Phoenix

Friday morning the 30th we hooked up the rig and left Quartzsite for a 2 1/2 hour run into Phoenix. We turned north on the 101 and left our trailer in the driveway of friends in Peoria and drove over to D & K's home north of Scottsdale, the area is called Troon if you are familiar with the area. VERY expensive and nice area. Their house is just west of Pinnacle Peak. It is a beautiful area. Saturday, we spent the day at the Desert Botanical Garden, a beautiful area nW of Mesa near the Zoo. In addition to the many desert plants from all over the world, there was a large display of Chihuly glass throughout the park. It sounds out of place but they looked good there. Look at the pictures here to make your decision. It was a great birthday present.

Quartzsite, AZ

I have heard stories of Quartzsite, AZ. but I had never seen it during it's prime time. Prime time is Dec - Feb. During the quiet time (summer) the town has a population of 3000 hardy souls who can put up with the high temperatures. But during winter, the snowbirds descend upon the area and set up camp. There are campers ( travel trailers, vans, fifth wheels, motorhomes, even some tents) in any direction as far as the eye can see. There are RV parks with full hook-ups and areas that have no facilites at all. The BLM has certain areas for short term camping ( up to 14 days) and others that allow camping from Oct to April. It is very interesting to see the equipment that some of the rigs have.

The town itself transforms also. Portable restaurant spring up. Vender booths appear. A large white tent is erected and used for a series of events from a RV show, to a vendor sales area, to a car show, and so it goes on. And always there are hundreds of vendor booths scattered through out town. It is a fun place to look around for some treasure you did not even know you needed. If you ever in the area in the winter, it is definitely worth a "stop and see". I think we will stop by for a few days next year on our way down south.

The Beginning

Day 1 Eugene-Klamath Falls Tues Jan 20
Left the house at 10:20 Uneventful trip over Willamette Pass. Got to J & T about 3. Went to dinner at one of our favorite stops Wingers (good salads). Had lots of fun opening presents from Christmas. Always fun to be at their house.

Day 2 Left KFalls about 9:30. Headed down 39 which becomes 139 as it gets into Ca. Drove past Lava Beds National Monument and the site of Captain Jack’s stronghold again. Every time we pass it we say next time we are going to stop.... Well maybe next time. Had lunch alongside the road at ice covered Eagle Lake. Diesel was 2.35 at Susanville, but I wanted to wait until Reno so that we could make it to Bishop before fueling again. Well, paid 2.49 at Reno so the idea that fuel is always more expensive in California is not necessarily true. After fuel and a few groceries in Reno we continued south on 395. Lots of traffic through Carson City and the turn off for Tahoe, but it thinned down after that. However, the highway also started going up. I had not studied the map that carefully for mountain passes. I looked at the towns and noticed that they were few and far between but didn't put two and two together to realize that that may mean mountains.
There are several grades between Carson City and Bishop and Topaz Lake is on the other side of one of those grades. It would be a nice view, but it was starting to get dark by then and so we did not get to appreciate it. Devils Gate is the pass there at 7519 then down to Bridgeport. Conway Summit is next at 8143 and then to Lee Vining and Mono Lake. We have seen the lake in the daylight and it is neat. My memory will have to suffice because it was as dark as the inside of a bear’s belly when we drove past. I had read online that free overnight parking was available on the south side of the lake, but never having been there and not having daylight, we decided to move on. A young man at the Chevron station in Lee Vining told me that there was a Vons grocery store in Bishop. So we slogged up and over Deadman Pass (8039) and past Mammoth Lakes and down the Deadman Grade (a 6% grade for 8 miles which meant 2nd gear and keeping the rig at around 30-35mph during the decent). Arrived in Bishop about 8:30, found Vons, pulled over into a corner of the parking lot, had some soup and went to bed.


Day 3 Bishop to Quartzsite. As we fueled up in Bishop the attendant told me that chains were required from June Lake to Mammoth Lakes so I’m glad we kept going the night before. If we would have stayed at Mono Lake we would have been in snow. The drive south from Bishop on 395 was fun. Several quaint towns, Bishop being one of them, but also Big Pine, Lone Pine, and Independence and many campgrounds along the way. Spent on hour at Manzanar National Historic Site. It was one of the locations in the US where people of Japenese origin were sent during WWII. They were taken from their homes where ever they lived, allowed to bring only what they could carry, and brought to these places. There were about 10 of these "facilities" in the western US. Manzanar and Tule Lake were the two in California, but there were some in other states such as Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, etc. If you want some further information about what went on during those times, www.nps.gov/manz/ .

Getting Ready to Hit the Road

Well it's time to start loading the rig. In just over 2 weeks we will be hitting the road with the truck and fifth wheel. I have been itching to go since we arrived home from Burns last October. The rain and snow and cloudly weather are getting old fast.

The trailer is physically ready. Clothes and food need to be added. The truck goes for a check up and oil change on this Tuesday and it will be primed for the trip. The only challenge will be the weather. This time of year the trip over the mountains is always a day-to-day thing. I hope to travel Hwy 58 over Willamette Pass and onto Klamath Falls and then south. If the weather gets iffy, then we may have to go I-5 over the Siskiyou Pass. It has many more ups and downs, but it is better taken care of because of the high amount of traffic. The truckers, if given a choice, will take Hwy 58 because there is just one "hill" to go over on the way south.

Our path southbound has not been decided (of course the snow level will dictate some of it). Having only a general idea is part of the fun. I do plan to visit friends who are parking their rig in the Quartzsite, Az area. I haven't been to Quartzsite at this time of year, but I have heard that the desert population explodes right now. I will post pictures of what I find. Wait until I tell you where R and I are going to end up! (Hint: see above)

A Trip to John Day

The morning dawned with a spectacular sunrise edtion for the girls and me to enjoy on our morning walk, although I think they are more into smells than sights. We decided to drive up to John Day to further check the area out. It's about a 65 mile trip north of Burns on Hwy 395 over a pass of 5154 feet and through a couple of great canyons. You come to Canyon City first, which is aptly named because it is in a ........ Gold was discover there in 1862 and it was a boomtown until about 1880. Not much evidence of mining is left. You have to keep a sharp eye out for tailings, etc. A couple of neat antique shops, though. We bought some cool stuff for the homestead house at the Sod House Ranch. Hit a couple more shops in John Day, had lunch and then stopped at Skiens, which is a yarn, wool, spinning store in JD. Teresa is the owner and very enjoyable. She has provided me with information and hints to help me get going with spinning. It is her ram, The Brick, who provided my first wool to spin on my drop spindle. If you are ever in Canyon City, stop by here store. It's right on Hwy 395 across from the library.

Travels around Burns

On Thursday of last week we did our usual trip to Burns for groceries and while we were there we decided to drive out north and west of town into what are the Blue Mountains. Traveling through miles of gravel roads, past hunting camps set up with more gear than the US Army on manuevers, past stands of Aspens changing from their summer colors, past deer looking at us asking us not to tell the hunters where we saw them, in and out of rain and snow showers, happy to have a warm, dry vehicle to travel in, it made for another pleasant day in the country of eastern Oregon.

Up Steens Mt. Again

It was time to go back to Steen’s Mountain to view the fall colors. We took the wild and steep south route on the way up. From South Steens Campground it is no more than a half mile to the sign warning you about the roughness of the road. From the sign to the end of exciting part of the trip it is about 5 miles but it takes you about an hour to negotiate it and you don’t mind one bit. You are too busy watching where you are going and checking out the scenery. We had lunch in a shady spot overlooking the Big Indian Gorge. Great place to sit, relax, and take in the scenery.
After lunch we reached the summit and spent 30 minutes looking over the edge. It was sunny and the wind was not too bad so we could enjoy ourselves. Saw no bighorn sheep, though. I hope to see some one day.
About a mile or two down from the summit we turned onto a small road that I had heard of and started for an area of old cabins that sit on the rim of Little Indian Canyon. I had heard of it and wanted to check it out. The road was a narrow dirt track that headed east. There were a few rocks that I had to avoid but we had no troubles. Then the road turned south and started to wind downhill toward the canyon. The road became rougher and even narrower as it dropped into the Aspens. Their trunks were all twisted and scared from the snows and winds of winter and were starting to turn color. It was getting interesting both for the flora and the road. I was starting to get nervous about the height of the rocks and their relationship to the oil pan of the Suburban. I put the tires on some of them to avoid doing any dragging. My passengers were more in favor of turning around than discovery so we stopped and scouted a place to reverse direction. I backed up the road about ¼ mile to a place that I could “gee haw” the rig around and head back up the way we came. Another day………….