Category Archives: Boondocking

Alternate Routes Through Portland and Seattle

We were up early on Friday morning and hit the road with what had to be our earliest departure ever. We were on the road by 7:30am. I’d snagged an appointment for a chassis alignment on the coach at Brazel’s RV Performance Center in Centralia, Washington. I thought I could make the drive in four and half hours, but you never know what you might encounter driving through Portland.

I decided to take the long way around on I-205 rather than going straight through downtown Portland in I-5. This turned out to be a good decision as we only had a couple of slow-downs and no drama. We made good time and I had enough time to spare for a lunch stop in Chehalis. I went to the Subway sandwich shop while Donna fixed a salad for herself. We arrived at Brazel’s at 12:30pm and dropped the trailer in a pull-through site in their RV customer lot. This lot has full hook-ups for about a dozen and a half rigs. They took the coach into the shop right at 1pm.

The alignment job was a comprehensive chassis alignment that began with weighing the four corner wheel weight of the coach. They adjusted the ride height, checked rear alignment and thrust – no issues there – and front wheel camber, caster and toe. The front toe needed to be reset. Meanwhile, Donna used their 5G wifi to get some work done in the customer lounge area. With the work completed, we rolled out of Centralia at 4:30pm.

We got lucky and kept the wheels turning through Olympia with only a couple of slow-downs. The traffic came to a standstill just past the Martin Way exit where we left I-5. Our destination was the Cabela’s store in Lacey. We pulled into their lot around 5:30pm and called it a day. We’ve stayed at this Cabela’s before. It’s a quiet, out-of-the-way stop and good for a one-night layover.

Parked for the night at the west end of the Lacey Cabela’s

I’d planned on using the Cabela’s dump station but found they had removed it! Where the old dump station was located, they had poured concrete over the dump station hook-up. I don’t know what prompted that.

Donna made a favorite for dinner – pork tenderloin medallions with a dijon sauce, sweet potato mash and steamed asparagus.

Pork tenderloin medallions

The sun doesn’t set until well after 9pm this far north at this time of year. Consequently, we stayed up later than usual watching TV. Saturday morning we didn’t get rolling again until 10am. Once again, I opted to go the long way around and took I-405 instead of following I-5 through Seattle. I’m not sure how much it helped – traffic was terrible through Tacoma before we even got to I-405. Then we had a number of slow-downs and and full stops along the way. Once we got through and rejoined I-5 in Lynnwood, the slow downs continued. I-5 through Everett is poorly designed with traffic joining the Interstate right where lane closures or exit only lanes appear. It didn’t matter that it was mid-day on a Saturday – traffic came to a halt several times.

We stopped at the Smokey Point rest area at mile post 207 and used the free dump station there. They have three lanes for RV dump stations and we didn’t have to wait. From there, we continued north to Mount Vernon where I dropped off the Spyder. The shop there had a backlog of work, so it may be two weeks before they get to work on the Spyder. It was our best option though.

Now we’re parked in my daughter, Alana’s, driveway in Arlington, Washington. Her driveway is long enough to back in our 65-foot length of coach and trailer and set up for a couple of weeks of mooch-docking. Getting the coach and trailer lined up on the narrow residential street is a bit of a chore, but we got it done. I had us leveled and connected to the 50-amp electrical service I installed here a couple of years ago when I found out I couldn’t get Dish satellite reception. I had to pull the jacks up and move forward about three feet before the satellite antenna could lock in the signal. It’s all good now, but next time I’ll try to remember to check the satellite before I set everything up.

Mooch-docking at Alana’s

The weather has been outstanding. Mostly sunny skies with the high temperature reaching the mid-70s over the weekend and should be the same today. But, this is western Washington in June. Rain is forecast to reach the area overnight and we’ll have rain over the next few days.

Today is Alana’s birthday. We’ll be going out to celebrate over dinner at The Bonefish Grill tonight. Happy birthday, Alana!

No Camping in the Campground

We pulled out of Rolling Hills RV Park around 10am on Wednesday and headed north on I-5 from Corning, California. We intended to go to Lake Shastina to boondock on BLM land at a free campground there. The terrain soon changed after we passed through Red Bluff as we left the Sacramento Valley and started climbing. We drove past Shasta Lake which appears to be at full capacity – no more drought conditions here!

We climbed a series of summits ranging from 3,000 to 4,000 feet above sea level – some of them were 6% grades. Along the way, Donna researched a bit and found some depressing news. Lake Shastina campground had been closed to overnight camping in August of 2017. We only spent one night there before and were looking forward to spending several days there this time. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “The Lake Shastina campground, with no camp host or enforcement, was closed indefinitely last week after it had turned into a party pad for young locals.”

I also read that overnight restrictions were strictly enforced. This raises a question in my mind. If you can vigorously enforce a “no camping” restriction on public land, then why can’t you enforce alcohol restrictions instead of locking everyone out? Maybe it has something to do with the development of high-end housing nearby in the Lake Shastina community. Sounds like someone has the local powers-that-be in their pocket. No camping in the campground – what?

We pressed on to Yreka, California where we stayed at a Walmart several years ago – I wrote about that in this post. I wrote about how we ran into Clarke and Elaine Hockwald (Whatsnewell) at that time. We arrived at Walmart and were foiled again. Apparently, Yreka has banned overnight parking. We regrouped and went to the Rain Rock Casino which opened in the last year or so on the east side of I-5 in Yreka. There we were welcome to dry camp overnight.

After a quiet night at the casino, we were back on the road 10:30am Thursday. Our new destination was Sutherlin, Oregon. We stayed on I-5 and hit the Oregon Border just before mile marker 797. That’s right – I-5 traverses the length of California from the Mexico border to Oregon – nearly 800 miles! About four miles into Oregon, we crossed Siskiyou Pass at 4,315 feet above sea level – the highest point on I-5.

After climbing the steep grade up Siskiyou Pass, we had a six-mile steep downgrade, descending 2,300 feet in that distance. The Interstate through southern Oregon is in the Siskiyou mountain range and has several steep climbs and descents. It’s only two lanes for the most part and I had to stay aware of slow trucks climbing ahead of us and fast moving cars coming from behind. I tried to judge the closing speeds so I could maintain momentum and pass the trucks which were only going about 30-35 mph while we maintained 50mph. I was able to shoot gaps in the car traffic which was moving at closer to 70mph.

We found the Timber Valley SKP Park in Sutherlin. This park is only open to members of the Escapees club – we’re members. We booked a week on full hook-ups for a bargain rate of $132. At check-in, the clerk suggested site 10 – she said it was large and had good satellite reception. We walked over to look at the site.

Site 10 is about 50 feet wide with a concrete pad in the center and a garden shed in the back. The rear of the site is bordered by Cooper Creek, making the rear boundary irregular. The depth of the site varies from about 50 feet to 75 feet. We agreed it was a great site for us. Walking back to the office, I noticed a Nexus class A diesel coach that checked in just ahead of us. They had disconnected the car they towed behind it. As we approached, the guy put the coach in gear and reversed with a bang into the car! I don’t know what he was thinking – maybe he thought he was in drive, not reverse. I guess he’ll have two insurance claims!

We dropped the trailer on one side of the concrete pad and set up the coach on the other side. It’s a nice site with lots of room.

Timber Valley SKP park site 10

In the evening, our neighbor in site 9 came over and introduced himself. His name is Mickey Thompson – I said, “That’s a famous name.” He said, “Yeah, he has all the fame and money, I have the good looks.”

We also had a visit from the Welcome Wagon here at the SKP park. Sandy gave us a few local brochures and a couple of gifts – two fabric coasters hand made by park members.

Donna grilled shrimp, bok choy and a medley of asparagus, baby bella mushrooms and peppers for dinner.

Shrimp and veggie plate

When we stayed here a couple of years ago, we dry-camped for one night only. At that time, we found wildlife in the park – wild turkeys and jack rabbits. They’re still in the area and I was told that bobcats and bears have been seen in the park at night. Donna was surprised to see a deer lying out in front of the clubhouse in the late afternoon.

This morning, Donna and I took the Spyder out and explored. We found a Visitor Center that was loaded with information and free maps of the western states. I like paper maps – most of ours were several years old though. I gathered a handful of new maps to replace them. We also found a small farmers’ market. However, fresh produce won’t be available here for another month or so, unlike northern California where the farmers’ market had plenty of local produce. We did pick up a jar of homemade apple cider vinaigrette after tasting a bit at the market.

We also took a ride out to Cooper Reservoir to check out fishing spots. This coming weekend is free fishing weekend in Oregon – no license required. The reservoir was stocked with 2,000 legal size trout last week. I think we’ll give it a try if I can figure out how to haul our fishing poles on the Spyder.

The weather is beautiful – afternoon highs near 80 degrees, clear skies and overnight lows in the 50s. The forecast calls for more of the same in the coming week. I’m thinking we might want to extend our stay beyond a week. I have an appointment to get some work done on the coach near Eugene on the 11th. So, we need to stay in this area until then.

I have a rack of babyback ribs on the Traeger wood pellet-fired smoker grill as I type this. We bought the ribs at the store in town and they weren’t trimmed very well. After removing the membrane from the underside of the ribs, I had to trim a fat cap from the meaty side – about a quarter-pound of fat. It’s all good now though and I’m looking forward to tonight’s dinner.

*Just so you know, if you use this  link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and  I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!

Snowy Donner Summit

I continued to monitor conditions over Donner Summit via the live webcam provided by Caltrans and NDOT. Our decision to not go on Thursday was a good one. The conditions weren’t good and Friday wasn’t any better. I watched as snowplows worked to clear the road and snow piled up on the shoulders.

On Saturday morning though, our window of opportunity to travel west on I-80 looked good. The webcam showed the Interstate clear and dry. Winds were only 15-20 mph but expected to gust higher in the afternoon. Snow was also supposed to return later in the afternoon. We pulled out of Sparks Marina RV Park round 9:30am. I wanted to get over the summit around noon when the temperature would be warmer, but still beat the gusty winds and snow in the forecast.

We planned to top off the fuel tank before leaving the Reno/Sparks area so we could enter California with a full tank of fuel – fuel costs are higher in California. At first I thought about hitting the Maverick station by the RV park, but I decided against it as I didn’t want to get trapped in their lot if too many cars were there. I filled the tank at the TA Travel Center near I-80 at McCarran Boulevard.

We headed west on I-80 and crossed the summit at 7,239 feet above sea level around 12:15pm on a dry road. There was plenty snow all around though. On the steep slopes near the pass, we saw signs of avalanche damage. Tall trees we’re piled on the slopes like a box of spilled match sticks.

Donna snapped this photo through her window near Donner Summit

We left I-80 at Yuba Pass and hit CA20 westbound through the Tahoe National Forest south of Lake Spaulding. This is a two-lane highway with reasonably smooth pavement for the most part. The area is heavily forested with towering Ponderosa pines trees lining the road.

We hit a few twisty bits and road construction in a couple of places, but traffic was light on this route and it was very scenic. As we dropped through the foothills near Grass Valley, we encountered farm land and finally cattle country. Near Yuba City, we drove through flooded rice fields.

We made a shortcut through farmland on Woodruff Lane which took us to CA70 northbound. Our original plan was to boondock somewhere along this route, but we decided to press on through Oroville. CA70 eventually merged with CA99 and took us through Chico. About 12 miles north of Chico, we turned west on CR-A9 near the Abbey of New Clairvaux – a winery we visited when we were here three years ago.

We drove through Corning and stopped at the Rolling Hills Casino. We had reservations to stay at their RV park beginning on Sunday, May 19th. We were a day early and knew the park was full on Saturday night. But, they also have a truck stop on the property next to the RV park and we knew we could dry camp for the night there. By this time it was raining.

We found a fairly level spot on the lot and set up. We popped out the bedroom slides but opted to leave the living room slide retracted. A few other RVs were there along with some tractor-trailer rigs when we arrived around 2:30pm. Soon several other RVs arrived and parked by us. A woman pulling an older travel trailer with a a late model Mercedes SUV parked next to us. I was in the trailer when she came over and asked me if I had a spare battery. I asked her what kind of battery? She said the battery for her trailer had fallen off and she had no electricity in the trailer.

I didn’t have a battery to lend her. Later she asked me if I thought she could hook up to her car battery for power. I told her I didn’t think it was a good idea. Car batteries are not intended for deep-cycle use and she would have bigger problems by morning. She wanted to run an electric heater all night. I told her she would have a dead car battery by morning and be stuck. I guess she opted for extra blankets because we didn’t hear from her again.

This morning we had to wait until noon to check in. We found a long pull-through gravel site and set up in site 18 – and didn’t have to drop the trailer. We’ll stay through the Memorial Day weekend and celebrate Donna’s birthday on the 27th. We did that here in 2016 and found the steakhouse in the casino was very good.

This morning, I checked the Donner Summit webcam again. It was snowing and the road was covered with packed snow. We made the right call to cross when we did. Rain showers continued to pass through here most of the day. The temperature is cool with a high of only 60 degrees. Tomorrow should be warmer – 70 degrees and dry. We may have a few showers again on Tuesday but the long-term forecast looks great with highs in the upper 70s to 80 degrees and overnight lows in the high 50s. We plan to stay here for 10 days.

June Lake

We had leisurely morning on Monday. Donna walked down to Schat’s Bakkery and bought a fresh baked croissant for me and some swiss pecan cookies for the road. I think it was around 10:30am when we hit the road. Just outside of Bishop, US395 begins a long uphill grade. We were climbing for about 10 miles. At one point, I geared down and slowed to about 40mph. Although the engine coolant temperature was well under control at 195 degrees, the oil temperature was rising, so I used gear reduction to ease the load on the engine. We topped out over 8,000 feet above sea level at Deadman’s Summit.

We thought about checking out Mammoth Lakes, but the weather forecast wasn’t favorable there. Also, although it’s a beautiful area, it’s geared toward ski tourism and a little too trendy for our style. We drove about 60 miles up US395, then exited at CA158 toward June Lake and found the Oh! Ridge U.S. Forest Service campground.

After a conference with the workers at the gate, we decided to take a look at a few sites. We were able to easily drop the trailer in one of three overflow parking spaces and set up in site 91 about 50 feet away from the trailer. With my newly acquired Interagency Senior Lifetime pass, we paid $27.50 for two nights here – half price. We’re at an elevation of about 7,220 feet above sea level. The mountain peaks surrounding June Lake are covered with snow.

View of the lake from the road by our site

Donna and I rode the Spyder into town – it’s only a couple of miles away. June Lake is a small town with only a little over 600 full-time residents. The number of businesses belie the small population though. There are a number of eateries, motels, cabin rentals, a couple of pubs and a brewery!

We stopped at the June Lake Brewery and each ordered a flight of four samplers. The beer was good, but not outstanding. The brown ale for example was over-hopped and had a slightly bitter finish that I don’t expect to find from this style.

The town is nestled between June Lake to the north and the smaller Gull Lake to the south. It’s a cute town – it reminds me a lot of what Big Bear, California was like in the early ’70s. It was a gorgeous day – blue skies and the temperature was near 70 degrees. We rode back to our site and enjoyed the sunshine although the afternoon wind picked up.

This is bear country and numerous warnings are posted on the grounds. Each site is equipped with a large rectangular safety box for storing food. They’re about four feet high, four feet deep and five feet wide. They’re easily large enough for a big cooler and other stuff. Tent campers are advised to keep all food locked in the box.

Bear-proof food storage box

On the way back, we drove down the lake access road. There are two beach areas and a couple of tour buses filled with what appeared to be students were stopped there. The kids had set up a volleyball net on one of the beaches and were enjoying a game in the sun

June Lake view from the access road

We’re dry camped here as we have been since leaving San Diego a week ago. Long-time readers may recall that I replaced our house batteries with Lifeline advanced AGM batteries last year when we were in Vermont. These batteries were pricey, but I have to say they were well worth the expense. They’ve been completely maintenance-free. I no longer have to watch electrolyte levels or perform periodic cleaning with a baking soda solution. The best thing is how strong they are. I still top up the battery charge by running the generator for a couple of hours in the morning and evening when we dry camp, but they usually hold 12.5 volts or higher.

In the afternoon, Donna took a hike up the hills surrounding the campground and shot a few photos.

View of our site from the ridge to the northeast – our coach is just left of center
Looking north from high on the ridge – you see Mono Lake way in the distance
Looking down at June Lake from the ridge

Monday evening I was puffing a cigar out of the wind while puttering around in the trailer. It was still light out – sunset is after 7:30pm and it doesn’t get dark here until 8:15 or so. Our trailer is on one of three paved pads just wide enough for a car or the trailer. While I was in the trailer, a silver Dodge Ram 1500 pick-up truck pulled up in the dirt alongside the trailer. It crept forward until I could see the driver through the trailer door. When we made eye contact, he hit the brakes and threw it into reverse and backed away. He then proceeded to drive out of the area by going the wrong way out of our one-way loop.

By then, I had figured out the guy was casing the trailer and thought he had his lucky day when he saw the door was open. He didn’t count on anyone being inside since there weren’t any vehicles in the area. Our coach – about 50 feet away – is the only vehicle in our loop. I walked over and asked Donna if she saw the truck. She had and noticed New Mexico plates. I added the second tongue lock to the trailer and made sure it was locked up tight. I wouldn’t want another episode with Dirty, Rotten Thieves.

Tuesday morning Donna started her slow cooker filled with pork tenderloin, apples, cinnamon and onions. She left it running all day while we made another run to town. We had lunch at the Tiger Bar and Cafe. I had a French dip and it was very good served with beer-battered French fries. Donna had the cheeseburger minus the bun and she plated it over a garden salad.

After lunch, we drove around town and checked out the two marinas – one on June Lake and the other on Gull Lake. Both lakes are known for great trout fishing. Fishermen make up most of the tourism here although there is also a ski area outside of town that draws winter visitors. It’s not as trendy as Mammoth Mountain, but the bartender at June Lake Brewing told us that it brings in a fair share of skiers.

Did I mention how strong our batteries are? Donna had the slow cooker running off the inverter for six hours before the voltage on the battery bank went below 12.5-volts. At 12.3-volts – more than a 50% charge still in the bank – I fired up the generator to recharge them. The pork tenderloin was so tender it fell apart on my fork. Donna served it with steamed asparagus spears and garlic-rosemary roasted potatoes on the side.

Pork tenderloin with apples, cinnamon and onions

We have another nice day in the forecast. Tomorrow is supposed to be not-so-nice. A cold front bringing rain and snow – yikes, the “S” word – to the area is supposed to arrive by midday. We’re pulling out today ahead of the storm and going about 50 miles away to a campground in Bridgeport right on the reservoir there. We’ll be on a full hook-ups and I’ll dump our holding tanks and replenish our fresh water supply there. On Thursday, we plan to head into Nevada and spend a few days – or more – dry camped at a casino in Carson City. The weather forecast looks fine there. That’s one of the perks of our nomadic life – if you don’t like the weather, leave!

Owens Valley

I closed my last post saying we’ll move on toward Bishop. Friday morning we headed out of our boondocking site near Inyokern and drove north on US395. This is a good road – divided highway with two lanes in each direction at times. Other places are undivided and parts are two-lane highway. The traffic is generally light and the surface reasonably smooth.

This route took us up the Owens Valley. This area is mostly arid nowadays, but it wasn’t always that way. The Owens Valley is bordered on the west by the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada range. On the east, the White Mountains – also called the Inyo Mountains – form the boundary. The once fertile valley is fed by water runoff from the mountains.

In the early 1900s, unscrupulous politicians and bureaucrats working with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power began surreptitiously buying property to acquire water rights. William Mulholland had a plan to build an aqueduct to divert water from the Owens Valley to the Los Angeles basin and allow future growth. They took water from the Owens River and sent it through the aqueduct beginning in 1913. Owens Lake at the time was 19 miles long and eight miles wide. By 1926, Owens lake was a dry lake bed. It fed one third of LA’s water supply and the lake was desiccated.

The 1974 film Chinatown starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway is a fictional account of the water wars in the Owens Valley. Today, some water has refilled portions of Owens Lake, but it’s still mostly dry and in 2013 was declared the biggest source of dust pollution in the USA.

After a couple of hours, we made a stop in Big Pine. We found ample room to park our rig next to a small city park in town. There was an information center at the corner of US395 and CA168. This center was about the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. We also looked at the campground next to the information center, but decided to move on.

Ample parking in Big Pine
Horses in a pasture on the edge of Big Pine with snowy Sierra Nevada peaks in the background

I topped up our fuel tank with $200 worth of diesel fuel in Big Pine. In California, $200 buys about 50 gallons – California has some of the highest fuel prices in the country.

We came to Bishop and found parking at the Vons/Kmart center. It was posted “No Overnight Parking” but after buying groceries in Vons, we asked about it. We were told we wouldn’t have any problems. So we set up for the night. Bishop is at an elevation of just under 4,200 feet above sea level. There are peaks all around reaching elevations of 10,000 feet.

Later that afternoon, we walked about half a mile to the ranger station and I bought an Interagency Senior Lifetime Pass for $80. This will get us into national parks for free and give us half price discounts on forest service and BLM campgrounds.

We thought about taking the Spyder up to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest but we heard at the ranger station that we were likely to encounter snow at 9,000 feet. And, in any event, it would be a cold ride. The ancient pines – the oldest living trees in the world – are above 9,800 feet.

We changed our plans and went to the Laws Railroad Museum. Laws is a small community about four miles from Bishop on Route 6. The highway, US6, crosses the country from Bishop, California to Provincetown, Massachusetts. We love to travel on these old highways.

The Laws Railroad Museum is really a re-creation of a ghost town. Many old buildings from the area were relocated on the 11-acre property. A couple of the buildings were made from lumber re-purposed from old barns and warehouses. We took the self-guided walking tour and found it to be scenic and interesting.

There’s a great deal of mining history in this area. Everything from talc to gold was mined here – including the biggest tungsten ore mine in the world.

Donna checking out a mine entrance
Various ore samples from mines in the area
20-mule team wagons

These 20-mule team wagons were the heavy haulers of the day bringing borax from Death Valley mines to the railroad spur 165 miles away.

Horse drawn hearse
Old engine number 9
Laws railroad station

By the time we finished strolling through the museum, it was nearly 1pm and we were hungry for lunch. A place called Schat’s Bakkery was highly recommended and we went there. I can tell you, the recommendation was well-warranted. They have outstanding sandwiches made with bread they bake on site, delicious cookies and pastries of all kinds. If you are ever in Bishop, this is a must stop.

You must stop here

Sunday was Cinco de Mayo and our 13th wedding anniversary. We celebrated by going to dinner at Astorga’s Mexican Restaurant. The margaritas and food were good and they had an excellent eight-piece mariachi band.

In the afternoon, before we went to dinner, I should mention the visit I had from the Bishop Police Department. A police officer stopped by while I was outside reading a book in the shade. He wanted to let us know that overnight parking wasn’t allowed in the city. I told him I saw the signs, but got permission from the customer service in Vons. I told him we would leave if necessary. He was a nice guy and said it was a gray area really as the parking lot is private property. He also said his shift was over at 6pm, so he wouldn’t know if we were here overnight. I took that as tacit approval and we stayed.

Today we’ll continue northward on US395 and see what we find at Mammoth Lakes or June Lake or maybe Lee Vining. The daily highs here in Bishop have been in the 80s with very low humidity. As we go north, we’ll gain elevation and can expect cooler temperatures. Rain showers near the mountains are always a possibility.

Into the Quiet

As usual, I put off a few errands and chores until our time at Mission Bay RV Resort was nearing its end. Monday morning it rained. There were sprinkles and periods of drizzle until late afternoon. I left the Spyder covered and didn’t get to the hardware store as planned.

Tuesday morning was misty with light drizzle. I hopped on the Spyder and took a chance of a shower and made a run to Costco. I also straightened a few odds and ends in the trailer. Time was getting short – we had to hit the road Thursday morning. Donna ran a few errands on her bicycle – she rode her beater bike to the post office in Pacific Beach and stopped at the store. She also washed screens and inside windows. I took a break and went to Offshore Tavern and Grill for my final taco Tuesday of the season.

Wednesday was time to get down to it. I had to pick up a prescription in Point Loma and also stopped at the hardware store in Ocean Beach. I repaired another “D” ring in trailer and finished organizing it. I checked tire pressures on the trailer and coach – all were good. I had drained our fresh water tank on Monday so I refilled with fresh city water. By the end of the day, I felt like we had it under control and just needed to transfer a few final items to the trailer and load the Spyder.

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard stopped by again. Mr. Mallard had some fine nylon mesh netting wrapped around one leg. I tried to entice him close enough so I could remove it, but once he got within two feet he became wary and I couldn’t get it off of him.

If you look closely you can see the green nylon mesh

Wednesday evening Donna made baked shrimp with fennel and feta. She served it over spinach and orzo for me and zoodles (zucchini noodles) for her. She made enough to have leftovers. We also have leftover pizza chicken that will come in handy on the road.

Shrimp with fennel and feta

I dumped and flushed our holding tanks Thursday morning – empty holding tanks and full fresh water tank is how we roll. By the time we had everything packed away and rolled out of site 142, it was past 10am. We drove to the overflow lot and transferred things like chairs and the Weber Q grill to the trailer. I hooked up the trailer and loaded the Spyder. We pulled out of Mission Bay at 11:15am.

I was ready to leave behind the noise, traffic and the hustle and bustle of the city. We’d been in large metro areas for the last seven months with only a couple breaks in he desert. In San Diego – like Mesa, Arizona – there are aircraft overhead almost constantly. In addition to light general aviation aircraft, helicopters frequently fly over Mission Bay. This year we even had a blimp fly over the RV park.

A blimp passing overhead

This year, we had an abundance of families with young kids in the park. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but a few of the kids were overly rambunctious and loud. It was tiresome and a few of the regulars we know here also commented on the noise levels.

Our route was a familiar one. After a short ride up I-5 we hit 52 east to I-15. This took us north out of San Diego County to Riverside County. The traffic was light and we breezed along. There are several steep grades along the way but we didn’t have any issues. We took the 215 fork and passed through Menifee where my step-dad Ken lives. From there, I knew we would be running the gauntlet getting through Riverside and San Bernardino .

The traffic became much heavier and we had a few slow downs and stoppages. I strived to be in the proper lane for our route well before any forks or ramps on the route. We rejoined I-15 and climbed Cajon Pass. This is a long steep grade. Trucks use the two right-hand lanes to climb the grade – slower trucks to the far right. Sometimes a large truck will use the number three lane to overtake. The interstate is six lanes wide here.

I remembered a time back in 2007 going up this climb on my Moto Guzzi Breva 1100 motorcycle. I was on my way to a motorcycle race at Willow Springs. As I was going up the hill, a truck swung into my lane ahead of me going at a much lower speed. I took a quick peek over my left shoulder and moved into the clear lane next to me. As I did this, I hit something in the road. I felt the bike jolt and heard a loud clang.

The next thing I knew, I lost traction with the rear tire and started going sideways. I thought maybe I had a flat tire. I lifted my butt out of the seat and corrected the slide. The bike continued to fishtail as I slowed and moved through the right lanes. I was fearful of getting too far sideways and being thrown off the bike in a highside crash. Surely I would be run over if that happened. I made it to the side of the road and got the bike stopped. It was smoking and I smelled hot oil. That’s when I figured out what happened.

I had run over a piece of metal on the road and it flew into the oil filter on my engine. It cut through he filter housing and engine oil was pouring out onto my rear tire.

Slashed oil filter
I made it to the shoulder
Oiled rear tire

I had roadside assistance and a guy picked me up. He took me and the bike to an auto parts store nearby. I bought an oil filter, some oil and a can of brake clean. I repaired the bike and cleaned the tire as best as I could and got back on the road.

Oil spot next to the freeway after we loaded the bike

I don’t have any harrowing tales of Thursday’s crossing. We came over the summit and soon hit US395. It’s been a long time since I’ve been through here and I could hardly believe what it’s like now. US395 was just a two-lane highway that crossed the desert to the Sierra Mountains last time I was on it. Now, the city of Victorville has bloated to the west all the way to US395. There were busy intersections with stoplights. I was determined to press on until we could find some solitude.

We found it about an hour later on BLM land south of Inyokern. We found a level, secluded area far enough from the highway that we had no road noise. The quiet in the afternoon and into the night was awesome. It also got very dark with bright stars twinkling in the night.

A secluded area
Very quiet

The weather was fine – a dry 80 degrees or so. Donna had chicken stew in the crock pot all day while we drove and it made for a nice meal. Overnight the low dropped to the 50s – it was perfect for sleeping with the window open and not a peep to be heard.

Today we’ll move north near Bishop and see what we can find there.

Late Check Out

Our three-month stay at Viewpoint Golf and RV Resort in Mesa, Arizona went by much too quickly. I can hardly believe we’re a quarter of the way through 2019 already. My final days at VIewpoint were filled with thoughts of the road. I needed to get things together and made mental checklists. There were a few things I had put off and needed to get cracking on. One item was a “D” ring in the trailer that had pulled out – I use it to secure the Traeger so it needed to be re-installed.

The weather over our last couple of weeks in Mesa was much more in line with what we expect there. Most days had clear skies and temperatures reached 80 degrees – we even ran the air conditioners a few afternoons. We had one cloudy day last Wednesday but it didn’t rain and the temperature was a comfortable 70 degrees. The clouds made a spectacular sunset – the fiery reflection off the clouds made it a double sunset.

Sunset reflecting off the clouds

They had an open house event at Falcon Field on Saturday and we wanted to meet Jeff Spencer there, but I knew if I went, I wouldn’t get everything packed and ready to go. So, we missed the event while I cleaned and organized the trailer. I had almost everything put away by the end of the day, leaving only a few items for Sunday morning.

I started Sunday off with the Formula One race in Bahrain. It was good one but the outcome wasn’t so good. Young Charles LeClerc had the race well in hand with a big lead in his second race for Ferrari. Then, with about 10 laps to go, his powertrain let him down as it lost power and he lost about five seconds per lap. He finished third – it should have been his first win in Formula One at the age of 20.

After the race, I finished packing and also dumped and flushed our holding tanks. While I did that, I had the Moto GP race from Argentina recording on the DVR. To get the whole race, I had to cheat a bit. Check out is supposed to be 11am, but I dawdled until noon. It didn’t matter much to anyone – the park is emptying out as the snowbirds head back north. No one was checking in. Another rig on our row pulled out at the same time as us.

I had a little trouble maneuvering the trailer out of our site. I usually pull out of this site to the east, but with open sites across from us to the west I thought this would be a better option. It was, except for the orange tree in our site. It’s more of a bush really. After some jockeying back and forth, I was nearly clear but it looked like I might scrape a few of the sharp branches on the side of the trailer. Our neighbor lent a hand by coming over with a small rug which he and Donna used to hold the branches back, clear of the trailer and we were on our way.

We made the familiar drive on the loop 202 (San Tan Freeway) to I-10 then we crossed through Maricopa on AZ347. This is my shortcut – it’s shorter and faster than following I-10 to I-8. Once we hit I-8, it was straight shot west. We made a stop at exit 67 – Dateland. We bought date milkshakes for a snack and got back on the Interstate. Our next stop was exit 12 in Yuma, Fortuna Road. I filled our fuel tank at the Pilot/Flying J there at $2.89/gallon and also topped up our propane tank with 27 gallons at $2.39/gallon. The last time I filled the propane tank was September of 2017. We don’t use much propane in the coach – it’s mostly used to run the refrigerator when we boondock or occasionally for the water heater.

We made our usual overnight stop in the California desert west of Yuma near the Imperial Sand Dunes. We saw a couple of other rigs boondocking on the BLM public land, but we were more than a quarter of a mile away from anyone. It was very quiet and peaceful

Sunset in the desert

We were rolling down the road again a little past 9am on Monday morning – April Fool’s Day. We had about 170 miles between our boondocking spot and Mission Bay RV Resort in San Diego. We only made one stop. I stopped at the Golden Acorn Casino to top up the tank with some of the cheapest fuel we’ll find in the area – California fuel prices are high. I only needed 20 gallons to fill up at $3.69/gallon. I like to have the tank full or nearly so when we are parked by the bay. This takes up space in the fuel tank and doesn’t leave as much air space for condensation to form.

I had completed the Fast Track pre-check in online so we were able to cruise straight to the overflow lot and drop the trailer. Then we backed into site 142 and were set up in no time. We’ll have eight days to get ready for our trip to Belize – we leave on Tuesday, April 9th. Donna is making arrangements for someone to take care of Ozark the cat. I plan to leave our coach hooked up with the water supply shut off while we’re gone for a week.

The weather here is agreeable – it was warm on Monday and hit a high of 80 degrees. Yesterday was cooler at about 70 degrees. We had a rain shower this morning, but we can expect daily highs of 70 degrees for the rest of the month here. Belize is sure to be much warmer.

I’ll close this post with a dinner plate featuring Donna’s Jamaican jerk chicken with mango salsa. She served it with bok choy and black rice.

Jamaican jerk chicken with mango salsa

2018 There and Back Again

Goodbye 2018 – hello 2019! The last year held many adventures for us. It was the second highest mileage year we’ve had since we hit the road in 2013. We traveled 9,227 miles in our coach last year – our highest mileage year was 2015 when we covered 9.596 miles. We average around 7,500 miles per year.

People often ask me about fuel mileage and the cost of running a motorhome. Fuel isn’t really that big of an expense. We average around eight miles per gallon of diesel fuel. Since we average less than 8,000 miles per year, we burn under 1,000 gallons of fuel per year. So, our annual fuel costs for the motorhome is around $3,000. I’m sure there are plenty of people that spend $250 /month or more commuting in their cars. Of course we also have a small fuel bill for gasoline in the Spyder, but it’s not much.

We started and ended 2018 here at Viewpoint Golf and RV Resort in Mesa, Arizona. Last year we left Mesa in early April and headed south. We made a stop in Benson for a week then moved on through New Mexico. Our destination was Austin, Texas – I had tickets for the Moto GP race at the Circuit of the Americas there. Next up we went to the Gulf Coast at Aransas Pass, Texas and visited with my daughter, Jamie, and her family.

Then we were off to Louisiana. Donna and I have been to New Orleans several times, but we always arrived there via airlines. We wanted to see something other than the French Quarter and we found real downhome Louisiana in Abbeville. What a hoot. Then we traveled to Mississippi, Alabama and onward to Tennessee and Kentucky. Along the way, we toured the Tobasco distilery in Avery Island, Louisiana and the Buffalo Trace distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky.

We met some great people in our travels and went to areas that were new to us. We traveled north to the shores of Lake Erie and stayed at the Elks Lodge in Erie, Pennsylvania. Then we headed east to Watkins Glen, New York. After an unexpected delay for a mechanical issue, we made it to Bennington, Vermont where we visited Donna’s parents and set up on their property. From there, we made our easternmost point in Little Deer Isle, Maine where we stayed on the property of our friends, Roger and Georgia Eaton.

After having a great time in Maine, it was after the Fourth of July and time to start heading back west. We stopped again in Bennington, then headed south to Gettysburg where we spent a day with my youngest daughter, Shauna. From there we went south again into West Virginia, but weather soon chased us westwards. By the third week of July we were in the land of Lincoln – Springfield, Illinois.

Writing this now, it seems impossible that we went to so many places in 2018 – but we continued on through Iowa and stayed in South Dakota. Then we explored Colorado and went to familiar places and also found new adventures in Cañon City, Montrose and Durango. And we drove the Million Dollar Highway.

We stayed at several Elks lodges across the country in 2018 and also did a fair amount of boondocking. We found a great boondocking site on BLM land outside of Williams, Arizona. This was at an elevation of around 7,000 feet and heavily forested, giving us some respite from the late summer heat in September.

We found the heat again in Lake Havasu, Indio and Hemet though before we made our way to San Diego. We stayed at Mission Bay RV Resort for three months and regrouped after six months of travel. Now we’re back where we started the year in Mesa and will be here until the end of March.

We like to split the fall/winter months between San Diego and Mesa. San Diego weather in September and October is usually near perfect. By Christmas, the rainy season starts and some day are wet and cold. Arizona is usually mild at that time, so we move here. This year is a little different so far. We arrived in Mesa just as a cold front pushed down from the north. It brought rain on New Year’s Eve and through the night. It has been unusually cold – in early January, we see overnight lows in the low to mid 40s and afternoon highs in the upper 60s most years. This morning it was 34 degrees outside and today we expect a high of only 52 degrees. The temperatures should return to more normal levels by the weekend though.

We’re back in the same site we occupied for the last two winters.

Viewpoint Golf and RV Resort – site 5245

Donna kicked off the New Year with a great dinner – chicken piccata served over capellini pasta with steamed asparagus and peppers.

Chicken piccata over cappelini with asparagus and peppers

Happy New Year to all and I hope 2019 is every bit as good as 2018. We wish you good health, lots of adventures and safe travels wherever you go.

Chillin’ in the Desert

We packed up and pulled out of Mission Bay RV Resort last Friday. I packed most of the stuff that needed to go to the trailer Thursday afternoon. I also pumped up the air pressure on the coach tires. The trailer tires were low from sitting for the past three months – it’s not unusual for tires to lose up to a few pounds of pressure per month. The smaller the tire, the greater the pressure loss generally. I waited until we brought the coach to the trailer to air up the trailer tires – there wasn’t an electrical outlet near the trailer, so I plugged the air compressor into the coach.

By the time I had the trailer tires aired up and loaded the Spyder, it 11:45am when we finally hit the road. We made the familiar trip east on I-8 over Laguna Summit. We usually make a stop at the Buckman Springs rest area for a lunch break, but I continued on this time to the Golden Acorn Casino at the Crestwood Summit. The Golden Acorn has a truck stop and better fuel prices than most places in San Diego. I only pumped 20 gallons to make sure we had plenty to run the generator. The generator will not run if the fuel tank is below 1/4 full. I paid $3.75/gallon there.

We made our way to our boondocking spot for the night off of Ogilby Road near the Imperial sand dunes. It was cold and windy out – much colder than I expected. There were many rigs at the dunes – weekenders with their sand toys. The wind was gusting over 20mph, so we didn’t see many people out – everyone was hunkering down. I shot a photo near sundown – you can see how much dust was in the air from the wind.

Boondocking in our little piece of desert
Desert dust at sunset

Saturday morning we hit the road again. We lost an hour as we crossed the Colorado River into Arizona – it’s Mountain Standard Time in Arizona at this time of year. We stopped in Yuma at Fortuna Road – exit 12. I wanted to buy some water filter cartridges and Tank Techs Rx holding tank treatment at my favorite RV store – Al’s RV and Marine. To my consternation, Al’s RV and Marine store was nothing but an empty storefront. Flyers for specials were still on display in the windows, but it was locked up tight and nothing but bare floor inside. We crossed to the north side of I-8 to the Pilot/Flying J travel center and topped up our fuel tank. Diesel fuel here was $2.95/gallon – 80 cents per gallon less than what I paid in California!

Driving east on I-8 between Tacna and Dateland, I spied a column of black smoke rising a few miles ahead. I told Donna it looked like something was burning on or next to the interstate. I hoped it wasn’t a vehicle. As we got closer, we saw a cargo trailer on the shoulder of the highway and flames shooting 20 feet into the air in front of it. As we passed by, we saw a white Chevy SUV – a Tahoe I think – fully engulfed in flames. People were standing in the desert about 30 feet away from it and a few cars had pulled to a stop ahead of it. It didn’t appear that anyone was hurt. We could feel the searing heat from the fire as we passed it in the left lane. The driver of the car in front of me was gawking and suddenly slowed – a dangerous move that had me braking. The trailer wasn’t burning as we passed, but the heat was intense and it was the middle of nowhere. I figured it would be a while before any fire fighters could respond. About 15 minutes later, I saw a firetruck on the westbound lanes heading toward the fire.

Our next stop was the Ak-Chin Harrahs Casino in Maricopa. We planned to dry camp overnight there and have a short hop to Mesa Sunday morning. The casino offers free RV parking in the back lot where buses park. The lot is fairly level and surprisingly quiet.

We went into the casino to check out a couple of their restaurants. One offered small dishes – appetizer style plates. The other was a buffet and Saturday night was seafood night. We opted for the buffet at $32/person. Like most buffets I’ve experienced, the food was mediocre but there was lots of it!

We left the casino Sunday morning around 10am. We had an uneventful drive to Viewpoint RV and Golf Resort in Mesa. I’d forgotten about the offices being closed on weekends. We checked in with the security and were escorted to our site. I had reserved site 5245 where we stayed the past two years. I unloaded the Spyder and Donna directed me into the site to drop the trailer. We’ve gotten pretty good at this – the security guy seemed to think we were in for trouble but it went without a hitch.

We were set up in no time and I had NFL football on in time to catch the second quarter of the early games. What a crazy season. The Chargers finished at 12-4 but have to settle for the wildcard spot as the fifth seed. Meanwhile 10-6 wins the division in the east. Sheesh.

The temperature dropped below 40 overnight – it was cold in the coach this morning. We’ve had the heat pumps on since we got out of bed. We don’t mind it when the coach is cool while we’re under our blankets and down comforter, but once we rise, we want comfortable temperatures. The heat pumps have been doing a great job and it’s a comfortable 72 degrees inside while the wind is blowing and it’s only 51 outside. This cold snap will probably last until the weekend. Next week is forecast to have highs of 70 degrees. Nice!

We had invitations to a couple of New Year’s gatherings tonight, but Donna is feeling a little run down and it’s supposed to be a rainy night, so we’ll just be party poopers and stay in.

The Heat is On

Last Friday, Donna and I rode the Spyder down from our camp site to Williams. Historic Route 66 runs right through town. It’s split into two one-way streets a block apart with most of the businesses on the eastbound street. The old downtown area is a mixture of old west and Route 66 memorabilia tourist traps. We walked the length of the district from 5th Street to Slagel Street – a distance of about six blocks and back before stopping for lunch at El Corral. I should have heeded the sign which proclaimed “Fine Mexican – American Food.” I have a rule to never eat at a restaurant that boasts Chinese – American cuisine – I guess that rule should extend to Mexican – American. My meal was average at best. Donna enjoyed her taco salad though.

The main drag through Williams

We packed up Saturday morning. We loved our boondocking site in the national forest here but we had a couple of reasons for moving on. First of all, we wanted to find full hook-ups so Donna could catch up on laundry. We had been without a sewer hook up since we left Cañon City. We don’t run the Splendide washer/dryer when we aren’t on a sewer hook up because it uses too much water and would fill the gray water tank. We also planned to meet up with friends and family before we hit San Diego, so we needed to allow a few days for that.

Our boondocking site was about 7,000 feet above sea level. This meant we had cool nights with the temperature dropping to about 50 degrees. We like cool nights with a window open and a down comforter on the bed. Our route west on I-40 was mostly a downhill run. When we reached Kingman, 100 miles later, we were at 3,000 feet. We stopped there to get the coach washed at a Blue Beacon truck wash. It turned out to be long wait – they only had one wash bay and we were seventh or eighth in line. It gave Donna a chance to fix a salad for lunch and an hour later we were on our way.

We left I-40 at exit 9 and took AZ95 south to Lake Havasu City. Lake Havasu sits at an elevation of about 500 feet above sea level. We drove to the Elks Lodge east of town which is higher ground – about 1,100 feet above sea level. The Elks Lodge had full hook-ups and plenty of space to accommodate us without dropping the trailer.

The lake below the Elks Lodge – photo from Donna’s early morning run

We traded high elevation for high temperatures. The weather in Lake Havasu was clear, sunny and hot. The daytime highs were about 105 degrees and it only dropped to about 80 degrees at night. We had both roof top air conditioners running full-time.

Donna cooked up a nice meal for dinner. She made chicken thighs sauteed in white wine with onions and herbs and served over roasted cauliflower slices with garlicky spinach on the side. Delicious.

Chicken thigh with onion and herbs over roasted cauliflower

Donna found pickleball in Lake Havasu City, so Monday morning we rode the Spyder to the community center and played several games. It was great – the players were all friendly, the games were competitive and we had a lot of fun. I’m really liking my new Paddletek Paddle.

We left Havasu Tuesday morning around 10 am and headed south to Parker, Arizona where we crossed the Colorado River and hit CA62 west. We took this quiet route through the desert – the road surface dipped and rose like a roller coaster through some areas. We were familiar with this route as Donna and I traveled it many times while touring on our motorcycles. There’s a stretch that runs parallel to a railroad track for miles and people have created graffiti out of light and dark colored stones and wood rail ties along the sides of the rail bed. It’s amazing how many people have taken the time to spell out their names or put up symbols in the middle of an otherwise empty desert.

If we continued west on CA62, we would eventually hit Twentynine Palms and Joshua Tree National Park, but we turned off onto CA177 and veered south to Desert Center and I-10. This took us up to the divide at Chiriaco Summit which separates the Chuckawalla Valley from the Salton Sea basin at an elevation of 1,706 feet above sea level. From there it was mostly a downhill grade to Indio.

We stopped at the Indio Elks Lodge and have 30 amp electric service and fresh water. We are the only rig in their RV park. Our purpose for stopping here is to visit friends – Kris and Tom Downey. They spent about three years on the road and now live here. Kris picked us up and we went to see their new house, then went to dinner. It was taco Tuesday night. Kris and Tom picked up the tab – thanks again for the tacos and beer!

It’s a little cooler here at night than Havasu was, but we’re still in the desert. Today Donna is going with Kris up to Idyllwild in the San Jacinto Mountains above Palm Springs. They plan to poke around town and maybe do a little hiking – the elevation there is 5,400 feet above sea level so it should be cooler. I plan to make a Walmart run, then stay indoors and read – the temperature here will be around 100 degrees this afternoon. Tomorrow we’ll move on to Hemet, California.