Crater Lake

Our next stop is Crater Lake. Since this is right after the 4th of July many campgrounds close to Crater Lake are full.  After some research we discovered Sno-Parks. These are NFS(mostly I think) that are large parking lots for winter fun. You need a permit to park your car at these lots and go play in the snow. The rest of the year these are used by RVers as a boondock spot. 20-30 rigs/tents park around the perimeter for the night. Free. These work out great, there are 100+ of these in the mountains of Oregon. I had never heard of them until this trip. Works similar to a ski area where you just park in their parking lot for the night.

There is a perimeter road around Crater lake that we wanted to take. This was great, very little traffic, every stop had plenty of space for parking. We were surprised at the lack of tourists. The drive is only 33 miles, takes 2-3 hours with all the stopping. Crater Lake is as blue as the pictures you see. This lake is not stream fed. Rain and snow only. Underground seepage keeps the lake level but no one knows where the water is going. A mystery of nature.

The lake is so still and the reflections of the surrounding mountains are unbelievable. Put this on your bucket list.

After Crater Lake we are planning to do minimal traveling. This was in our plans until we start up again after Labor Day. We will be spending the month of August in Washington near Olympic NP and will do a couple day trips each week once we are settled in. 

For now we are at a park in Oregon for 2 weeks, then we will visit some friends, spend some time at the Columbia Gorge and then on to our August campground. 

Crater Lake

07 04 2021 Mt. Hood

 What I love about where we are touring are the snow capped mountains that are on the horizon as you drive. 

We were concerned about 4th of July but found a campground that was attached to a County Fairground. One of the best fairground campgrounds we have stayed at. About 1/2 full. When we started this trip we were concerned about crowded campgrounds. We have never been in one that has been full. We travel mostly secondary roads and that probably helps. This might be different is we drove interstates.

Mt. Hood is just up the road from us so we took a day trip to the mountain. Snow is starting to melt off the peaks so they are not as stunning. Pretty drive though.

Mt. Hood

Plymouth Park, Washington

 We have been caught in the heat wave of Washington and Oregon and decided we wanted to stay in a campground that had electricity for the duration. We found a really nice Corp of Engineer campground, off the beaten path, only 39 sites. This worked out well for us. we did some touring, tried a local restaurant and just took it easy. We hadn't planned to travel much in July/August so we started a little early. 

We have lots of wineries around us and thought we could visit them. That plan didn't work out very well as most needed reservations or were still mostly closed due to Covid. Covid is still impacting us. Most restaurants have limited hours, fast food don't have their dining rooms open yet. 

Going to the supermarkets here is a dicey situation. They don't seem to be well stocked, this is including Walmart.

We finally left the COE park. Tom needed a new phone and we thought this would be a great time to have one shipped to us. Our overnight package took 5 days to get to us. When we were finally able to hit the road again, 4th of July was upon us. We found a county fairground to stay at for 4th of July weekend. 

We did a few day trips along the Columbia River while waiting for the phone. The Columbia is awesome, it is a large river. We have driven maybe 200 miles of its length and the river size has been the  river size has been the same through out. 

There are numerous dams along the river for electrical generation, surprisingly you don't see many boats or fishermen on the river. I have no idea why not.

Each side of the river has a road. On the Oregon side is the Interstate, on the Washington side is a smaller, 2 lane highway, much prettier to drive and you can stop where  you want. No towns or services though.

We did find a local restaurant that was great. We like to go to Mom and Pop restaurants as most of them are very good. This one was a winner. 

 

Mt. Rainier, What more do I need to say

We took a day trip to Mt. Rainier. We came in from the NW side which is unusual, most tourists come in from the East side. This is a great way to visit, the roads are empty, the viewpoints have 1 car. After an hour or so we were wondering where everyone was. We found out. We crossed the invisible line for the tourists who come in from the east, wall to wall cars and people. We had seen Mt. Rainier in all its glory with a beautiful day. Good way to end this stop. 

Rainier is awesome, just takes over the horizon wherever you drive. We encountered frozen lakes, roads closed due to snow(6' still) but still a great day. 

We stopped at a local place for dinner and had the best chicken fried steak and fish in chips in years. We like to try the Mom and Pop restaurants. We rarely find one that isn't good. 

Mt. Rainier 

Drive from Grand Coulee Dam to Yakima, WA

 Today was a great driving day. We were at Grand Coulee Dam, largest in the US. They had a great 45 minute movie about the construction of the dam and a very interesting museum. This is a massive dam, 550' high and 30' across the top. Happy we stopped here.

Today we drove down to Yakima WA to stop at an Elks Lodge for a few nights before we move to a Corp of Engineer park on the Columbia gorge for 5 days. Looking forward to this, we had a taster a few days ago driving along the Gorge but now we are going to see the "Gorge".

Our trip today was phenomenal scenery wise. We drove from Grand Coulee along the Columbia River. We were stopping frequently for the views. Then we had to drive on I90 and I82. Interstates are not my favorite as I find them boring. Not these two. Up and down significant grades(5% for 5 miles), then came the crowning touch, we stopped at a Scenic View Point and here was Mt. Rainier in all its glory.

A few miles down the road the view was even better, both Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier came into our view. Of course no scenic area so pictures through the windshield is the best we can do. 

Took us 2 hours longer go get in than planned with all our stops.  

Drive to and Grand Coulee

Drive to Yakima, WA 

Spokane

We are now in Washington and have driven through their Palouse region. This is a unique region, only in Washington of rolling hills, mainly agricultural, just lovely to see after Oregon. We are heading for Spokane for a major food shopping before heading back onto the backroads for a month or so. 

We have friends in Colville, around 90 miles NE of Spokane and will visit with them for a few days before moving on.

Spokane 

 

East Side of Oregon

I am so far behind in my blog and pictures. I am only going to put up the links for now, some of the pictures have comments. Overall, OR was boring and the roads are empty. 

We are now going up the east side of Oregon. The east side of Oregon is so barron, very surprising to us. We are driving mostly on interstate for a few days. Going through some passes was so nice. The interstate followed a nice stream, lots of curves but a nice change. There isn't much to do going up the east side which surprised us. Nevada was so much more interesting. Not much to see or stop at.

We placed an Amazon order and will wait in Hermiston, OR for the packages to arrive.
This is near the beginning of the Columbia Gorge so we will be doing a day trip. Should be in Washington in another 3-4 days. Hope Washington is more interesting.

Three links of our trip through Easter Oregon

Jordon Hall, OR

Ontario, OR 

Hermiston, OR

Hines and Malheur NWF

We have been on the road for 3 days, time for a break especially since the roads have been mostly in poor condition. The drive was interesting. We see a lot of very old, collapsing barns as we drive. It is so sad.

The driving was challenging today. The roads don't have any shoulder and I must of met a dozen farm items on the road. They take their lane and part of mine, we had to creep past each time. It didn't seem to make a difference whether it was a back road or a main road.

I found the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, nice big lake so we should see a lot of wildlife. Checked to make sure the Visitor Center was open and off we went. I can say we had a nice drive. Saw minimal wildlife, few birds and the lake, nice and blue on the map, was dried up and the Visitor Center was closed. Oh well, you win some, lose some.

 

Hines and Malheur click here

 

 We are seeing trees! Thought we were done with desert. Not!

Lovely Iris

 We stopped near Reno for a break and to get some shopping done. Surprisingly we managed to find everything on our list and had a day trip to Pyramid Lake, this is a natural lake. The color is so blue.

Pyramid Lake click here

 

2021 05 22 Lamoille Canyon-First and Second Try

Elko, NV

We have moved all of 50 miles. There is a canyon we would like to see near Elko.

On Saturday the weather was changing every 10 minutes, sunshine, cloudy, rain, sleet. We finally decided to go to the Lamoille Canyon. I am so happy we decided to go. Even though the weather wasn’t the greatest and we had to turn around due to sleet and snow. The drive was awesome.

If the weather is better tomorrow we will do the drive again. The canyon is only about 30 minutes from town so it is fairly close.

 

We elected to do the drive again the next day. This time we made it up the road an additional 1000'. We gave up when the road was down to 2 snow ruts and 4" of snow. If you are ever in this area this is well worth the stop.

 

We knew we had snow as we approched

Beautiful,  but cold

Time to turn around

 

Lamoille Canyon First Try  click here

Lamoille Canyon Second Try click here

 

Bonneville Salt Flats

Wells, NV

The campground is lovely, lush, green, lots of trees. Very unusual out here. When we arrived there was a wedding going on down by the creek. The flower girls were darling. White dresses and cowboy boots!!!! As the wedding progressed the clouds rolled in, thunder started and the rain came down. I assume they did get married as everyone scattered.

Wells is not a large time, Burger King, McDonald's, 1 pretty good local restaurant and an Iron Skillet at the truck stop. We remembered Iron Skillet with fondness and stopped there. Not the same restaurant we remember. The next day we tried the local restaurant. Only open for breakfast and lunch. We elected breakfast and is was good.

Our mail came in so we went to the Post Office to pick it up. It is safer to select a small town for mail, the larger towns seem to misplace the mail. Small towns don’t get that much General Delivery so it is easier to find in the office.

Our campground host likes to bake. For 2 of the 4 days she came around with breakfast muffins. Nice treat.

While here we took a drive to the Bonneville Salt Flats. Plenty of camping space with great views. We went to the Flats but didn’t go out on them. Your car gets full of salt mud, we don’t want that. The Flats are flat as far as you can see, no bushes or anything green.

Our last day in Wells we had snow. Didn’t stick to the road. The trees were beautiful.   

Bonneville Salt Flats click

 

 

 

 

Drive to Wells, NV

Today was a driving day. The plan was to drive to the Salt Flats, stay overnight and then on to the small town of Wells, NV to pick up mail. As usual, plans change. We ended up driving to Wells and will drive back to the Salt Flats. Wells is about 50 miles from the Salt Flats that are in Utah.

This was a beautiful drive. We had the snow capped Humbolt Range to our left and this just added interest to the drive. No towns, just road. Sign said next gas was 78 miles. 

 

Additional pictures: The Drive to Wells
 

 

Great Basin National Park

 Today we drove to Great Basin National Park. The drive toward the end was beautiful, snow capped mountains, just so surprising to see. This park is in the middle of nowhere, almost on the Utah border.

We went to visit Great Basin and drove up the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive. The road was an 8% grade for 12 miles, no flat spots. Wheeler Peak Scenic drive is closed due to snow but we made it to 9500 feet with no problems. The view just went on and on. 

We then drove down our 8% grade. We checked out the other roads, not many, in the park and were home by lunch. Tomorrow is housekeeping day. 

Great Basin National Park click

 

The View from our campground

A typical road, no cars

 

Cathedral Gorge State Park

 Today we visited Cathedral Gorge State Park. Though a small park, there were very unique rock formations. Kind of like a Slot Canyon.

Cathedral Gorge State Park click

One Side of the Valley

And the other, two worlds

Caliente - Echo Canyon and Spring Valley State Parks

 We took off early and headed out to visit 2 state parks. My navigator had me take a right out of the campground, after 25 miles I decided we were going the wrong way. He had the map and set up the GPS!!! We turned around and drove back.

Now that we were heading in the correct direction. Again very few cars on the roads. Once we were off the main road we rarely saw another car. 

As we visit each park we always drive thru the campgrounds. Most are only half full and some are empty except for the host. We really like the lesser known state parks, they generally aren't visited that much but each one is unique in their own way. 

What we find interesting is the flatness of the valleys, perfectly flat. Since Visitor Centers are not open I guess we will never know how they formed. Water appears to be plentiful, the valleys are lush.

Echo Canyon State Park click

We were amazed at the flatness and lushness

A display of old farm equipment

 

 Spring Valley State Park click

Las Vegas-Valley of Fire State Park

 Tom asked why we were going to this park an all I could answer is I found the name interesting. 

We came in the west entrance and immediately had Big Horn Sheep on the side of the road. This was our first wildlife sighting. The rock structure in the park is different, I understand why the name is Valley of Fire. I can easily imagine the rocks as being flames. The park has one main road with a few side roads and one scenic loop. We took every road we were allowed on that was open. 

I am fascinated by the colors of the rocks we are seeing, how one layer is cream and the next layer is dark. I find this fascinating. Took us several hours to get through this park and was well worth the drive. We left via the East entrance on a road that paralleled Lake Mead. Mostly a boring road but in good shape. Many pull-offs but there is no warning that one is coming. We were pretty much the only car on the road. Lake Mead is very low and has been low for years. There are now concerns that Hoover Dam will not be able to generate electricity in coming  years.  

Valley of Fire State Park  Click here

 

 

Las Vegas-Red Rock Canyon

We have now moved to Las Vegas, again an Elks Lodge in North Las Vegas. The constant wind we have had for a week continues. It is very tiring to have winds every day from10-30 mph. Driving, even in the car, is challenging. 

Our plans for this week is to visit Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire State Park. We generally do touring one day, stay home a day. We are in no rush and just want to take our time. 

Our Amazon order came in and is at an Amazon Locker waiting for us. We drove to the locker and the location was in an Amazon distribution center, huge, huge building. While there the daily trucks left, must have been over 100 of them The line just kept going. 

Red Rock National Conservation Area

This is a National Conservation Area park that you need a reservation to drive its Scenic Drive. We didn't know this the first time we showed up and you can't get in without a reservation. Instead we drove around the mountains in the area to fill in our day. I will make a reservation and we will come back another day.

When we came back to the motor home, logged onto recreation,gov and made a reservation. Being senior citizens our America the Beautiful pass gave us free entrance but we had to pay the $2 reservation fee. 

We generally like to do things early in the day and this is a good decision for this Scenic Drive. The most interesting part of the drive is in the first 5 miles and, even at 9AM, the parking lots were filling up with hikers. Earlier is better. 

This is an interesting park and an excellent scenic derive that is 13 miles long. The contrast between the red sandstone and white sandstone is spellbinding. 

I am taking a different approach to my pictures. I will post a few in the blog and the rest will be a link. This is much easier for me to create and maintain. Hopefully, everyone will be kept happy. Some pictures in the blog and additional pictures if you are so inclined.

 Here is the URL: Red Rock National Conservation Area  Click Here

 

 

 

 

 

Pahrump NV

 I am running behind on the blog. I hope to catch up over the next few days.

We spent a week in Pahrump as we slowly ease into RVing again after the Covid break. 

We visited Death Valley which was not what I expected. My initial thoughts was dry, sand dunes. Nothing like that. Yes the valley is dry, mostly scrub brush about 18" high. Mountains all around. 

As we approached Death Valley we saw a side road for Dante's Viewpoint. The last mile of the drive was switchbacks, 15 degree road to get to the top. This was well worth it. What a view, we could see all of Death Valley, 5500 feet below us. Temperature was a rude awakening, got out of the car and the wind is howling, temperature was 54, we had started at 71 and didn't realize we would have such a temperature change. Of course, no jackets. 

For most of the day we wandered around Death Valley, visited the lowest point at Badwater, -282 feet. We spent most of the day below sea level.

Nevada has a sense of humor for their scenic drives, this one is called the Death Drive. Others are Burner, Cowboy, Extraterrestrial, Great Basin, Cowboy, Loneliest Road, Rubies and Free Range Art.

As an added benefit there was a balloon festival in Pahrump. Where we are parked at an Elks Lodge we overlooked the town. The balloons were scheduled to lift off at 7 AM but took off early so we missed the initial take off. It wasn't like the Albuquerque  Balloon Festival but still a nice bonus.

Enjoy the pictures

Death Valley:

A Scenic Drive

Stunning Colors

The Lowest Point in the US

Pahrump Balloon Festival, from our front window

https://photos.app.goo.gl/rRR3aiKFWc6tW8Jh8

 

Today was another windy driving day. At least another short day. We are in Pahrump, NV at an Elks Lodge. Gorgeous views. We will be here for 6 days. Plan to visit Death Valley, Red Rock State Park and whatever else we find. There is an interesting museum I town regarding nuclear waste. We also found out there is a hot air balloon festival this coming weekend. We are up on a knoll out of town and should have a great view. 

 

  

Pahrump must have and abandoned animal problem

 

 

 

Views from our campsite

 

 

 

End of the day

 

We have begun our trip and are now in Kingman, AZ at an Elks Lodge for our first night. Poor road and very windy made for an exhausting day. Glad to be parked early. The instructions for parking was to “park on the tennis courts”. The tennis courts are old and grass is growing through the cracks. One very nice bonus is that they are level.

Due to the rough road we are carefully opening cabinets. One of the cabinet locks broke and our dish receiver shifted and broke the HDMI cable. We have another day of travel and then will be settled for 6 days.

Here we are parked on our tennis court.