Sept. 21, 2012 Made it to Gallup, NM, in just 4 days

Yes, we drove from Tracy, CA, to Gallup in ONLY four days.  Must be a speed record…for a turtle!  We have decided to slow down and enjoy our days on the road.  Some how, over the past 10 years, we got into the zippy-travel mode.  You know, driving 300 miles or more a day just because we could.  It takes a toll on our bodies getting up and on the road by 8 am., and takes a toll on our monthly budget.

We travel at 55 m.p.h. to save fuel, and we stop at most rest stops for potty breaks and a quick walk around the rig.  And of course, we stop for lunch, so the day strings out to 7 or 8 hours on the road.

By dropping the daily mileage to a maximum of 200 miles, we have time at the end of the travel day to relax, play on the computer, do a load of laundry, or just sit outside and enjoy the scenery.  Today we did a long, long day of 138 miles.  Tomorrow will be about 150 miles.  This will get us back to Livingston, TX about the time the month ends.

I am going to throw in some photos of places we have been since we left Salem, OR.  First was our favorite rest area on I-5 in California at the Klamath River rest area:

Isn’t it beautiful?  We try to dry camp here when it isn’t too hot.  It was actually so cool that morning in Salem, I had to get out the electric heater for Larry.  My big question was, now that the weather is finally nice, why are we leaving?

The rest area fills up during the night, but we had our pick of “campsites” in the shade.

We stopped in Dunnigan, CA at an Escapees discount park.  The place is not set up for RVs towing vehicles.  The hook-ups are just as you enter the site—which places them at about the rear wheel of the tow car—too far from the RV.  In order to have full hook-ups, we would have to turn the car loose and park it in front.  We didn’t want to do that!  We found this site with electric and sewer in the middle—however, there was only a minor trickle of water from the faucet.  In 105 degree heat, it would be worth the $19 fee—but anything less would be questionable.  The restroom rated less than one star!

The next morning we were treated to the green rice fields just north of Sacramento.  I have started buying Cal Rose rice from CA as it is good.

Traveling though Sacramento, CA, on I-5 was a breeze.  However, Highway 12 going to Antioch was closed due to a bad wreck.  We took fuel at Flying J at the exit and headed down to Stockton, CA. Diesel was about $4.50 a gallon there and went as high as $4.65 in Barstow, CA.

We decided to just head to the Tracy Elks’ Club and drive the car the 30 miles back to Antioch for the lab work and see my dad and sister.  The Elks’ Club has a very nice RV park for $20 a night.

One of the questions often asked is how do you know when you have been in a spot too long.  This is one sign:

This was the rig next too us.  Not only had the spider had time to spin an elaborate web, he had time to grow really big!  I saw his legs sticking out of the chrome.  Icky!!

We left Tuesday morning and drove to Mojave, CA to spend the night at Sierra Trails RV Park for just $13.25.  It was too hot to dry-camp at Barstow’s Flying J.  I often relate to the quality of an RV park by the rest rooms.  This one had outstanding restrooms; not fancy but very clean!  It deserves 4.5 stars!

And a beautiful pool. 

The pull-thru area is in the back.  Very quiet and peaceful; especially since the cell reception is very iffy.   We really enjoyed the electricity!

Next stop was Blake Ranch RV Park in Kingman, AZ.  It is a really splendid RV park.  For us short RVs, it was just $21 with the Escapees 15% discount for a full hook-up.  They have a large laundry room and a well-stocked store.

We spent last night at Meteor Crater RV Park about 20 miles east of Flagstaff, AZ.  While at the top of our park budget, the improvements made since our last visit made it worth $29.  I failed to take photos, darn.  We had visited the crater on our last visit.  It is worth the effort to see it at least once!  It was cool there this morning—again, we leave areas as the weather becomes more comfortable.  Something is seriously wrong with our reasoning!

Tonight we are at the USA RV Park in Gallup, NM.  Haven’t taken photos yet, but this is another “full-service” campground with first class facilities!  They even have an evening BBQ where you can buy your dinner.  It is at the top of our price range too, but we are staying at Enchanted Trails outside of Albuquerque, NM, tomorrow night with the Passport America discount to make it up.

Larry wanted to change our route, so instead of dropping down to El Paso, TX, he wants to travel to Santa Rosa, NM, and take the Clovis cut-off down to I-20.  We will make the final decision tomorrow at Albuquerque.  Stay tuned for the slow-moving Jennings trip to Livingston.  I figure we have at least five more nights to get 1,000 miles. Well, maybe 6 nights????

Sept. 9, 2012 -- Joining the migrating herd moving south….

It’s official; the annual migration south has started!  And we are joining in, not because we seek warmer weather, but because we have to check in with Larry’s doctor next week.  We have loved our time here in Salem, OR.
We have decided this Elks’ Club RV park is the best place to spend time—we are just down the street from Wal-Mart, Costco, the Post Office, Winco, a laundromat, Great Harvest Bread Company, and the wonderful Salem Saturday Market. 
I have taken lots of photos of things we enjoy.  This one made our days easier—close by, clean and no kids!!  A real winner!


This is RV reality.  We visited this place almost every four days to keep up with the dirty clothes.  We are either the cleanest—or dirtiest RVers.  Our next RV, if there is one, will have a washer/dryer!  I am not budging on that requirement.  Some laundromats are just creepy!
Visiting the weekly Saturday Salem Farmers’ Market was a bright spot in our week.  Well-behaved dogs are welcome—and there was a mighty collection each week.  I loved this guy; do you think he would like living in the camper with us?

This one was cute too.  He knew where the goodies were located.

The food booths represented a quick trip around the world and a big hit with market goers.  Larry and I just drooled, but couldn’t enjoy because the sodium levels of the offerings were off the charts!


My favorite booths are craft booths.  Does your hand itch to grab your wallet and come shopping?

Pottery, of course, and I had to have one of these beautiful wind chimes—a gift to Carol, from Carol.  Besides being beautiful, the tinklely sounds will remind me of our lazy, fun days in Salem, OR.
 
A close-up of the chimes.  Aren’t the colors inviting?


So many choices, so little room in the camper!  Too many talented crafters in the Salem area.  Not fair!!
Now, could you walk past this booth and not buy some of the delicious Oregon berries?

We ate our fill of berries!  Time to go before we start sprouting berry bushes and vines from our bodies!
I mean, could you pass this up?  It was as good as it looks! 
I have so many other photos to share…but will close with  one of the OR National Guard pilots practicing doing basket pick-ups across the street from the Elks’ Club.

We plan to be in Antioch, CA, by Friday so Larry can do his labs and a chest X-ray before heading for Texas for October and November.  We have a bit more work to finish up working on the house for this year.  
This summer has been a real hot hoot!  Welcome Fall, we have been waiting for you!

Sept. 1, 2012 – Salem, OR, is a nice place to wait….

We are back at the Salem Elks’ Club—waiting for the weather to cool down in California and Arizona so we can start back to TX for a few months.

We solved the Boise, ID, trip dilemma by importing the kids and GRAND-child to Vancouver, WA.  It cost a bit more, but we saved our sanity by avoiding a long, hot 500 mile trip east and spending a week buttoned up in the camper in 100-plus degree weather.

The day before we left, we returned to the Salem Saturday Farmers’ Market to stock up for a few days:

Don’t these bird feeders look like fun?  Darn, no room in the camper!

 

Flowers and plants are a big draw for buyers. 

Thanks to the Farmers’ Market, we have enjoyed some of the best corn, tomatoes and strawberries we have eaten in years.  We are glad we made the effort to reach out to find the local markets.

We thought about staying at the Elks’ Club in Vancouver, WA, as it was closest to Natalie’s parents house, but without a sewer dump on the property, we decided to go to a commercial park for the week.  We ended up at the beautiful Van Mall RV Park.  The weekly rate for a RV our size, first time that has paid off, was $164.50 with tax.

The site was short, but more than double wide—and very clean.  In addition, being close to the office, the laundry room was 50 feet away.  I really took advantage of that benefit.

The purpose of the stay was to spend time with our son ,Chad, Natalie and Alika.  We also had a bonus—time with Natalie’s friendly and welcoming family.  Her mom Molly and I even found time to have lunch together.  Besides having loved ones in common, her husband suffers from kidney failure too.  He is doing so well, it gives us hope.

Okay, here come the family pictures. 

Father and son time with Chad and Larry.

Our beautiful Natalie and GRAND-son Alika.

And Vince and Molly, who took us into their family.  We felt blessed to be part of their beautiful family.  Thank you!

Those were the pretty part of the visit.  We wanted to drive around and just look at sights—but Washington has enacted a heavy park permit fee to raise money from residents and visitors.  We wanted to look at the Old Kaiser Shipyard overlook to view the river.  It required climbing stairs which meant Larry couldn’t get up there, so I was going to take some photos.  NOT!  Here is the new parking meter:

It was $5 to park--even for a few minutes.  No thanks, WA.  I will pass!  I would have paid $2 to park for 10 min., but $5?  Found a free spot to grab a quick look at the Columbia River:

This is the I-5 Bridge from OR into WA.  President Obama has just approved stimulus funds to build a new bridge (which will probably turn into a toll-bridge to replace the current free bridge).

After a week of great family time, cool, comfortable weather, and relaxing, we headed back to Salem, OR.  We headed over to the fuel station to fill before Labor Day.  This is the sight we were faced with:

Ouch!  This was the $4.35 just a week earlier--and $3.99 three weeks ago. 

Our retirement income requires we budget our expenses.  Fuel is one of the biggies when we are traveling.  When it jumps almost 50 cents in a month, we have choices to make even though we average  about 12 m.p.g. towing the car.  We can choose to travel fewer miles, spend less for campground fees (by more dry-camping)  and/or cut out tourist expenses—such as visiting attractions and eating out.

In September, we will be driving about 2800 miles--going from Salem, OR, to Livingston, TX.  It will take about 233 gallons of fuel.  At $4, it would be $932.  At $4.50, the same trip will cost about $1,048—which is $233 more than last year at $3.50 per gallon.  And the economists wonder why consumer confidence is lower??  Consumer confidence merely reflects our buying power! 

We are going to hang around Salem, OR, for another week to 10 days enjoying the weather.  We have cancelled plans to visit the OR coast for this year, as well as some other shopping trips.  Mid-month, we will head back to Antioch, CA, for Larry’s monthly lab work and then, if all is well, will head east.  Check back to see what we find to do—on the frugal vacation.

August 18, 2012 It’s Raining in Salem, OR

Darn.  I have been waiting for the hot streak to break, but it has stretched out instead of letting go.  And this morning, the Salem farm market day when we want to be outside, it started raining!
Whoops, the storm is over—just that fast.  Last Saturday, the Salem farm market provided us with delicious strawberries, flavorful corn, crunchy string-less beans, and yummy, scrumptious tomatoes.  We hoped to redo it again this morning.  Even if we didn’t buy a bite, just sitting and watching the the people is worth the drive down town!

We are parked in one of our favorite places—the Salem Elks’ RV Park at $17 a night.  Behind the camper is a field usually filled with delicious blackberries.  Unfortunately, the  rain shortage this summer didn’t allow the wild plants a chance to produce many fat, juicy berries.
This picture shocked me a bit yesterday.

We refueled the truck here a week ago at $3.99 a gallon.  Ouch!  A 36 cent jump in a week, but wait, it was $4.09 just two days ago!
We did a quick tour of downtown with a stop at the State Capitol.

As I was taking the photos, a young man stopped to tell me that the marble was from a place about 8 miles from his home in Alaska.  I don’t know if it is true, but the marble is exquisite.  The inside  of the rotunda is stunning:

Salem has many beautiful sights.  We have enjoyed 9 days of getting Larry’s lab tests done (we are good for another month) of as well as fitting in sightseeing and shopping, and tomorrow we are moving up to Vancouver, WA.  We will be up there a week before returning to Salem for a few weeks for R & R.

We discovered a super way to avoid the long, hot slog over to Boise, ID.  We are importing three of the four most important people to us: our son Chad, his wife Natalie and our grandson, Alika.  Unfortunately, our favorite granddaughter Chelise’s schedule wouldn’t allow her to fit in this trip.  Maybe we can fly her to Texas when we are home??
Natalie’s parents and her sister live in the Vancouver, WA, area—so both sides of our families will get a chance to see and enjoy our loved ones.  It was a win-win solution!
More from Vancouver, WA next week!

August 8, 2012 -- Reno, NV to Rouge River, OR

I am going to sneak in two photos from River’s Edge RV Park in Sparks, NV.

And the Truckee River running next to the park was both picturesque as well as heavily used by swimmers over the weekend:

Visiting Sparks, NV and staying in this park was a nice break from traveling.  I spent 6 days trying to get a photo of the planes landing over our heads and this was the only photo I managed to take because my camera is too slow:

The plane was not in the trees when I snapped the photo!  Darn.  Time for a new camera, ha ha.

We left the Big City and headed for quiet Alturas, CA.  I had made reservations at High Desert Resort, a Passport America park.  To be fair, the park is in the high desert; however, resort is stretching the truth a bit too far.

 

This was the pull-thru site—yes, the road.  However, the sewer connection was under about 3 inches of water, which just would NOT work for us.  Instead, we drove over and checked out Sully’s RV park which turned out to be a gem of a park for our three-night stay.  Our pull-thru site was blessed with lush green lawn on both sides and very friendly neighbors.  We came to Alturas to visit Fred and Arlene Cray—long-time friends and our Quartzsite, AZ, neighbors.

We had a lovely three day visit with Fred and Larry fixing things on our camper as well as their computer!  Arlene and I snuck off for Chinese-food lunch and poked through lots of their local shops on Main Street.  Thanks Fred and Arlene for all the good times.

Next on our route was Tule Lake, CA, to visit the Lava Beds National Monument.  I had picked another Passport America park at the Laketule-Butte Valley Fairground and it was a winner!  The fairgrounds were the cleanest and best-kept facility we had visited in some time—especially for just $18 a night for full hook-ups.

We visited the local museum located on the fairgrounds on Sunday and learned a lot about the area.  In addition to being near the Lava Beds, the area is the site of the draining and land reclamation project of Tule Lake, the Tule Lake Segregation Center used to hold people of Japanese ancestry during WWII, and the site of the Lake Tule Civilian Conservation Corp camp.  The Lava Beds also include the  sites of the Modoc Indian War when Captain Jacks’ band of 60 held off the 600 members of the U.S. Army for five months.  And, the Applegate trail of the Oregon Trail winds up past the old lake bed toward Klamath Falls too.

The history of the area is almost over whelming—so many things going on—some good and some just plain sad.  We needed a pick-up from the little local market:

On Sunday, we packed a lunch and set out to explore the Lava Beds National Monument:

First we drove along the edge of what is left of Tule Lake which is now part of the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge:

The second place we stopped is the Devil’s Garden—which looks close, but is about 30 feet below the ledge I was standing on.  It is miles of “a a” lava, name by the Hawaiians—sharp and very jaggedly lava.  Ah Ah.

And this is one of the 700 lava tubes, many with ladders and trails for explorers to explore.  I call it “BEFORE.”

This is what the lava tubes look like “AFTER,” and why I don’t venture into the dark world below:

See all those rocks on the floor?  Notice the path through and around the rocks?  Those rocks used to be on the ceiling.  Not my cup of adventure!!

Anyway, we had a great day exploring both Tule Lake area and the Lava Beds.  If you have the opportunity to drive through North-East California, pencil in a few extra days as there is so much to see and learn.

We drove down off the 4,000 ft. high-desert plateau this morning and are enjoying two days at the Rogue River State Park just north of Medford, OR.  Next stop will be Salem, OR.  We are trying to arrange a slightly different solution to the Boise, ID, trip.