Today was mostly sunny and hot, until we arrived at the Grass Lake Rest Area on Hwy. 97 north of Weed, California, at an elevation about 5000 feet ASL, in the shadow of Mount Shasta. BRRRRR !
This morning we departed the rest area near Dunnigan and continued north on Interstate 5. At a subsequent rest area we refilled our freshwater tank and dumped our shower waste tank. At Redding we pulled into a Wal-Mart parking lot and had lunch. Joanne went into the store ( I'm not going to violate my "no Wal-Martin' on weekends" rule twice in one weekend ! ) and bought some toothache medication ... for Sully. Poor Sully is suffering with a dental problem. We have succeeded in getting him to eat some watered down canned food. At least we're getting some nutrition into him. A few miles down the road we stopped at Camping World so that I could exchange the incorrect gutter spouts I bought in Bakersfield. Like most Camping World stores, this one had free Wi-Fi for their customers so I sat in their very nice customer lounge and posted my weekly blog entry. Before leaving the Redding area we stopped a t a Safeway fuel bar and refilled with diesel.
We continued north on I-5 through the Shasta Mountains to Weed, California, where Hwy. 97 starts / ends. We turned onto Hwy. 97, and will remain on Hwy. 97 all the way to Osoyoos, BC. We're now in the Cascade Mountains, and things are starting to look like "home". I took Bo for a walk upon our arrival at the rest area while Joanne went into the trailer to start making supper. The rest area is in a pine forest overlooking the meadows surrounding the mostly dry Grass Lake. HMPH ! How about that ? ! ? A Bald Eagle soaring and hunting ! Just like home ! And ... saw my first robin of this spring.
Monday ; Grass Lake Rest Area on Hwy. 97 north of Weed, California to LaPine State Park, Oregon
Today was sunny and mild, about forty degrees cooler than a couple of days ago, now that we're in the Cascade Mountains. Lots of dead deer on the sides of the road today !
This morning we left the Grass Lake Rest Area and continued north on Hwy. 97. We crossed into Oregon and stopped at a Native casino and travel center at Crater Lake Junction to refill with diesel. We stopped at a rest area to have lunch and while Joanne prepared lunch I went into the forest and scavenged some firewood from the logging debris. Our destination for today was LaPine State Park on the Deschutes River. We've been here before a couple of times and quite like it.
After arriving at the state park, and getting set up in a site, I napped briefly with Sully. He seems to be doing better since we've been applying toothache ointment to his dental problem. After my nap we went for a short hike around the campground and along the river. Bo loooooves hiking ! I'm still short of breath and coughing a lot. I made a campfire and cooked supper on it. Joanne prepared "steak rolls" for me to cook on the campfire. Thin steaks, stuffed and rolled, wrapped in foil. It was a new recipe, and I overcooked them a bit. Partially because it took us so long to eat the appetizer, a huge and astoundingly good artichoke we bought in Oakhurst recently. Cooking on a campfire is more an art than a science, and I'm proud of my ability.
Tuesday ; LaPine State Park to Biggs, Oregon
Today was sunny and mild, temperature reaching the low 60's, the best that can be expected in this area at this time of the year.
This morning we departed LaPine State Park and continued north on Hwy. 97. At Bend we stopped and shopped ... a lot ... at Wal-Mart. We were fulfilling our "must buy in Oregon" shopping list. Oregon has no sales tax so twice a year ... northbound and southbound ... we shop in Oregon. Anything that we want but don't need right away goes onto our Oregon shopping list. Today we got everything except one item on our list. We had lunch in the trailer in the Wal-Mart parking lot then walked next door to buy a few grocery items at Albertsons.
I have been searching for a Discount Tire Center ever since leaving Fresno, California. One of the three new trailer tires that I bought at Discount Tire Center in Fresno did not get balanced.
I haven't been able to find a Discount Tire Center but I had a recollection of somebody telling me that Discount Tire and America's Tire are affiliated chains. Just south of Bend I saw an America's Tire so I pulled in to find out. Well ... Discount Tire and America's Tire, both national chains, are affiliated, but Discount Tire Center, a Southern California chain, and America's Tire are not ! Nevertheless, the manager of the Bend, Oregon America's Tire generously offered to balance the tire at no charge as a goodwill gesture. Well ... how nice ! Thank you very much. It took one of his employees just a few minutes to balance the tire, and we were on our way, with a worry of mine eliminated. I intend to spend money at America's Tire in the future, hopefully at the Bend, Oregon location.
We stopped at the Peter Skene Ogden Viewpoint over the Crooked River just to see the astounding view ... again. We've been there a few times before. We refilled with diesel at Safeway in Madras, Oregon. Our intention was to spend the night at the Pilot Travel Center at Biggs. When we arrived there, the truck parking lot was overfilled. We found a large, gravel "overflow" lot just down the road. With a great view ! We spent the night there. Biggs is on the southern side of the Columbia River Gorge. The Columbia River is the border between Oregon and Washington, so as soon as we cross the bridge over the river / across the gorge tomorrow morning we'll be in Washington.
Wednesday ; Biggs, Oregon to Okanogan, Washington
Today was another very nice, sunny warm day. It seems likely that we will make it all the way home without encountering any rain. I don't think we've ever accomplished either the fall southbound or spring northbound migration without encountering rain in the Pacific Northwest. Our plan for today was to make it to Omak, Washington and boondock overnight in the Wal-Mart parking lot. We stopped five miles short of Omak, at Okanogan ( American spelling ).
I had a rough night, coughing a great deal and keeping everyone awake. Nobody felt rested this morning. Not surprisingly we got a bit of a late start. I need to see my doctor as soon as we're home !
This morning we left the gravel parking area behind the Pilot station, got back onto Hwy. 97 heading north, crossed the bridge over the Columbia River into Washington. And we drove a lot of miles today to ensure that we're home tomorrow. We drove into Toppenish to buy some pan dulce. There used to be two panaderias in Toppenish, the most northerly panaderias that we knew of. Neither is in business any more. DARN ! We stopped at a rest area to have lunch, a brief nap, and dump our shower waste holding tank. While there was a sanitary dump at the rest area, there was no freshwater refill, so we were unable to refill our freshwater tank.
I stopped on the side of the road to give assistance to another pickup truck with fifth wheel trailer RV'er. He was pulled over with the hood of his GMC POS ( that would be ... piece of shit ) ¾ ton truck raised. Anyone who has followed my blog for many years knows why I consider GMC trucks to be POS ! His turbocharger air intake pipe had blown off while climbing the long, steep hill we were on. I helped him get it reconnected. It needed four strong hands ... and two step stools ! HMPH ! The turbocharger air intake pipe on the Duramax engine is about ¼ the diameter of the same pipe on the Cummins. No wonder those GMC POS struggle up the mountain roads when towing heavy trailers. To help him out in case he had any further problems I followed him from there to Ellensburg. His truck’s computer was sending him a series of “the sky is falling” dashboard messages. Should’ve bought a Dodge, pal !
We refilled with diesel and freshwater at an independent fuel bar in Ellensburg. Because ... and we know this from experience ... the Flying J in Ellensburg is far from the best diesel fuel price in the area ! Usually we travel from Ellensburg to Wenatchee on a series of roads other than Hwy. 97 to avoid the Cascade Mountain passes that Hwy. 97 traverses from Ellensburg to Wenatchee. And the bad weather that route usually entails. But today ... since it was such a nice weather day, we took Hwy. 97 through the mountains from Ellensburg to Wenatchee. It's a very scenic route, and pleasant if the weather is good.
Knowing that we were going to be stopping pretty late, and having a late dinner, we ate a bag of Trader Joe's sweet potato chips as we drove. Odd looking things, but good tasting. Five miles before reaching Omak, our destination for tonight, we saw a new casino at the town of Okanogan. We pulled in to check it out, as we could see that there were a number of RV's parked. HEY ! The new Okanogan Bingo Casino has an RV parking lot with electrical pedestals. We parked, Joanne started preparing dinner, and I went inside the casino to find out what the RV parking lot deal was. WOO-HOO ! Free overnight parking ... with electricity ... for members of their player's club ! Guess who's now a member of the Okanogan Bingo Casino player's club ?
Thursday ; Okanogan, Washington to Keremeos, B.C.
A beautiful, sunny, warm day !
This morning we departed the RV parking lot at the Okanogan Bingo Casino and drove about five miles north on Hwy. 97 to Omak where we stopped to buy a few items at Wal-Mart and refill with diesel at Exxon. We continued north on Hwy. 97 to Oroville and the Canadian border.
Today's border crossing was the quickest we've ever experienced. There was no line up upon our arrival. We drove directly up to the Canada Customs booth. The female Customs Officer asked five questions. We were there for perhaps thirty seconds. Thank you ... goodbye !
Once across the border and in Osoyoos, BC we stopped at the Visitor Information Centre to find out where the International Curling Rink is in Osoyoos. Joanne's B.C. Election employment training course will be held there. My training course is tomorrow in Keremeos. We found the curling rink then headed west on Hwy. 3 into the Similkameen Valley towards Keremeos.
What a beautiful area we live in ! ! !
In Keremeos we stopped to have lunch in the trailer and buy a few groceries at Valu-Plus. We continued west on Hwy. 3 to Riverside RV Park Resort, arriving home about 3 PM. A few miles before home, when Bo recognized exactly where we were, he became very excited ! We set up the trailer on lot 89 before beginning the "summerization" process of our park model on lot 4. Setting up the trailer on lot 89 and "summerizing" the park model on lot 4 were both very slow processes because we interrupted our work a lot to chat with neighbours.
This is the first time we have returned to the park model after a winter's absence. Things were okay. There was some ugly mould / mildew in the toilet and a little bit of mould / mildew on the shower stall. Must have left it damp when we departed. Otherwise our fall pre-departure preparations / "winterization" did everything they were intended to do, keeping everything dry, safe, and secure.
We had supper and spent the night in the trailer. By tomorrow the fridge in the park model will be cold, and after my training course we will "move" from the trailer into the park model.
Friday ; Sunny and warm, very nice weather here for this time of year.
Whew ... long, hard day ! I was up early. I had to be in town by 9AM. My B.C. Elections training course was today at Victory Hall from 9 AM to 12:30 PM. On the way into town I stopped at the South Similkameen Health Centre a.k.a. Keremeos Clinic to see if I could get a doctor's appointment for right after lunch. My family physician was not in today, but I was able to get a 1:30 PM appointment with one of the other three doctors in the clinic, the only one of the three
I had never seen before. Good opportunity to meet him.
My elections training course was uneventful. It's not rocket science ! I am "partnered" with a neighbour who lives across the street from us. She is the "voting officer" and I am the "voting clerk" for our polling station, making me her "assistant", sort of. She has worked many elections before.
After the training course I walked over to the pharmacy and ordered prescription refills, then walked over to the newspaper office and renewed our subscription to the local weekly newspaper. I still had half an hour until my doctor's appointment so I went to one of the little restaurants in town to have lunch. What mundane food ! How do they stay in business ?
I steered the doctor towards "Valley Fever" assuming he would not be familiar with it. Wrong assumption ! He says every spring us "Snowbirds" return from down south and some come in complaining of possible Valley Fever. It's not that common, and he has only seen one real instance of it. He suspects simply a flu virus taking a while to clear itself out of my bronchial passages. Just a case of "bronchial flu". He has ordered chest x-rays and blood tests, but thinks that a persistent cough following a flu is not much to be concerned about for at least a couple of months, and I've only been coughing for about a month.
Back at home Joanne and I spent the day moving from the trailer to the house. More work than we thought it would be. And more work than I want it to be twice a year. We need to organize and streamline this living in the park model for six months and the trailer for six months to minimize this "moving" process.
Come on, Sully ... take a shit already ! It's been about a week since he's had a bowel movement ! He's been eating very little because of his dental problem, which is slowly improving as we apply toothache medication twice daily. I hope he's not entering the "end of life" process yet. When we adopted him at age thirteen he and I reached a "five year agreement". And it's only been three and a half years !
Saturday ; Today was mild, but extremely windy.
We went into town this morning to buy some bread ... and take a look at a Class C motorhome for sale. Not suitable for us ! We spent the day on "return home" chores. Joanne finished "moving" from the trailer to the house. I played around online and found a couple of interesting truck campers for sale, one in Kelowna and one at Camping World in Burlington, Washington.
This evening we reviewed six months' worth of mail. WOO-HOO ... got the cheque from the Mexican insurance company for the Guasave accident claim.
DSK
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