April 17 to 23, 2008
Corning, California to Keremeos, British Columbia
Thursday ; Corning, California to Sutherlin, Oregon
Well, now I've seen it all ! ! ! This morning Bo woke me up at 7:00 A.M. to be taken out for a walk. When I stepped outside, I noticed for the first time the RV rig that had pulled in beside us in the Flying J parking lot last night, after dark, after our shades were drawn. It was an older Class A motorhome, with British Columbia license plates. And behind it was its toad ( towed vehicle ), on a flatbed trailer. A fairly small, personal use ... are you ready ? ... helicopter ! ! ! I suppose that would get you from the RV park to the Wal-Mart pretty quickly all winter, wouldn't it ? HA HA HA !
Today was sunny and very warm. We prepared for departure, and before leaving the Flying J in Corning, we refilled the fresh water tank and dumped the two grey waste holding tanks. We headed north on Interstate 5, covering a lot of ground again today. Over 1000 km. / 600 miles in two days. Shortly before we reached the border between California and Oregon we stopped for lunch in a beautiful rest area where we have stopped before. California has nice Interstate rest areas. After lunch we continued on I-5 into Oregon, entering the Cascade Mountains, the same mountain range that we live in back home in Keremeos, British Columbia. We stopped to refill with diesel in Roseburg. A few minutes before the front office closed at 5:00 P.M. we arrived at Timber Valley SKP Park in Sutherlin.
I've just been taken for a walk ( at 7:00 P.M. ) by Joanne. She wanted to show me the wild turkeys she saw a few minutes ago while walking Bo. And she wanted to redeem herself, after telling me back in Yuma that she was seeing iguanas in the dog park on a daily basis, but there never were any when I went to the dog park with her. Yes, dear, I believe you. HA HA HA ! There were, indeed, wild turkeys where she said there were. Three males and three females. We walked to where she had seen them, and once I saw them, then I realized ... I should have brought my camera. DUH ! We trudged back uphill to the trailer, I got my camera, we walked back down to where the wild turkeys were, I shot a couple of photos, and my camera batteries died. Oh, well, I had already taken a couple of photos. Then ... < blink > ... two Blacktail Deer wandered by. Gee, this park is like a wildlife refuge. Timber Valley SKP Park is in the Cascades Mountains in Oregon, surrounded by thick evergreen forest. The park is filled with huge rabbits. Bo is frenzied ! And he didn't even see the wild turkeys or the deer.
Friday ; Today was cloudy and cool. HMPH ... welcome to Oregon in the spring.
Yup ... the passenger side outside rear dually tire is definitely continuing to lose air slowly. I think I'll procrastinate dealing with it until we get back home to Keremeos. Until then, I'll just have to add air to the tire every few days. I climbed up on the roof and swept off the tops of the slides. They were dirty with desert dust and evergreen needles. We noticed a few days ago when we retracted the slides for travel. I went to the clubhouse and < sigh > used a dial up connection to send and retrieve e-mail, and update my blog. It’s been over a year since I’ve last had to use a dial up connection. I wasn’t able to attach photos to my blog using a dial up connection. I’ll have to do it the next time I have access to Wi-Fi. After lunch I read and napped. Darn ... I slept through Timber Valley’s weekly friendship hour, Fridays at 3:00 P.M.. Joanne didn’t wake me because she didn’t know I wanted to go to friendship hour. I spent the rest of the afternoon updating my investment files.
Saturday ; Sutherlin to Silverton, Oregon
Today was cloudy and cold ! All day long, as we drove, there was intermittent rain, freezing rain, ice pellets, and wet snow. Fortunately, there was no precipitation during our departure preparations, arrival procedures, or any of the many shopping stops we made today.
We left Timber Valley SKP Park in Sutherlin this morning heading north on Interstate 5. A few minutes after we departed, the freezing rain and ice pellets began to fall. We stopped at Cottage Grove to shop at Wal-Mart and Safeway. We bought most of what we wanted to stock up on before leaving the United States at the Wal-Mart in Cottage Grove. We wanted to do our stocking up in Oregon because there is no sales tax. We continued northbound on I-5. Shortly before we reached Eugene we were delayed by a multi-vehicle pileup on the Interstate freeway.We stopped for a late lunch at a roadside rest area. We saw a Home Depot from the freeway as we drove through Albany. We stopped there so that I could shop for something that I need for a home improvement project in the trailer. The Home Depot in Albany didn't have what I needed < sigh >. We continued northbound on I-5. We stopped in Salem to refill with diesel and shop at another Wal-Mart for a couple of items that the Wal-Mart in Cottage Grove didn't have. We drove another few miles north on I-5 and saw a Lowe's in Keizer. They had the items I needed that Home Depot didn't have. From Lowe's we headed east on Hwy. 213 a short distance to Silverton where Joanne had selected a Passport America park to stay at tonight.
Nice park. Pull through sites, cable TV, free Wi-Fi, reasonable rates. We got set up in a site and while Joanne prepared supper I got online to send and retrieve e-mail, and attach photos to my last blog entry. We didn't attach our external water hose tonight because of the cold temperatures. It might dip below freezing tonight. The very cold weather forecast for the next few days might make us have to rethink our plans for the next few days. As I'm typing this late in the evening sitting at the dinette table Teddy is sitting on the table in front of me, cuddled up against my chest. Poor old Teddy, he's cold !
Sunday ; Silverton, Oregon to Tacoma, Washington
Today was another cloudy, cold day, with intermittent rain. Just north of Mount St. Helens there was a brief ice pellet blizzard.
Okay ... Plan A. We were going to drive to a Passport America park south of Mount St. Helens and get an early start tomorrow morning on exploring Mount St. Helens National Park. Afterwards we would go to another Passport America Park between Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier National Park, followed by a visit the following day to Mount Rainier National Park. We decided that upon leaving Silver Spur RV Park in Silverton we would travel secondary back roads for awhile before returning to the Interstate. As we drove through Silverton looking for Hwy. 214 ... HEY < slamming on brakes ... SCREECH > ... a Mexican bakery ! This far north ... who'd 'a thunk ? HA HA HA ! We stopped and loaded up on pan dulce. We drove northwest on Hwy. 214 to Interstate 5 then headed north on I-5. We thought driving through Portland on a Sunday was a good idea, hoping that the traffic on a Sunday would be lighter than on a weekday. We drove through Portland and across the Columbia River into the state of Washington. Joanne decided today that she doesn't want to drive on Interstate 5 through Oregon and Washington any more, in the spring and fall. Every time we've driven I-5 through Oregon and Washington in November or April, the weather has been bad. Interstate 5 is on the west side of the Cascade Mountains. Hwy. 97, the main highway through the Okanagan Valley, runs on the east side of the Cascade Mountains all the way down to Interstate 5 at Weed, California. The weather is much better along Hwy. 97, east of the Cascades. So that will be our route in the future.
Okay ... Plan B. We arrived at Ridgefield, Washington, where we were planning to spend the night, much earlier in the day than we had thought we would. It was too early to stop for the night. So we decided to drive to the Mount St. Helens Visitor Centre, get information, then stop for the night at a nearby state park. We continued north on I-5 and at Castle Rock we turned east on Hwy. 504 heading for the Mount St. Helens Visitor Centre at Silver Lake. There we found that the road through Mount St. Helens National Park and the road through Mount Rainier National Park were both still closed for the winter.
Okay ... Plan C. We decided to head for Millersylvania State Park further north on I-5. We drove back to I-5 and continued north. As we were driving Joanne was checking our campground directories. HEY ... there's a county park with camping at Chehalis that's cheaper than the state park.
Okay ... Plan D. At Chehalis we found our way to the county park. We didn't have the correct change for the self-registration / self-pay system.
Okay ... Plan E. Same as Plan C. We continued north on I-5 heading for Millersylvania State Park. HEY ... a roadside rest area on the Interstate.
Okay ... Plan F. We pulled into the roadside rest area planning to boondock for the night. HEY ... there's another rest area on I-5 about 50 miles down the road at Tacoma / Seattle, and it's still fairly early, so ...
Okay ... Plan G. We continued north on I-5 heading for the roadside rest area at Tacoma / Seattle. HEY ... a Flying J just as we got to Tacoma.
Okay ... Plan H. Let's refill with diesel and we'll just boondock at the Flying J. While I refilled with diesel Joanne walked around looking for a suitable site to park overnight. There was no separate area for RV's to park overnight, so wewould have had to just park in between the tractor trailers, most of whom idle their engines all night. Been there, done that, so ...
Okay ... Plan I. Same as Plan G. Hmmm ... a roadside rest area on the Interstate right in the middle of a large city. Rather odd ! But the roadside rest area was quite suitable for boondocking overnight. Good thing, because Joanne had already formulated ...
Plan J. If the roadside rest area was unsuitable, there was a Wal-Mart a few more miles north on I-5 where we could have boondocked overnight. It should go without saying that shopping at the Wal-Mart became tomorrow's Plan A. HA HA HA !
Monday ; Tacoma to Lincoln Rock State Park, Washington
Tonight we are at Lincoln Rock State Park, a lovely, albeit expensive, Washington State Park on the Columbia River in the eastern portion of the Cascade Mountains. Washington’s state parks are very nice, but very expensive. This area looks like “home”, in Keremeos, in the Similkameen Valley. Not surprising, since the Similkameen River flows into the Okanagan River near the Canadian border, and the Okanagan River flows into the Columbia River not too far north of where we are tonight. And as expected, as soon as we crossed from the western side of the Cascades to the eastern side, the weather improved considerably.
Today was mostly cloudy and cold. When we stopped for lunch at a roadside rest area in the Snoqualmie Pass, it was snowing heavily. This morning before we departed the roadside rest area in Tacoma we dumped our grey waste holding tanks and refilled the fresh water holding tank. Some of Washington’s roadside rest areas have trailer sanitary stations. We drove into Tacoma and found the Wal-Mart. Easier said than done ! Some Wal-Marts are easy to find off the highway, some aren’t ! While Joanne shopped for the last few items we wanted to stock up on before returning to Canada I phoned Riverside RV Park Resort to arrange for the hydro and water to be turned on at our site tomorrow. Joanne still couldn’t find one item we want, so we’ll have to make one more Wal-Mart stop tomorrow, in Omak.
We departed Tacoma heading northeast on Hwy. 18 until it reached Interstate 90. We drove east on I-90 climbing up and over the Cascade Mountains. We refilled with diesel at Flying J in Ellensburg, the most expensive fuel price we paid this winter, $4.479 per gallon of diesel ! At Hwy. 281 we turned north to Quincy, then west and north on Hwy. 28 until it merged with Hwy. 97 at East Wenatchee. Hwy. 97 is the road that runs all the up through the Okanagan Valley, in both Washington and British Columbia. A few miles north of East Wenatchee and we were at Lincoln Rock State Park.
We got set up in our site, then took Bo for a long walk in this lovely park. We walked down to the waterfront. Bo ran into the Columbia River at the park’s beach, but didn’t get very far before turning around and running out of the water. Pretty cold, wasn’t it, Bo ? We’re not on the Sea Of Cortez anymore. HA HA HA ! We walked over to the park’s playground where Bo did some “Bo-gility”, including fearlessly and eagerly sliding down the children’s slide. What a silly little dog. He loves slides ! We returned to the trailer as the sun was setting because it was getting pretty chilly !
I phoned the China Creek technician in Cawston to arrange for me to pickup the China Creek ISP Wi-Fi transceiver equipment as we drive through Cawston tomorrow on our way back to Keremeos. I had to return China Creek’s equipment last November 1 to suspend our home Internet service for the winter. At the moment, he doesn’t have the equipment that I need. HMPH ! I did some work on the computer, including preparing and printing a list of our U.S. and Mexico purchases this winter, to declare as we cross the border tomorrow.
Tuesday ; Lincoln Rock State Park, Washington to Keremeos, British Columbia
Today was sunny and cold. We're home !
We departed Lincoln Rock State Park this morning and headed north on Hwy. 97. Much of the Okanogan ( American spelling ) Valley in the U.S. is apple orchards, the same as in the Okanagan ( Canadian spelling ) Valley in British Columbia. The apple trees are all in blossom. Very lovely. We stopped at Wal-Mart in Omak for our last chance to buy the last few items on our "must buy before leaving U.S." list. Finally ... success ! We got the last few items we wanted. We had lunch in the Wal-Mart parking lot. We continued north on Hwy. 97 to the Canadian border at Oroville, Washington, crossing into Osoyoos, British Columbia. This is the second time we have crossed at Oroville / Osoyoos, and like the last time, it was a painless process that took about 30 seconds. We turned west on Hwy. 3, the Crowsnest Highway, for the final leg of our journey home to Keremeos.
Driving west from Osoyoos along the Similkameen River to Keremeos and Riverside RV Park Resort affirmed the decision we made a year and a half ago to buy an RV lot here in the Similkameen Valley. We love it ! At Keremeos we stopped at Fas Gas to refill with diesel and buy a phone card for our Canadian cell phone. We arrived home at Riverside RV Park Resort and were surprised by all the changes. There were quite a few new park model homes that weren't here when we left on November 1. And most importantly, the pool complex is finally finished ! ! !
Before we were even able to get parked in our lot we were being greeted by neighbours. We chatted with neighbours, got set up in our lot, then chatted with neighbours some more. I was very surprised to find out that some of our neighbours have been following us along, reading my blog. I told one neighbour about my blog last fall, but I guess the word got spread around. Finally, we went down to see the pool complex. It opened a few days ago, a year behind schedule. Huge indoor swimming pool, hot tub, 2 infrared saunas, a fully equipped exercise room, bathrooms and change rooms with showers, and a laundromat. The long wall of the pool and hot tub area facing the Similkameen River and the mountains across the river is a floor to ceiling glass wall comprised of a series of huge overhead doors, like giant glass garage doors, that can be opened in warm weather to turn the indoor pool and hot tub area into a semi-outdoor pool and hot tub area. We're really looking forward to using the pool complex !
We had a late supper while watching an episode of Survivorman on DVD on the computer. It will be few days before I can arrange to have our satellite TV service resumed. We had a great winter of adventure, but it's good to be home. I'm tired !
Wednesday ; Today was cloudy and cold. And so ends another winter season of travelling and adventures. Like last summer, I will not continue to keep a daily journal / blog during the summer. I don’t think our day to day life here during the summer would be interesting enough to justify keeping a daily journal. But like last summer, I will keep an intermittent journal, recording interesting events and activities, and posting them on my blog from time to time.
I hope you enjoyed our winter’s adventures. We certainly did ! Thanks for reading my blog.
DSK
Thanks for writing. I've enjoyed reading it. I expect to be traveling in your area this summer.
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