Cruising the Northwest: Idaho and Oregon

Hello again, welcome back. Our last chapter concluded on Wednesday, August 15^th, when we arrived in Caldwell, Idaho, a suburb of Boise in Southwestern Idaho. On Thursday we left the coach about 11:30 and drove to the nearby city of Nampa to meet with Troy and Makayla Bullock. Troy is the grandson of our great friends Peggy and Vernon Bullock and we have seen them many times over the past few years. Until last year Troy was in the Marine Corps stationed in Yuma at the Air Station there, so we would see he and his wife every winter when we were down there. Troy's enlistment ended last summer and he and Makayla moved to Prescott, Arizona where he was going to helicopter flight school. After about six months and upon learning that Makayla was pregnant, they decided to move to Idaho, near Boise where Makayla's parents live.  They bought a house in Meridian, a small town just north of where we are staying in Caldwell.We met them at the Red Robin restaurant in Nampa and had a very nice lunch. We spent a couple hours talking about their new baby and new house and what they are doing here in Idaho. It was great seeing these very happy young people again. After lunch we did a Walmart run and then headed back to the coach for the rest of the afternoon and evening. We did do a few caches, getting four new finds, before returning to the RV park.

Friday, August 17^th, we left the coach after lunch and drove to the nearby town of Middleton, which happened to be the town that Troy and Makayla live in. We went up there to do our laundry as there was a laundromat there that had pretty good ratings. We spent a couple of hours doing laundry then started back towards the RV park, doing a few geocaches along the way. We got four new finds before arriving back at the coach. After we put everything away we just relaxed for the rest of the day.

Saturday, August 18^th, 8-18-18. Jackie got out of bed just in time to take a picture of the digital clock in the living room showing 8:18, to it was 8:18 on 8-18. Silly, but fun to think about. Today was another travel day. We got out on the road just before 11:00, going only a short distance today, about 56 miles north to an RV park called Catfish Junction. The park is technically in Huntington, Oregon, but it on the Snake river, which forms the border between Idaho and Oregon in this area. The closest real town to the RV park is Weiser, Idaho, about 20 miles east. The park was nice, we are parked within a hundred yards of the river with full hookups. I did go out and pick up a geocache that was conveniently hidden right on the RV park property. We kind of needed to get a cache today because it was International Geocaching Day and we got a virtual souvenir for finding a cache today. I know only other geocachers will understand all this, oh well.

The reason we came here was to see a friend of Jackie's from her early days in Indio in the late 80's and early 90's. Sandarah Lee worked with another friend of Jackie's in Indio and started hanging around Jackie and her other friends despite being 30 years younger. Everyone kind of took her on as a “kid sister” taking her to bars and parties even though she was only 20. Sandarah got married and left Indio around 1996 and moved to Idaho and Jackie lost touch with her. Jackie really started thinking about her again in 2009 when we relocated our legal residency to Pahrump because she remembered that Sandarah's family was originally in Pahrump and that was where she grew up. A couple of years ago Jackie was finally able to get in touch with Sandarah thanks to Facebook and learned that she and her husband Mabon Cornwell were living in, or near, Cambridge, Idaho, a small mountain town a hundred miles north of Boise. Since we knew that our travels this summer were going to bring us to within fifty or sixty miles from where they lived, we included a stop here so that they could have a reunion.

A week or so ago Jackie learned that Sandarah and Mabon were going to bring their camp trailer down today and spend Saturday and Sunday with us in the RV park. They would have liked to stay longer, but Sandarah works at the at a school near where they live and school starts this coming Monday, so they have to go home. We got parked and were about half set up when Sandarah and Mabon arrived and parked in the space right next to us. She and Jackie had a great reunion and we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening sitting outside with them talking and catching up. Their youngest son Parker also drove down to spend the day. He is now 18 years old. They are very “outdoorsy” people, living in the mountains and being caretakers on a game ranch in the mountains. They do a lot of hunting and fishing and real camping, not the “glamping” that we do. Mabon is also a former Marine and is my age. It turns out that he arrived at Boot Camp in San Diego within a couple weeks of when I graduated from Boot Camp. He was unfortunate enough to be sent to Vietnam and was wounded badly enough to get a disability retirement.

We had a great afternoon and for dinner we all five went into our coach to have some pheasant alfredo made by Mabon. I have never had pheasant and wasn't sure what to expect, but it was very good, no gamy taste at all. He also made some blackberry cobbler from berries they picked on their property. We ended up sitting and talking until after 11:00 when we finally went to bed.

Sunday, August 19^th, we spent some time sitting with Sandarah and Mabon in the morning. Parker left mid morning to head back to his apartment to study for some exam in his training to become a power lineman. Sandarah and Mabon left about 1:00 or so to head back home, so we were on our own again. We left shortly after they did and drove to the town of Weiser, Idaho, about 20 miles east, just to do some exploring and geocaching. Weiser is a town of about 5,000 that started back in the late 19^th century as a ferry operation crossing the Snake River. It came to greater prominence in the early 20^th century as a railroad town and agricultural support center. We drove around town for a while and got one geocache, after two DNFs, just so we had one for the area. After our exploring we headed back to the RV park and just stayed in for the rest of the evening.

Monday, August 20^th, we woke up to very poor visibility due to smoke. The wind had been blowing very hard all night and blown way more of the smoke from the numerous California and Oregon wildfires into the area. This morning is probably the worst we have seen so far this summer. We went out briefly after lunch to visit Huntington, Oregon, which is the nearest Oregon town and is the post office that serves the RV park. As it turns out, Huntington is a town of about 500 people and it looks like they have a combined income of about eight dollars, the town looks really poor and ramshackle. They had a little country store where we were able to buy a couple of bottles of water, which is really the only thing we needed to get. We did get one geocache at a State Park along the Snake River, then we headed back to the coach and just stayed in out of the smoke for the rest of the day and evening. We played some cards and watched some movies and just relaxed.

Tuesday, August 21^st, we left the coach about 1:30 and headed north on U.S. 95 to visit with Sandarah and Mabon at their house. They live in the hills on a ranch about six miles north of the little town of Cambridge, Idaho. On our way we stopped in Weiser again at the Bi Mart to pick up a couple of things. We then continued north about 30 miles to Cambridge. We stopped in the little town of Midvale and again in Cambridge to pick up one geocache in each place. We arrived at the Cornwell ranch about 3:30. They have an acre of land that they own, and then they are caretakers for an adjacent 3,000 acre cattle ranch that is owned by a trio of investor doctors. They live in an old wood cabin, probably dating back to the 40's, but they have it fixed up nice and it is pretty good sized.

We sat and talked for a while and then I went out with Mabon for about 45 minutes and he drove around the cattle ranch, showing me the various areas and equipment they have. After that tour we went back and talked some more and had cocktails. Mabon cooked dinner for us again, this time we had elk steak in a marsala sauce with boiled potatoes. The elk was wonderful, very tender and flavorful, with no game taste whatsoever. We had a wonderful meal and a great visit. We finally left about 7:00 and headed back towards the RV park. I didn't want to be out on strange roads after dark if I could help it, and we made it back to the coach before sunset. We watched a little TV and then went to bed.

Wednesday, August 22^nd, another travel day. We were only going a hundred miles north on Interstate 84 to La Grande, Oregon so we didn't need to leave early. In addition, once we are a few miles inside Oregon we go into Pacific time, gaining an hour. We left Catfish Junction right at 11:00 and started north. We stopped for lunch and arrived at the La Grande Rendezvous RV Resort about 12:30. We got settled into our spot and got set up, then just relaxed for the rest of the day. Thursday we left the coach about 10:30 to go out, do some exploring and a little geocaching. La Grande is a small city of about 14,000 in the Grande Ronde Valley of Eastern Oregon. The valley was a favorite stopping place for settlers traveling the Oregon Trail in the 1860's and the settlement was incorporated as a town in 1865. We toured the downtown area, which appears to be somewhat vital with many of the old buildings in use, but there were still a number of buildings in less good repair. It looks like a transitional phase for the city.

After a half hour of touring the city we stopped for lunch at a Greek restaurant called Yia Yia Nikki's. The actual building is probably 1,500 square feet or less and the interior is all kitchen and a small lobby for the order counter. All of the seating is outside on the patio. Jackie had the gyro platter, which was a huge portion of gyro meat along with a Greek salad and pita bread. Jackie said it was probably the best gyro meat she has had. I don't care for lamb, but they had a Greek meatball pita, which was all beef, and I had it with fries. It was fantastic. We are really glad we saw this place on Yelp, as it had four and a half stars with many reviews. We gave it five stars. After lunch we did one of the Oregon Scenic trails loops, which first took us southeast out of La Grande to the town of Union, about 19 miles
away. The first stop, just north of town, was at the Hot Lake Springs Hotel. This is a very large, three story brick building that has had quite a history. It sets on the site of a natural hot spring with 200 degree water and has been a destination since the late 1800's. The lake is small and is almost completely covered in moss and weeds, so it is not a swimming lake. They do bring the hot spring water into the hotel for the baths and pools. The hotel started as a wooden building in the 1890's and in 1907 the current brick section was built making it a huge structure with some 300 rooms capable of handling over a thousand guests. In 1934 the wooden part caught fire and burned down, destroying two thirds of the rooms of the hotel, along with the ballrooms and dining halls. The brick part of the building survived the fire, but business declined and the hotel ended up closing. From the early 40's until the 70's the building served as a nursing home, a hospital, and even an insane asylum. Starting in 1971 it has been owned by a number of individuals and companies and most have tried to make it work as a nightclub, convention center and small hotel, all of which failed. For most of the early 2000's it was simply abandoned and vandals trashed it. It has recently been resold, repaired and is now opened as a Bed and Breakfast, utilizing about a third of the available rooms. It is also considered one of the most haunted places in Oregon, and there are stories of piano's playing on their own at night, and the screams of the inmates of the asylum echoing thorough the halls. Spooky! We drove around the grounds but didn't go inside. There is also now a large RV resort on the other side of the lake on the property.

After checking out the haunted hotel we drove into Union. Union is a town of about 2,000 with a small, historical downtown area. The town was founded in 1865 and served as the county seat of Union County until the early 1900's when the railroad bypassed Union and went to La Grande instead. Union is now just a farming town and a tourist destination for those looking for an Oregon frontier town. After Union we continued on the scenic loop and went northeast to the town of Cove. Cove is a very small community of about 500 that is primarily a farming community. It was also founded in the 1860's during the height of the Oregon Trail migration. After Cove we continued north and then back west towards La Grande again. While we were touring we did get two geocaches, including a First to Find (FTF) in Cove. We don't get lot of FTF's, but fortunately for us there are not a lot of geocachers in this area, so even though the cache was put out and published a week and a half ago, no one else had gone to get it yet. Yea us! We stopped at Walmart just down the street from our RV park and then went back to the coach. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing in the coach.

Friday, August 24^th, we went out after lunch to get a couple of geocaches and do some shopping. Our coffee pot starting making weird noises this morning, so we decided it was time for a replacement. We drove around downtown for a bit, then did some caching, getting two finds and one DNF. We stopped at Bi Mart and then Walmart, where we bought a new coffee pot, along with a couple other things, then went back to the coach. We spent the rest of the day relaxing in the coach. Saturday was another travel day. We left La Grande about 11:00 and continued northwest 100 miles to the town of Boardman, Oregon. Boardman is located right where Interstate 84 finally meets the Columbia River as it comes down from Washington and turns west for it's final run to the Pacific. We arrived at the Boardman City Marina and RV Park and got settled into our spot. This is a very nice park right on the banks of the Columbia and, being a Saturday, the place was quite crowded. Lots of kids running around and having fun. It took a little longer than normal to get set up since our spot is buried under a couple of trees, meaning I had to dig out the portable satellite dish and get it set up. We finally got everything done and then relaxed for the rest of the day.

Sunday, August 26^th, I got a Sunday paper, albeit a very small, local one, and we had coffee and the paper. About noon we left the coach and went out to have lunch, do some exploring and get some geocaches. Our first choice for lunch, a Mexican place with good Yelp ratings, was closed. It was located in an industrial area and I suspect they don't open on Sundays because they are out of the mainstream area of town. Boardman is a small town, about 3,300 population, that is mostly light industrial. There isn't even what you would call a downtown with shops. A couple housing area, the big park and marina that we are in, and a huge industrial area. We found another cafe, called Sunrise, which had high ratings but was really just an average brunch place. After lunch we did some caching, getting four new finds until after about an hour the warning light on the car indicating a low tire came on. I stopped and checked the tires, they all looked OK and when I checked the pressure they were all the same, around 30 psi. Now the recommended pressure in these low profile tires is 38 psi, so they were all uniformly a little low, which I think is what triggered the light. Nonetheless, I didn't want to be stranded with a flat, so we went back to the RV park. I got out the air pump and brought all the tires up to the recommended pressure and they seemed OK. Since Jackie had some sewing to do anyway, we just stayed home for the rest of the day.

Monday, August 27^th, we left the coach again around noon and drove to the nearby Mexican place we had tried yesterday. Today it was open and it appeared that many of the customers already in the place were industrial workers based on the way they were dressed. This confirmed my suspicion from yesterday. The food was actually quite good. In addition to the usual red salsa served with the chips, they also served a cabbage salsa that was outstanding. I had chili Colorado and a taco and both were very tasty, although not quite as spicy as I am used to. Jackie had a chicken chalupa and a chili relleno and her only real complaint was the chicken was a little dry and chewy. All in all, pretty good Mexican food for the northwest. After lunch we did some caching, driving along the river through a couple of small towns to Umatilla, Oregon, which is where Interstate 82 crosses north across the Columbia River to Washington. It was the closest crossing to where we are parked. We drove across the bridge so we could get a few caches in Washington, then came back and drove south to Hermiston, the largest city in Eastern Oregon. We had visited Hermiston back in 2005 during our first outing in the coach. In Hermiston we stopped at Bi Mart just to see what they might have, then got on the freeway and headed back to the coach. We had a good day with lots of sight seeing and were able to get eight new finds, and one DNF, for the day. After we got back to the coach we relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Tuesday, August 28^th was another travel day. We were packed up and on the road at 10:30, heading west and then south into Central Oregon. We are headed for Madras, Oregon, about 155 miles from Boardman. We made a fuel stop on the way and arrived at the Jefferson County RV park, which is on the county fairgrounds, about 2:00. They have a large, full hookup RV park here and we got parked and did the basic setup, utilities and leveling. The park here is only $23 a night for 50 amp full hookup. After getting the basics done we drove into town for a late lunch, early dinner meal. We found one Mexican restaurant that had excellent Yelp reviews but when we went to it we found it closed. No explanation just a locked door, which had a sign on it with the hours that indicated it should have been open. We went to another Mexican place just down the street called Mi Casa that also had good reviews and had lunch. We both had fajitas, steak for me and chicken for Jackie. They were very good, as were the chips and salsa The service was good and it was a nice dining experience. After lunch we went back to the coach, finished getting set up inside and then just relaxed for the remainder of the day. We will be here for three nights.

Wednesday, August 29^th, we left the coach after lunch and went out to geocache and explore. Madras is a small city of about 6,400 located in Central Oregon. It is primarily an agricultural town. We drove around town a little, getting seven new geocaches and one DNF. After caching for a couple hours we stopped at Bi Mart for a couple things, then went to the Madras Elks Lodge #2017. We got there just as it opened, so it was just us and the bartender for while. It is a small lodge, around 300 members, that is in a building that used to be a skating rink. As we had a cocktail a few other members came in and everyone was pretty friendly. We even talked to a couple that wintered in Pahrump, so they knew all the areas that we were familiar with. We also gamed a little, since in Oregon most Elks lodges have state operated slot machines. Neither of us won anything. We had a couple drinks and got a new lodge pin for our banner, then went back to the RV park where we stayed in for the rest of the night.

Thursday, August 30^th, we went out after lunch to do a little more geocaching in the area. Our first stop was the cache we had DNFed yesterday. The owner of the cache emailed us a hint, so we went out, looked again and found it. Yea! We then did some caches south of town, ending up with nine new finds for the day with no DNFs. After caching we stopped at Safeway for some groceries, then headed back to the coach. We stayed in for the rest of the day. Friday was another travel day. We were out of the park about 10:15, continuing south on Highway 97 through Oregon. Out destination is La Pine, Oregon, which is only about 65 miles south. Of course, this section of Oregon has no Interstates, so it is a lot of two lane road through towns and cities. There was also a lot of traffic given it is the Friday before a holiday weekend. Nonetheless, we arrived at the Cascade Meadows RV Resort about 11:30, only to learn that we couldn't check in for another hour. They had a big holding area, so we just parked and had lunch while we waited. About 12:30 we went in and got settled into our nice pull through, 50 amp full hookup site. This is a private RV resort and we are here on RPI, one of our membership groups. The site is only costing us $16 a night, yea! We will be here for four days, over the entire Labor Day weekend. After we got parked and set up we did a couple loads of laundry. One of the resort's laundry facilities is right across the road from us, so we just walked over, put our clothes in and came back to the coach. Easy peasy. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the coach.

Saturday, September 1^st, another of anniversaries. It was September 1^st, 1998, twenty years ago, that I moved from Phoenix to Indio, California to take up a new life with Jackie. We have been together ever since. We left the coach after lunch to do some exploring and geocaching. La Pine is a small town, about 1,700 population, and is the most recently incorporated city in Oregon, having incorporated in 2006. We cached for a couple of hours, getting eight new finds and no DNFs. After caching we went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the day. To celebrate our anniversary we did some nice rib eye steaks on the BBQ, along with sweet potatoes and corn. We had a great meal, then watched TV until bedtime. Sunday we again went out after lunch to do some geocaching. We were able to get six new finds before we ran out of nearby caches to seek out. We stopped at the grocery store in La Pine for a couple things, then went back to the coach and just chilled the rest of the day.

Monday, September 3^rd, Happy Labor Day. We left the coach about 12:30 and drove to Gordy's Truck Stop restaurant in La Pine to meet some friends for lunch. Mike and Wendy Lawrence are RVers and geocachers. We met through geocaching and keep up with each other on social media. We learned the other day that they are also staying in La Pine, so we made arrangements to meet for lunch today. The last time we saw them was at the FMCA rally in Gillette back in July. They also invited another couple that they had recently met and the six of us had a very nice lunch. We talked and caught up and got to know the other couple a little. We had about a two and a half hour lunch, then when we left we stopped at the Bi Mart in La Pine just to see what they might have on sale. I bought a pair of jeans and some canned goods that were on sale. After shopping we went back to the coach and stayed in for the night.

Tuesday, September 4^th, another travel day. We left La Pine about 10:30 and drove about 110 miles south to Klamath Falls, Oregon. Our original plan was to stay here for two nights, but Peggy called yesterday and asked us if we could come into Redding a day early so we would have more time. We really didn't have anything special planned for Klamath, so we said sure. We arrived at the Oregon 8 Motel and RV park about 1:00 and got parked for an overnight stay. We didn't even unhook the car, so we didn't go anywhere after we got set up. Wednesday we were out early, about 9:30, continuing south to Redding, California. The trip was about 145 miles and after a fuel stop we made good time with very little traffic. We arrived at the Redding Elks Lodge about 1:00 and got parked in a spot right next to Peggy and Vernon Bullock. We got set up and then Jackie went out with Peggy to get a pedi and a haircut. I stayed home and finished setting up, then relaxed. We had cocktails with the Bullocks around 5:00 and then Peggy served a nice dinner, her special penne pasta, which is my favorite non-meat meal. We talked for a bit after dinner and about 8:00 we went back to our coach and watched a little TV until bedtime.

As a side note, while watching the local news about 4:30 we learned that there was a major wildfire that had started along Interstate 5 about 30 miles north of Redding and was burning straight north up the canyon in which the interstate runs. As a result, about a 40 mile stretch of Interstate 5 is completely closed because the fire is burning on both sides of the freeway. A number of big rig trucks were reported to be burning because they could not get turned around on the freeway to get out of the fire's path. Had we been running two hours later we would likely have been caught in the stoppage. Had we stuck to our original plan of leaving tomorrow, we would not have been able to go south on the interstate and would either have had to stay longer in Klamath, or take a long, alternate route around the fire area. We really dodged a bullet by leaving today. Thanks Peggy.

Our arrival back in California marks a good point at which to close this episode out and get it published. Until next time ponder this. If we are not supposed to eat at night, why is there a light in the refrigerator? See ya soon.