Ten Sleeps WY

There’s a little breeze on the water this morning and a few fluffy white clouds.  We get organised without too much dilly-dallying and are on the road before 10am.  We are heading east towards South Dakota.

We stop at Walmart, just before Cody to replenish, it’s been a whole week so we did quite well without a top up in between, but our list is rather extensive today.

Cody is a real cowboy town - known as the Rodeo Capital of the West.  A full rodeo is staged every night over summer.  At the Cody Firearms Experience you can shoot the guns which won the West and outside the famous Irma Hotel the Cody Gunfighters perform nightly, re-enacting the gunfights of the old wild west as gunslingers Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp – keeping the Wild West alive!

 

Wyoming we have learned is the least inhabited of all the states - we have noticed there is not much traffic! It supplies most of the US's coal and today we also see oil derricks operating, beef ranches and just a little agriculture.  WY was also the first State to give women with the vote and is the home of Pepsi, who would have thought!  

Sample of Wyoming landscape

We get to Ten Sleeps (Pop 260) and as we remember this place well from our bike trip thought we would stay here tonight and reminisce.  The RV Park is also a sort of antique museum and I find Kim a scooter - perhaps not quite what he had in mind!

A scooter for Kim!

Ten Sleeps, written in Indian as two hands and a teepee!

Crazy Woman Cafe and Ice Cream Parlour

It’s hot, 39C but we manage to walk the block into town and patronise the local Ice Cream Parlour called Crazy Woman Café.  As we are walking back a couple of bikes rock up, and one is a bright red Polaris Slingshot with all the gear, including leather panniers.  Looks very comfy.  Kim is googling where to buy one as I write - oh dear!

Buffalo Bill State Park - day 3

It is really nice here, sunny and warm and decide to stay just one more day so after getting brekkie etc.  I hike down to the office to pay our $17 for another night, it’s about a 40 minute round trip but this time I took some water and the camera to take some photos of this beautiful lake, reservoir actually, it supplies the potable water for all the surrounding counties.

Buffalo Bill Reservoir

So we do more cleaning and pottering, a lot more reading in the sun and before you know it – it is time to think about dinner again.  Cooking again outside on the supplied grill, we are getting good at this and then we sit around the fire watching the bunnies for an hour or so.  Don’t need the fire for heat, just ambiance!  Lovely!

Buffalo Bill State Park WY

When we arrived here yesterday the sky was hazy, we assume from the forest fires, although we could not smell any smoke.  The afternoon cleared to an azure blue sky with lots of sunshine which made for a brilliant sunset and the stars shone bright all night.

Beautiful sunset!

Yay - happy to say we are back in summer mode, no duvet and the windows wide open all night : )

Even though we have no hook up we decide to stay another night, we will run the generator but we might need to grab some more water as Kim has been using the tank water to wash the coach.  It's looking very shiny.

We cook outside again tonight, saving our propane but just as we get the food on the grill there is a bug gust of wind and a few fat splotches of rain.  The old caravan parked two sites down from us has his awning blown right over the roof of the camper.  Kim went down to help him sort it all out. The wind only hasted about ten minutes – pretty freaky, but then we carried on cooking our dinner.

Awning is supposed to be on the other side!

Yellowstone to Cody WY

We have a bit of a problem getting out of our very small camp site this morning and after a bit of to’ing and fro’ing decide we best back out, to keep the integrity of the paint work intact.  We might have to substitute our paint detail from ‘Desert Pin Striping’ to ‘Yellowstone Pin Striping’.

Love these cute little chipmunks!

The road west around the bottom of the lake is closed due to a massive forest fire and is likely to be closed for some weeks. We learn there are about six separate forest fires right now in WY!   So we drive around the lake from West Thumb back to Lake Village at the northern end, to join highway 14/20 west towards Cody which we remember from our bike trip.  We see Bison though, they were waiting to cross the road!

Mr Bison, you have the right of way!

The Yellowstone roads are very narrow, not very forgiving for a motorhome of our size, and we have come away feeling a little bit disappointed in our stay – didn’t even see a bear!!  The camps don’t seem to be very ‘big RV’ friendly.

We can see the results of previous fires though, the trees look like pick-up-sticks!

Anyway we drive out of Yellowstone into Buffalo Bill country and immediately the roads open out a  bit and there are some overtaking lane etc.  The landscape opens out into a valley, with high rugged buttes and huge rocks which have fallen onto or near the roadway, hope that was more than just recent!!

Just a dozen or so miles before we hit Cody decide to check out the North Shore Bay of Buffalo Bill State Park, hoping for a powered site, so we can vacuum and do laundry etc.  They have just sold the last powered site but the generator quiet times are from 10pm to 8am so we have plenty of scope for noise and therefore we can do any choresl   Plus there is cell coverage!  It’s back to summertime, yay, a lovely warm 28C with a breeze off the lake which weirdly smells like the sea?? 

We use some of our tank water to wash the coach and then have a lovely relax in our recliners, with our Kindles, soaking up the summer sun.  Life is better than good! 

A German family ensconce themselves in the tent site just towards the lake from us, but three hours later, as the wind comes up a little, they debunk.  So we have the view to ourselves.   But not for long, another two card with large families invade the two tent sites!  Oh well, it gives us something to look at apart from the sunset.

Yellowstone

We are definitely in duvet land, nice cosy night inside, but just 7C when we wake in the morning so the furnace is on full.  Sun is shining though.  Time to explore.  I take the scenic lake trail to the shower block, a 30 minute walk away, the Visitors Centre and the Ampitheater. 

River walk along the shores of Yellowstone Lake

In the Auditorium they were ready to show a 25 minute movie on the last ten years of fires in Yellowstone, whoa that’s back in 2006 - when we were here last, but I was worried that Kim would be worried that I was gone so long so thought I had better hike back.

It was nice and warm down by the lake so after our chores we took our Kindles and lounged back against an old fallen tree trunk and had a read in the sun.

Cooked on the grill outside again tonight, had our very expensive baby ribs and they were pretty darn good, I must say along with sweet corn and baked potato all cooked in the embers.  Oh yeah we had salad too!  Yummy!

An early night snuggled up under the duvet (no TV to watch).  The stars were bright again tonight and we didn’t see any wildlife apart from the squirrels : (

MT to WY

Today we are going to Yellowstone National Park, so we are on the road with a mission.  But first we need to make a stop at a booze shop while we are here in tax-free Montana to replenish the liquor cabinet, well, liquor box really!  Anyway we have a lovely time shopping at 'Spirits' in Livingstone.  This is a lovely little town, quite modern and well kept – hanging baskets once more.

So we get to Gardiner MT, the northern gateway to Yellowstone and this too is a lovely ski town, looks quite new, ie no old buildings that we could see and here we see our first elk of the day, a couple of them just stooging around, right in the town!

Once into the Park we actually cross the state line into Wyoming but there is no welcome to sign for a photo op here.  You would never know, unless you knew!

The road through the park is two lanes, one each direction, with a number of pull off areas but not everybody pulls off, we come across traffic jams where cars are just stopped in the middle of the road, well maybe some make a half-hearted attempt to pull right, but at least we know they are looking at something - so we see big horn sheep (as big as cows), massive bison, deer, teeny weeny chipmunks, squirrels and much aquatic bird life. The road is narrow, windy and hilly with some very steep descents - very scenic though.  It has rained here today, parts of the road are wet and we get half a dozen splotches on the windscreen, but it doesn’t come to much more.

Most of Yellowstone is volcanic/thermal and the literature mentions similarities to New Zealand and Iceland, but of course Yellowstone has more geysers than anybody else!  There is boiling mud and lots of steam escaping from the ground, just a tad more spread out than Rotorua and there is definitely the sulphur smell.

Just like Rotorua!!

The many camps are all full but there is space in Grant Park (340 sites) at West Thumb, the south western corner of Yellowstone Lake, which is huge!  We have a pull through site but it was very tight getting in here into a position where we could get the slides out, but we did it.  We are dry camping even though paid the same price as we usually do for full hook up but I guess this is an international wonder!  We received a docket for four showers, we are here for two days.  I will go for a walk later to check them out, but the shower block is back before the entrance to the township!

The sun is out but it is cool, definitely need the polarfleece.  We cook on the campfire tonight and follow up with toasted marshmallows, we have giant ones, they toast real good and you can peel the soft bit off and toast again….

Contact with the outside world is negligible, I have some phone bars, Kim has none, so we have no internet.

Helena, MT

Brrrr,  a very chilly 8C this morning, so we turn on the generator and the furnace gets the full blastl!  Pretty soon it is a more respectable 18C and we venture out of bed, into the shower before heading off into town to meet Meghan at LLC TLC, she has done a great job of looking after us and our kiwi needs!

We stop at Albertsons (the posh bakery/supermarket) to buy them some morning tea (a huge box of fancy iced doughnuts) then we go ‘walkabout’, ie the scenic route - to find our way back to their office again, way over on the other side of town.  Eventually we find a place we can park close by, but still in a very narrow, low tree-lined city street. We have to turn the fridge off ‘cos we are parked on such a lean /  

When we get in to the LLC office we are disappointed to learn that Meghan left just a week ago to pursue her teaching career, so we meet Vicki, who is now (and has been) looking after us, along with Delores (Reception), Lillian, Britt and Simon - pretty much the rest of the team!  One package is still to arrive (it’s the expensive Humminbird) so we have to wait for it and therefore need to fill in three hours or so, as it is now expected on the 3 pm UPS truck.  Half an hour later as we’re just about to leave our park, we phone LLC TLC to check and Delores says the package has just arrived and they have got the other three bits of mail we were looking for as well - excellent!  We really don’t really want to roam these skinny city streets for hours on end...

Picked up the stuff so that’s it, we are out of here!  But first we need to top up the diesel and Safeway has the best price, so there we head.  All good, it was a sharp price, but a bit of jiggery-pokery getting in and out but hey - we saved $0.15c/gallon  : )

That’s totally it now, we are not spending any more time in Helena, so we head south east on HWY 12 and enjoy a change of scenery.  As we move south the landscape changes from tree clad hill country to flat cropland, alfalfa hay and far off hills.

Arid valley land, hills in the distance

Three Forks, on HWY 227 and just off the I 90, is where we decide to camp for the night, at Camp Three Forks, in a lovely, tree clad, sunny site, with power, water, dump, internet etc.  The ppl are very friendly, as is the camp host (Santa) and we learn he is leaving here, after six months, to head back to his home town of St Louis, for his day job - as a Father Christmas!

Here we are just far enough off the I 90 so there’s not much traffic noise.  Hey, there’s a little jet black bunny just across the way - cute!

So cute black bunny!

Helena MT

Beautiful scenery, hills, snow chain put-on and take-off areas, pine trees, lakes, sheep and even two lambs - a black and a white one - does this mean I am the winner for the 2017 Family Lamb Spotting Olympics - yay Gold for me!!

We climb and descend at 8% for two miles, that is the steepest we have done!  We get to Helena, which is the capital of Montana, it seems an old city, some nice architecture and has a mansion area too.  We drive by LLC TLC to get the lay of the land, but our plan is to call tomorrow when our final package should be delivered.

So we call at Walmart for more supplies, now we are in tax free land again we stock up, then head out to Devils Elbow, a BLM (Bureau of Land Management) and we dry camp beside the lovely Lake Hauser for the night, all on our own - there are a couple of other campers plus the host and us, lovely and peaceful, no traffic, nor train noise. Lots of stars out tonight as I get up to put another blankie over us, getting a bit chilly.

Couer D’Alene ID - to MT

It was a cool night and the sun is up early but we are shaded by the very tall pines and the 5^th wheel on the level higher, next to us, which came in last night.  However, we are on another mission today so we only stooge around just a little bit before we get on the I 90 north east towards Missoula, MT. 

The drive is beautiful, we climb through lovely tree clad hills, obviously ski country in the winter, road signs indicating chain-up areas and  gondolas climbing the peaks, even at this time of year!  The countryside is so pretty, very green, high and vast.  

Montana - beautiful hills 

We come across quite a lot of road works, one time we are diverted to a separated two lane  roadway and the roadworks are building a perfect three lane, reinforced concrete road, layed by a massive machine the exact same width of the road (missed the photo of the machine sorry, but here are photos of what it has done!)

Roadworks

Following a mile or so after is another machine which lays the narrower concrete panel between the new highway and the centre railing.  Only in America – one truck pretty much does it all!

We climb and descend, and it’s all winding, hilly and very scenic.  We don’t see any potato fields in Idaho, maybe they just aren’t close to the interstate but the scenery morphs seamlessly into Montana – and I get the ‘welcome to’ photo into Montana – getting good at this!

The speed limit here in MT is 80 mph (trucks are 65 mph) reassuringly, not many vehicles are doing the allowed speed limit because we always see motorists, including 18 wheeler trucks meandering across the road, their lanes and ours!  Can be pretty scary!

We have googled a couple of places where we might get the hydraulic hose fixed so we pull off the road at a Casino/Motel/RV park about 15 miles before Missoula and make some phone calls.  Interestingly we have passed three Casinos, but they are not the glitz and glamour high rises you see in other States, more like little country motels with some Pokies housed in an out-building.  Anyway, where we pull off serves our purpose, we park in the shade and call, then subsequently drive, to KLS Hydraulics in Missoula and Steve fixes our problem and gets us back on the road within 30 minutes for the moderate cost of $79.56.  Happy campers again!

Here is another huge RV Sales yard, photo doesn’t do it justice, it is literally acres of RVs for sale.  Who buys them all, and where do the old ones go?  This is just one example in one State….

A small part of an RV sales yard in MT

We have crossed a time zone getting into MT and have therefore lost an hour in between times, so now it’s getting towards 4.30 pm and time to find a place for the night.  We choose a State Park – Beavertail Hill State Park and Camp Ground in which we claim MT state resident status (our check - sorry cheque, book is printed with our Montana address – proof of ID, however I was a bit slow as we could have got the plus +62 senior 50% discount too!) Need to practice this Montana living a bit more.

Although the camp is less than a mile from the Interstate and the railway line we have a very peaceful night.

OR to WA to ID

Nice calm night, distant train whistles but peaceful and quiet.  Woke to the sight of a huge barge sliding through the now calm waters of the Columbia River, right outside our bedroom window!

Good morning Barge on the Columbia River, OR

  

We are on a mission today to cover some serious miles so we’re up and on the road by 10 am.  Leaving Boardman, we say goodbye finally to Oregon, it feels like we are leaving family/friends or even home! Oregon has been good to us, we’ve had an awesome time here, we enjoyed the State, the people, the climate and of course no sales tax.  

Pretty much straight away we are  on the I 84 north and drive across the state line to WA.  The landscape is dry, arid, tones of gold and brown.  

Welcome to Washington State

Arid countryside

The first big city in WA is Kennewick then as we drive further north east, Spokane.  We only see this city from the interstate but it looks like just another dirty, old city, although they do have good shopping by the looks – outlet shops, malls and the usual chain stores. Not far further though is the charming little city of Spokane Valley, more outdoorsy - fishing, rafting, kayaking,  hiking trails, picnic areas and swimming holes. It’s also an agricultural centre, apparently with cliff side wineries and award winning restaurants, would like to spend more time here.  But just a few miles further we cross the state line into Idaho, to Lake Coeur d’Alene where we stop for the night.

 I got the photo, again!! 

Lake Coeur d'Alene, Idaho

Idaho is still widely known as the Potato State  (one third of the USA’s spuds are grown here) but the largest industry is actually the science and technology sector.  However Idaho is officially the Gem State because every type of gemstone has been unearthed here, and it is the only place in the eastern hemisphere where deep red garnets are found in any quantity.   Who would have thought!

It’s been a big drive today and we have covered a lot of territory in our quest to get to Helena, Montana before the end of the week. We are looking in good shape for that!

The weather has settled, sunny and a mild 23 C so very homely.  The only blotch on our 'happy place' is the bloody front jack has spat the dummy again.  The new connection literally spat off this afternoon as we were setting the jacks and hydraulic fluid sprayed absolutely everywhere!!  It would appear we need to replace the hose this time, not just the connection, and dang it all, it is the long one right from the front! Also we checked, it probably isn't covered by our new warranty : (   But we have googled a couple of places to check out when we get over to Missoula in Montana, the next big town before we get to Helena.  Montana is also tax free so that might save us some $.  The joys of being full time RV'ers : )

Boardman, OR

First we get some cheap diesel -$2.199 - thanks Gas Buddy!  While there Robert, larger than life, from A1 Meats wants to sell us some precooked baby ribs, he needs money for fuel??  I see inside his truck and he is registered and it looks kosher, plus there is a leaflet with his contact info and cooking instructions etc.  He rips us off but gives Kim a big hug and a blessing, so I am sure we will enjoy the meat.

Then on the road again along the Columbia River, all territory we have seen before, until we get past The Dalles.  Then the scenery changes from lush green to arid, stoney hill country.  The river is always there, though today it’s rough, wind against the flow.  We see three big dams, locks, barges, a lot of double decker trains, a stand up paddle board race with at least 100 competitors, but we don’t see the rescue craft!  Then lots of wind farms.

Columbia River to the left, rocks to the right, blue sky!

A barge on the windswept Columbia River

One of the dams we see on the Columbia River

We see some other sights today, a couple in leathers on a trike with a trailer, cuddling a little dog between them! 

We stop for a break at Boardman, still in Oregon and decide to stay the night here at the Boardman Marina Park.  It is very windy, but hot, so the wind is OK and at least there is no dust.  We pick site 17, backing onto the river and right next to a big shady tree.  Once installed we hum and hah about staying here and hoping the wind will die and the evening will be calm decide to hang here for the night.  The laundry is close by so get a couple of loads under way.

Hah, the USA version of Mr Whippy tootles by, music blaring, but we are too slow to get out there so missed out on that : (

Boardman Park & Marina

 

Sunset, Boardman Park & Marina

Still Oregon but not for long

Going to be another hot one, 104F!   While it is still cool I go for a wander and explore all the paths through the beautiful gardens here.  Jake pops in with his two gorgeous wee girls, Joselyn (8) and Gemma Rose (3) who entertain me for ages while the blokes talk blokey stuff.

Gemma Rose and Joselyn

We get on the road just before noon, straight onto the I5 from the camp.  We are hurtling along at 70 mph and the coach is running great, smooth and quiet, but there[s an unusual noise.  I look up and see our reminder clip is not on the TV aerial which means it is still up!!  It won't wind down on the fly so we drive a few miles more to the next exit.  As soon as we stop at the stop sign I can retract it - hopefully it still works!  First time we have done that, can’t guarantee it will be the last!   After another hour or so we stop at a Walmart for a couple of things and McDonalds for Kim!  He eats it inside, in the cool, while I go back to the coach and put the groceries away, then bless him he brings me a surprise - a yummy Caramel Frappe with cream on top : )

The closer to Portland we get the busier the road gets and there are a few hold ups.  It doesn’t improve much as we head west on the I84 but we have done enough for one day so think we will stop before we go too much further where there are less options for an overnight stay.  

Snow capped Lake Hood in the distance (again)

The first two RV resorts are full so we end up coming back to the Sandy Riverfront RV Park in Troutdale.  We come in on a different route this time, along the river.  We can’t believe our eyes, you can't see the water for people and we can hardly get down the road with the vehicles parked each side.  We have to wait a few minutes to get over the bridge as trucks and RV’s need both lanes but the cars keep coming.  Eventually one is intimidated enough to hang back and let us come over.

When checking in at Sandy River Charmaine tells me there was a drowning at this river just an hour ago - a young hispanic boy.  She was lamenting the fact that there are life jackets available for free here at Sandy River and at a lot of other water places in Oregon and probably other states, but families don't always take advantage, maybe it could have saved a life this time.

It’s hot 104F!  Ah what the heck it‘s well after 4pm - time for a beer and a cold drink inside with the AC on full.  As soon as the shade hits our picnic table I will go out for some fresh air.

Cottage Grove OR

Didn’t drive too far today and got the last site at Village Green Resort and Gardens, recommended by Jake.  It’s main function is motel accommodation with a bar and restaurant, and they hold weddings here as they have 14 acres of beautiful grounds.  They also have a small RV lot at one end of the property, plus they have a pool – the first swim we have had (or needed) for a few weeks.  There were only half a dozen sun loungers and they were all taken so we had our dip and came back to the RV to sit outside in the shade.  Wasn’t long before the eyes closed  zzzz….

The Eugene area is having an unheard of heat wave - the hottest temperatures on record and well into the 100’s.  It is supposed to recede by Sunday and get back to their more temperate  climate.

The new towel rails are modified and  fitted without any drama – measure twice, drill once!  But it’s too hot to do anything else.

Our very friendly, gregarious and voluptuous neighbour, Cynthia, is outside in her tiny lime green bikini bathing her 7 dachshund puppies in a kid’s paddling pool.  She has three other dogs, (the grandfather, mother and one of another type) all in a 32 motorhome!!  She is entering the adult dogs in the “weiner” races in Cottage Grove today and they have costumes!  That’s all I have to say about that.

There is live music in the bar tonight but doesn’t start till 9pm so we give it a miss.  Missed happy hour too.  Had our own though - after all it is Friday here!

Eugene OR

We have gotten used to the noise here at CAT and have a good sleep.  But we are up early, ready and raring to go – we planned to get on the road early to avoid the heat wave hitting this area today and tomorrow. Well it didn’t quite pan out that way.  We hang around waiting for our account to be made up but there is a credit they need to have on a part and it hasn’t come through yet.... Kim spends the morning, making coffee, chatting to the staff and I spend it in the coach on WIFI, planning our next few days.  Come lunchtime-ish we bail to go get our paint - we’re part of the CAT family now so they trust we will come back to pay : ) 20 minutes later we get to API Inc. (auto-paint) and they are having a mini fair/open day with all sorts of suppliers’ stands and lots of food.  The team here are so friendly, we are invited to partake and we enjoy a lovely hot lunch of beef, chicken, rice, noodles, potato salad etc. and chat to the customers while the workers take photos of our paint to match it and mix it up.  Not long after we have the three different bottles of paints, clear coat, the spray apparatus and instructions….  I guess we will look at those if we go wrong : )

So we need to get back to CAT at some stage, but it’s seriously hot – 33 C+ so meantime we pull into our old favourite - Valley River Mall so I can get a haircut (not Walmart prices here - but a good result), have a little shop, have a big ice cream, all before we head back to CAT - there will be no shade there at this time of day so the later the better.  Eventually we rock up there, around 6pm, and it is hot!  Put the awnings out for shade and turn the AC on high : )

Nice relaxing evening, watch some Olyjmpics on TV, have something light for dinner and another very good day is done!

Eugene OR

Up and ready to evacuate the coach by 8am, they took it in pretty much straight away so they got a good start on it.  Rental car arrived at 9.30am and we are off having a day out in a much smaller and easier to park vehicle for a change.  Actually it’s not that small, a Dodge Dart, quite nice.  

Anyway we have a list to tick off so load all the addresses into both the GPS and Copilot, there is quite a nice feature on that which sorts them into the best order for you, so we are on our way  - Jerry’s to return bedroom ceiling fan (ceiling too low for safety – likely to get an unwelcome haircut or manicure), visit Dollar Tree, swing by Cabelas to buy the Depth Sounder, dang it - they have sold out so Kim sits in the car and buys one online while I finishing shopping at Gateway, lunch at Carl’s Junior (Kim might be forsaking McDonalds),  then shopping at DSW (Designer Shoe Warehouse) and Oak Way Mall, spending rather a lot of time at Nordstorms Rack Room, visit paint shop to check they can match coach paint and supply in cans for us to do some touch ups, Northwest RV to exchange towel rails for ones which don’t protrude so much, find a bunch of other stuff to buy there as you do.  Back to Cat to see how they’re  going.  They are going well and will finish working on it tonight so suggest we bugger off for a couple more hours.

Dinner at Applebee’s is next, been meaning to try this restaurant for ages.  We start with a cocktail shaker full of the most yummy Margaritas each, salad, spare ribs and sides.  Way too much food but it was too good to leave any.  Did a bit more shopping and 'rolled' back to Cat about 9 pm.  They were just cleaning up before parking the coach back outside for us to sleep in tonight.  Takes us a while to unload the car and do show and tell with all our purchases!  A good day!

Eugene OR

Up early but didn’t exactly rush to get on the road, arrived at CAT by 9.30am.  Jake is working from home today and no-one has phoned the warranty claims yet so it might be a long day.  Kim is passing the time picking the late blackberries, I will go and help him, stand by!

They are really passed their best but we got enough juicy ones for a couple of brekkies.

Stooged aground inside pretty much all day, got to watch a good chunk of the Olympics, so time wasn’t wasted.  The day still went fast!

Waterloo, Sodaviille, Eugene OR

Up and at it first thing for our appointment at Ray Jackman, who put on the correct hydraulic fitting for us in no time at all.  Then we found a Walmart, as we do, just to top up our supplies.  I’m still wanting a haircut but earliest they can take me is over an hour away so flag it.  There will always be another Walmart....

Then we get on the I5 and head down to CAT to check in that everything is all good for tomorrow.  We phone the warranty people and meet the first hiccup head on - they haven’t heard of us and our contract number relates to someone else whose warranty expired in 2011!  However the blue air soon clears and another phone call gets that all sorted and we now have the correct number to phone for claims. 

Left CAT for them to do their magic and we’re off to find a place to stay tonight.  Armitage is the closest but they are full up, we contemplate staying in their no camping area overnight as we have seen others do but decide maybe we will try to stay at Camping World – they are a bit like Walmart in that as long as you are self-contained you can park in their lot overnight, but just a minute or two away from there is Eugene Kamping World RV Park and although our app indicates it is expensive to stay here, it wasn’t, so we had hook up and cable TV for $36.  Finally got to watch some of the Olympics and  - must be my lucky day - the gymnastics beam exercises were  on.  Fabulous!  So it was a late night for me, as then I watched the men’s springboard diving and the beach volleyball.

Sisters to Lebanon OR

We are in two minds to stay here at Indian Ford another day or to head west, closer to Lebanon where we need to be tomorrow morning.  The decision is made as we hear a fire spotting aircraft circling overhead.  No smoke yet, but they are looking over our very wooded campground.  We pack up and are on the road by 11.45 am and a nice drive it is too.  Until we go walk about (not the GPS’s fault this time, nor ours).  We are 17 miles into Hwy 20 before we see the first ‘road closed ahead’ sign.  We see a second warning, funnily enough entitled ‘second warning - road closed two miles ahead’.  Surely there will be a detour in place before we get there, although our apps aren’t showing any options!  Well we are this far along we might as well see if we can scoot by the closed road, whatever it is.  Nope, there are two cars, which we had let pass us, and a fifth wheel unit stopped at the road closure which is due to a bridge out.  The workers said there was supposed to be a sign at the main junction but we didn’t see it and neither did the other 20 or so people who were driving towards it as we were heading back. 

Road closed 17 miles in

So that added another 60 miles to our 60 miles trip today.  Glad we came today rather than tomorrow when we need to be somewhere in the morning.  It was a pleasant drive though, very scenic, trees, hills, rivers, lots of camping sites, blue sky and sunshine.  There were a couple of Christmas Tree plantations too, the nice triangle shaped ones you see in the movies.

We need diesel much sooner rather than too much later now so divert a mile or two as per Gas Buddy’s recommendation for $2.39/G at Shell Springfield.  We verified the price at this station on the app too, so now 'Kiwikim' is famous on Gas Buddy in the big ole US of A.

Next stop is Waterloo Campground where we stayed the last time before going to Ray Jackman for the hydraulic hose coupling repair. Feels liked home!  Found a nice spot in the shade, at 31C it’s too hot to sit in the sun and set up camp for the night.  Next to us is a converted US yellow school bus, which is really cool. Space is obviously limited inside because the hubby is up on the roof every 10 minutes getting something down or putting something away.  Then.... we see it has a crane to lift stuff on and off the roof.  Now it is super cool!!

School bus with a crane!!

We skipped lunch as we often do when breakfast is after 10.30 am, so a coffee, an apple and a muesli bar enroute is not really enough sustenance.  So nibbles are rather plentiful once we arrive and now it is dinner time.  We are only on 30 amp here so prefer to use the power for cooling rather than the oven, so we’re cooking outside tonight in our trusty electric frypan  : )

Indian Ford, OR

It was really quiet so we slumbered on until we were embarrassed enough to get up.  Kim has found a little stream just a short bike ride away, and has deemed it his place of ablutions.  Me, I’m up for the nice warm shower inside the coach.

Don’t know how, but the day just goes.  Pretty soon it is time for nibbles and drinks followed by dinner.  Yummy sweet corn!

The only wildlife we have seen are tiny little squirrels, not sure if they are chipmunks as they don’t have the stripey backs.

This is the view from our new reclining campchairs!!

Culver to Indian Ford

It was hot last night, had all the windows open and the fan on.  Woke to another sunshiney day!  Didn’t get on the road until 11.30 am with a loose plan to head south and maybe stop at Sisters, named after the two mountains.  This was a lovely ski town, just humming with people, the main street was pretty, hanging basket of flowers again and quaint shops and restaurants.

Pretty Ski Town of Sisters OR

Of course the campground there was full with 15 people on the waiting list so we kept going, more west now and into forest area

Today’s trip was one of the most scenic we have driven, snow topped mountains, lush pastures, orchards, farms, even some sheep.

Ah sheep, we've missed you!!

We do a bit of a “walk about” (our new term for getting a bit lost) and then find the Indian Ford Campground where we plonk ourselves for the night.  It was pretty quiet when we arrived and we had our pick of sites but by evening the place has filled up.  We are not too far off the road so can hear the hum of distant traffic and there must be some kind of local airport close by as small planes fly overhead.  Other than that it is just the whisper of the trees in the very faint breeze.  Nice!  It’s  way too hot inside (we are dry camping and prefer not to run the generator with so many people around) so we spend most of the day and night outside in the shade.  Even lay a trail of bread for the deer or the raccoons, whoever gets there first really, but in the morning it’s all there.  It’s peaceful here and as it is Saturday we decide to stay here another night.