The Pacific Northwest

Most telegraphic blog post. We have just been either on the move, had terrible wifi, or been just plain busy visiting with so many friends and family on this trip, that the poor blog, well, you know. It's suffered. We will be home tonight, so it'll be time for the Trip Summary, which oughta be a doozy, since so much was left unsaid on the blog. So, I'd best get us caught up to that point, even though I'm missing my brother's pix....


Idaho
Visiting our friend's beautiful property in Sandpoint, Idaho. Too bad we blew out her fuse (oops! Note to self: Turn off the space heater when turning on the microwave....) Also too bad that the weather was uncooperative (45 degrees, heavily overcast morning-noon-night, and raining steadily), but we still liked seeing sandpointidgirl's place. And Bago gave not a fig about the rain. There was a POND, for heaven's sake! And a barn and the woods and and and....

And a whole lotta mud....

Wenatchee/Cascades
Then it was across eastern Washington to the warm sunny orchard town of Wenatchee on our way to the coast Ahh. Here, Bago contemplates the mighty Columbia River.

Then we continued on the last bit of US 2, across the gorgeous and (lucky for us) sunny Cascades. We had to stop at Deception Falls to remember our dog, Ruby, who tried to commit suicide here, by jumping over the stone walls toward the falls. I was on the other side of the bridge when I saw Lisa bent over the wall with the 50+ pound dog dangling at the end of her leash. Had to run back and pull Ruby Dooby back on to dry ground. Goofy dog.... Bago tried no such thing.

Bellingham
Then we reached the beautiful (but then cloudy) coast. We stayed at Larrabee State Park, which no one warned us was traversed by the train tracks--freight and the famous Coast Starlight line. Made for interesting camping....

 But the trails and beaches sure were pretty.

 

The reason for our Bellingham visit was to see our friend and her new Shepherd/Corgi mix, Harper. Bago and Harper share a love of trails and tennis balls. Here they are, excited to be going to the dog park.

Bago makes a new friend (Odie). Bago won this stick contest, and ended up an entirely new color by the end of this visit.

We had a nice cookout/bonfire at our campfire one night (didn't have enough heat to get the dump cake done enough, doggone it), and a delicious dinner with our friend and her BFF in Fairhaven at a great pub. I did some laundry and rested one afternoon so I could shake the sore throat/ear ache crud I had somehow contracted in Idaho. Whew. All better now. Nothing like camping cooties to put a damper on traveling.

Olympic Peninsula

Many more photos to come, courtesy of my brother, but suffice to say that we had a great time visiting my brother and his wife at their beautiful Port Ludlow home. One of the highlights was dinner at Ajax Cafe, famous for its selection of hats that patrons are free to don, and the soap bubble display afterwards. I had some of the best salmon ever (until the next night's Copper River deliciousness).

Some other peninsula sights (with more to be added):

Mercer Island

And then it was back around Puget Sound to Mercer Island and the home of our "faraway close friends" as Dee put it. We neglected to take a group photo at our wonderful Copper River salmon dinner that night, doggone it, but we did capture our hosts and the Korch/Mullins broods with their bug vacuum. Bago thought the creek running through their front yard and the Lake Washington beach just down the road were really swell, too.

On the Way Home
Stopped at a unique RV park in Sutherlin, OR: a former drive-in theater converted into an RV park. Unfortunately, we weren't able to see a movie on that Sunday night. They had just shown one on Saturday, and another was scheduled for Monday, but alas. We had to be on our way.

Our final night found us in hot and sunny Chico, after driving through beautiful southern Oregon and the Mt. Shasta/Lassen viewshed. We were "only" 5 hours from home, but it was 5 o'clock, and puppy and people had had it. So, we pulled into the Almond Tree RV Park (yup, lots of almond trees), got a space, and promptly drove away to make a pilgrimage to our favorite brewer: the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company's taproom, for what turned out to be a most delicious meal. And leaving Bago in the RV with the generator/AC running wasn't a problem as the noise was just drowned out by the brewery noise ;-)

Time to pack up the coach and hit the road for home. Cannot wait for a long shower in our big shower!!!!

Catch Up Post: Abiquiu

Used our strong wifi connection last night (here in Las Vegas, NM) to download a bunch of podcasts--we're two weeks behind, given our out-of-network internet status of late. So, this morning? Time to catch up with the photos of last week.

From Abiquiu area: The reason we went to this area was to meet a "blog buddy," Kate. I have had a link to her blog on my blog for some time now, but if you'd like to see really good NM photography, check out Kate's blog.

Last Tuesday, when we left Albuquerque with our new tires, we had intended to go to Santa Fe and poke around. Well, we just weren't feeling the city vibe after our week in Albuquerque, so we kept going to Abiquiu. We knew that the Corps of Engineers campground at Abiquiu Lake/Dam was closed for the winter, but that campers were welcome to stay for free in one loop. We had hoped that there might be some bare bones services available because we hadn't properly prepared for boondocking (our waste tanks weren't empty but our fresh water was empty!), but when they say closed, they mean closed. So, we really conserved everything that night. The pay off was so worth it. We were the only ones in the campground (a little eerie) but the views were just delicious.

Our campsite:


The sunrise, with full moon overhead:


Here's sunset (the view out our back window), on an evening with a controlled burn off in the distance:


We then spent Wednesday and Thursday at Ghost Ranch, currently (and for the last 50 years) a Presbyterian retreat and conference center and once the home of Georgia O'Keeffe. When we were checking in at the front office, I inadvertently mentioned the "Dam campground" where we were staying, which caused much chuckling amongst the Presbyterians....

We had lunch with Kate and her husband, who have been volunteering as campground hosts since May, and they graciously allowed us to use their campground's facilities so we could continue to boondock. (Pets aren't allowed at Ghost Ranch or we would've stayed there.) Here are some scenes of Ghost Ranch:



A rockfall off of the Kitchen Mesa that we happened to witness:


The labyrinth (modeled on Chartres'), which we walked:


Scenes from the "Georgia O'Keeffe Landscape Tour" we took. A neat tour, where we were driven out onto the ranch and saw both her paintings and the actual views:




The lovely burros (there's a free roaming herd of 5) on the porch of a cabin used in the movie set for "City Slickers." (Many films have been made on Ghost Ranch. Gotta get a list of those together to watch.) Love how they found a different shady spot every afternoon.





While we were in the area, we toodled up north about 40 miles to Los Osos, a true hamlet, and ordered some really neat floor mats for the RV made out of recycled tires. (Thanks for the tip, Kate!)



This was a two-storefront kinda town. The other was a grower-dyer-weaver owned woolen store that was, unfortunately, closed, but it looked really neat.

For our third night in the area, we moved to a US Forest Service campground at Echo Amphitheater. This was a tiny, unstaffed campground about 4 miles north of Ghost Ranch that was set right next to this natural rock amphitheater. A paved trail led up and into that space where, surprise, it really does echo. Since we were the only folks camping here, we had fun with this. Poor Nick, though....






We will continue the catch up later; time to get moving to Santa Fe and another Roadfood lunch (also recommended by folks we met at Ojo Caliente).

Monday Has Finally Arrived. Will Our Tires?

We spent the weekend trying to do as little driving as possible, to baby the possibly mortally wounded tire that is mate to the alien BF Goodrich tire. (It was Halloween and we're in New Mexico, so the alien reference feels appropriate.)

We moved back to our original campground after a night at the KOA, since our original place is closer to things--less driving. (It also has free decaf and popcorn, which Lisa likes, and very nice showers and laundry, which Julie likes, and a much better play area, which Nick likes.) We are forgetting what boondocking is like with all these amenities....

Spent Saturday at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, which was wonderful. This place represents the 19 pueblos of New Mexico and, with the exception of the old exhibits which are getting modernized, is really wonderful. We met artisans of the Santa Clara Pueblo who make exquisite, polished pottery, which looks like stone carving. We resisted, but barely. I was too afraid it would crack on our journey. We saw a series of wonderful Navajo dances, which were thoroughly described and put into cultural context. (We were able to photograph, but had to promise not to post on Internet.) Had an 85+ year old woman give us a very personal tour of one of the traveling exhibits, e.g., how her 100-year-old house was just like this one, except... And how her 95-year-old sister did this, etc. Really made things come to life. On our way out, we stopped by the cafe to pick up some fresh-from-the-beehive-oven bread. Have been enjoying that for days now.

Couldn't find a pumpkin to carve--all the stores were out--so we had a pretty uneventful Halloween. No trick-or-treaters that we were aware of. Now, we have to dispose of the candy we bought....

Sunday had us out on several trails at Petroglyph National Monument, home to more than 20,000 petroglyphs from pre-Colombian times to Spanish herders in 17th century to the beer-addled idiots of today who shoot guns at the rocks. Sigh.

My iPhone photos didn't turn out too well--nor is the area actually terribly scenic, as most of it is just piles of big black volcanic stones--but it was really enjoyable. Crazy steep trails and an urban vista--the town has grown right up against the park borders. Nick was able to join us at the second stop, Rinconada Canyon. He liked it, too.

Here's a drawing that lent one of the trails its name: Macaw Trail


And I just liked this one:


After getting our cardio exercise in (we've also been lifting weights in the coach this trip--hooray!), we went to the metroplex and stood in what seemed an endless line for This Is It. We aren't the world's biggest MJ fans, but his music was pretty important in our childhoods and we'd heard good reviews of this documentary (which is also my favorite film form). So, off we went. Wow. It was a really good film (if a bit long), just overflowing with talent. The best of the best worked on this show--especially the dancers. Unbelievable. And Michael was very good, too. To think that he was 50 and health-compromised and dancing just as well as (or better) than the 20-somethings behind him--amazing.

Now, we sit with bated breath for the call from Chet's Tires that our tires are in and ready to be installed. Of course, the rear duallies that are OK keep losing air now, too. Guess we'd better have those looked at, too. Off to clean the coach while we wait.

"Live the Dream!" Trip Recap

The title of this post comes from our favorite comment--at the Weikel's "We Gotcha Kolache" Shell station. We were refueling, after getting our kolache snack, when a 50- or early 60-something woman came RUNNING up to us, just full of questions about the Navion and our trip. Her husband got a bit impatient, waiting for her, so she ran back to her car several pumps away. As we pulled out, she shouted "Live the dream, girls!"

And we are.

This lady wasn't the first one to either have her own dreams rekindled or to see the possibility in traveling for herself (or himself). I believe it's our favorite part of traveling: inspiring others to do this themselves. So, let's relive the dream of the last two months, shall we?

Trip Stats: 10,200 miles in about 55 days

Fuel economy: 15.35 miles/gallon (up from high 14s on initial trips) and this includes LOTS of A/C use, all those western mountains, and an inability to drive slowly

Average price per gallon of diesel: $2.39 (it kept increasing as the trip progressed; started off at $2.09 and worst paid was $2.95 in Nevada nowheresville)

Average camping fee: $20/night (and this includes the ridiculous Disney $97 for one night, offset by the various driveways our friends and families so graciously offered) We are pleased with this because we based our budget on $25 per night ;-) We've also figured out that, for us, there is practically no reason that will get us to stay in a commercial parking lot, barring an emergency. We love us our state parks, even if we have to drive a few miles out of the way. Just makes traveling so much more pleasant.

Severe weather episodes: 5 (Missouri twice, FL, SD, and AL each once)

Animals successfully dodged on the road: 5 (2 deer, 1 pronghorn antelope, 1 badger of all things, and a biiiig snake)

Favorite Roads
US 60 (Arizona and New Mexico). Click to read this article and you'll see why we went out of our way a little to drive this road.

Natchez Trace (Mississippi)

US 90 along the coast of Mississippi

US 50, the "Loneliest Road" (Nevada)


Least Favorite Roads
Route 14 in Louisiana--yikes, it was rough. Note to self: Remember to ask the Louisiana brother-in-law for which roads to avoid and which roads to take to get good road food.


I-30 in Arkansas, same problem: bumpy!

Best Road Food
Culver's frozen custard (we are definitely Culverized now!). World's best reward after washing the RV (Cheyenne, WY)

Cooper's BBQ in Llano, TX. After having compared KC, Memphis, and TX BBQ on this trip, we can safely say that we are Texas BBQ gals. We've put North Carolina on next spring's trip list, so that we can sample their famous Q, too.

Pie-O-Neer: the pie was good (we still think BJ Bull's in Elko is best), but the green chile stew was GREAT.

Old Country Store, Lorman, MS--best fried chicken EVER. Period.

Aunt Jenny's Catfish, Ocean Springs, MS


National Parks and Monuments

George Washington Carver National Monument Diamond, MO (Free). If you're ever in southwestern Missouri, you MUST go here. Fabulous exhibits, gorgeous walking trail, and a completely inspirational man. We forgot to blog about it, but it was one of our favorite stops. We learned so much and were completely moved by this man's words, life, and accomplishments.

Hot Springs National Park, AR (Free)

Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, TX (Free)

Vicksburg National Park, MS

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, SD (Free)

Badlands National Park, SD

Devil's Tower National Monument, WY (Free)

Great Basin National Park, NV

Truman, Bush (41), and Clinton Presidential Libraries

RV Education
Don't store gallon jugs of water loosely in the storage compartment. Waay too easy to spring leaks. (We now have a nice plastic tub that fits 6 gallons.)

Hail = paint chips.

Don't plug a vacuum into a 5amp socket.

If you're gonna have a leak, have it over the shower.

Visiting the dealer for free warranty work is WORTH the detour. Plus, we just love Iowa.

Not to worry so much about being perfectly level.

To read the manuals. Over and over. So glad we checked on the generator and A/C maintenance. We used those appliances a TON on this trip and none of us (especially the furry beast) could have survived if we hadn't properly maintained 'em.

We are past the days of charming truckers to help us fill our tires. Sigh. I remember the days in college when we ran out of gas in Arkansas, or some such God forsaken place, and we had 8 truckers go miles out of their way to help the college girls. Them days are long gone....

Best Surprises
Everything about Hot Springs National Park: the $10 per night boondocking along a creek, the wonderful spa treatment, and meeting new friends, Bill and Michelle, who taught us dominoes.

Bright and Shine at the truck in

Porter Sculpture Park off I-90 in South Dakota

The Very Large Array on US 60 through New Mexico

Getting my face "read" in Boulder by the author of this book

The high country in both Nevada and Arizona--beautiful places in what I always think of as a vast desert wasteland. Who knew?

When Nick licked marshmallow off the hand of a "stranger" (a stranger to Nick that is) and let the fellow KEEP his hand. Amazing.

Must-Go-Back Places

Show Low, AZ and Pie Town, NM area (Bosque del Apache Forest near there)

Mississippi (more blues trail exploration, "pilgrimage" in Vicksburg), just NOT in the summer

Texas State Parks (since we bought an annual pass)

OK, I gotta go back to Memphis and see Graceland....

KCK and KCMO--A Happenin' Town!

Beginning our third day in KC, and we just love this city. Of course, having gorgeous weather doesn't hurt, but we are so impressed by the culture, architecture, and general ambiance of this area.

Our visit has run the gamat of high to low culture.

Nelson-Adkins Museum
Part traditional museum, part contemporary museum. We got to see our favorite kind of art: photography and sculpture. We were inspired to go by the giant shuttlecocks on the lawn, which the artists saw as "scattered about" by giants, with the traditional art museum itself as the "net." These puppies are 18' tall and 5500 pounds each. Of course, when they were first installed in the 1990s, they were "an abomination." Now, of course, they are symbols of the city, shown on national sports broadcasts, for instance. The display inside, commemorating their 15-year anniversary, was fascinating. It included many napkin sketches by the artists. So interesting to get a glimpse of how the creative process works.







Don't touch!


KC "Q" and Local Treats
On our last trip, we ate out a grand total of 3 times in 36 meals--less than 10% of the time. On THIS trip, we are batting the opposite. In one of the meccas of BBQ, we must simply sample the pleasures. (Gotta do that again later in the trip when we're in Memphis.)

We tried Rosedales on Sunday, based on the recommendation of one of my brother's friends. Quite good, but the burnt ends weren't crispy. Lisa's "long end" (ribs) were very tasty. We made 3 meals out of the one restaurant meal.

As a Q-break, we tried Tim's Pizza last night, based on a Roadfood.com recommendation. The crust was outrageously good--thin, but sturdy and crispy (with those nice yeasty air pockets). Sturdy enough to hold a heapin' mass of toppings and stay crispy throughout the entire meal. We have at least 2 more lunches of that to come. Yay!

But we simply must try the two top places on the Roadfood list: Arthur Bryant's and LC's. So, today we're going to stop at each on our way out of town (after visiting the Hallmark Visitor Center to pay homage to Hoops and YoYo and our other favorite Hallmark characters) and get one sandwich for the road.

We also made one impromptu stop at Sheridan's for some "concrete," since we'd read about that local concoction. What it is is custard, which doesn't have to be frozen at as low a temp as ice cream. Allows it to be sort of slushy-thick, like wet concrete. Then they mix-in things to give it a grainy texture. We split a minty Grasshopper on the way to a matinee. Very unusual.



And our movie (the latest Star Trek) was quite an adventure. We felt "normal" (i.e., not tied to the RV) going to a movie.


Presidential Tour: Part 1
Last summer's big trip revolved around Lewis and Clark and all of the westward migration trails. We nod to that trip on this one, since Kansas City was the terminus of the Oregon and California trails.

But, on this trip, it seems we have a presidential theme shaping up. Independence, MO: Harry Truman. After we go through Hot Springs National Park, we have to go through Hope, Arkansas. And, at the View/Navion rally in Texas, one of the events is a trip to the LBJ Ranch.

We also have a civil rights era theme emerging, since Truman integrated the Army, LBJ signed all the civil rights legislation, and Clinton, well, they did used to say he was the first black president.... And we're planning on going through some civil rights sites in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee later on this trip.

The Buck Stops Here: my favorite Truman saying.


A re-creation of Truman's Oval Office (complete with a million ashtrays)


The TV (with corn cob on top) from Truman's Oval Office


As we looked at all of the very difficult decisions that Truman had to make, I'd say his were just as challenging as the ones we face (if not more): dropping the A bomb on Japan, rebuilding Europe via the Marshall Plan, founding NATO and the UN, stopping the spread of Communism, the Berlin airlift, a postwar glut of unemployed folks and inflation, rampant racism and KKK, etc., etc.

It's so easy to forget the past and think that now is THE WORST EVER! Every era has its own immense challenges, and I'd wager than none of us would ever truly want the awesome responsibility of the presidency.... Truman reportedly said that he'd rather be right than be president and then, under his breath, say he'd rather be anything else than president. I can get that.

The best part is that Truman and Bess came home from the White House to Independence and lived in the same house they'd had since they were married in 1919. He was famous for walking around town every day with his cane. Was there Secret Service back then? Sometimes I think we've deified former presidents and ought to just let them become regular citizens again after their service.... We certainly shouldn't keep calling them "President So and So", but rather "former President So and So." (It's a pet peeve of mine that governors, senators, and presidents who have left office still get their title.)

At any rate, the library was fascinating and very well done. We plan to visit more of these as we we can, esp. Nixon and Reagan out in CA when we get back there.