October 10 - Carthage, MO to Rhodes, IA

Barb - last post! Ed took a look at the weather in Iowa, especially along I-80, and decided we needed to put the RV in "go" gear and get home. Des Moines to Omaha was getting snow and we didn't want to be one of the vehicles that was unsuccessful with weather elements! We were lucky as the snow melted around Des Moines before we arrived there. We didn't do any siteseeing - not much more than one gas stop, actually. Nice to get home and notice that the leaves are changing - and it's sure cold!

A few statistics: We drove 6500 miles; went through 13 states; visited 6 national parks or set-aside areas; stayed in our RV 47 of 47 nights! Our average RV park/campground stay was $34. It may or may not offset the gas cost, but we had a wonderful time! We are planning the next adventure.

October 9 - Claremore, OK to Carthage, MO

Barb - We used the Will Rogers Turnpike/I-44 today to do our relatively short drive to Carthage. We have stayed in the RV park outside of Carthage previously and it is nice (but everything has been very wet here due to the 4 to 6 inch rains in the area on Thursday). After we put the RV in place, we had lunch in town and then went to the George Washington Carver Historical Site in nearby Diamond. We have also been here before but they have added many square feet of space to their visitors' center/museum. The new part is very student-friendly and has a scenic balcony overlooking the historical land areas. The sumac is quite colorful here and in Oklahoma - reds and purples. I tried to take a couple of pictures but doubt that I can win the Weather Channel's fall photo contest - but look at my luck last night at the Cherokee Casino!

Ed - We heard the rain all night in Claremore - don't know what the total was there, but it had to be at least 4 inches. Many creeks and streams were really out of their banks and filling the storm drains from our down-the-interstate viewpoint. I-44 was fairly scenic with changing tree colors.
The Carver Museum is very well-done with sophisticated, yet simple exhibits. Kids would have fun viewing the plant samples under the Wentzscope (think that's the name), trying to write in Carver's style, identifying bird and animal sounds, etc. That was all in the new addition, along with a nice small auditorium where we viewed the movie about GW Carver. Since we live close to the Harvester Golf Course (some of the streets are named after him), plus knowing his ties to Simpson College and ISU, we have some connections to his history.
Ike had a great time running amongst the trees at the Carver site (on his leash of course) - he is probably ready for running his 5 acres at home!
We have decided that we are missing an RVers party across the road from the RV park at a private residence. Two or three parties of folks have gone over there - two RVs there - a couple of smokers are going - we could just show up with the chicken we were going to cook anyway and pretend we know someone!

October 8 - Claremore, OK

Barb - We expected to have a rainy night or at least wake up to the 3 to 4 inches they were forecasting. We've had some rain, but the heaviest amounts may have gone north. It's still been gray all day. We ran a couple of errands in town and visited the Will Rogers Museum in Claremore. After we cooked a rib dinner in the RV, I visited the casino again for an hour or so. It was Ladies' Night so there were free beverages and drawings each hour. I didn't spend very much money and was about ready to leave for the across-the-parking-lot commute to the RV when I listened to the 10:00 winners and heard my name - good for $150 cash!

Ed - The rain caught up with us in the afternoon and evening. Our RV site was safe water-level wise, but the KOA folks are trying to grow grass plots next to each site, so ours was sprigs of stuff and mud. I took Ike out for necessary duties a couple of times and ended up carrying him back to our door so he wasn't total mud! I "Ike-sat" while Barb won her money at the casino.

October 7 - Vernon, TX to Claremore, OK

Barb - After checking with the staff at Crater of Diamonds State Park (where conditions to dig diamonds were "raining and muddy", but "we're open", we turned ourselves northeast to the Tulsa/Claremore area. We visited the Will Rogers Museum in Claremore several years ago and decided it was worth another visit. There is an RV park on the Cherokee Casino/Will Rogers Downs track property outside of Claremore where we have decided to roost for the next two nights. Ed had the idea to contact a fishing guide who works at Truman Reservoir in central Missouri to see if he had an opening for us on our way north. We are working that out for the weekend. Eastern Oklahoma is supposed to have heavy rain the next 24 hours. We have rain gear, a safe place to park, and a casino nearby. The casino had good sandwiches at its cafe/bar and a really good guitarist for live entertainment. I didn't repay myself for trip expenses at the casino, but it was OK to do something different.

Ed - Drive, drive and drive some more. We took our time getting to the West Coast and now we are really headed home. We are starting to see the end of this trip and already talking about what can be done in the future. We are getting to roads we have traveled before and smells of Iowa are in the air.

October 6 - Roswell, NM to Vernon, TX

Barb - We were good friends with the RV today - drove 300+ miles from Roswell to Vernon. We just wanted to get some miles done and didn't have any sites picked out in this section of the country. However, we enjoyed two different "local food" meals! Ed picked up some breakfast burritos before we left Roswell and they were plentiful and delicious - he says they are even better with salsa, but I had mine plain. For dinner, we found a local restaurant in Vernon (close to the Oklahoma border) that had great catfish dinners.

We are undecided about the direction for part of Wednesday - the state park we really like for camping at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas is closed for renovation, plus there is rain in the forecast. So tomorrow's blog will tell the story!

Ed - This was another travel day of around 300 + miles. We did not stop for lunch and just kept traveling until about 4:00 PM. Highway 70 was all good road, even if some of the stretches were a bit narrow. The wind was a factor a few times and did cause me to hold the steering wheel a bit tighter from time to time. I am still impressed by how well the RV holds the road even in higher cross winds.

October 5 - Las Cruces to Roswell, NM

Barb - I'm having a hard time making sure I type NM instead of MN for New Mexico - it's either familiarity with Minnesota or the occasional glass of wine... Today we did an average road day, but spent some quality time at White Sands National Monument near Alamogordo. We had tried to visit 13 years ago when we were in southern New Mexico, but the gates were closed and we couldn't drive the loop road. Today we did fine. The road is about 16 miles round trip from the Visitor Center (where we first watched the informative video) and we were sure we'd been transplanted back to Iowa with snowy icy roads - but it was finely ground gypsum! It's very different from the surrounding countryside and the gypsum/sand is very white. We moved on to Roswell, where they host the annual UFO/Aliens "thing" each July, but today happens to be the first day of the Eastern New Mexico State Fair - in Roswell. We did secure an RV site so are just relaxing, though the wind is gusty today. Will arise early tomorrow and see how far we go!

Ed - Today was uphill almost all of the way to Roswell, via the road to Ruidoso, a horse-racing and ski resort area. The RV surged along at the high rate of 40 miles per hour - except when we went slower. The 200-mile drive took almost 6 hours but we did stop a couple of times. The highway was 4-lane, divided all the way, which was helpful when going so slowly. The wind came up after lunch and had gusts in the 30 to 40 mph range. I guess I am getting used to that since the wind did not seem to bother me as much today.

October 4 - Las Cruces, NM

Barb - kind of a low-key day here. The weather is still mostly overcast, so we are trying to check the travel direction for the next few days. We are generally heading northeast but would rather avoid the rain that is supposed to move east also. The consensus at the moment is to get as far east as Ardmore, Oklahoma, and then decide - east to Arkansas or northeast to Tulsa and beyond? There is a state park in Arkansas that we really like - Crater of Diamonds - where you can pay a minimal fee to "dig your own". But the weather doesn't look too promising.

Ed - We did get together tonight for a pleasant walk along the Rio Grande River with Bess. There was a nice paved walking path and we enjoyed the mountains as background scenery as we walked.

October 3 - Las Cruces, NM

Barb - We spent the day in rainy Las Cruces, which is an unusual event for this time of year. We went downtown to the local Farmer's Market but found that most vendors were packing up by mid-morning because of the weather. We did buy a couple of items but would have like to have strolled through to see local artisans that are usually there. We did see sacks of the Hatch green chiles that are well known here! Upon arriving back at the RV, we trekked through the rain to catch up on laundry and were able to pick up the Iowa State/Kansas State game on Sirius radio - which didn't come out in Iowa State's favor - 24 to 23, with K State scoring during the last minute. Greg and some fraternity brothers had driven to KC for the game, so I'm sure they and all ISU fans were disappointed, but the Cyclones got to play at Arrowhead Stadium (KC Chiefs' home) so that had to be fun.

Back to us - in the late afternoon, Bess was our local tour guide and showed us many areas of Las Cruces. We enjoyed seeing her neighborhood, New Mexico State campus, and the Southwest-style housing. We briefly visited a Farm and Ranch Museum where they had some neat cactus gardens (along with the antique John Deere tractors in the front yard!)

Ed - The town is nice and appears to be well laid-out. The city is growing to the north and east with many new homes, businesses and shopping malls. The housing developments around here are all built using adobe style house plans - flat roofs and various tones of light brown paint. There is no (or little) grass around the homes which are mostly landscaped using colored rock. I think we might look into what it would cost to come back here sometime this winter. There appears to be a lot of things to do in the area.

October 2 - Gallup to Las Cruces, NM

Barb - Our drive through northern and central New Mexico was done on the two interstate highways - 40 and 25. This is the first weekend for the big hot-air balloon festival in Albuquerque. I have read about it in the past and with a school schedule in my blood have always thought, "That's in October! I can't get to that!" Well, maybe another year - with some advance reservations! We arrived in Las Cruces by mid-afternoon and located a pleasant RV park for the weekend. Bess Hobson, former Hoglan art teacher who has been retired for a few years, decided to make New Mexico her retired home. We have been in e-mail/Facebook touch during our trip and decided to come this way for a couple of days. We want to spend some time in the winter months in warmer climes, but aren't sure where. Las Cruces has pleasant winter weather, so this area could be a possibility. We went with Bess to Mesilla, an old-town area where we had dinner and a quick tour.

Ed - The day's drive was pretty easy, except for Albuquerque traffic and some road construction there. I found myself wondering how the settlers made it through this territory as we drove the 200 miles south to Las Cruces. There would have been no roads (still not very many across the desert areas) and little to no water resources. We noticed a reservoir or two on our way south, and also the start of the Rio Grande River.

October 1 - Williams, AZ to Gallup, NM

Barb - I feel like I should be quoting the Route 66 song, about "Gallup, New Mexico..." Plus we've at least seen interstate signs for Winslow, Arizona, Barstow, San Bernadino - all those great places in the song that was done so well by Manhattan Transfer. We left Williams (not quite as early as the day before!!) and after a couple of hours, enjoyed the drive through Petrified Forest/Painted Desert National Park areas in Arizona. We took a walk on one of the easy trails by the visitors' center so we could see the various types of petrified forest specimens.

The Painted Desert loop was very colorful (north end of the total loop) so we were glad we drove the whole route. Wouldn't want to do that road in a storm or have road trouble there! It wasn't a steep mountain road - there's just NOTHING there for 20 miles!

Ed - The driving today was easy. We had a few hills to climb and stayed above the 7,000 foot level even with all of the ups and downs. The old Route 66 road to the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert had a big sign that said "no services, no police support, no snow plowing and no help after dark"- but we took it anyway. The road through the park was nice with nice turnouts and a very interesting museum.

September 30 - Kingman to Williams, AZ

Barb - We didn't drive very far today in the RV - about 100 miles. But we had a method to our madness! We decided to get up early and avoid the winds that would pick up later, making it difficult for RV steering. The plan was: go early, get a campsite in Williams (50 miles south of the Grand Canyon), and then enjoy the day at the canyon, using only the Jeep for driving back and forth. The problem was that we thought we were on Mountain Time, but Arizona evidently is still on Pacific Time - so the "early" was 5 AM, not 6 AM! We were 100 miles down the road and at the new KOA by 8:30 AM! We did enjoy a chunk of the day at the Grand Canyon. We visited 6 0r so scenic turnouts along the South Rim. Ike enjoyed sniffing for something - probably a snake for me! We don't know how the summer crowds have been here but today was delightful with light traffic.

Ed - The winds the night before were getting very bad by the time we quit and found a campground outside of Kingman. The forecast was for gusts to 35 - 45 mph when we pulled in for the evening. The next morning, the high wind warning was continued and expanded with gusts from 45 to 65 mph just north of us. There was no way I was going to try an drive in those conditions so Barb and I left early. It was just a bit earlier than I had thought. (See above!)

September 29 - Acton, CA to Kingman, AZ

Barb - I am starting this on the road to Arizona - namely I-40. We had no Internet service or TV last night at the KOA, so I am taking advantage of excellent Verizon card service while on the road. There is not much out here to block the signal! We are headed for western Arizona and a visit to the Grand Canyon in the next couple of days.

Ed - We met my brother and his wife last night and had a nice meal at a local restaurant while we caught up on what each has been doing. Tom is still working as a concrete contractor and I am actively doing nothing.in immediate retirement! We did find out that we both like to use metal detectors. We had both bought the same Whites detector a couple of years apart. He has found many more items than I have - but he does not need to worry about winters and freezing temperatures.

September 28 - Marina to Acton, CA

Barb - OK - time to head east - sort of! We spent most of today on I-5 headed south toward Los Angeles. I-5 in central to southern California, if you haven't traveled it, runs through the San Joaquin agricultural valley. It's flat, dry, and filled with numerous crops - mostly nut trees are visible from the interstate. When we approached the area north of Santa Clarita, CA, we did find some more interesting driving for Ed - the Tejon Pass. He was in the company of many trucks driving slowly both up and down the pass. We located the KOA in the Soledad Canyon. I'm glad we were on the right road but wondered about it a time or two! I don't try to make direction mistakes when planning for 60 feet (RV plus car attached) going down the road - or up the canyon! We connected with Ed's brother Tom and his wife Jo, who live in Simi Valley, for a nice Mexican dinner in Acton. I felt like we were really "out in the boonies" until the commuter train servicing metro L.A. ran on the mountainside across from our campsite!

Ed - The RV runs at least as well as I had hoped on the freeway. I set the cruise control at 55 mph (Cal law) and headed south. Of course I was the only one going 55 but what the heck, the cops were out. We must have seen at least one highway patrolman every 50 miles if not more often. When we finally made it to the "hills" an hour out of L.A., I only needed to worry about being hit by a speeding bike while going up the mountains. You really can get there by going 25 mph. I now know how the early settlers felt in their covered wagons. I learned when visiting with my brother Tom that he also has purchased a metal detector! (Photo above) He's done a lot more time on his than I have - he has more beaches at his disposal!

September 27 - Salinas and Monterey, CA

Barb - Today's events for us included going out to breakfast with Greg and taking him to the Monterey Airport for his flights back to Des Moines. He had an uneventful 2 flights to Los Angeles and Denver so far - much different than Friday! I think he still had a fun, if short weekend on the coast. Ed and I then drove to Salinas where the National Steinbeck Museum is located and spent a couple of hours there. We returned to the Cannery Row area of Monterey for a bay-view seafood lunch and some shopping. The sea otters were present in the bay! It was another banner day weather-wise - until we returned to the fog of Marina. Someone had a bad accident on Highway 1 South which tied up the busy road completely. We walked our mile-plus on Marina State Beach and once again needed our jackets.

September 26 - Carmel, California

Barb - We've been planning to make this trip and attend Nathan and Christina's wedding for more than a year, so the day has finally arrived! Greg arrived in San Francisco last night and thankfully was taken care of by his family in Palo Alto. He got to visit the campus of Stanford University and be a student tourist for at least a little while! We all arrived at the hotel courtyard early for pictures. Everything ran a little behind schedule (decorating, photos, etc.) but the day was perfect weather-wise. The ceremony, cocktail reception, dinner reception, and dance were all held at the LaPlaya Hotel, an older but elegant Spanish-style hotel about 3 blocks from the beach and ocean in Carmel. All events were very enjoyable. A touching moment occurred for several of us in the family with a special wedding photo of my parents plus a special dedication of the bride's flowers to my mother and late father at the reception - not too many dry eyes then!

September 25 - Monterey Peninsula, CA

Barb - We experienced more fog in our temporary home in Marina along with cool temps. We decided it was a good morning for RV housecleaning and window washing. We decided to go to downtown Monterey before the wedding rehearsal dinner to poke around the shops on Cannery Row and enjoy the clear skies and bay view there. I enjoy checking for sea otters in the bay any time I have been here, and didn't see any today. We helped Greg play the "airlines juggle" game via cell phone and unfortunately he was the victim of a late plane out of DSM, a reissued ticket through San Francisco, and the fog in the Monterey Bay area. He got caught in SF but my brother was able to pick him up - at about 11PM Pacific Time!

Ed - This area has way too many people, roads and cars for me to be interested in being here for an extended time. I have to wonder how the freeways around the Marina, Seaside, Monterey areas were designed - it appears to have been by some 4th grade students. Anyway, the area is nice and the historic areas are interesting to wander around in. No luck again today for sunshine until we drove to Monterey - which we will do again tomorrow.

September 24 - Monterey Peninsula, CA

Barb - We started our day by taking Ike to the dog boarder's in Prunedale. It looked like he would have a nice fenced-in grounds to run and his own bed. He'll be there until Monday. We had breakfast out, and drove on Highway 1 south with the intention of maybe getting to the Big Sur area. However, the morning fog wouldn't give up so we came back to Carmel Valley. We browsed around at the Barnyard shopping plaza which I had remembered liking from my visits a couple of decades ago. I missed finding the combination bookstore/restaurant which used to be there, but that's what happens. We drove down Carmel Valley Road a ways but didn't have our eyes trained for the wineries on that road. We then came back to Monterey and stopped at Fisherman's Wharf where we found a car show being set up - the "Cherry's Jubilee", a fundraiser for the Salinas area hospital. Those cars just can't be antiques! :) I remember almost all of them... We located the other Fishwife restaurant in Seaside (we have been to the other one in Pacific Grove) and enjoyed a good seafood lunch.

Ed - I watched the morning tv traffic report and became firmly convinced that I could never live out here. Many of the Bay area highways were slowed or stopped and one main highway had been stopped for 10 minutes. It was 5 lanes wide on each side and the people were just sitting in their cars waiting to get to a toll booth to move across a bridge. Back to our travels...we left the RV park and headed out on Highway 1 to see the beaches and mountains. However, the fog was so thick and low that we could not see anything off the highway. We then decided to wander around to and drove to the fishing piers to look at the boats and drink beer. We succeeded. Today was the 250th anniversary of the starting of Guinness beer, so we had to help out in the celebration down by the Monterey pier.

September 23 - Santa Nella, CA to Marina, CA

Barb - We drove the last 65 miles to the ocean (again) and clinked a bottle of liquid over the fact that we got here! We are still in the middle of California's agriculture zone - Monterey County grows many vegetables and fruits. On I-5, we were surrounded by walnut and almond trees. The temperature in Santa Nella when we were "landing" and hooking up the RV's various cables and hoses was at least 95 degrees. Today as we were doing the same procedures in Marina, the temp was 64 degrees and tonight it is 57! The sand dunes are right across the street from the RV park. Ike and I, then later all three of us, took a walk on the total sand trail to the ocean - maybe 1/4 mile in length. They are trying to re-establish many of the native sand and sea plants, so I took a picture of the colorful ice plant as a sample.

Ed - Today was better for my mechanical issues - I did not have any on the RV. However, when we arrived at the RV park, the power pedestal was not wired correctly and I needed to find the park electricical person and have him rewire the power pedestal before I could power the RV. After that everything worked well. We definitely had a difference in temperature from morning to afternoon. When we left Santa Nella, the temperature was hot and rising. I ran the RV air conditioner as well as the truck air conditioner all the way to the coast. Be the time we arrived at Marina, the temperture was below 70 degrees and we turned everything off and opened the windows! Now it's time to close windows again. We'll have some road noise from Hwy. 1 so it's OK to stay warm and quieter at the same time.

September 22 - Willits, CA to Santa Nella, CA

Barb - The scenery today can be described using one word: DRY. After locating gas and haircuts for both of us in Ukiah, we drove east about 85 miles on Highway 20 to connect to Interstate 5. We passed Clear Lake on the north - it's probably 15 miles long, so a little bigger than Clear Lake in Iowa. It appeared to have resort accomodations and businesses in the 3-4 little towns along the highway, but the lake's water level was down several feet and all surrounding ground is very brown. It may be more normal for California in September, but Ed and I both felt that everything looks like it could go up in flames with very little effort.


Ed - I had another interesting day today. We did not leave early, I turned the wrong direction on a very narrow highway and nearly could not get turned around. I missed the first gas stations we could have stopped at for gas and then had to drive an extra 10 miles to get the tank filled. When we turned on the scenic road (highway 20) that I feared would not have gas stations, they appeared every 5 miles or so. We stopped to have lunch beside a lake park and the only place available was by the septic outfall. Then the park banned dogs and beer - so much for that place, so we ate in the RV. Five miles later we passed a nice park on the lake with a beach to walk on! The road then turned narrow and winding for another 50 miles. When we finally reached Interstate 5, everything looked up and I ran the RV up to the posted RV speed limit - 55 mph - oh, well. We finally got to the RV park and set up only to find the RV power cord again malfunctioning. I had to completely rebuild it this time. That took an hour, but being calm and collected - not likely - would have helped. Anyway, we went out to dinner and that turned out well. It's finally dark and I am going to hide under the covers - maybe it will be better in the morning.

September 21 - Crescent City to Willits, CA

Ed - As I was getting the RV ready to leave, the RV power cord came apart. Of course I do not have the tools that are required to fix it. The bolts broke in the sleeves and one of the hidden nuts was turning freely and I could not get it apart. After much creative discusion with the plug, I was able to remove it from the cord. There is a local ACE hardware store in Cresent City and they helped me disassemble the plug - with a hacksaw - and the sold me bolts and nuts to reassemble it. I quickly put it back together and we were able to head out only an hour late for the next leg of the trip. The drive was through huge redwood trees on narrow, winding, curvy, hilly roads. All day was like this, except for when we were waiting on road construction.

Barb - Our day started out with the need to find a hardware store, as Ed has likely described. RVs are great in many ways, but the continuous movement is hard on some components - or, if they're not well made, they require some rebuilding. We got the opportunity to reglue the front of a 2nd cabinet door today - the first one happened sometime in Wyoming.

Back to the scenic views on the road...our drive took us through more tall redwood parks and several nice ocean view turnouts before Hwy. 101 went back to the southeast. It was still forested but the ground is mighty dry. We always would like to stop and see more things than we do - heard a neat summary of the historic downtown area of Eureka, CA and we drove through there today! The campground that we chose today was quite a nice one, so sometimes you get some good surprises!

September 20 - Crescent City, CA

Barb - We decided to use the nice weather to drive north on Hwy 101 to southern Oregon coastal beach areas, state park turnouts, and a couple of resort towns. The Jeep went as far as the towns of Gold Beach and Brookings and the Samuel Boardman, Pistol Beach and Cape Sebastian State Beach corridors. Oregon's coast area feels different from California in that you may be in forest one moment and along the beach the next. At Cape Sebastian especially, the beach drives were uphill before going down and in deep forest! I was wishing that the gray whales were migrating south now in the Pacific Ocean as we found several perfect viewing points. But they don't start swimming south until November :(

Ed - Another nice day. I wonder when we will get payback for all of the nice days. I hope it is not ice and snow on the way home. Of course October is a bit early for that. We walked on a few beaches that had dark brown sand and large waves. We had a nice day!

September 19 - Crescent City, CA

Barb - Despite what the meteorologists said, we have had another wonderful day to enjoy the "stuff to see" - this time in far NW California. I have been in California probably 12 times previously but never in the northern part of the state. Anything I see north of Sacramento is something new! We took a KOA-recommended drive through the redwoods, visited the Battery Point Lighthouse, and went south on HWY 101 to Klamath. We plan to drive the RV-and-Jeep-attached vehicles this way on Monday so got a bit of road and scenery preview. We came back to our campground on several miles of HWY 199 that we had driven yesterday...Ed admits that he could see a little more scenery this time! We are enjoying an evening in the redwoods of the campgrounds and staying on top of the Iowa State-Kent State game (ISU winning at the moment!)

Ed - I got up to let the dog out at 6:30. The morning was just waking, the trees on the mountain were still dark green and the clouds in the sky were low with round bumpy bottoms. The sun was just turning the tops of the trees golden green and the bottom of the clouds reds and purples with bright yellow patches. The fog was slowly raising from the forest floor like layers of sheer gossimer. There was a bird singing in the tree not far away and everything else was amazingly quiet. For some reason I thought of the friends and aquaintances I used to work with and really felt sorry for them . Many could retire but have not, and I felt mad at myself for not leaving at 58 when I could have quit. So, I took the dog back into the RV and got out a book and forgot the whole thing. Those friends that leave will find out what I am talking about and the rest will do whatever they want anyway. I had another wonderful day wandering around with Barb!

September 18 - Corvallis, OR to Crescent City, CA

Barb - Several times on this trip, we have had to make that momentous decision: Which way should we go? This happened again yesterday and after studying various maps and routes, we elected to go south through Oregon on I-5 and end up at Crescent City, California, in the heart of the redwoods. Interstate 5 provided a variety of scenery - some dry, some forested (we saw another forest fire to the immediate east of the interstate), and several passes through Oregon's mountains. Highway 199 to Crescent City can be described by Ed! I carefully watched the right side of the road - not the canyon side, but the "we're next to the mountain edge/rock slide side"!

We're planning to spend the weekend seeing the tall trees in Redwoods National Park plus some other sites.

Ed - Well, we decided to see the redwood forests and we made it to Crescent City. If we would have made the journey from the Oregon/California border to Crescent City in a car, it would have been interesting - in the RV it was VERY interesting. The road had signs that trucks with kingpin lengths longer than 30'-0" should not take the road. Our kingpin length is 38'-0" - which should have been a indication of the effort required to drive the road. We made it, but a few times I was worried the rear car bumper would touch the front of the RV as we made the turns. Additionally, as we drove the road, I did eventually see more semi-tractor/trailers so I was sure we would eventually make it through. I am not sure I have ever turned the RV that many times since we purchased it. I think I will drive back to Interstate 5 on a similar road - just for practice! (NOT)

September 17 - Long Beach, WA to Corvallis, OR

Barb - We left the ocean behind for a couple of days to go inland to Oregon. We drove on Highway 101 for a while through Astoria - always a view to behold, and driving an RV on that bridge is !!! (fill in your own word). We went to McMinnville to visit the Evergreen Aviation Museum, where Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose has been restored and is on exhibit. What a huge plane! The museum would interest anyone who likes historical aircraft. We found a KOA in Corvallis, home of Oregon State University. I think it was good that we were there on a Thursday night, as they mentioned being quite full on Friday before the OSU/Cincinnati football game. The OSU colors of black and orange were flying from a few RVs in the KOA already.

Ed - We had a normal departure from Long Beach, about 9:30 in the morning. The trip to Corvallis included a few hours' stop at the Evergreen Airline Museum in McMinnville. The museum houses the "Spruce Goose" airplane built by Howard Hughes. It is the largest wooden aircraft ever built and is really something to see. In addition the the huge "Spruce Goose", the museum houses many of the American WWII fighter planes, and a few German fighter planes. There are also two other museums, one for space and one for firearms. In all, it was a place you could spend the full day if you chose. Prior to getting to McMinnville, we drove through 100 miles of wine country with vineyard signs on every intersection we passed. In Corvallis we found a KOA that looked nice. The only problem was the close highway and railroad tracks.

September 16 - Long Beach, Washington

Barb - It's a rainy day today. We had to dig out the jackets and yellow rain slickers to take the dog out and put the laundry in the machines! But in 3+ weeks, this is the first day of dodging rain since we drove in it in central Nebraska. An RV has a definite advantage over tent camping on days like this! (I wouldn't be traveling for 6 or so weeks out of a tent anyway). Ike and I both didn't feel real good yesterday so we were OK to be inside for awhile. I did get to visit the local cranberry museum and bog area after lunch, which is maintained by Washington State University. The coasts of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia produce a substantial cranberry crop annually. It was neat to see exhibits of the older watering and harvesting equipment.

Ed - Yep - it rained and we did the laundry. We took a vote and I lost (my story!)so I got to go out in the rain (using the Jeep to get me there) to change the laundry from the washer to the dryer and wait for it to finish. After that we continued to watch it rain for another hour or so. When the rain quit, we drove to town and had lunch at a nice local seafood restaurant and then headed back to the RV. Barb drove back to town to visit some of the local stores while Ike and I went for a walk on the beach. By the time everyone was back to the RV, the sun was out and the temperature had changed from 65 to 75 degrees in less that two hours. This evening we visited the North Head Lighthouse and traveled around the Long Beach Peninsula to see what it looked like.

September 15 - Long Beach, Washington

Barb - We enjoyed a very nice day by spending it walking on the beach - I think there were 3 long beach walks - morning, afternoon, and after supper! We located a nice sandwich shop in Long Beach and enjoyed lunch at one of their picnic tables. The night sky was very clear so we faced the lounge chairs west to the ocean and watched the stars (under blankets!). It is a very different view out the side windows of the RV - sea grass for maybe 800 feet, then beach, then ocean. The species of crab here is sizable and orange/red in shell color, and we've found some broken sand dollars. The beach is wide enough to allow driving access from town, but thank goodness it isn't a choice of everyone to do that.



Ed - Today was a vacation day - we did nothing important. We sat on the beach, walked on the beach and then walked on the beach some more. By evening, it was still clear without any clouds in the sky so we walked to the beach and watched the sun go down. That was fun but we were glad we carried our jackets. About 9:00, we moved back outside and sat in our lawn chairs to watch the stars come out. The temperature dropped from about 72 to 56 degrees in two or three hours so we brought out our wool blankets to cover up with. We watched the stars rise and saw 3 meteorites during the hour we stayed outside.

September 14 - Port Angeles, WA to Long Beach, WA

Barb - Today's journey was spent entirely on Highway 101 through Olympic National Forest or Olympic National Park's western edges. Crescent Lake (above) is a beautiful glacial lake that is surrounded by mountains. We enjoyed our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean at our lunch stop along the highway (picture above). Highway 101 in western Washington cuts through the Olympic mountain range and is heavily forested - and in some places, clear-cut. The logging companies usually post a sign if they've replanted those areas. We researched the information about several RV parks close to the ocean and chose one that Ed's late friend Jim and his family had used in Long Beach, close to the Oregon border. Our view is of sea grass and the beach and ocean are a few hundred yards away! We're staying here a couple of days!

Ed - The drive today was slow and crooked. Many areas had road construction where we sat for 10 or 15 minutes. Other areas had one-way roads with traffic lights that delayed us for a bit. Even with all of that, the roads were pretty good and the driving easy. By lunch time we had reached the ocean and stopped at an overlook for lunch. There were nice views of the coast and the beach a hundred feet below. When we arrived at Long Beach we found a 10-mile long vacation oriented business strip, all geared to the tourist. We were able to stay a few miles north at a nice campground that had access to the beach. The beach is about 25 miles long and about 200 yards wide. However, there are such bad currents along the beach that swimming and wading are not allowed. The beach has been nearly empty of people since we have been here. We would come back here to stay if we ever get the chance again.

September 13 - Port Angeles WA to Victoria BC, Canada

Barb - We had a long but really fun day, full of new experiences! (All good ones). We caught the 8 AM ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria, the provincial capital of British Columbia. We had located a very nice boarder for Ike for the day so he had "dog day care" while we enjoyed our day out of the country. On the ferry to Victoria, the captain and group of passengers spotted 2 -3 pods of Orca whales or about 20 total. Once in Victoria, we caught a bus to visit Butchart Gardens, 50 acres of beautiful planned gardens. We also enjoyed the Inner Harbor area on foot before boarding the ferry for Port Angeles. On that trip, we spotted 3 humpback whales!

Ed - What a fun day in Victoria BC. First we viewed two pods of Orca whales as we traveled over to Victoria. The ship slowed so we could watch them for a few minutes. We saw many surface and a few tail slaps as they dove for salmon. The day in Victoria was sunny and warm, but not hot.

The gardens we went to see were large, exceptionally well laid out and impressive. On the way back to Port Angeles we saw a group of humpback whales. Again the boat slowed and we were able to watch the whales for a while before continuing on. The trip back by boat was overcast, cold and the water choppy with 4' to 5' waves.

Ed -

September 12 - Brinnon, WA to Port Angeles, WA

Barb - We enjoyed another beautiful day in the NW by driving our vehicles to just west of Port Angeles, WA. After getting settled at the RV park (which wasn't the nicest one we've occupied), we drove back to one of the entrances to Olympic National Park and went up to the top of the Hurricane Ridge drive. It was a pretty time of day/dusk to see the peaks, glaciers, and the tame deer at the visitor center.

Ed - Since we were only going about 65 miles today I did not hook up the car and Barb drove it to Port Angeles. We arrived at the RV Park that had "good" ratings only to find a very unappealing campground. It had small, unlevel, unattractive sites and cost way more than the five dollars it was worth. After the task of setting up the RV, we drove up the mountain on a nice curvy, slow, scenic road. It was a good choice for the late afternoon. On the way back we stopped at a nice Chinese resturant for a late dinner.

September 11 - Brinnon, WA

Barb - We certainly didn't go too far today! We walked to a local restaurant for breakfast with Rich and Teri and then spent the day at our campsite or the campgrounds. The weather has been really great. The campground volunteer host told us it was cold and rainy here over Labor Day, so the alternative is better. We don't often cook outside, start a fire, etc. like many campers do, but last night we had a good grilled chicken dinner and a fire in the pit and watched the stars!

Ed - We met Rich and Teri for breakfast at a nearby cafe. They had errands to run in the morning so we got together again after lunch for a while and again at dinner. While they were gone, I tried to get information on how to fix the refrigerator and at least got it running again. It appears to be the control panel which (luckily - $200) is under warranty. After that Barb and I read our books and took walks around the campground. Never saw any elk but did see the salmon running up the river. They are big fish trying to swim in shallow water during egg-laying and fertilizing season. It's possible they do not have a high IQ :)

September 10 - Brinnon, WA

Barb - We got together with Ed's brother Rich and his wife Teri today. We did the Mt. Walker drive again and got to see more as skies were less cloudy - Mt. Baker, Mt. Adams, and Glacier Peak were all in view. We also did a short hike to a waterfall (don't have the name) within Olympic National Forest, and enjoyed dining at a Mexican restaurant in Sequim (pronounced Skwim) - 50 miles away.

Ed - Well the drives were nice and the weather, even though it was a bit overcast, was nice also. The temperature reached about 75 and there was little wind. We wandered around for about 100 miles, including some narrow and winding roads. The only mishap today was the refrigerator - which seems to have quit working. The freezer is running great but the refrigerator compartment is not cooling. I have no idea what is going on but I will work on that later.

September 9 - Brinnon, WA

Barb - We are enjoying 3-4 days staying at Dosewallips State Park, with its tall pine trees and plenty of space to walk. The salmon are running on the Dosewallips River so we have watched them do their upstream journey a couple of times. There also is reputed to be a local herd of elk in the park but they have not appeared so far. Ike is quite taken in THIS park with the gopher holes and often does a nose-burying and digging job if he hears someone at home! We drove to Port Townsend for groceries (40 miles?) and stopped at the Mt. Walker scenic view on the way back to the park. After you drive for 4 miles, you have a beautiful but distant view of the city of Seattle and Mt. Rainier. My camera doesn't do it justice!

Ed - The park we are staying at is beautiful, with tall pine trees and large open grass areas. The only negative is the close highway (101) and road noise during the day. The river and the bay are only a short walk and the dog likes the trip. He thinks splashing in the bay is great fun. Of course we have to give him a bath at the outside shower before we can let him back in the RV.

September 8 - Ellensburg, WA to Brinnon, WA

Barb - We drove the scenic route - Highway 12 - that took us south of Mt. Rainier National Park. As Ed will likely describe, the road was fine but with many curves, narrow shoulders (or maybe that's my line, since I watch the right side and that important white stripe at the edge!), and some construction. He slept pretty well last night for all that concentrated effort! We were treated to a great viewpoint of Mt. Rainier on the road as the photo shows. We also viewed Mt. Adams as we approached Yakima and saw a glimpse of Mt. St. Helens from Hwy. 12. Our campsite until Saturday is lovely Dosewallips State Park. Ed's brother Richard lives nearby on his blue water (ocean-capable sailboat).

Ed - Yep, the highway was anything but straight and level. We mostly went uphill until about 1:30 and then downhill (or mountain) until about 5:00. This was likely the hardest driving I have done since we left home. My arms and wrists were tired by the time we stopped for the evening. About the time I thought the roads would get better, we started up highway 101 from Olympia headed north. If anything, this road has more curves and small hills than any other road I have ever traveled. Both drives were worth the time and effort however.

September 7 - Deer Lodge, MT to Ellensburg, WA

Barb - Ed put the pedal to the metal, so to speak, and we made some mileage today. We decided to stay on I-90, plus we gained an hour in going to Pacific Time at the Idaho border. We crossed over the start of the Columbia River in central Washington, and also noticed that the aspen and other deciduous trees were starting to turn golden in western Montana. (Yes, we know the difference between real and fake trees! The neon palm trees pictured were an advertising effort for a local Hawaiian-themed casino in Deer Lodge...) Our campground tonight is on the Yakima River which is pretty, as long as it doesn't rain 6 inches tonight!

Ed - Well, I now know the RV can run at 70 mph without much effort. Our gas mileage today was just about 8 mpg, which was great - everything considered. It's lousy gas mileage for a car, but great for a moving house. We alternately ran into mountains and flat lands all day long. We had a few minutes of rain three or four times but nothing heavy. By the time we stopped this afternoon, we had traveled about 500 miles.

September 6 - Deer Lodge MT - Pintler Scenic Route

Barb - We found another neat drive for the Jeep (and us and the dog)! Drove a fairly circuitous route on Hwy 1 (Montana, not California - yet!) to the towns of Anaconda, Philipsburg, and the ghost mining town of Granite. Anaconda was a big copper-producing hub, Philipsburg was a sapphire and gem town, and Granite had the richest silver mine on earth. We enjoyed poking around these places and enjoying the homemade fudge from The Sweet Palace in Philipsburg.

Ike's newest bird to track here is the killdeer - they love to peep and taunt him!

Ed -Today was overcast and about 70 degrees with some wind. A great day to travel by car to the mountains. We stopped by some buildings erected in the late 1880's in Anaconda and then headed out on highway 1 to Philipsburg. I had hoped to get to the Gem Mine and look for some pretty stones but we just ran out of time. Anyway it was a pretty drive through the mountains and took about 6 hours total.

September 5 - Deer Lodge, MT

Barb - The campground at Deer Lodge was pretty low-key and available so we decided to stay for the Labor Day weekend nights. We spent the morning doing laundry and repairing a closet hanger that had wiggled loose. RVs put most anything that will move or loosen to the test! We are nearly surrounded by mountains and the views are great from any angle. Some afternoon rains gave me the pictures for the day.

Ed - Of course, given weight limitations, I have no tools with me. So of course the bumping and bouncing on the highways have damaged the closet hanger rods. Only a real idiot could have thought up the current support system. My jury rig repair should get us home however. Of course that took most of the morning. The afternoon was spent watching the 30 mph wind and rain showers pass. Every time I got out the lawn chairs the rain would start again. Oh well, it was still a nice afternoon to read a book while watching the rain showers come over the mountains.

September 4 - Greybull, WY to Deer Lodge, MT

Barb - We migrated out of Wyoming and pretty much spent the day on the Interstate, except for the first 75 miles. We got to witness a fire in progress on the hills around Columbus, MT! That's close enough when you can still see the ground smoldering from the highway and a lick or two of flames. A helicopter went overhead hauling one of the big water buckets so we knew it wasn't just L.A. haze! We stopped at Three Forks for good baked goods and sandwiches from the Wheat Montana restaurant/bakery. We had discovered it 4 years ago and are surprised it isn't a chain all over the West by now! The huge cinnamon rolls will taste good for breakfast tomorrow.

Ed - The drive today was not bad and not particularly difficult. The roads were pretty good and the traffic was light most of the day. We encontered some hills today that slowed us down a bit - to 30 / 40 mph while going up the "hills". Down the hills can also be a bit of a challenge when slowing a 25,000 lb load.

September 3 - Greybull, WY

Barb - We took it easy today, stayed another day at the same KOA campground, and went no farther than the local grocery store. Ike kept a sentry watch on the local squirrels! I took a dip in the nice pool in the afternoon and met a group of friends traveling together from Bremerton, WA. They were all retired either from the large shipyard there or had worked in the local schools. They definitely have enjoyed some fun travels together - good inspiration! They were headed for a weeks' stay in the Black Hills and staying at the same great campground resort where we had stayed two days.



Ed - I struggled at doing nothing but reading a book today. It was a bit warm - in the low 90's.

September 2 - The Bighorn Canyon area via Hwy 14

Barb - We decided to pack the cooler and the dog in the Jeep and take in a recommended drive of the natural sites of the Bighorn Canyon area today. Included in the sites were Devil's Canyon, one Pryor Mountain wild horse (!), steep highway travels to and from Burgess Junction (where we ate lunch but didn't see the namesake sign for a picture!), Shell Falls, and back to the Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite area. Ed moistened some of the tracks and took some great close-ups (see yesterday's photo).

Ed - The drive today was easy and interesting. We viewed high mountains, wild horses, forests, open pasture land and wide sparse plains - all in about 160 miles. The views were great and I do thank the government for building highways just for my own personal use. At least that is the way it seemed, since we seldom saw any other cars or trucks.

September 1 - Buffalo to Greybull, WY

Barb - We used Highway 16 to travel to Greybull - the east-to-west routes all have sufficient grade, but this one has the least! Details from Ed to follow. We chose to stay 2 nights at the Greybull KOA, one of the nicer KOAs we've seen. We took a drive in the early evening to Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite (photo of a track shown above) and decided to include it in the next day's longer drive so we could be there in daylight.

Ed - Leaving Buffalo was easy, getting the 65 miles over the mountain pass was more challenging. The 65-mile trip took over 2 hours and we traveled at speeds from 20 mph to 35 mph going uphill. On the downhill side, we encountered sharp turns and steep downhill grades - both of which kept our speed to a minimum. Once over the mountain, the traveling was easier and we rolled along at 65 mph. However, it is a very pretty drive - especially if you do not need to watch the road so carefully.

August 31 - Buffalo, WY area

Barb - We took two Jeep drives in the Buffalo area today. The first one was the Crazy Woman Creek canyon road (maybe the name fits me sometimes?). The drive would not be for all "city" vehicles and certainly not a lengthy motorhome! The road was rocky, steep, and not very well maintained, but the canyon was scenic. I would call part of it "off-roading" except we were on the road! The other drive went past the Bud Love Winter Range wildlife refuge area where we saw pronghorn, mule deer, and wild turkeys. Much better road!

Ed - The drive down the rock/river canyon was interesting. I do not think any of the holes or ruts were 12" deep but they were deep enough. Many of the areas were rough or rutted enough to slow the car to 2 or 3 miles per hour. The road (such as it was) would have cut the sidewalls out of the tires if I had tried to go much faster. We only passed 2 ranger vehicles on the 15 mile trail. We did not see any wildlife until the scenic byway we took after lunch. During this trip we saw herds of pronghorn antelope, mule deer and white tail deer.

August 30 - Hill City, SD to Buffalo, WY

Barb - We are keeping with the under-200-miles-a-day rule! We were going to add a few more miles and stay off I-90, but didn't go that route. We arrived in Buffalo mid-afternoon. The campground here has 6-8 deer and wild turkeys that wander on the edge of the campground, providing new animal scents for Ike to uncover on our walk! We may stay another night here and do some backcountry driving in the area. They filmed "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" around areas south of Buffalo (some of you are much younger than this 70s movie starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford!)


Ed - Well the driving was interesting today. On the way past Jewel Cave the road is very narrow and very winding. The best speed I could achieve was 25 mph and white-knuckle it for 30 miles. The rest of the way was 65 or 75 miles per hour. I am very happy the RV handles well and really runs down the interstates at 75 mph without any problem. Of course the 6.5 to 7.5 mpg could be better.