Oct 6 - Back at Home in Sutherlin

Along the Columbia, s. of the Walulla Gap

We left Cabelas in Post Falls ID without dropping a dime in the store. I know... that doesn't show much gratitude for the free RV parking they offer, but over the years I've spent a lot of bucks with this good company. They probably didn't even notice.

The drive into the Portland area on Friday, the 3rd, was the best of the 5 drives this trip. The route was I-90 to US-395 to the Pasco - Kennewick (Tri-Cities) area where we caught US-12 as it bends around to the east side, across the Snake River and along the Columbia, and down through what's called the Wallula Gap. This narrow opening in the high surrounding rocky hills is what plugged up with ice during the last glacial retreat, creating a giant lake that spread across eastern Washington and into western Montana. When the ice dam let loose... as it did numerous times, the biblical flood of water was so great... of such a proportion... that it literally carved out what we now see as the Columbia River Gorge. Yes, the Wallula Gap is certainly a place to see.

When we reached Umatilla OR, we crossed back over to the Washington side of the river, and took WA-14 the rest of the way into the Portland area. Most people go through the Gorge on the Oregon side, on I-84. A more relaxed and often more spectacular drive can be had by driving down the WA side on 14. That day, the sun was bright, the wind light, and the views?... well,... just the best.

We arrived at our daughter and SIL's place mid-afternoon. The first order of business was hugging the grandkids... and then on to unloading the trailer. Much of what we brought was staying right there. Then, good time catching up with everyone, dinner at a new Chinese restaurant, and more talking until some of us were getting a bit "noddy". Sleep came easily and quickly.

If you had peeked through a keyhole Saturday morning you would have seen 4 people in a queen sized bed. That'd be Dar, 2 grandkids, and me... talking, watching short videos, and horsing around. Of course, we miss these times when we're traveling, but what's that they say about absence?  Something about making the heart grow fonder?

By 11am we were back on the road, heading toward Sutherlin. For the three hour drive we reminisced our trip, talked about the future, and felt good about "going home". There's nothing like the feeling of going home... unless it's the feeling of leaving again on another excursion.

So, how'd the old bushouse make it through the hotter-than-normal Oregon summer? Overall, pretty darned good I'd say. The battery in the car was dead, but the batteries in the bushouse were in tip-top shape... kept that way by the 400 watt solar system. It's a lengthy process to re-commission a camper after returning... especially one in a deep state of mothballs. But system by system, things woke up, fired up, filled up, and lit up. She did good.

Some may remember we caught a mouse a day before leaving last June in one of my always set "tell-tale" mouse traps. This could have been a sign of trouble and we did fear what we'd find when returning. But ultimately there was nothing to worry about. Not a single varmint in any of the dozen or so traps we set. Clean as a whistle.

The past day or two we've also been slowly unpacking and cleaning and doing laundry and reconnecting with friends around the Park.

It's good to be home.

But I can't wait to leave again.

Home

Oct 2 - Into Idaho with a stop at a tire shop

Yesterday we left Red Shale CG about 8am with promising skies giving us some hope that it'd be a better day. And a better day it was. While we still had the incessant head wind, sun lifted spirits as we moved across Montana.

We stopped at Little Bighorn National Battlefield Monument for a brief refresher in the history of the "white man's" confiscation of the culture and way-of-life of the native American Indian. How can we not be ashamed of what we did to these people? I hope that'd I'd have had the guts to fight back like they did.

Little noteworthy after that as we moved west with our sights set on Bozeman.

One of my brothers lives in Bozeman and we wanted to stop by... spend a little time with him and see the new house he just bought and moved in to. Since it's all so new and he's had so little time to get things unpacked, etc., we stayed in our little camper on the street in front of his house. It all worked out great... this camper gives us great sleeps... and we had a nice time connecting up with him again. Thanks Bro.

This morning Dar woke me from a deep sleep a little after 8am. Yikes... what'dya say there boy... let's get moving. On the road a little after 9am, early fluid exchange, and we're heading west once again.

A little east of Butte we stopped at a rest area where a regular inspection of the equipment revealed a chunk of rubber had liberated itself from one of the old U-Haul trailer tires.  I don't recall if I'd mentioned that this trailer, according to the mfrs. tag on the side, is 32 years old. Judging by visual condition of the tires, they may have been 32 years old too.  What a poor excuse for a rental trailer!  I accept some of the blame for this situation as I didn't do as thorough an inspection before I rented it as I should have.

Regardless, I now had a slowly disintegrating tire (although it still held air), and some quick decisions to make.  First off... call U-Haul roadside assistance and ask them what we should do. We're near Butte and could take care of the situation proactively, or... or... we could wait for the inevitable blow-out further down the line in more inaccessible location that would cost them even more.

In an encouraging sign of reasonableness, they agreed to connect us up with a tire guy in Butte... which we did... and after about 3 hours (there goes the schedule...) we were back on our way west with two new tires, two freshly re-packed wheel bearings, and a little more confidence in an old trailer.

With the delay, we decided to drop anchor near Post Falls ID and Spokane WA... at a Cabelas store again. Tonight we're nestled among the semi-trucks, nice and warm, and looking forward to a shorter drive tomorrow into the Portland area... and one of our other "homes-away-from-home".

G'night All.

Travelers know it's advisable to stop once in a while and
wash the dust from the road from your throat.

Sept 30 - Another Month Fades... Falling Leaves and Cooler Air on our way West

Sign on trailer seems to indicate at least
it knows where we're going.

Motivated by a ticking deadline to get the rental trailer returned before additional charges are tacked on an already hefty bill for a 32 year old well-used trailer, we bid adieu to family in Beaver Dam and hit the road about 8am on Monday. With the exception of a few showers as we traversed Minnesota, we had reasonable weather for enjoyable travel.

My objective is 500 miles each day, give or take, so we could complete the journey to the PNW in 5 days... even allowing some time for a little factor-fudge (the no sugar added type).

Not a lot to report from Monday's drive... all Interstate all the time... and no stopping for anything other than the normal fluid-exchanges. We pulled into Cabelas in Mitchell SD about 5pm (and almost exactly 500 miles), found a little nearby joint for dinner, and settled down for the night. During the night strong east winds jostled the little camper, but we got a good night sleep.

This morning, Tuesday we woke to more wind, a little rain, and we hustled to get moving by 8am. Once again, a day of Interstate Highways and little else, but the weather was the thorn in our big toe all day. The early tail wind turned into a head wind with a vengeance, rain, heavy at times, low clouds and low visibility, the normal heavy truck traffic... even gaining an hour didn't do much to lift my spirits. But despite all that we did eek out nearly 480 miles and we're in a nice camp with improving weather. Things are looking up.

A word about the camp:  we stayed at Red Shale NFS CG in the Custer National Forest not far from Ashland MT on our way to Wisconsin in July. Since it happened to be in the right spot at the right time during our return trip too, we took advantage of the situation.  In case you forgot, here's what you get... a very un-congested small but rustic facility, it has three things going for it in my book:  few other campers (tonight, only one), a strong Verizon 4G signal, and it's absolutely free of charge. What's not to like.

Cabelas in Mitchell

crossing the Missouri

camp at Red Shale