The weather has been wonderful in Harrisburg/Junction City today. In the high 80's during the day to low 50's at night. What a wonderful, agriculture based area of Oregon! Late this evening, we saw this cloudy moon....check it out!
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Ho Hum
Not much of a post today as we spent most of the day trying to locate some important papers that have mysteriously disappeared. When we moved out of the house and into the trailer, we were careful to keep track of anything that was important. So how can a piece of paper disappear in a trailer that only has 272 square feet? Beats me, but we never did find the stuff. We decided to relax today and attempt to find the papers tomorrow. Sure, never do today what you can put off until tomorrow! We went into Junction City to the free BBQ lunch sponsored by a local rv dealer. Lunch was so-so, but the people involved with putting it on were very nice.
The weather has been wonderful in Harrisburg/Junction City today. In the high 80's during the day to low 50's at night. What a wonderful, agriculture based area of Oregon! Late this evening, we saw this cloudy moon....check it out!
The weather has been wonderful in Harrisburg/Junction City today. In the high 80's during the day to low 50's at night. What a wonderful, agriculture based area of Oregon! Late this evening, we saw this cloudy moon....check it out!
Monday, July 22, 2013
An Easy Day in Oregon
After a busy, busy time getting ready to go full time rv'ing, we've decided to take a few days off and do nothing for a change. The park we're staying in is comfortable and clean, with some easy walks and bike rides available. It's only 18 miles to Eugene, OR, so we'll go check that area out and try to hook up with an old friend there. So we'll find some things to do for a few days and get our bearings and maybe (heaven forbid, even READ A BOOK).
For lunch we went into Junction City to a local hot dog stand. On the way we spotted this old farmhouse with a cell tower in the backyard. Seemed to be an odd combination of old and new, and deserved a picture.
We walked a bit around JC and checked out the local businesses. If you're in need of any RV remodeling or upgrading, this is the area to check out. Elite Repair and Remodel, Carr Industries, Davis Cabinets and Countryside Interiors are some of the businesses recommended to us for any work required. Most shops are in the Junction City area, but several are in Harrisburg, and we heard that Eugene has a lot of shops that do upgrading as well.
On the way back to the RV park we spotted this GTO from Alaska. I've never seen a fluorescent safety green car, but here it is:
Hmmm....
I don't think that it's a factory color.....
For lunch we went into Junction City to a local hot dog stand. On the way we spotted this old farmhouse with a cell tower in the backyard. Seemed to be an odd combination of old and new, and deserved a picture.
We walked a bit around JC and checked out the local businesses. If you're in need of any RV remodeling or upgrading, this is the area to check out. Elite Repair and Remodel, Carr Industries, Davis Cabinets and Countryside Interiors are some of the businesses recommended to us for any work required. Most shops are in the Junction City area, but several are in Harrisburg, and we heard that Eugene has a lot of shops that do upgrading as well.
On the way back to the RV park we spotted this GTO from Alaska. I've never seen a fluorescent safety green car, but here it is:
Hmmm....
I don't think that it's a factory color.....
Sunday, July 21, 2013
It's cooler in Oregon
Today we continued our journey north. From Weed, CA we drove 262 miles to Harrisburg, OR, over the highest elevation on I-5, Siskiyou Summit. The Siskiyou mountain range is the travelers introduction to Oregon from the south and is both beautiful and intimidating. Miles and miles of 6% and greater grades, both up and down, with one devastating 7%, 6 mile long downhill into Ashland OR that will warp many an unsuspecting brake rotor! The scenery is wonderful, so it's easy to loose focus on driving. Combined with a large commercial trucking presence, you can see why it's a deceptive stretch of road.
Harrisburg is a small (3700+/-) town on the Willamette River about 209 miles north of the CA/OR border. It's claim to fame is a company that manufactures pre-stressed concrete panels. Since today is Sunday, we didn't expect the business to be operating, but it was, at a quiet noise level, and we spent some time watching the huge mobile cranes move stuff around the outside yard. Quite an operation.
We drove five miles south on Hwy 99 to the town of Junction City, OR. We've ordered a new love seat for the trailer and expect to pick it up tomorrow, so we wanted to scope out the area. JC isn't much bigger than Harrisburg, but it has a large RV presence. The town was the home of Country Coach, Monaco, and Marathon motorhomes back in the day, or so the locals told us. Most of the buildings are closed up now, but small businesses have sprung up that cater to RV remodeling and refurbishing operations. A number of woodworking/cabinet shops are going full bore, and the furniture, flooring, and exterior body shops are busy.
We visited one of the last large motorhome dealers in the area, Guaranty RV, in JC. They were at one time the largest Country Coach dealer in the west. Now they're number 2 in the MH and Trailer business, with several stores in town selling everything from Chevy's to spare parts to tent trailers to million dollar motorhomes. Sounds like they pretty much "are" Junction City, OR!
On the way back to the RV park, we stopped at a park along the Willamette River. We'll come back in the next few days and have a picnic here, and let Pris play. She's been a very patient pup, but will soon need some playtime. This picture is from a gazebo overlooking the river.
Just looking at this picture is cooling! It's quite a bit cooler in Oregon than in California when we left two days ago. We're hoping for a continuing cooling trend!
Harrisburg is a small (3700+/-) town on the Willamette River about 209 miles north of the CA/OR border. It's claim to fame is a company that manufactures pre-stressed concrete panels. Since today is Sunday, we didn't expect the business to be operating, but it was, at a quiet noise level, and we spent some time watching the huge mobile cranes move stuff around the outside yard. Quite an operation.
We drove five miles south on Hwy 99 to the town of Junction City, OR. We've ordered a new love seat for the trailer and expect to pick it up tomorrow, so we wanted to scope out the area. JC isn't much bigger than Harrisburg, but it has a large RV presence. The town was the home of Country Coach, Monaco, and Marathon motorhomes back in the day, or so the locals told us. Most of the buildings are closed up now, but small businesses have sprung up that cater to RV remodeling and refurbishing operations. A number of woodworking/cabinet shops are going full bore, and the furniture, flooring, and exterior body shops are busy.
We visited one of the last large motorhome dealers in the area, Guaranty RV, in JC. They were at one time the largest Country Coach dealer in the west. Now they're number 2 in the MH and Trailer business, with several stores in town selling everything from Chevy's to spare parts to tent trailers to million dollar motorhomes. Sounds like they pretty much "are" Junction City, OR!
On the way back to the RV park, we stopped at a park along the Willamette River. We'll come back in the next few days and have a picnic here, and let Pris play. She's been a very patient pup, but will soon need some playtime. This picture is from a gazebo overlooking the river.
Just looking at this picture is cooling! It's quite a bit cooler in Oregon than in California when we left two days ago. We're hoping for a continuing cooling trend!
Saturday, July 20, 2013
On the road again (apologies to Willie)
After roughly 4 months at home, we're back on the road, heading north from Sacramento CA. We've completed the task of moving out of our home, remodeling it to better suit our daughter and her family, packing all of our "important" stuff and putting it in storage, and hooking up the fifth wheel and skeedaddling out of town.
We got up a bit early (for us) at 4:30 this morning. A quick trip down the street to Starbucks for coffee and back to say goodbye to our family. After a few tears and several hugs we hit the road at 6:15. A leisurely drive north on I-5 for 261 miles got us to downtown, metropolitan Weed, CA. Now I don't know what the history of Weed is, or how the town came to be named as it is, but they do have one thing that no other town has:
We got up a bit early (for us) at 4:30 this morning. A quick trip down the street to Starbucks for coffee and back to say goodbye to our family. After a few tears and several hugs we hit the road at 6:15. A leisurely drive north on I-5 for 261 miles got us to downtown, metropolitan Weed, CA. Now I don't know what the history of Weed is, or how the town came to be named as it is, but they do have one thing that no other town has:
Mt. Lassen! Imagine waking up to this view every day!
We had a bit of an electrical wiring problem with the trailer (thank you California freeways), where we broke a wire on an exceptionally large pothole. A quick trip downtown (about a 1/2 mile one end to the other) yielded some wire and connectors, so an hour or so later we were back in business. I say that to explain that the people in this town are among the most friendly that we've met in CA. I had directions, recommendations, and offers of help as soon as I explained my predicament. We are staying overnight at the Trailer Lane RV Park, a small (a dozen or so spaces) place carved out of the trees a 1/4 mile off the freeway. I wouldn't recommend it to a big rig, but it's great for anything shorter than 40'. The prices are good and the owners very nice.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
What a Ride!
No pictures today. We've completed our winter southwest trip and are now home in Northern California. Mixed feelings, of course, because we enjoyed the freedom of the road, but we also missed our family and friends.
The wonderful people we've met will never be forgotten: Jeff and Lynda in Tucson with their new fifth wheel trailer, their new business, and their new life. Bob and Karyn from Pincher Creek, AB, Canada traveling the lower 48 for the second year of their retirement, and Dale and Jean from Edmonton looking for new places to "quad". Then there was Jay and Linda that travel from Yuma to Minnesota to Utah following the nice weather with their Boston Terrier "Hank". Jim and Jane from Lindstrom, MN have a fifth wheel exactly like ours and we passed a few hours talking "RV's". Bob and Kaye from Boise in their extraordinary new motor coach shared many stories with us. And, of course, there was Larry and Judy, whom we met in Yuma, who turned out to be friends of friends and who live just 50 miles from us when they are not wintering in the southwest.
We pulled the trailer 2,835 miles, and drove the truck 4.645 miles. We have a few new scrapes and dents on both of them, as well as on ourselves, but, with all the ups and downs, we wouldn't trade it for a moment! It's been quite a ride!
We will be home until at least June, 2013. For those of you who check in from time to time, thank you for your support. Don't forget where the blog lives, and check back in a few months. Our next trip is outlined to be into Oregon, Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota, and south into Texas before returning to Cali for the Holidays in November.
See you then!
The wonderful people we've met will never be forgotten: Jeff and Lynda in Tucson with their new fifth wheel trailer, their new business, and their new life. Bob and Karyn from Pincher Creek, AB, Canada traveling the lower 48 for the second year of their retirement, and Dale and Jean from Edmonton looking for new places to "quad". Then there was Jay and Linda that travel from Yuma to Minnesota to Utah following the nice weather with their Boston Terrier "Hank". Jim and Jane from Lindstrom, MN have a fifth wheel exactly like ours and we passed a few hours talking "RV's". Bob and Kaye from Boise in their extraordinary new motor coach shared many stories with us. And, of course, there was Larry and Judy, whom we met in Yuma, who turned out to be friends of friends and who live just 50 miles from us when they are not wintering in the southwest.
We pulled the trailer 2,835 miles, and drove the truck 4.645 miles. We have a few new scrapes and dents on both of them, as well as on ourselves, but, with all the ups and downs, we wouldn't trade it for a moment! It's been quite a ride!
We will be home until at least June, 2013. For those of you who check in from time to time, thank you for your support. Don't forget where the blog lives, and check back in a few months. Our next trip is outlined to be into Oregon, Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota, and south into Texas before returning to Cali for the Holidays in November.
See you then!
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Loop the Loop
Twas a beautiful morning in Bakersfield. The locals are hoping that it won't get any hotter or any cooler for the rest of the summer....
We jumped into the truck and drove east on Hwy 58 to check out the "Tehachapi Loop". This is a monumental engineering feat that allows the busy railroad tracks between Mojave and Bakersfield to gain (or lose) a significant amount of elevation in a short amount of space.
In the pic, Bakersfield is to the left and Tehachapi and Mojave to the right. The tracks come into the loop at the upper left, pass through a tunnel, loop around, and exit to the right. If you look closely, you can tell that the train cars are smaller at the far right and larger at the near right. The loop is .73 miles in circumference, and most trains, particularly if they are over 4000' long, will cross over themselves as this one is doing.
The loop was built by approximately 3000 Chinese recruited in China using picks and shovels and 600 barrels of black powder a week. It was built between 1874 and 1876, and remains one of the most viewed rail sections in the world.
We were fortunate to arrive at this viewpoint just as a train was entering the loop from the east. Within 20 minutes of its passing, another train followed in the same direction, and then a train that had been waiting on an eastbount siding came through in the opposite direction. By the time all the trains had completed their "loops", there were some 25 people standing along the side of the road in awe.
You can see a dirt road inside the loop on the left side. This goes to a farmhouse situated inside of the loop (out of sight in the pic). As per regulations, the engineer must blow his horn in a specified pattern whenever the train approaches and crosses a road, so that farmhouse must be a noisy! The railroad museum docent in Tehachapi noted that traffic varies, but there have been up to 50 trains counted in a 24 hour period. Wow! This is obviously the main thorough fare between the San Joaquin Valley and all points east.
Those points east (and west) are noted on the sign at the restored Tehachapi Depot. The depot is now a museum noting railroad history in the area, and also containing pics of the 1952 7.2 earthquake that destroyed most of the town and 3 of the 10 railroad tunnels near the loop. Repairs were made within 3 weeks and 2 days, and freight began to be transported again. The tracks in the mountains are so steep that over the years 17 people have died and millions of dollars worth of locomotives and railroad cars lost as brakes failed and equipment "ran away". There is an awesome display in the museum of a section of iron track that has a circular section removed by the drive wheels of a locomotive trying to gain traction as it tried to avoid roaring down the hill backwards. I couldn't get a pic, but the rail was literally melted from a height of 8 inches down to 1/2 inch in just 30 seconds! No indication whether the engineer saved the train. Let's hope so.
About half way between Tehachapi and Bakersfield is the Bakersfield National Cemetery. This is a cemetery for veterans that was established in 2005. The land it sets on was donated by the Tejon Ranch Company, the largest single landowner in the state of California. The Tejon holdings are a combination of 4 Spanish land grants that were issued in 1845, and stretch from Bakersfield to Los Angeles, some 270,000 acres of range land, agricultural holdings and commercial and residential development.
The cemetery is very private and quiet. Most of the land is planted in natural grass, awaiting the need to be used as grave sites. There is a registry building, a security building, and walkways and benches for private reflection. Unfortunately, there is plenty of room for future needs. Donna and I paused for a moment of gratitude to those veterans who are resting here.
We jumped into the truck and drove east on Hwy 58 to check out the "Tehachapi Loop". This is a monumental engineering feat that allows the busy railroad tracks between Mojave and Bakersfield to gain (or lose) a significant amount of elevation in a short amount of space.
In the pic, Bakersfield is to the left and Tehachapi and Mojave to the right. The tracks come into the loop at the upper left, pass through a tunnel, loop around, and exit to the right. If you look closely, you can tell that the train cars are smaller at the far right and larger at the near right. The loop is .73 miles in circumference, and most trains, particularly if they are over 4000' long, will cross over themselves as this one is doing.
The loop was built by approximately 3000 Chinese recruited in China using picks and shovels and 600 barrels of black powder a week. It was built between 1874 and 1876, and remains one of the most viewed rail sections in the world.
We were fortunate to arrive at this viewpoint just as a train was entering the loop from the east. Within 20 minutes of its passing, another train followed in the same direction, and then a train that had been waiting on an eastbount siding came through in the opposite direction. By the time all the trains had completed their "loops", there were some 25 people standing along the side of the road in awe.
You can see a dirt road inside the loop on the left side. This goes to a farmhouse situated inside of the loop (out of sight in the pic). As per regulations, the engineer must blow his horn in a specified pattern whenever the train approaches and crosses a road, so that farmhouse must be a noisy! The railroad museum docent in Tehachapi noted that traffic varies, but there have been up to 50 trains counted in a 24 hour period. Wow! This is obviously the main thorough fare between the San Joaquin Valley and all points east.
Those points east (and west) are noted on the sign at the restored Tehachapi Depot. The depot is now a museum noting railroad history in the area, and also containing pics of the 1952 7.2 earthquake that destroyed most of the town and 3 of the 10 railroad tunnels near the loop. Repairs were made within 3 weeks and 2 days, and freight began to be transported again. The tracks in the mountains are so steep that over the years 17 people have died and millions of dollars worth of locomotives and railroad cars lost as brakes failed and equipment "ran away". There is an awesome display in the museum of a section of iron track that has a circular section removed by the drive wheels of a locomotive trying to gain traction as it tried to avoid roaring down the hill backwards. I couldn't get a pic, but the rail was literally melted from a height of 8 inches down to 1/2 inch in just 30 seconds! No indication whether the engineer saved the train. Let's hope so.
About half way between Tehachapi and Bakersfield is the Bakersfield National Cemetery. This is a cemetery for veterans that was established in 2005. The land it sets on was donated by the Tejon Ranch Company, the largest single landowner in the state of California. The Tejon holdings are a combination of 4 Spanish land grants that were issued in 1845, and stretch from Bakersfield to Los Angeles, some 270,000 acres of range land, agricultural holdings and commercial and residential development.
The cemetery is very private and quiet. Most of the land is planted in natural grass, awaiting the need to be used as grave sites. There is a registry building, a security building, and walkways and benches for private reflection. Unfortunately, there is plenty of room for future needs. Donna and I paused for a moment of gratitude to those veterans who are resting here.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Another Day in....Bakersfield?
The weather was wonderfully warm in Bakersfield this morning, and we just couldn't face the thought of a day in the truck, so we decided to stay another day at the River Run RV Park. We spent some time reading, catching up on "what did we do the last 2 months" conversations, and generally doing....Nothing.
We talked to a semi-permanent resident of the park who knew Buck Owens back in the day, and went to high school with Merle Haggard. That encouraged us to take a drive to Buck Owens Blvd to see the famous "Bakersfield" sign. This was on the main highway 80 years ago when the "Okies" came through. Today it's on a side street, but still is reminiscent of the Dust Bowl days that brought so many people to the central valley. Buck Owens Blvd winds through a light industrial area and so is a bit shabby, but leads into an area of older upscale homes on the northeast side of town.
We returned to the trailer for an evening walk along the Kern River. There's no water in it because of the dam at Lake Isabella, but the mile or so walk was good and Pris enjoyed it. Along the way we saw a lot of the machines that Bakersfield/Oildale is famous for: oil pumps. They are scattered everywhere and the smell of natural oil is heavy in the morning and evening. They all feed into pipeline systems that feed into refineries that dot the landscape.
The camera doesn't do justice to the sunset, but trust me, it was spectacular!
We talked to a semi-permanent resident of the park who knew Buck Owens back in the day, and went to high school with Merle Haggard. That encouraged us to take a drive to Buck Owens Blvd to see the famous "Bakersfield" sign. This was on the main highway 80 years ago when the "Okies" came through. Today it's on a side street, but still is reminiscent of the Dust Bowl days that brought so many people to the central valley. Buck Owens Blvd winds through a light industrial area and so is a bit shabby, but leads into an area of older upscale homes on the northeast side of town.
We returned to the trailer for an evening walk along the Kern River. There's no water in it because of the dam at Lake Isabella, but the mile or so walk was good and Pris enjoyed it. Along the way we saw a lot of the machines that Bakersfield/Oildale is famous for: oil pumps. They are scattered everywhere and the smell of natural oil is heavy in the morning and evening. They all feed into pipeline systems that feed into refineries that dot the landscape.
The camera doesn't do justice to the sunset, but trust me, it was spectacular!
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