We gave up on going to Idaho. Too much Smoke in Washington. Our plan was to cross eastern Washington, stop in Spokane and then to Northern Idaho, maybe crossing into Montana. There are just too many fires and too much smoke. We decided, we have wheels and we can find some clean air — somewhere. […]
Smoke in Washington Read More »
Fire is raining ash on my parade. By that I mean a real forest fire is burning just to the west and is hot enough to put a huge amount of ash and smoke into the air. The smoke has clouded out the sun and the ashes are dropping from the sky all over the
Pearrygin Lake State Park Read More »
Does a cell phone booster work and is it necessary for full-time RV travelers? How important is it, how does it work, when and where is it necessary? A year ago (spring 2018) I was very frustrated with AT&T discount Cricket phone service in the southwest. We were traveling between Saint George Utah to Cortez
RV Cell phone booster Read More »
This time we moved 23 miles into North Cascades National Park for the next eight days. While we were at Rockport we drove up to North Cascades National Park. We don’t usually get to do this but we pre-scouted our reserved campsite and it was impossible to park in. Trees had overgrown the entrance. I
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After Jim Creek, we moved further north, Howard Miller Steelhead Park which is closer to Bellingham and stayed at the Skagit River. We are near Rockport State Park, right on the Skagit River, downtown in the tiny town of Rockport, Washington (population 109). This is close enough to visit Bellingham and far enough away, to
Howard Miller Steelhead Park Read More »
Jim Creek Naval Radio Station is obsolete, what a nice place for a recreation facility. We stayed at Jim Creek Recreation Area right on the Radio Station. Next time I have to drive through Seattle, I think I would rather take a 100-mile detour. This was top secret but now is obsolete. I can’t tell
Jim Creek Naval Radio Station Read More »
We are moving north again, this time to Tacoma and Mount Rainier. Mt. Saint Helen’s was awesome. From Tacoma, you can see Mount Rainier from anywhere you can see the skyline to the southeast. It is huge and stands alone. On a clear day, you can see it from one hundred miles. Tami took this
Tacoma and Mount Rainier Read More »
We have a new state to add to our travels. So far we have stayed in nine different states. I can’t say we have covered nine states, but we have stayed multiple nights in every state on the list. Washington is going to be a treat but the first stop was for maintenance. Mount Saint
Mount Saint Helens Read More »
It is the July 4th holiday and we are camping in a city park. It is very nice here and super convenient. Until I started RVing, I would have never considered camping in a city park in Vernonia Oregon. It just depends on where you are. Logging Town Vernonia, Oregon is a logging town. There
We are loving our time in northwest Oregon. Our route took us from Lincoln City on the Coast to McMinnville and then to the dense forest. The forest is about an hour east of Portland. From there we moved to LL Stub Stewart State Park which is about an hour (in our RV) northwest of
We are at the McMinnville Evergreen Aviation Museum, camping in the parking lot behind the museum. Right next door is a very nice RV park, but reservations for it were full, so we can overnight here. The parking lot is huge, and the museum is very impressive. The museum includes the largest wooden airplane (seaplane)
Fantastic McMinnville Evergreen Aviation Museum Read More »
We are driving north after spending a week at Coos Bay, Oregon. FMCA had a rally there with seminars and social events. Our next spot will be 60 miles north in a little known campground, with only 15 spots, no services deep in the trees….exactly opposite of the rally. FMCA Rally The FMCA Rally is
I expected a rocky coastline in Oregon; instead what we have here at Honeyman State Park are huge sand dunes, many that have been covered with fir trees. We are camping in a huge campground with over 400 spaces carved deep in the forest. I can’t explain the sand dunes except to note that several
Honeyman State Park Read More »
We are at Elkton, Oregon and this is the Umpqua River… Another nice view — outside our picture window. The Steelhead (ocean-going Rainbow Trout) are coming up-river, from the ocean, to spawn. When they are moving up-river, they prefer to hold in swifter current, rather than slack water, and this stretch of current is the
We went hunting waterfalls yesterday outside of Roseburg, Oregon. Shot a good one. Roseburg is in the mountains south of the Willamette Valley and graced with lots of rain. Ideal for pretty rivers and waterfalls. We are getting spoiled by the green. Of course, that goes with the rain that will start again tonight. This
We are currently in a densely wooded park in Wolf Creek, Oregon. The creek is 30 feet from the RV. We seem to have about forty acres to ourselves. One other campsite is occupied 1/4 mile down the road. Wolf Creek is a county park north of Grants Pass on Interstate 5. Wolf Creek was
Green Springs Highway – Bad Roads for RVs is located in southern Oregon between Ashland and Keno. This is a very tight steep road and is filled with logging trucks making the route a bad choice to travel across southern Oregon. The road is also known as Oregon Route 66. The road is very tight
Green Springs Highway Read More »
Emigrant Lake County Park, Oregon, we have a nice view from our front window. It is Memorial Day, boats everywhere. We will be here for the rest of the week. No rain expected this week. We (I) will need to wash off all the grime; both car and RV are really dirty. Dragging Bottom
Emigrant Lake County Park, Oregon Read More »
After stopping in the middle of Oregon sage country, we drove through Bend, Oregon, south to LaPine State Park in LaPine. The Deschutes River flows through La Pine and Bend, generally from south to north, along the east side of the Cascade Mountain Range all the way to the Columbia River which divides Oregon and
LaPine State Park (correctly spelled without a space) is in a tall pine forest south of Bend. We were only able to get a four-day reservation. We didn’t know the reason, and couldn’t believe that the park was full, on weekdays, in the middle of May. As a backup plan, I knew that the north
Cattle Barons Halfway between Boise and Bend Oregon, there is nothing except sagebrush, cattle, and cowboys. Most people, even RVers, would make the journey from Boise to Bend in one day. We stayed two nights giving us some time to poke around and experience the area including the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Glenn/French ranch
Halfway between Boise and Bend Oregon Read More »
In Boise, Idaho, we stayed at Gowen Field which is an Air Force Reserve Base, located right next to the Boise Airport. It is a nice, small area which has a small problem in that it is right next to the Boise Airport. We loved the place except for the noise. We frequent Boise, because
We have been to Twin Falls, Idaho multiple times including stops in our RV going to the solar eclipse in 2017. This time, unlike in August 2017, the Shoshone Falls had lots of water flowing over it, creating some good photo opportunities. In 2017 nearly all the water in the Snake River had been diverted
How to cross the Snake River? Three Island Crossing State Park is the place the pioneers on the Oregon Trail favored. Drinking water for the pioneers and all their livestock was a primary consideration in route selection on the Oregon Trail. Without water, all would die. In Idaho, the pioneers used two major routes, called
Three Island Crossing State Park Read More »
Stuck in Traffic While in Burley we drove south towards Utah and visited City of Rocks National Preserve. This is operated by the National Park System by the federal government. City of Rocks National Preserve was the very first National Preserve and although operated by the National Parks, allows for things, (like hunting) that would
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We moved from the country to a small farm town. Burley Idaho is on the Snake River to the east of Heyburn is on the north side of the river Burley is on the south side. We stayed at Heyburn Riverside RV Park. Burley is a little bigger. In my view, both are very nice,
Burley Heyburn, Idaho Read More »
We are camping at Curlew Campground, south of Curlew National Grasslands. We have miles of sagebrush and a view of Stone Lake, a lake owned by the cattleman’s association. Even though the lake is right next to the campground it is trespassing to go to the shoreline. Cattle outnumber people about 20 to 1. They
Curlew National Grasslands Read More »
This picture is from Hyrum State Park in north-central Utah. This is a very nice lake with plenty of visitors even in early May especially in contrast to Huntington Lake State Park, which we had all to ourselves. In the last week, we had snow showers and small hail followed by lots of rain. We
Hyrum Lake State Park Read More »
The best way to get to our next stop in Heber City, Utah is west through Spanish Fork Canyon then east through Provo Canyon. We targeted staying in Provo, but the campground at Heber City came with a high recommendation and we went with it. Just south of Provo, we stopped to see Tami’s aunt
Huntington, Utah isn’t nearly as remote as Bluff Utah, but it isn’t on the way main road, so it is unknown. For us, Huntington was a detour that put us in a great location to visit a few off-the-radar locations. We stayed at Huntington Lake State Park and we were one of the few RVs
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We stayed in Green River, Utah so that we could have access to Moab with Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park and also go to Goblin Valley State Park. Green River No room at Moab — at least for us. We considered boon-docking in Moab but wanted to look the area over and get
Green River Moab, and Goblin Valley Read More »
Wind Whistle is 26 miles north of Monticello and one thousand feet lower in elevation. It is to the west of Highway 191 and near the south end of Canyonlands National Park. Because it is at 6000 feet it is cooler than the temperatures at Moab but warmer than Monticello. It is still windy, as
After departing Sand Island, we drove north to Monticello, Utah. Cold weather was arriving and electricity is available at the RV Park, in town and we again had cell service. The picture is looking west from Monticello, Utah at part of Bears Ears National Monument at a mountain cluster, at the Manti Sal National Forest
Bears Ears National Monument is north of Bluff, Utah, and west of Cortez, Colorado. Overall it is bigger than many small states. Bluff, Utah After seeing my brother and driving back from Albuquerque, we spent one more night at Navajo Dam. Yesterday we moved about 140 miles to Bluff Utah. It is hard to find
We made it to New Mexico and are staying at Navajo Lake State Park on the San Juan River. Nice campground, with cell service and electricity. The first picture is one of the many thousand-year-old ruins nearby between here and Farmington. I had hoped for a picture of the river, or of the reservoir, but
Navajo Lake State Park Read More »
While camping in Cortez, Colorado we visited Mesa Verde National Park and Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. We are still in Cortez Colorado and even though these three last posts were three days in a row, they cover almost two weeks of travel. The difficulty was that we didn’t have any internet and were
Mesa Verde and Canyons of the Ancients Read More »
We departed Wahweap on March 29 heading to the Navajo National Monument. Our route and target destination was Cortez Colorado (made it) with a stop at the Navajo National Monument. It is a risky move to plan on camping at Navajo National Monument. The campground is small, tight and free. If a person knows about
Navajo National Monument Read More »
Lake Powell is wonderful, even in early April. Navajo Reservation We lost cell phone service 20 miles west of Page, Arizona. (Thank you ATT) and didn’t get it back until we got to Colorado. At Page, I stopped at a Walmart to get some advice from locals. It seems that Verizon is the only carrier
Brrrr, yes that is snow from last night in the mountains just north of us. We’re near Zion National Park. Camping at Sand Hollow, a state park near Saint George, Utah. Saint George is just north of the Utah/Arizona border, and March may be a little early to visit. Mountains surround it, and every mountain
Camping at Sand Hollow Read More »
We have electricity, and water, no sewer, no cell phone coverage, and no computers. We do have a view. We are at Valley of Fire for the rest of the week. The view from our front window. Our friends Patti and Joel are in the RV in front of us. In the summer — Hot!
Vegas — Baby Traveling to Las Vegas along the Colorado River was just what we needed. We just arrived in Vegas after spending the week in Laughlin/Bullhead City. Not much to see there. The big view was the casinos in Laughlin. It was very windy — most of the time. We did go to Oatman
A million-dollar view and we own it. Joshua Tree National Park is a wonderland. We have no electricity, no water, no sewer, no cell phone coverage, and no computers. It sounds like the introduction theme to Gilligan’s Island. We do have a view. Wow-what a view out our window. You can’t buy such a view,
Million-dollar view and we own it Read More »
Campsite Review: San Onofre Beach Campground is on Camp Pendelton, along the beach south of San Clemente. This is a military-only campground. The nearest city with services is San Clemente. The campsite has 118 campsites for RVs and tents. To get to the campground, the primary way (and usually the only way) is to enter
Campsite Review: San Onofre Beach Campground Read More »
Fiddlers Cove We traded our spot on the beach for three weeks overlooking San Diego bay. Our new digs are Fiddlers Cove Marina and RV Park, operated by the Navy on the Silver Strand, south of Coronado Island. I’m hoping from the picture of Fiddlers Cove, that you will agree that this is a very
A Tiny Spark Started the Fire Read More »
Campsite Review: Lake O’Neill Campground is on Camp Pendelton, on the north side of Lake O’Neill. This is a military-only campground. The full name is Lake O’Neill Recreation Park which includes the campground, lake, and other recreation facilities intended for use by military personnel. The nearest city with services is Oceanside. The campsite has 40
Campsite Review: Lake O’Neill Campground Read More »
Surfing on New Years Day in San Diego (Alas, we don’t surf) Camping at Camp Pendleton this December and January has been interesting. In mid-December, we moved north from our campground at Admiral Baker in Mission Valley San Diego to Lake O’Neill in Camp Pendleton (spared by the Lilac Fire). Mission Valley was great but
Camping at Camp Pendleton Read More »
Tiffin Open Road 34 TGA Our RV is a Tiffin 34 TGA. There are lots of choices for size and type of RV for full-time travel. I think we were lucky to find one that fits our lifestyle. There is also a huge variation in price. You don’t need the most expensive or the biggest
Our RV is a Tiffin 34 TGA Read More »
(I promise this will not turn into an hour by hour blog.) On our first night, we have a problem. First, there was a loud knock on the door and the neighbors are screaming fire. Who could make this up? Indeed there was a brush fire, racing up the hill directly across from the campground.
A small issue on our first night Read More »
On our first day, as full-time RVers, we weren’t going to go very far. Towing the toad On our trip to Idaho, we towed our car. It hardly seemed worthwhile to hook and the car up for twelve miles on our first day, so instead, I drove the car behind the RV as Tami drove
This is our first-day damage control story. Wildfires With our hotel stay extended and our RV not in the direct path of the fire we are set for one more day. I got reservations starting on the next day, December 9th at a different military campground in San Diego named Admiral Baker thirty miles from
