Moving South and East

We moved out of Redding RV Park as planned on March 29th.  Headed for Valley of the Rogue State Park, out of Rogue River, Oregon.

We settled into our reserved space for 8 nights… which turned into 13 nights.

The weather didn’t cooperate too well for working outside at our house or playing outside, but we did get some things done, and enjoyed our time back in Southern Oregon.

We had the chance to spend some time with family. 

My parents live just a few miles from the park, and my sister, Carol, came down from Portland.

Our hope was to have both of Jeff’s sons together for a few days, but we are happy for what we did get.  Jacob and his girlfriend Kody drove down from Madras and spent 2 nights.

Sadly, Jonathan did not join us, but we did get a chance to see him briefly a few nights later.  We spent a few hours together around a roaring campfire… but failed to get any pictures!

Now we are driving the familiar route from Oregon to Reno.  We take I-5 to Mt.Shasta then turn off on Hwy 89 that cuts us over to Susanville then we take the 395 into Reno.  It’s a beautiful drive, but a lot of climbing and descending, and a little winding.

We passed one of our favorite pull-over boondocking spots, where we would have stayed last night if we had gotten away as originally planned.  But since we didn’t leave until this morning, we will drive through to the Reno area 328 miles, where we hope to stay Sparks Marina RV Park.  I better give them a call.

Its good to be on the road again.  Although the same excitement isn’t there this time.  Maybe because we have plans and set destinations.  It isn’t like we are just free floating gypsy’s… that’s exciting… and we  could be doing that now… but when you are 62 feet long, you cant always just expect there will be a place to stay.  We have 2 two week reservations at parks in Arizona, then its off to Moab, Utah for our Summer assignment. 

Happy Travels all of you fellow RVers!

Arrived Las Vegas

I have some catching up to  do on this blog! 

We left Southern Oregon last Saturday, after staying 11 days at Valley of the Rogue State Park.
We accomplished all that we needed to do before leaving again, and spent good time with family and friends.

Our Site at Valley of the Rogue State Park

Good home cooking... prepared by Sheryl's Mom and Sister.

We're all having fun... really.

Dad reads us a story he wrote years ago

Sisters sharing another piece of Moms good pie!

Visiting Jon and Brooke at their new place in Medford.

One last night get-together at our camp site.

Sheryl's Parents came for a visit
(and by the way... Happy 66th Anniversary today, Mom and Dad!)

After leaving Southern Oregon,

Our first night's stay along Hwy 89 near Old Station, CA

We stayed here before and enjoyed it,

 so we were happy that the spot was empty and waiting for us again!

Some interesting cloud formations along our way...

The plan for our second night was to stay in Fallon, NV at the Bonanza Inn RV Park.

It was just a parking lot with full hook-ups, but for $15 it was a deal.

We slept well, and we were comfortable, so we even stayed a second night.
We walked to the Post Office, walked down Historic Main Street, and just kicked it.
We put up the antenna and got about 12 channels.  It was a fun change from our Direct TV.  It was almost like going back in time... lots of old shows.

We weren't sure where we would stay our next night, after leaving Fallon,

but we were glad we passed up some RV Park possibilities, because we found another great pull-off where we could comfortably stay the night. 

It was about 2 miles past Goldfield, NV with just desert all around.

The view out the back window

Out the front door

Level and Spacious and Free!

We had reserved a site for a week here in Las Vegas, at Las Vegas RV Resort. 

We arrived at 3:00 and we are impressed with the park... very nice.

I will get better pictures tomorrow, but our site is spacious.

Tomorrow we will venture out to see Las Vegas! 

and Im sure I will have lots more to show and tell. 

Take Care... all of you fellow travelers, family and friends.

House in Grants Pass

JUNE 27, 2011
We are back at Carl Washburne SP, after a week long visit to Grants Pass.  The renters at our house moved out, and we had several repairs and much cleaning to do, before the next renters move in.

We had to tear out the old carpet in the 480 SF family room, before the installers could come install new carpet.

We have had a mysterious leak in the chimney for a long time, that would seep water through the brick of the fireplace.  Jeff is convinced he found where water is getting in, and sealed it good.  So we tore the ceiling out around the fireplace in both the dining room and the living room, and replaced the drywall.  Unfortunately, we are not professionals, so the job is done, but its not perty.

 

We worked from morning to night every day, but took time out a few evenings for brief get-togethers with family and friends.

My sister was down from Portland, so She with our Mom and Dad brought over KFC and other homemade fixins for an evening picnic... giving us a much needed break!

Then before their visit was over, we had a surprise visit from some of Jeff's club brothers.

We had the help of our good friend, Ginny, for two of the days... and what a help she was.  We were so busy with repairs, she took over the cleaning.
Of course, in the evening we took a break for eating and relaxing.

We stayed at our house, sleeping on our air mattress... it was great!

So there is a little post about our House in Grants Pass trip.  We have more outside work to do at the house, but that will be later in the summer.

I DON’T WANT TO DO THIS ANYMORE!

Speaking of living in a home on wheels… Those were my words in the midst of today’s events.  It passed… in fact, when I said it, I knew I didn’t REALLY mean it… I love this lifestyle, but if EVER there were a time that I wanted to quit this lifestyle, it was TODAY!  We don’t do stress very well…  maybe because we’ve been away from it for so long.

This was the dreaded day that we had to get ourselves off the hill.  It’s been several days since we had hard rain, so we were hoping to get out without incident.  BUT… there was incident… after incident… after incident.  The mud was not our only concern. 

We got our Swivelwheel motorcycle carrier while we were here, and we hadn’t yet pulled it behind the fifth wheel.  We had tested it behind the truck, and we had our concerns.  Yesterday we pulled the 5er off the stilts, so we could hook it up, but that’s all we could do.  The ramps we ordered to load the bike were too short… so we sent them back (after paying $40 coming and $60 going for shipping!!)   We ordered another set of ramps that we certainly hope will work, but we didn’t have time to get them before we had to leave, so we had to borrow the ramps we sold before we left last October. (funny huh?)

We weren’t about to attempt pulling the bike down the hill, so we were pulling the swivelwheel empty, and we would load our bike at a lot a couple miles down the road.  But even empty, we had some trouble.  As we backed up, the swivelwheel hit some mud and stopped, so as Jeff continued backing up, the platform continued to tilt, and tilted so far that the back was almost in the ground.  Our other new purchase was Motorola 2-way radios... so at this point I pressed my button and said "STOP!"  And Jeff stopped!  We put boards under the wheel, and it moved along from there as it was suppose to.

BUT then the truck got stuck in the mud... really stuck.  So after much contemplation, we decided maybe we could dig ourselves out.  So we dug down in front of the tire, then we laid bark in front of all the truck tires... then boards... FINALLY, we did get out!!  But we were off of the planned route out of there, and had to move to plan B (which wasnt actually a plan B, it just became plan B... we didnt have a plan B.  Plan A was suppose to work!)

Our new route took us back further on the lot, then down the hill at a different point.  As the truck started down the hill, the front of the fifth wheel got closer and closer to the ground.... and again I said "STOP!".   The front jacks were digging into the ground and digging deeper and deeper, and they werent going to dig themselves out... so we had to!  We dug a track, but then as he moved forward it started digging in again, so again I dug. 

Finally we were clear and Jeff was on his way down the hill.   

He made it onto the driveway, and pulled out in the street so he could straighten out and back up so we could load the bicycles and make an official exit.  Again, the fifth wheel shifted and slammed forward.  It had done this earlier a couple times, and we had continued to fight with it.  We have a sliding fifth wheel hitch, and it was doing its sliding thing!  They had taken the fifth wheel hitch out to load things in the truck, and evidentally it had come unlocked, and now it seemed we couldnt get it to lock in place.

We loaded the bicycles and pulled out.  Jeff drove the truck and Ginny and I followed in the car, so we could come back and get the bike. 

The plan was to take the Ultra Classic and its too big for me to attempt to ride.  But by the end of this ordeal, Jeff and I were both stressed, and nervous about hauling a heavy bike on this Swivelwheel for the first time.  So we decided to take my Heritage Softail instead.  The original original plan was to pull the "bagger" and I would follow on my bike.  But the WEATHER has been awful, so I wasnt going to ride through rain and snow and be miserable.  Now we will ride back when the weather is better and  get the other bike.

So with the sudden change of plans, AND the fact that it had started RAINING on us... the simple plan to go back and get the bike, wasnt so simple any more.  Now we needed to make sure we got what we needed off the bike we thought we were going to take, and get the things that we needed for the bike we were taking, and the battery was dead, and both were wet, and how was I suppose to carry all this extra stuff on the back of the bike?

Okay... time to stop sniveling.  We did make it out of the mud and down the hill and to the lot and we did get the bike and I did carry the stuff, and we did get it loaded and tied down, and we are on our way to Prineville, Oregon for our first camp host job of the Summer.

I rode in the fifth wheel, watching how the swivelwheel handles for the first 10 miles.  I'm glad I dont have to watch it all the time, because its alot easier when I dont know what its doing back there.  It is fine Im sure, its just scary to watch as it bounces around.

Its now almost midnight, and my battery is dying.   We have landed for the night in a Walmart parking lot in Bend, Oregon.  This wasnt our plan for the night, but the other plan didnt work, then the next plan didnt work, then the next plan didnt work.  So here we are... our first experience staying in a Walmart parking lot.

GOOD-NIGHT!