We arrived at Williams Junction at 4:10 Saturday morning, just 20 minutes late,
and immediately went home and climbed into bed for a necessary nap. At 7:30, we started preparing to leave on our RV trip. We picked up the dogs and finished loading the rig. We finally left (in no obvious hurry) for Las Vegas at 12:30, hoping to arrive at least a little after the heat had abated a bit. The trip was a HOT 214 miles, but we made it without incident, and the temperature in LV was only 104 degrees when we arrived. We checked into the Oasis RV Resort (a nice place at which we've stayed several times before)
and settled in for the evening---with plans to leave for Tonopah early Sunday morning---to perhaps beat the heat a little. We watched a little TV, then crashed for a real night's sleep. All four of us slept very well.
After I finished Cross early Sunday morning, we headed off for Tonopah. It wasn't as early as we had planned, but it didn't matter. We made the 218 miles across a lot of desert without incident, and parked at the RV park portion of Tonopah Station, the major hotel in this nothing town.
The RV park is small, about 12 spaces, and not much to look at. But it's OK for what we need for just this one night. It was only 92 degrees when we arrived, which was a welcome change from Las Vegas. We ate in, watched some TV, and hit the sack for another good night of sleep. Tomorrow, it's on to Reno!
Reno was an easy 238-mile trip. We passed through some ugly remains of towns that used to be. It was depressing. We also saw a lot of military installations. I guess they are there because there is a lot of room nearby to drop bombs. Also, Predator drones are operated out of Creech AFB and a lot of ordnance is stored at the Hawthorne Army Depot, both located in the middle of nowhere. We arrived in Reno just after 2:00 PM.
We are staying at the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino, a nice setup indeed. We had dinner at the Grand Sierra Hotel buffet with Jim and Shirley Portzer, fellow RVers we met in Palm Springs, who are currently working at an RV park in nearby Sparks, Nevada. It was fun seeing them again.
Tuesday we headed for Chico, California, to visit with John and Nancy McCrady who live in nearby Durham. It was a generally easy drive of about 170 miles, though part of it was very curvy with steep upgrades and downgrades. But Becky drove the whole way and handled it beautifully. John had guessed that we would arrive about 2:00 o'clock, so he called at that exact time to check up on us. It so happened that I took the call at the very moment Becky was pulling into our assigned site at the (very nice) Almond Tree RV Park.
Pretty good guess, John. An hour later, they showed up at our place with cheese and crackers, and an artichoke, for happy hour before we re-assembled for dinner at Christian Michaels, a very nice restaurant in Chico. Their son, Mike, and his wife, Libby, joined us for dinner. We had a great time and a wonderful dinner. Thanks, guys.
The next morning, Wednesday, John and Nancy returned with quiche, sausages, and fruit for breakfast. We left for Klamath Falls a little late, as the result, but it didn't really matter, as we made that trip of 208 miles again without incident. We stayed at the Klamath Falls KOA, an OK place in a crummy part of town. (That assumes there is a nice part of Klamath Falls.)
On Tuesday, we had decided we were not happy about our choice of the Thousand Trails preserve in Sunriver for our one week stay after Klamath Falls, so we rebooked at the Scandia RV Park in Bend, instead.
There were two reasons for our change. First, we weren't sure we had a real chance to get a spot with satellite coverage at Sunriver, and second, there are no sites at Sunriver with sewer facilities---meaning you have to have a "honey wagon" come by periodically to empty your tanks. We consider that to be barbaric. Scandia has sewer connections at every site, and we were promised a good chance to have satellite coverage. (There are a lot of trees in Oregon, and they seem to never trim them or cut them down. Oregon is an obsessively green state.)
We arrived at Bend after a quick 121-mile drive, and, after scientifically guessing exactly where to position our rig to get satellite coverage, we turned on the dish and waited for it to locate the satellites. I monitored its progress in the bedroom, and after a few minutes it signaled that it had done its job. I turned on the TV in the bedroom and all was well. Several hours later we turned on the TV in the living room and realized that the dish positioning was so tenuous that it only worked on the bedroom TV. I have no idea why that is so, but we decided to move the rig a foot in one direction to better position the dish. That didn't work, so we moved two feet in the other direction. That didn't work either, so we returned to the original position.
Now the dish didn't work at all. Moving the rig is not fun, since we have to hook up, bring in the slideouts, move, unhook, bring in the slideouts, and level---each time. After the third move we gave up and decided we would try to live for a week without live TV. It will be difficult. We have a possible alternative---hooking up to the RV park's cable system---but I have no idea how to do that. I bought some cable at the hardware store, but have not yet tried to install it. We'll see.
Thursday afternoon, we went to the home of Terry and Carol Thomas, our friends from my days at UCLA. They live in Sunriver.
We had a terrific reunion (we last saw them four years ago) and had a nice dinner that Carol prepared, and agreed to get together again, for lunch, on Sunday.
On Saturday, Becky explored the area with the dogs, and I puttered around---including a trip to the local Fred Meyer store which was a real eye opener. It's so big and varied, the place makes Walmart look like a small neighborhood boutique. That night, we met Craig and Pattie Apregan (and their kids, Cameron and Casey) for dinner at the Jackalope Grill in Bend. (They are former Angelinos who have retired to nearby Sisters, Oregon.)
We also last saw the four of them four years ago, here, and it was fun seeing them again, and hearing about the kids' plans. Cameron is about to return to the University of Denver for his senior year, and Casey is about to leave for Glasgow, Scotland, for her first year at a specialized school for kids interested in pursuing an entertainment career. (She's a singer and actress.)
And the dinner was terrific. I had Cioppino.
We had lunch with the Thomases on Sunday, at their country club. I had a delicious cobb salad, and we had a great time again.
After lunch, I decided to try to hook up the TV cable. I had no idea how to do it, but I experimented. And it worked (!) on the first try. Strangely, we weren't excited with what was showing Sunday evening, so we watched programs that we had already recorded on DirecTV instead.
On Monday, we met Carol at the High Desert Museum in Bend. She and Terry are members, so we got in for free. It's a really nice, interesting place, and we had an enjoyable hour or so there.
That evening we relaxed. (Seeing friends is so tiring.)
Tuesday, after getting a Jiffy Lube treatment for the truck, we met Craig for lunch at The Open Door restaurant in Sisters. Excellent food.
While Becky took the dogs for an after-lunch walk, Craig and I stopped at the Three Creeks Brewing Company. Becky finally joined us. Sisters is an interesting place---very upscale, very tidy, very Oregon.
I had been adding a lot of coolant to our truck the past few days, and we had been driving very hot, intermittently, so I asked the Jiffy Lube people to check for leaks. They reported no leaks but suggested a complete (expensive) flushing of the system. I declined, suspecting that I was being hustled.
Wednesday afternoon, Carol and Terry came to our RV park for a happy hour before going to dinner at The Jackalope Grill (again). It was excellent (again). I had mussels and Caesar salad this time.
Thursday, we finally left Bend, heading for Burns, Oregon, only 132 miles away. (There's nothing between Burns and McCall, Idaho, our real destination.) We stayed at the Burns RV Park, a very nice, rural park, with long sites and lots of grass.
It rained a bit Thursday morning, but we left on time---for our four-day stay in McCall. The scenery between Burns and the Idaho border was abysmal. After we hit the Payette National Forest in Idaho, things got a lot better.
The coolant problem reappeared several times on the way (238 miles) but we arrived at the McCall RV Resort without incident. After we checked in, we were informed that our truck was leaking a lot of coolant. On the advice of one of the park folks, I took the truck to a repair shop only a block away. Knowing that it was Labor Day weekend, I had little hope of any salvation.
Zach, at Steve's Automotive & Towing, allowed that he would be working on Saturday, and immediately set to determining what the problem was. He found the leak early Saturday morning and was able to arrange for the necessary parts to be delivered Tuesday morning, expecting to be able to complete the repair by late Tuesday afternoon. That meant we would need to stay in McCall only one extra day.
It was cold and rainy at the RV resort, but it's such a nice place, we hardly noticed. Because of the weather, though, we didn't do much except walk the dogs. (Becky, that is, walked the dogs; I rented a car since our truck was in the shop.)
Becky made chili for dinner. Wonderful. The Saturday redbox movie was Far From The Madding Crowd, with the adorable Carey Mulligan. Excellent film. It was a remake of a 1967 film I never saw starring Julie Christie.
Sunday arrived clear and bright, and dry. The RV park had a Labor Day party set for Saturday, which they moved to Sunday because of the rainy weather on Saturday. They had a local music group at the party, The Bottom Line, consisting of two guitars, a sax, and drums, which was terrific.
They played a lot of classic rock with which Becky was more familiar than I was. The park also had free hot dogs (and brats) and beer at the party. The musical group asked for requests. I dropped a $20 in their tip jar and asked for "Peggy Sue." They admitted they had not practiced it, and nevertheless faked it very well. Good going, guys. The whole event was a lot of fun.
One of the special things I noticed about the event, and about the park as a whole was that there were a lot of families here---probably because it was the last weekend of the summer---and I guess that a lot of them were from Boise, about 100 miles south of here.
On the night we arrived here there was a party for the many people who were supporting Boise State against Washington---to start the football season. Boise State beat Washington, which made everybody happy, of course. At the Sunday party, the kids were everywhere. They were clean, happy, and courteous. I was impressed. At the risk of sounding condescending, it seemed to me that this was quintessential middle-America. On the lodge big screen TV there was NASCAR playing, of course. These were just nice people. I felt very comfortable being here.
Monday afternoon, we drove up to the Brundage Mountain Resort, the local ski area for McCall, just a few miles out of town. It's a nice place, small, with just a few chairlifts. We had a beer (or two) in the restaurant and had a nice chat with the bartender who was from Los Angeles.
That excursion to Brundage on Monday was the only time we took the rental car out. Maybe we didn't really need to rent it. Oh, well. The big news on Tuesday was that the parts for our truck never arrived from Boise, so we wouldn't be ready to leave until Wednesday. Zach promised that, with a little luck, the truck would be ready by noon. The RV park allowed for that late checkout without penalty. I arranged with Zach to have someone pick me up at the car rental place Tuesday afternoon so I could return the car.
I hope we saved one day's charges that way. Wednesday, at noon, the truck was ready. I filled it with fuel on the way back to the RV park, and we were on the road by 12:30. It was the latest we had ever left a park, and it was weird arriving at the next stop so late in the day---at 5:30.
That next stop was the Twin Falls-Jerome KOA park in Jerome, Idaho, 230 miles away. The scenery for most of the way between McCall and Jerome was lousy. And we had a lot of mountain driving, which slowed us down. But the area in the Boise National Forest, along the Payette River, was spectacular.
We left Jerome at the usual time Thursday morning, and arrived for a three-day stay at the (very nice) Pony Express RV Resort in North Salt Lake City---214 miles away---at 1:30, without any coolant issues or other distractions. After setting up, and adjusting to the 90 degree heat, we relaxed until early evening. While Becky then walked the dogs,
I went to nearby Bountiful and picked up Panda Express for dinner. Yummy, as usual.
Friday, we met Becky's high school friend, Faye Keller, at her home in east SLC for lunch. Her condo is on the first floor, but because the building is on a hill she has a fabulous view of SLC out the entire window-wall of her living room. I had never met Faye before; she was quite a treat: Smart, sophisticated, friendly. We had a great time with her.
That night, we met our daughter, Donna, for dinner at The Copper Onion in SLC. Her husband, David, was due in later at the airport (coming from Providence, Rhode Island, where he had just gone to fire someone). The dinner was terrific (I had mussels and a hamburger, quite a combination) and seeing Donna was a lot of fun, as usual.
Saturday in the early afternoon, we headed for Park City to have dinner with Donna and David at their home. David made spareribs from scratch, and they were delicious. Naturally, we also had a lot of conversation and additional food items, and played with their dogs, Norman and Coconut, during the five-hour visit. It's always great to see them. It's a little odd, though, to see them as empty nesters for the first time.
Sunday morning, we packed up and left early for Panguitch, Utah, an easy 247-mile trip---mostly down I-15 through pretty farm country. Crossing the mountains to get to US 89 on Utah 20, we came across a harrowing turn that, even with plenty of warning, was a serious challenge for a few folks. There was an overturned semi halfway through the turn and right behind it was a truck whose load had shifted due to centrifugal force, and half the load was spilled down the side of the mountain. Scary. But the rest of the trip was lovely. That part of Utah is so calming. We stayed at the Panguitch KOA, a nice, typical rural campground.
After unhooking, we immediately took off for Red Canyon, near the entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park, to visit with Patricia Wheelis, a former associate at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. She's working in the gift shop at Red Canyon. It was fun seeing her again.
Monday, the destination was the Wahweap Campground at Lake Powell, only 138 miles away.. The last time we were there was 13 years ago and it appears to have been completely redesigned. (Or maybe we just didn't remember it very accurately.) It's very nice. We went to the nearby lodge for an adult beverage. The weather was cold, windy, and a little rainy. But the occasional bursts of sunlight on the lakeside hills made a very pretty sight.
As these things happen, while Becky was walking the dogs near the lake, she spotted a Zion Lodge van parked nearby. On further looking, she spotted two of our former co-workers at Zion (10 years ago), Randall Minchew
and Matt Gamble. They were at Lake Powell for the day on an employee excursion from Zion. The three of them had a nice reunion.
Tuesday, the destination was our home in Williams, 177 miles away. We arrived without incident at 12:30, backed the rig up the driveway, and started the long process of transferring stuff to the house. I picked up our accumulated mail at the post office, informed the police that we had returned, and started to unwind after our 3,165-mile vacation. The trip of 25 days included 2,562 miles of hauling the rig, stopping at 13 campgrounds, and 603 miles of side trips in our truck.
Whew. I'm exhausted. It was a lot of fun but it's great to be home. And at our official weigh-in, we both came back at the same weight we started, notwithstanding that we sometimes felt we were eating our way around the West.. Hooray!
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