more beautiful it got. Just as we were approaching The Dalles, we found a wide spot in the road and pulled over. As always, I needed a bathroom break - but we got an added bonus with getting a bit to stop and admire the view of Mt. Hood. Roger grabbed the camera and got the mountain - and The Dalles dam - all in one picture.
Train tracks run along side the highway - on both the Oregon & Washington sides. This is a major east/west train route, and I'm sure we will be reminded of it often tonight, as the campground sits right next to the tracks. Right now it's kind of charming to hear the trains, but we will most likely find it not so charming by morning!
With the pace we are keeping this year, our 'voyage' up and through Idaho didn't take long. Since my last writing from Glendale, Utah, we journeyed north to Moab, Utah - home of the Arches National Park. This is still area we covered during our first year with KOA in 2002.
Moab is also where Russ & Randy spent some time back in 1996 building cabins. I'm happy to report the kabins are still in fine shape! In 2002, the park was being visited by a sand storm; this time the weather was much more cooperative.
But, before we made it to the KOA that day, we had our second 'blow out' of the season. Took another hunk of fiberglass & metal out of the fifth wheel skirting, as well as costing us our sewer hose & connectors. Thankfully it didn't knock a hole in any of our holding tanks! I mentioned to Roger as he was 'doing his thing under the trailer' - that at least we had the good fortune to be broke down in the middle of some very beautiful country - this time! We were also able to pull off at a very wide spot in the road, so it wasn't near as nerve-wracking as the first time! A Utah highway patrolman actually stopped to check on us. He stood and watched Roger rigging up the jack, made the comment that Roger certainly had the tools to handle it, and then left him to it!
Made it into the KOA, where we were greeted warmly by the owners. Very nice park - as desert parks go. We're just not big desert fans - but still have to admit, the red rock formations are beautiful. Called first thing the next morning and found the local tire dealer had our tire in stock, so Roger made a quick trip into town to get a new one, before we hit the road headed to Vernal/Dinosaurland KOA. No north/south interstates to be found in the eastern part of the state, and it seemed like we were going UP the whole day. No traffic to speak of, and that is one thing Roger is enjoying about this season. Much less traffic than the East Coast!
Got a bit turned around, missed a sign, but finally made it to the KOA. Despite my 'pledge' not to weight the trailer down with 'goodies' from the KOA stores this year, I'm finding that I can't resist a few special 'Christmas' gifts. So many of the KOAs are really turning their stores in to very nice gift shops, with some unusual gift items! Roger always 'gripes', but hands me his wallet!
Then it was on to Flaming Gorge, right on the Utah/Wyoming border. We got there and Roger was setting up his DirecTV when we got hit with a 'micro burst' of wind. The area had been having them all morning. THAT was a new experience! Another beautiful park and an easy review to write. The owner is a very nice lady that we have known over the years, but has been going though some frustrating times. She was 'wound up' and we just settled in to let her get it off her chest. Two hours later, she hugged us and said our visit was better than any 'high dollar therapy session!' No two visits are the same.
Back on the road . . .still climbing . . . to Bear Lake, UT, which is right on the Utah/Idaho border. This is another gorgeous area - the lake water is an awesome aqua color that is undescribable! We've never seen anything quite like it! One minute you say the water is blue, the next green . . .gorgeous! It is a BIG summer recreation area, especially since it is not too far from Salt Lake City. The folks have done an awesome job here! We were even offered the use of the 'Super Site', complete with it's own private hot tub. Just might have taken them up on that, but we happened to arrive on the worst day (weather wise!) of the year! The wind was blowing 50-60 miles an hour, it was COLD, misty rain . . . just plain miserable! We opted to unhook and do most of our walk-about in the big yellow truck! In fact, the morning before we got there, they had two inches of snow! Now this is JUNE, for goodness sakes! Thankfully not many write-ups and we were able to get this one done in short order. The forecasters were calling for night time temps in the 20's, but thankfully they were wrong. Think it only made it down in the high 30's, for our water didn't freeze! I DID NOT SIGN ON FOR THIS KIND OF WEATHER IN JUNE!
Next stop, Montpelier Creek, Idaho - one of our favorite parks. It's a small park, but such a gorgeous natual setting, with a trout stream running through it. Really nice new owners here, and we were invited to join them and their work kampers for pizza after we completed the review. The weather was improving, but still cold enough to require a jacket for the walk-about. But by the time we left the next day, the forecast was for the 70's . . . and the sun was shining.
On to Pocatello . . . and a bit of a break for us. This is very much a 'metro' park, sitting behind a gas station/convenience store. Not much for 'atmosphere' but with the Father's Day weekend ahead of us, we have to 'hole up' somewhere. Knocked the review out on Friday as soon as we arrived, then went out to supper with the folks to "ButterBurrs". Little place where they make their food from 'scratch' and bake their own breads and pies. Roger 'frogged his sides' on a double portion of chicken fried steak; I had the same, but the 'half' portion. Their home-made bread sticks are the equivilant of about 2 hot rolls! And then I finished it off with a slice of their 'secret recipe' oatmeal pie! Yummy! Roger stuck to his old tried and true - chocolate cream pie.
It is rather ironic - in 2002 we did their first review as KOA owners at this park - and now in 2008 we did their final one. The park is selling and the new owners will take over within the week. These folks are ready to retire and just spend time enjoying their grandkids - and their cabin in the mountains. We wish them well.
So, for the weekend we 'holed up' in earnest. Roger spoiled me Saturday morning and walked up to their breakfast tent and brought me breakfast. I'm not one for 'breakfast in bed', but I did enjoy 'breakfast in my recliner!'. I did manage to get dressed that day, but never set foot outside the trailer. Then Sunday came, and we both ended up wasting the entire day. We were the ultimate description of 'couch potatoes', and neither one of us stuck our heads out! The US Open golf tournament was on and we both really got into watching it. Tiger Woods truly makes golf fun to watch! Now some folks would think two days of 'nothing' is boring, but when you roll every day like we do, doing NOTHING is pure luxury. I wouldn't want a steady diet of it though.
With our batteries fully recharged, we headed north to Craters of the Moon/Arco, ID. This is the first city in the world that was lit with atomic power! Never knew it existed before we had a KOA here! It was a good thing we were rested, for we arrived at the park just before noon. The folks came over to the KOA rig and sat and visited with us until Tiger won, did the walk-about with us, and then took us to supper. It was non-stop from 1:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.! Think that broke a record! Very nice folks, have put a lot of work into this park and are anxious to make it work. That was just a bit too much togetherness for me.
The next morning our drive south to Twin Falls, ID took us through the Craters of the Moon national park. Wes & Nick would love this! It is a HUGE area, lava rock everywhere. It's easy to understand how it got its name.
From cold to HOT! Temps are in the 90's as we did this walk-about, and although we try to avoid using the A/C, we gave up when the inside of our trailer hit 91 degrees. We LOVE these parks that are in such great shape, and we had a great visit with the owners as they treated us to dinner at their Outback Cafe - a set up much like we had at our park. A girl could get plumb spoiled out here with all these generous owners!
In fact, it's time to wake up Roger and hit the shower. They have insisted we join them for breakfast before we break camp and head up the road for our last Idaho KOA - Mountain Home.
Then it's on to Oregon!
This was the view from our campsite at the Glendale KOA, the southernmost KOA in Utah. Our back window overlooked a pasture full of grazing horses. It was quite charming to hear them neighing to each other. We have three KOAs in this area, where so much natural beauty comes together in Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park.
The road here takes us right through Red Canyon, which is also awesome with towering red formations. We even had to slow down to avoid an antelope running right down the middle of the highway on our way to the Cannonville KOA.Although US tourism is down this spring, the European business is booming out here in the West. Our $4+ a gallon gas doesn't faze them, for that is what they have long been accustomed to in their countries. I had a delightful visit with a young German the other evening as we were settling in. He & his wife (or maybe just girlfriend) had rented their motor home and he shared that this was their first night in a 'regular campground'. He wanted to make sure he was doing everything 'right', so we had an interesting conversation about hookups - water, sewer & electricity. He stopped us the next morning to let us know everything was working well, and thank us for our time.
Next year we will definitely schedule some 'time off' in this area. I mentioned to Roger it would be fun to take a couple of days and rent a Jeep - NOT to do off-roading - but just to travel the scenic byways through this area. I had 'thought' we might just route ourselves along the famous Highway 12 as we go to Moab today, but was told by the locals DO NOT DO THAT TOWING A 38 FOOT TRAILER! And one thing we have learned, is 'listen to the locals'!
So we will stick with the sedate Highway 89 north to Interstate 70 - this time. But we will be back! It is a 6-7 hour trip from Glendale to Moab, so it will be a full day of driving, even on the 'boring' roads.
Our marathon driving days - or two of them anyway - are behind us. Today we drove 410 miles - from the west side of Nevada (Reno) to the east side (Wendover). At least it was interstate all the way. So this season we have managed to drive all the way down the east side (from Wendover to Las Vegas); all the way up the west side (from Las Vegas to Reno); and now all the way across the state. And just so you will know . . . it is DESOLATE & BARREN any direction you drive! About the only 'good' thing is that there is not a lot of traffic once you get out of Las Vegas.
We've paid as high as $5.19 a gallon for diesel. Roger about had a heart attack when we stopped in Tonnopah, NV and our gas tab was $154.00 to fill up! Who would have 'thunk' it! Remember when we all thought $3.50 a gallon was high?
We'll do the review here at Wendover tomorrow & then head east & north to Brigham City, UT. We're having to do some 'back tracking' to finish up in Utah, for after Brigham City, we drop south to pick up Panguitch, Cannonville & Glendale (in Zion Ntl Park/Bryce Canyon country) before heading back north to Moab, Vernal, Flaming Gorge & Bear Lake.
Then it will be onward & upward through Idaho and into Oregon. It will be really interesting to see just how many miles we end up driving this year.
We've had two new parks join the KOA system in California, so we may end up having to go back there at the end of our season. We'll just wait and see on that one. Having to do that will really add some miles - and days - as we finish our reviews in Billings, MT - hopefully late August/early September.
We've got three reviews done since getting back on the road, and we're getting 'back in the groove'. It was almost like starting a whole new season - Roger claims he's having to completely 'retrain' me! :>)
