Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Welcome to my West Trip 2015 blog!
Just to let everyone know, the most recent post shows first here. So if you are interested in viewing our whole trip in chronological order, you will want to look on the right side where it lists all of the posts by title and go down to July and start at the bottom with Day 1! Thanks for looking. It really was an amazing adventure! :)
Monday, August 10, 2015
Day 21: Home Sweet Home!
One thing that we had found that we felt was worth seeing was the Devonian Fossil Gorge near Iowa City. Despite wanting to get home, we decided to stop and take a look. It was really interesting, especially for Alex, who has studied fossils for Science Olympiad.
It was a nice short break to stretch our legs and I also made some quick hummus (or peanut butter) and pita sandwiches for lunch. We did not want to stop again, so we just ate a lot of snacks along the way home.
The kids have eaten so much junk food this trip. We gave them each their own spending money, and so at most every rest stop they have bought candy or chips or something else unhealthy! I did limit them to only one pop a day, otherwise I think they would have wanted to drink nothing but pop, too. I guess we are all inclined to eat more poorly while on a trip. We did prepare a lot of our own meals and also tried to eat fresh fruit, veggies, dried fruit and nuts and seeds while on the road. It wasn't all bad.
We did stop for gas at a truck stop in Iowa, which turned out to be an attraction in and of itself. It claims to be the world's biggest truck stop, and actually felt a little bit like a mall.
There were so many different stores in it, not to mention an upper level, where there was a barber, a chiropractor, a dentist, and a theater. They even had a souvenir penny crusher for Ben to press one last penny! He wound up with 11 total crushed souvenir pennies!
After stopping at Leroy and Elaine's house to help empty the freezer and fridge, unload some of their things from the van and load up some of our things in the van, we got home around 9 pm.
Alex drove us from grandma and grandpa's house home, just as he had driven the first stretch of the trip to their house 3 weeks ago!
Thanks to my mom and my friend Tanya, Princess and the fish tank were well taken care of. Thanks to our neighbor boy, Jett, the lawn was recently mowed. It was good to be home!
It was a nice short break to stretch our legs and I also made some quick hummus (or peanut butter) and pita sandwiches for lunch. We did not want to stop again, so we just ate a lot of snacks along the way home.
The kids have eaten so much junk food this trip. We gave them each their own spending money, and so at most every rest stop they have bought candy or chips or something else unhealthy! I did limit them to only one pop a day, otherwise I think they would have wanted to drink nothing but pop, too. I guess we are all inclined to eat more poorly while on a trip. We did prepare a lot of our own meals and also tried to eat fresh fruit, veggies, dried fruit and nuts and seeds while on the road. It wasn't all bad.
We did stop for gas at a truck stop in Iowa, which turned out to be an attraction in and of itself. It claims to be the world's biggest truck stop, and actually felt a little bit like a mall.
After stopping at Leroy and Elaine's house to help empty the freezer and fridge, unload some of their things from the van and load up some of our things in the van, we got home around 9 pm.
Alex drove us from grandma and grandpa's house home, just as he had driven the first stretch of the trip to their house 3 weeks ago!
Thanks to my mom and my friend Tanya, Princess and the fish tank were well taken care of. Thanks to our neighbor boy, Jett, the lawn was recently mowed. It was good to be home!
Day 20: To Grinnell, Iowa
One of the truck stops we tried last night that was full had a Denny's restaurant and I had suggested going out for breakfast in the morning. That is something we had not done yet this vacation and Ben was all for it. So despite not finding a place at that truck stop, we stuck with the plan of eating breakfast out. Unfortunately, it wound up being over 60 miles along I-80 before we found a restaurant and we had not gotten an early start to begin with, so it was almost lunch time when we finally ate at the Apple Barrel Restaurant.The food hit the spot, though, eggs and bacon and pancakes with strawberries, some of them had omelets or scrambles with ham or sausage in them ... quite a spread, good enough to count for breakfast and lunch!
After that we just drove for hours through boring Nebraska. We decided that for the last night we might as well have a nice campsite, so we can wash the dishes, dump the water, etc., so we actually stayed at a KOA! Ben and I played a few rounds of ping pong while the guys dumped the sewage (we only had water and electric), then we all jumped in the pool, which felt really refreshing after a couple of nights at truck stops!
It was around 7 pm when we arrived and they were serving ice cream sundaes from 7 to 8 pm, so we took advantage of that, too. I ran to Walmart (only 3/4 mile away) for buns, potato salad, and a few other supplies, and Daryl grilled burgers for supper. We all enjoyed having good wifi!
After that we just drove for hours through boring Nebraska. We decided that for the last night we might as well have a nice campsite, so we can wash the dishes, dump the water, etc., so we actually stayed at a KOA! Ben and I played a few rounds of ping pong while the guys dumped the sewage (we only had water and electric), then we all jumped in the pool, which felt really refreshing after a couple of nights at truck stops!
It was around 7 pm when we arrived and they were serving ice cream sundaes from 7 to 8 pm, so we took advantage of that, too. I ran to Walmart (only 3/4 mile away) for buns, potato salad, and a few other supplies, and Daryl grilled burgers for supper. We all enjoyed having good wifi!
Day 19: Rawlins, WY to Nebraska
Last evening, Leroy was having a lot of discomfort and difficulty with his eye ... something was in it and he could not get it out. During dinner, he put a makeshift gauze pad patch on it. Despite two nurses examining it in the camper that night, using a flashlight, q-tip, saline solution, and water irrigation, nothing helped. In the morning, we drove as far as Cheyenne, since it was a bigger city with better medical services and took him to the Urgent Care Clinic. Without even having him check in, they decided he would need to be seen by an eye specialist and referred him to an eye clinic just down the road. It was really lucky, the eye doctor said if Leroy could be there in 15 minutes he would see him immediately. The foreign particle was removed successfully and while Daryl and his parents were at the clinic, Ben and Alex and I did a little shopping at the local mall and Barnes and Noble! We were back on the road in probably less than 2 hours!
We did stop at the big Lincoln Statue, I think near Laramie, WY.
There was some nice scenery before we got in to the boring flat terrain.
We covered a big chunk of driving, landing somewhere east of North Platte, Nebraska. The boys and I listened to the new audio book some, also music and whatever they do on their Kindle/ phone/ laptops!
On our way, we drove through a severe thunderstorm with torrential rain, hail, thunder and lightning. It was so bad that a lot of cars had pulled off on the shoulder of I-80 to wait it out. I slowed down to about 3o mph at some point, because I just could not see through the heavy rain, but Daryl in the truck/camper was somewhere way ahead of me! Anyway, we all made it through safely, but it was that tension in your neck, white knuckle, on the edge of your seat kind of driving that is not very fun!
We tried a couple of huge truck stops in North Platte, but they were packed full of semis! So we had to go on and wound up spending the night at a highway rest stop area! Some heavy rain and thunderstorms continued throughout the night. We are all ready to get home... these last few days are a lot of boring driving.
We did stop at the big Lincoln Statue, I think near Laramie, WY.
We covered a big chunk of driving, landing somewhere east of North Platte, Nebraska. The boys and I listened to the new audio book some, also music and whatever they do on their Kindle/ phone/ laptops!
On our way, we drove through a severe thunderstorm with torrential rain, hail, thunder and lightning. It was so bad that a lot of cars had pulled off on the shoulder of I-80 to wait it out. I slowed down to about 3o mph at some point, because I just could not see through the heavy rain, but Daryl in the truck/camper was somewhere way ahead of me! Anyway, we all made it through safely, but it was that tension in your neck, white knuckle, on the edge of your seat kind of driving that is not very fun!
We tried a couple of huge truck stops in North Platte, but they were packed full of semis! So we had to go on and wound up spending the night at a highway rest stop area! Some heavy rain and thunderstorms continued throughout the night. We are all ready to get home... these last few days are a lot of boring driving.
Day 18: Salt Lake, UT to Rawlins, WY
This morning, the weather was warm and sunny. We really wanted to experience swimming in the Great Salt Lake, so I went to the campsite office and asked where is the nearest access point to swim in the lake. The young lady looked a bit confused and explained that it really isn't for swimming, that the only place she knew of to access it would be Antelope Island.
So even though it was kind of back-tracking, we drove the 20 minutes to Antelope Island where there was a "beach". As we crossed the bridge to the island it was interesting that the GPS showed us over water on both sides, when in fact it just looked like desert for about 3/4 of the bridge! Then we finally reached water!
The beach was similar ... a really long walk from the parking lot to the water line.
We did it anyway after applying a lot of sunblock! As we got closer to the water there was a rotten, stinky smell. Also, what looked like a darker color of sand turned out to be swarms of tiny flies. As you walked near them they swarmed away from you like a wave! It was really kind of gross, but the kids found it fascinating to run along and create a wave of swarming flies.
When we got to the water, I let the 3 guys go in first, since I wanted to take pictures. It took a while to get in, since it was so shallow, but as soon as they were waist deep, they started exclaiming about the buoyancy of the water and really felt it being so different than a usual lake or ocean. Ben could not stop giggling about how it floated him.
I took lots of photos and then wanted to experience it, too.
So Alex took the camera and I went in just enough to float. it did feel weird, but I had no need to stay in it long. The guys swam way out into the lake and spent a long time in the water, really enjoying it!
The other cool thing about Antelope Island was the wildlife. We saw more Bison as well as a group of antelope!
The rest of the day we just drove on to get back east. We had hoped to make it to Laramie, WY, but Daryl decided we should eat a good steak while in Wyoming, so we stopped in Rawlins, where we found a fancy restaurant called "Aspen House Restaurant". We checked in and were told it would be a 30 minute wait. There were customer comment cards hanging on a bulletin board and I just happened to read one that said "we drove up from Colorado to eat here again, because it was so good the first time!" Pretty impressive!
Well, it was a delicious meal and we did all have some form of steak. After that we did not drive any farther, but stayed at a truck stop (since we had spent all our money on dinner!).
So even though it was kind of back-tracking, we drove the 20 minutes to Antelope Island where there was a "beach". As we crossed the bridge to the island it was interesting that the GPS showed us over water on both sides, when in fact it just looked like desert for about 3/4 of the bridge! Then we finally reached water!
The beach was similar ... a really long walk from the parking lot to the water line.
So Alex took the camera and I went in just enough to float. it did feel weird, but I had no need to stay in it long. The guys swam way out into the lake and spent a long time in the water, really enjoying it!
The other cool thing about Antelope Island was the wildlife. We saw more Bison as well as a group of antelope!
The rest of the day we just drove on to get back east. We had hoped to make it to Laramie, WY, but Daryl decided we should eat a good steak while in Wyoming, so we stopped in Rawlins, where we found a fancy restaurant called "Aspen House Restaurant". We checked in and were told it would be a 30 minute wait. There were customer comment cards hanging on a bulletin board and I just happened to read one that said "we drove up from Colorado to eat here again, because it was so good the first time!" Pretty impressive!
Well, it was a delicious meal and we did all have some form of steak. After that we did not drive any farther, but stayed at a truck stop (since we had spent all our money on dinner!).
Day 17: To Salt Lake City
When we got going to Winnemucca (2nd time for Daryl!), we stopped to take a photo of the sign coming from that direction saying "next gas 178 miles". Unfortunately coming from our way, there had not been a warning sign!
More interesting terrain, lots of sage brush, rocks, but as we got further along then also more sand, which in some places created these whirlwinds ... is that what's called dirt devils?
When we stopped in West Wendover on the border to Utah, we filled up ALL our gas before entering the "Great Salt Lake Desert". In fact, it was a piece of cake compared to last night!
It was highway I80 and there were actual billboards, exits to towns, occasional houses, and lots of other traffic. Literally, yesterday, the kids would occasionally exclaim "look, a car!" as if it was something we should take a picture of! We also joked about warning oncoming traffic not to go that way if we could!
After Wendover, there were stretches of salt covered sand, that looked like frozen lakes. It was really white as snow, really interesting!
We had finished the Harry Potter book somewhere in Oregon, and the boys wished I had checked out the next book in that series. Instead I thought they might want something different, so I had chosen a couple of last year's Young Hoosier books. They were reluctant, but we started to listen to a story called "Navigating Early". It was not nearly as good as Harry Potter, but entertaining.
Despite our exhaustion, we made it to Salt Lake City. We found a campsite that Joel and Angela had stayed at on their trip back in 2011 thanks to their blog, Cherry Hill Resort, with full hook-ups, showers, etc. Luxury!! I cooked Essenhaus noodles with green pesto sauce, cabbage salad from a bag, and fruit cocktail from a can; it was a good supper! Then we all went to bed pretty early.
More interesting terrain, lots of sage brush, rocks, but as we got further along then also more sand, which in some places created these whirlwinds ... is that what's called dirt devils?
It was highway I80 and there were actual billboards, exits to towns, occasional houses, and lots of other traffic. Literally, yesterday, the kids would occasionally exclaim "look, a car!" as if it was something we should take a picture of! We also joked about warning oncoming traffic not to go that way if we could!
After Wendover, there were stretches of salt covered sand, that looked like frozen lakes. It was really white as snow, really interesting!
We had finished the Harry Potter book somewhere in Oregon, and the boys wished I had checked out the next book in that series. Instead I thought they might want something different, so I had chosen a couple of last year's Young Hoosier books. They were reluctant, but we started to listen to a story called "Navigating Early". It was not nearly as good as Harry Potter, but entertaining.
Despite our exhaustion, we made it to Salt Lake City. We found a campsite that Joel and Angela had stayed at on their trip back in 2011 thanks to their blog, Cherry Hill Resort, with full hook-ups, showers, etc. Luxury!! I cooked Essenhaus noodles with green pesto sauce, cabbage salad from a bag, and fruit cocktail from a can; it was a good supper! Then we all went to bed pretty early.
Day 16: To Denio Junction, Nevada
In the morning, Daryl and Ben decided to try to fish some more in the river right by the camper.
It was clear and pleasant, no more evidence of smoke, the wind must have shifted somewhat.
We had already eaten all the blackberries they picked last night, so after breakfast, Alex and I took a bucket down to the river and after taking a few photos of the fishermen, we picked more berries!
They were abundant! We could have picked for hours! So big, juicy, and yummy!
I guess Daryl must have lost track of time, because I had planned to leave the campsite before noon, but it was approaching noon and he was still at the river! So, Elaine and I decided to change the food plan and save all the sandwiches I had prepared for lunch for supper instead and cook a quick lunch before leaving. I started cooking and sent Alex to fetch the others from the river.
Well, we double-checked the check-out time (assuming it was 1) and found it was 11 am! I ran up to the office and explained our predicament and the nice lady, Georgia, said it would be okay if we stayed until 1. Then around 12:30 (we were just going to sit down to eat, with Daryl just out of the shower, Ben still in the shower), she told us the next party had arrived early and we needed to vacate the site immediately. It was a bit of a hassle, but in the end they let us park up near the office to eat the food that was hot on the stove before leaving. We left right around 1 pm with a good 6 hour drive ahead of us to our target destination, Denio, Nevada.
I had not made a reservation, but according to the website, there was a full hook-up campsite there associated with an opal mine, which sounded kind of cool to see. If we had left sooner, I was hoping to make it to Winnemucca, along I-80, but that was not going to happen, since it was about 1 1/2 hours further along and we got a late start.
Well, after we got out of the Crater Lake/ Klamath Falls area, which was very smoky from ongoing wild fires to the north and south, the skies became clearer and the terrain more desolate. We entered kind of a desert like area with not much other than sage brush and rock.
We went through and over some more seriously steep mountain roads, intense inclines for the truck and camper, scary views of the desert below!
Closer to the Oregon/ Nevada state line, it became really desolate. I don't think I quite understood the phrase "in the middle of nowhere" until now! We literally drove 100 miles or so seeing only maybe 1 or 2 other vehicles. There were no houses or any other evidence of life, just us, the road and the desert!
Then Daryl blew right past the sign to the "Royal Peacock Opal Mine". I pulled out my phone to call him, but had no service (...big surprise), so I put on my hazards and started flashing my headlights. A few miles later, he pulled over and I said that the sign told us to turn right. He said he was just hoping to make it 20 miles to Denio, since that was the nearest gas station, the truck was getting low.
Apparently the big red gas can was empty, too, since all through Oregon they had full service gas stations and Daryl did not want the hassle of having an attendant fill it. He thought we'd fill it in the next state!
We decided to go back to the opal mine sign, and find out more, thinking we could go on to Denio in the morning for gas. When we got to the intersection, it said "opal mine 10 MILES!" and it was a winding dirt road with no evidence visibly of any life at the end. We contemplated the option of me driving 10 miles there in the van and back to see if it was really a campsite, but decided against it.
Denio showed on the GPS to have a gas station, a motel ... we figured we could stay the night there for sure, even if the gas station was closed for the night. The 20 miles to Denio were more desert, I kept thinking "if the truck runs out of gas, we'll just go the last few miles in the van and come back for the truck, no big deal. We even talked about siphoning gas from my tank for the truck or generator if needed.
So we made it to Denio Junction and there in fact was a building with a couple of gas pumps out front, a few pick-up trucks, and a light in the window reading "Closed". There were people inside, so I went up to the window and the lady came to the door.
I said "I see you are closed, where is the next nearest gas station?". She said there was one 25 miles north, but it closed at 6 pm. Going South, the nearest is Winnemucca, about 70 miles. The place did have a store/ bar (maybe?), and apparently a motel. There were 3 motorcycles parked out front and one light was on inside one room's window. On the side of the building was painted " The Denio Junction: Bar, Gas, Cafe, Grocery". :)
I asked "when do you open in the morning" (half thinking in our desperation they would just give us gas now despite being closed), when she said with a laugh "Oh, we haven't had gas here for 3 years!" Well that was a shock! I asked if we could camp overnight in their huge dirt parking lot and she said sure that would be fine. This was our view in about every direction.
Daryl was confident the truck had enough gas to get another 25 miles in the morning, apparently it was not as low as he had made it sound. Also, though the red tank was empty, the generator was pretty full of gas, so he thought it might last all night if we did not run the a/c. All we really needed was for it to power Elaine's O2 and their C-pap machine. so we set up camp. To add to the effect of being in a bad dream, the wind picked up and started blowing sand around us fiercely. It rained for a few minutes, then stopped. We had a few more short intense wind/ rain storms like this overnight, each very short lived.
So we tried to use minimal lights and power, ate yogurts, cheese and crackers, and got ready for bed.
Well, at 3 am, the generator sputtered a bit and stopped, out of gas. :( Daryl immediately said he would drive to Winnemucca for gas. He did not want to try to siphon from my van, he did not want to wake up the folks at the motel/ store. I thought for sure they would let us run an extension cord for $20 or so, but he had his mind set and left a little before 4 am, 70 miles there, 70 miles back... Yikes!
In the mean time we got Elaine hooked up to her portable concentrator. She had 3 batteries, supposedly good for up to 4 hours each, but as it turned out, they each lasted about an hour or less. It was a crazy night! I never did get back to sleep. Elaine got up to change the battery and slipped off the bed and fell. Leroy and I had to help get her up from the tight space beside the bed. Then the concentrator kept beeping, because it alarms when she's not breathing through her nose. Then the next battery ran out and she decided she wanted to go without it to save the last remaining one for some other emergency. Unfortunately, some of the heavy meds she is on make her a bit confused, especially at night.
Fortunately Ben's phone actually worked (mine was dead!) and I texted back and forth with Daryl, who by then was on his way back with gas. He advised me to wake her up and use the last battery, which I did. An hour later, I listened to the last battery die while Elaine was sleeping and texted him again, he was 10 minutes out. He got back here right around 7 am, 3 hours of driving for a tank of gas! After we got the generator back on, sleep was futile. Daryl did not even try. He went for a walk in the desert. He said he had dodge over 30 jack rabbits while driving through the desert night!
Soon the "store" was open and we bought coffee. The lady explained they just recently bought the place, which had been vacant. No breakfast being served yet, but there were bathrooms and we all had coffee, lots of coffee! :)
A few pre-teen girls belonging to the family were hanging around and they talked to Leroy about how their school was only a few miles away, 15 students total! They also said they recently found and killed a rattlesnake with a shovel. Fortunately we did not see any rattle snakes!
Seriously, this place was like from some old Wild West movie!! Unreal!
It was clear and pleasant, no more evidence of smoke, the wind must have shifted somewhat.
We had already eaten all the blackberries they picked last night, so after breakfast, Alex and I took a bucket down to the river and after taking a few photos of the fishermen, we picked more berries!
They were abundant! We could have picked for hours! So big, juicy, and yummy!
I guess Daryl must have lost track of time, because I had planned to leave the campsite before noon, but it was approaching noon and he was still at the river! So, Elaine and I decided to change the food plan and save all the sandwiches I had prepared for lunch for supper instead and cook a quick lunch before leaving. I started cooking and sent Alex to fetch the others from the river.
Well, we double-checked the check-out time (assuming it was 1) and found it was 11 am! I ran up to the office and explained our predicament and the nice lady, Georgia, said it would be okay if we stayed until 1. Then around 12:30 (we were just going to sit down to eat, with Daryl just out of the shower, Ben still in the shower), she told us the next party had arrived early and we needed to vacate the site immediately. It was a bit of a hassle, but in the end they let us park up near the office to eat the food that was hot on the stove before leaving. We left right around 1 pm with a good 6 hour drive ahead of us to our target destination, Denio, Nevada.
I had not made a reservation, but according to the website, there was a full hook-up campsite there associated with an opal mine, which sounded kind of cool to see. If we had left sooner, I was hoping to make it to Winnemucca, along I-80, but that was not going to happen, since it was about 1 1/2 hours further along and we got a late start.
Well, after we got out of the Crater Lake/ Klamath Falls area, which was very smoky from ongoing wild fires to the north and south, the skies became clearer and the terrain more desolate. We entered kind of a desert like area with not much other than sage brush and rock.
We went through and over some more seriously steep mountain roads, intense inclines for the truck and camper, scary views of the desert below!
Closer to the Oregon/ Nevada state line, it became really desolate. I don't think I quite understood the phrase "in the middle of nowhere" until now! We literally drove 100 miles or so seeing only maybe 1 or 2 other vehicles. There were no houses or any other evidence of life, just us, the road and the desert!
Then Daryl blew right past the sign to the "Royal Peacock Opal Mine". I pulled out my phone to call him, but had no service (...big surprise), so I put on my hazards and started flashing my headlights. A few miles later, he pulled over and I said that the sign told us to turn right. He said he was just hoping to make it 20 miles to Denio, since that was the nearest gas station, the truck was getting low.
Apparently the big red gas can was empty, too, since all through Oregon they had full service gas stations and Daryl did not want the hassle of having an attendant fill it. He thought we'd fill it in the next state!
We decided to go back to the opal mine sign, and find out more, thinking we could go on to Denio in the morning for gas. When we got to the intersection, it said "opal mine 10 MILES!" and it was a winding dirt road with no evidence visibly of any life at the end. We contemplated the option of me driving 10 miles there in the van and back to see if it was really a campsite, but decided against it.
Denio showed on the GPS to have a gas station, a motel ... we figured we could stay the night there for sure, even if the gas station was closed for the night. The 20 miles to Denio were more desert, I kept thinking "if the truck runs out of gas, we'll just go the last few miles in the van and come back for the truck, no big deal. We even talked about siphoning gas from my tank for the truck or generator if needed.
So we made it to Denio Junction and there in fact was a building with a couple of gas pumps out front, a few pick-up trucks, and a light in the window reading "Closed". There were people inside, so I went up to the window and the lady came to the door.
Daryl was confident the truck had enough gas to get another 25 miles in the morning, apparently it was not as low as he had made it sound. Also, though the red tank was empty, the generator was pretty full of gas, so he thought it might last all night if we did not run the a/c. All we really needed was for it to power Elaine's O2 and their C-pap machine. so we set up camp. To add to the effect of being in a bad dream, the wind picked up and started blowing sand around us fiercely. It rained for a few minutes, then stopped. We had a few more short intense wind/ rain storms like this overnight, each very short lived.
So we tried to use minimal lights and power, ate yogurts, cheese and crackers, and got ready for bed.
Well, at 3 am, the generator sputtered a bit and stopped, out of gas. :( Daryl immediately said he would drive to Winnemucca for gas. He did not want to try to siphon from my van, he did not want to wake up the folks at the motel/ store. I thought for sure they would let us run an extension cord for $20 or so, but he had his mind set and left a little before 4 am, 70 miles there, 70 miles back... Yikes!
In the mean time we got Elaine hooked up to her portable concentrator. She had 3 batteries, supposedly good for up to 4 hours each, but as it turned out, they each lasted about an hour or less. It was a crazy night! I never did get back to sleep. Elaine got up to change the battery and slipped off the bed and fell. Leroy and I had to help get her up from the tight space beside the bed. Then the concentrator kept beeping, because it alarms when she's not breathing through her nose. Then the next battery ran out and she decided she wanted to go without it to save the last remaining one for some other emergency. Unfortunately, some of the heavy meds she is on make her a bit confused, especially at night.
Fortunately Ben's phone actually worked (mine was dead!) and I texted back and forth with Daryl, who by then was on his way back with gas. He advised me to wake her up and use the last battery, which I did. An hour later, I listened to the last battery die while Elaine was sleeping and texted him again, he was 10 minutes out. He got back here right around 7 am, 3 hours of driving for a tank of gas! After we got the generator back on, sleep was futile. Daryl did not even try. He went for a walk in the desert. He said he had dodge over 30 jack rabbits while driving through the desert night!
Soon the "store" was open and we bought coffee. The lady explained they just recently bought the place, which had been vacant. No breakfast being served yet, but there were bathrooms and we all had coffee, lots of coffee! :)
A few pre-teen girls belonging to the family were hanging around and they talked to Leroy about how their school was only a few miles away, 15 students total! They also said they recently found and killed a rattlesnake with a shovel. Fortunately we did not see any rattle snakes!
Seriously, this place was like from some old Wild West movie!! Unreal!
Day 15: Redwoods to Grants Pass
This morning was foggy again. I would have wanted to spend more time at the beach if it had cleared up or been warmer, but since the weather was about the same, we said good bye to the Pacific and headed for California!
It was only about a 30 minute drive to the Jedediah Smith State Redwood Forest.
We stopped at an information center and were told about a trail that was handicapped accessible for a scooter only 3 miles away. So we loaded into the van and went there. All 6 of us hiked this 1/2 mile trail through the Redwoods.
The clover were also enormous and the ferns were very pretty. We also saw a banana slug!
After that, we drove on to Grants Pass, back into Oregon, since this seemed like the best, shortest way to get quickly to Interstate 80 heading back east. I had made a reservation at a nice private campground with full services, including laundry, which we sorely needed!
As we drove, it became increasingly hazy and we realized it was smoke, not fog! There have been a number of forest fires in Oregon and California, and we apparently were down wind of one.
Daryl was concerned for his mother's (and his own) respiratory health, so upon arrival at the campground, he found the nearest Walmart and bought a hepa-filter air purifier to run in the camper.
I got busy with the laundry, deciding to also wash all the towels and sheets. I wound up having 4 loads, plus Elaine had one, so even with 3 washers in the room, this took a while.
Fortunately, they had wifi (albeit slow) and I was able to work on my blog and even checked Facebook! It was so nice to have clean clothes!
This campground was really nice with private bathrooms just like home, where you could shower as long as you liked with the door locked!
We stopped at an information center and were told about a trail that was handicapped accessible for a scooter only 3 miles away. So we loaded into the van and went there. All 6 of us hiked this 1/2 mile trail through the Redwoods.
Wow, the size of these trees really is phenomenal!
It made you feel kind of small! There was also a pre-historic vibe to it, as if any second, dinosaurs were bound to appear around the corner! Very worthwhile to visit! |
| Selfie by Ben with all 6 of us in it! |
The clover were also enormous and the ferns were very pretty. We also saw a banana slug!
As we drove, it became increasingly hazy and we realized it was smoke, not fog! There have been a number of forest fires in Oregon and California, and we apparently were down wind of one.
I got busy with the laundry, deciding to also wash all the towels and sheets. I wound up having 4 loads, plus Elaine had one, so even with 3 washers in the room, this took a while.
Daryl took Ben down to the river (right along the campground) and did some fishing. They did not catch any fish, but came back with a bucket full of Marion berries (a type of blackberry), growing wild all along the river! Yummy!
This campground was really nice with private bathrooms just like home, where you could shower as long as you liked with the door locked!
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