Full Circle…..Sorta

Today finds us in Junction City, Oregon.  This is a nice little burg known for being the home of the RV industry in the Northwest.  Back in the day JC was home to at least 3 major manufacturers of high end motorhomes, and was the sales capital of the area for all types of RV's.  Monaco, Country Coach, and Safari were well know in the area.

But times change.  Now the Country Coach factory is a service facility for Country Coach motorhomes.  The same for the Safari people.  Monaco has suffered several changes of ownership and is now an arm of a midwest manufacturer with a limited, but high end, product line.

So what?  This is where last year we bought Nessie.  The RV sales market in the area is pretty much owned by Gauranty, Inc.  They sell motorhomes, trailers of all types, new cars and pickups at the Chevrolet dealership, and service all makes and models of rv's.  ("This is not a paid political advertisement"). We had a reasonably good experience here last year, at least as good as you can expect when making a vehicle purchase, and met some very nice people.  The salesman that helped us last year, Lindsay, stopped by to say hello as he was doing the golf cart thing around the lot, and it was nice to chat with him again.

The drive from Yreka was only 231 miles, so we made it in an easy day.  The office at the Yreka RV Park provided coffee and a light breakfast and we were off.  Our first stop was for lunch at the "Heaven on Earth" restaurant in Azalea, Oregon.  Otherwise known as Exit 86 off of I5.  This little place started almost 40 years ago along a lonely stretch of highway and has become known for their family size cinnamon rolls, country cooking, and apple butter. And free samples of everything in the store!

This bad boy weighs at least a pound and is setting on a cake plate!  No we didn't get one, but I can tell you that the biscuits and gravy and the bacon and eggs were great.  Well, we did get a couple of small rolls to bring along for breakfast tomorrow! This restaurant should be on everyone's list when in the area.  It's the only restaurant that I've ever been in that plays old, familiar religious hymns discreetly in the background while making cinnamon buns fresh before your very eyes!  Great people and good food. And did I mention the free samples?

So here we are, parked in the customer service lot of an RV dealer, listening to the sounds of trains passing through and trucks on the highway, while contemplating leftover biscuits and gravy for dinner.
What could be finer?

Let the Party Begin!

Hello, All:

To those of you who have followed our adventures traveling around and about this wonderful country of ours, I offer apologies for the long time between posts.  For those of you new to us, welcome, and stand by for a not so interesting introduction to our status.

Donna and I returned from our Summer '13 journey with high hopes of spending a bit of time with family and friends in NorCal, and then exiting in January '14 for points south (and warm).  Well, sometimes our paths take an unexpected turn.  We joined some of our good friends for a trip to Phoenix for one of the years last NASCAR race weekends, and thoroughly enjoyed the trip, however, somewhere along in there I developed a cough that would not go away even with a trip to a "Doc in the Box", and a couple of trips to our family Dr. when we got home.  Finally the situation got so bad that a trip to the E-Dept at one of the local hospitals was necessary, where they found some heart failure issues.  Short story long: the cause remains unknown, as it may be a hereditary thing, or a virus attacked my heart and did some significant damage.  I now enjoy the company of an electronic device called an ICD that not only paces my heart, but stands by to defibrillate if necessary.  Through the excellent care of a number of physicians: our family doc, the cardiologist, and a specialist who is called an "electrophysiologist" (we call him the electrician, because the cardiologist is the plumber, and our family doc is the contractor), I find myself almost as good as new.

This all was not possible without a huge number of friends, family, and professional staff.  Our children and grandchildren who visited the hospital, friends that were a huge support during and after the "procedures", and the staff at the Cardiac Rehab Facility.  Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.  I cannot express the gratitude and love that I have for all of you. You all pitched in when I couldn't do normal tasks and supported Donna through a number of life-changing events.

So here we find ourselves, after spending six months at home waiting for Doctors' visits and tests, in beautiful, downtown, metropolitan Yreka, CA.

 We received the last approval last week, our Grandson Devan graduated from High School yesterday (Yay, Devan!), so today we skipped town.  Yreka is 313 miles north of Sacramento, CA, and the first stop on a trip that should take us to Seattle, Idaho, South Dakota, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, and perhaps south into the Gulf Coast before returning home in the Fall. We hope to make new friends, see old ones, and report to you-all what we've seen and done.  This is our first trip without our faithful canine companion of 7 years, Priscilla.  She suffered a massive brain issue (stroke? hemorrhage?), where she completely lost her memory, even forgetting who we were, and shortly thereafter lapsing into a convulsive coma. Thank you to our longtime friend and Veterinary doctor, Randy, who took care of Pris at his personal home, even taking her to bed with him, over the Christmas holiday. This all happened while I was in the hospital, so it added another huge layer of stress to Donnas' life.  So anyway, we are a bit lonely, but hope to find just the perfect pup somewhere along the way to keep us sane.

We're staying at a nice RV Park called……wait for it…….The Yreka RV Park!  It's a great place catering to people traveling up and down I5.  We've stayed here in the past and found it reasonably priced, clean and with friendly staff.

Our good friends Ed and Rosemary, whom we met in Cardiac Rehab, met us along the road as we left Sacramento this morning with "Bon Voyage" signs, fresh cantaloupe and Donuts!  What a sendoff!  Thank you Ed and Rosemary…you're the best!

Now you're all caught up!  Follow along to see where we end up….as we've seen, it may not be where we've planned!

Happy, Happy, Happy....

Made it back home in Northern California today after 85 days, 6,717 miles (not counting running around miles when we were camped somewhere), and uncounted gallons of diesel fuel (we averaged 8.4 mpg).  Our map shows a big circle through some of the most beautiful country on God's earth as well as some of the most desolate.  We've met some very nice and friendly people, and we've visited more places than we can remember.

The forests of Washington State and the Northern Rockies have the type of beauty that we are familiar with in the California Sierra Nevada mountains, and so were both familiar and new at the same time.  The rangelands of Montana and North Dakota seemed so bleak, yet alive with the cattle that we depend on for our beef, and how could we forget the endless miles of corn and soybeans in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Indiana.  We've marveled at the work ethic of cattlemen and farmers who, for generations, have provided so much for the rest of us.

The historical heritage of towns like St Louis and Independence, Missouri, and Springfield, Illinois provided a peek into our country's past in a way that cannot be duplicated by just reading a history book.  We were able to see the towns and farms of the places our parents were born, and while we did not locate actual buildings, we walked where they walked.

Even our last mad dash across Kansas, Colorado, Arizona and back into California provided us with time to contemplate our journey, highlight the good times, put the bad times to rest, and plan for the next journey.

We met young people just starting their family RV'ing experience, and middle-aged couples who have changed their lifestyle to get away from the fast pace of business life; we've met older people who have been traveling full time for years and still celebrate each day as a gift.  They are our heroes.

So while we're happy to be home to see family and friends, we also know that there is a lot of this beautiful country that we've not yet seen, and so we know that 'fore too long the "hitch itch" will become irresistible once again and we'll hit the road.  This will be the last blog entry for a bit while we soak up some "home time".  Our next trip is scheduled to start about mid-January '14, so check back with us then and we'll share some good times, eh?

Another 234

After yesterdays weather shenanigans, we were pleasantly surprised to see that the weather was predicted to be warm and clear all day today as we traveled from Barstow, CA, to Coalinga, CA, on our way home after traveling for a week short of 3 months.

We spent last night in the Desert Springs RV park near Barstow, CA.  I didn't notice when we checked in that the road out was little better than a "cat trail".  The park owners have hacked the roads out of the desert and haven't put down much more than a minimum amount of gravel.  Nessie groaned and rattled, but she made it and as far as I know, James is still attached behind her.  Other than the rough interior roads, this park rates a "good" recommendation from us for overnight stays.  The highway from Barstow into the Central Valley of California was reasonably good, and passed one our favorite areas: the Mojave Desert.  One of the more flourishing cities in the Mojave is California City:

Cal City was established back in the '60's with the idea of selling vast numbers of desert homes and creating an instant city ala Florida in the '30's.  Unfortunately, the dream wasn't altogether realized as soon as was hoped, and it took many years and several fortunes to finally establish a town.  Of course, the addition of a prison facility nearby helped the local economy a great deal.

So, 234 miles later, we found ourselves once again staying at the Sommersville Almond Tree RV Park near Coalinga, CA.  We've stayed here in the past,  and it is a decent, clean, overnight park. 

Tomorrow we'll be home after many miles and millions of memories.  I'll post a wrap-up soon, as the numbers shake out, but we've had an eventful trip from Northern California through Washington state and east to the midwest and back.  While we've missed our family and friends while we've been on the road, we wouldn't trade the experience for anything. 

Extremes

We were a bit late getting out of Williams, AZ, this morning:

The overnight storm changed from showers to snow about 3 this morning and before too long we had more than 3 inches on the ground, and on Nessie, and on James.  We waited until about 10 to see if the storm would quit, but it didn't seem inclined to do so, so we decided to pack up.

Well, then, there it goes again....

The satellite antenna wouldn't stow properly and the slides wouldn't come in due to the layer of snow on everything.  After an hour or so, we were able to get the major snow accumulations cleared and were ready to go.

A few hours later, we saw this sign:

315 miles and 6 hours after we left Williams, we found ourselves at the Desert Springs RV Park on the Daggett-Yermo Rd some 8 miles east of Barstow, California.  The park is a small, gravel rv park with a few desert trees and bushes scattered about.  There is a bar and grill adjacent to the office, so we went with the neighbors to check out the dinner menu.  Donna and I had a hot Pastrami sandwich with all the fixin's, and Chuck and Sandy went for the fish and chips and hamburger.  We all agreed that the food was excellent, and reasonable, too.  

So now it's 615 down, and a bit over 400 to go....Home on Saturday.  And the "extremes" reference?  It was 34 deg in Williams when we left this morning, and 74 in Barstow when we arrived.  Too different worlds, ya betcha.

300 Down & 700 to go!

Donna and I left Cortez, Colorado, this morning with clouds coming in and the wind picking up.  The forecast was for increasing wind throughout the day.  We headed southwest into Arizona, past four corners and on into Navajo Land.  We passed through the towns of Red Mesa, Mexican Water and Kayenta.  We stopped in Tuba City for lunch, but only got out of Nessie for a quick dog run due to the wind blowing.  Just west of Tuba City, we turned south on our old friend, Hwy 89, which took us to Flagstaff, where we turned west on Interstate 40.  We finally stopped in Williams, AZ.

It's been a 300 mile day on two lane roads (except for the Interstate), and the wind has been blowing all day.  The weather report has noted a steady 20 mph, with gusts to 40, and I believe that out in the flat desert country, it may have blown harder.

The road from Kayenta to Cameron has been designated a scenic byway, and here's the reason:

Mile after mile of beautiful rock formations that reminded us of Moab, Bryce and Zion canyons.

It's interesting to speculate on the origins of the formations, since they are out in the middle of nowhere.

As we got closer to Flagstaff, the scenery changed.

We're staying at the Canyon Motel and RV Park in Williams tonight.  The wind is still blowing hard enough to rock Nessie even with the jacks down.  We had contemplated driving back to Flagstaff for dinner and a cup of coffee at Macy's, a great coffee house that our daughter introduced us to a long time ago, but the weather has been deteriorating all afternoon and evening, so we stayed in, turned up the heat, got a book and settled down.  The forecast is for light rain beginning about midnight and continuing on into mid-day tomorrow.  We hope to knock off another 300 or so miles tomorrow, so we're praying for reasonable weather.  Let me tell you, as long as the wind is light, I'll be a happy camper!

Four Way Split

Donna has had a life-long dream of visiting the Four Corners Monument at the intersection of Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico, so today was the day...

We had to stop at the White Cup in downtown Cortez for a cup of coffee before we left town, and talked to the proprietress, who has recently moved to the area from Sanford, Florida, and who decided to open a comfortable coffee house with her husband, who is a professional musician.  Every evening, they have an open mike for any and all to come in and use the great equipment and play and sing to their hearts content.  A great place for kids of all ages to hang out.

Once we got to the Monument, we had to start taking pictures:

The location is on Navajo land, and so they have set up a payment booth, where they charge $3 a person to enter the area.

The facility was built by the Bureau of Land Management some years ago so that visitors could see the only place in the United States where four states meet at a corner.  The Navajo have turned the facility into a tourist destination of sorts by setting up Tee shirt shops and jewelry displays in booths all around the area.

Donna was able to accomplish the four-way split.  I didn't even try...

There's the proof!

On the way back to Cortez, we saw a neat rock formation in the distance that reminded us of the southwest.

Back at Nessie, we cleaned and checked and prepped for the long haul home to California.  The next 3 days will be a bit of a blur as we knock off the last 1000 miles of our summer '13 trip.