The Summer 2021 Tour Continues - Along the Columbia and Snake Rivers

Hello again. Our last episode concluded on Friday, July 30^th, when arrived in Umatilla, Oregon, on the Columbia River. Saturday we went out after lunch to do some exploring and geocaching. We are staying at the Umatilla Marina RV Park, which is operated by the City of Umatilla. We are about a 100 yards from the shore of the Columbia River, in the shadow of the Interstate 82 bridge which crosses over into Washington. Umatilla is a small city, about 7,000 population, and is named after the Umatilla Indians who inhabited this region. There isn't much going on in the city, with a short main street, and only a couple service stations and businesses. After driving around for a bit we drove to nearby Hermiston, which is also in Umatilla County. The first (and last) time we were in Hermiston was in August of 2005, very near the beginning of our full timing journey. Hermiston has a population of about 29,000 and is the largest city in Umatilla County and Northeastern Oregon. When we were here in 2005 it was primarily agricultural, and considered itself to the watermelon capital of the world. The city has now become reliant on logistics and data storage centers, although watermelons are still a part of their branding. We drove around town exploring and caching, getting four new finds. We also located a laundromat so we could do laundry before we left the area. We decided it was too hot and humid to continue to cache, so our last stop was Walmart where we picked up some needed supplies. After Walmart we headed home and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening trying to stay cool.

Sunday, August 1^st, we left the coach about noon and drove to a cafe in Umatilla called Ray's Daze for lunch. Jackie actually had breakfast, but we both had OK food. Nothing to brag about, but not bad either. After lunch we took a drive to the City of Pendleton, Oregon. Pendleton is the County seat of Umatilla County, but slightly smaller than Hermiston, at about 16,000 population. Pendleton is the oldest European community in the area, having been founded in the mid-1800's when exploration and colonization of the Pacific Northwest began. Pendleton still considers itself a “cowboy” community and the annual Pendleton Round Up rodeo is a major event in the city. The city is a railroad hub and is also known for ranching, both cattle and sheep. The well known Pendleton Mills is a major industrial tenant of the city. We drove around for a while, getting four new geocache finds, and one DNF, before heading back to Umatilla. After we got home we spent the rest of the evening relaxing.

Monday, August 2^nd, was laundry day. After lunch we drove to the laundry in Hermiston that we checked out and did our laundry. It was a big load, 20 days worth, since we have been on the road and busy. By 3:30 or so we were done and went back to the coach and got everything put away. For dinner we had a nice pot roast that we had put in the crock pot this morning. After dinner we watched some TV and went to bed. Tuesday was a stay at home day. It was hot, close to 100 degrees, humid and there was a lot of smoke in the air. There are a bunch of fires in far Eastern Washington and Idaho that are creating smoke all over the Northwest. We had a relaxing day, got a few chores done and just enjoyed a quiet day in.

Wednesday, August 4^th, was another travel day. We packed up the coach and left Umatilla about 10:30, headed southeast to La Grande, Oregon, a distance of about 94 miles. The trip took a couple of hours because just east of Pendleton I-84 goes over the Blue Mountains, which take you from about 500 ft elevation to 4,100 ft. It is a long slow grade but the coach pulled it OK, just got a little hot in places, but I slowed down and made it over the top. We checked into the Rendezvous RV park about 1:00 and got parked. The office was closed, but they had given me my space number when I made the reservation, so we just parked. We got the basics set up for our two day stay and then left to go have a late lunch. We first checked out a Greek place we had eaten at three years ago when we were here. However, it is a little place with only outside seating and it was too hot and sticky for that. We found an excellent Thai place called Thai Fresh Gardens near downtown. We had trouble finding it because it is in the basement of a large market place, an old building that has been renovated and turned into a bunch of little shops. The food was excellent, worthy of the four and a half stars it had on Yelp. We also had enough to take home for a light dinner tonight. After lunch we went back to the coach and finished setting up. We then just stayed in the rest of the afternoon and evening. We had some brief thundershowers in the early evening, but they cleared up before dark.

Thursday, August 5^th, we went out after lunch to do some exploring and shopping. La Grande is a small town of about 14,000 population sitting at about 2,800 feet elevation. It started out life as a way point on the Oregon Trail and the town was formally incorporated in 1865 as Brownsville, named after it's founder. However, after a few years it was required to change it's name by the Post Office because there was another town in Oregon with that same name and had it first. The changed the name to La Grande. Today it's still just a way point, but now on the freeway and the railroad lines that run through town. We had hoped to do some geocaching too, but found that there were only four geocaches in the entire town and we had already got one of them the last time we were here. The others were higher terrain that we like, so we just didn't cache. We also tried to drop off a small package that Jackie was returning to Amazon. Their return policy is quite good, just drop it off at a UPS mailing center, no package, no paperwork. However, we found the town did not have a UPS store but did have a Copies Plus store that advertised as a UPS shipping center. We got there and found they didn't have the equipment needed to scan the QR code that Amazon had sent to Jackie's phone. He suggested the UPS Customer Service Center in town. We went there and found they didn't open until 3:30 in the afternoon. I guess we will have to wait until we get to a bigger town. We stopped at Bi Mart and looked around a little, then went to Walmart for some supplies. After Walmart we headed home and relaxed for the rest of the day. We again had some thunder storms move through, but they only lasted an hour or so before it cleared up again.

Friday, August 6^th, another travel day. We got on the road at 10:30 and continued south on I-84, heading for a rural campground near the town of Huntington, Oregon. The campground, called Oasis on the Snake, is about six miles outside of Huntington, right on the shore of the Snake River. In this area, roughly a sixty miles of so of the Snake River forms the boundary between Oregon and Idaho. We are on the Oregon side of the river, but we also went into a little “bend” in the time zone boundary which puts a small corner of Southeast Oregon into the Mountain Time Zone instead of the Pacific, so we lost an hour as the time went ahead by an hour. We arrived at the RV park about 2:00 and got parked in our spot and starting setting up. The reason we are staying here is that Jackie has an old friend named Sandarah who lives in a small town in Idaho named Cambridge, which is about 70 miles North of the RV park. This is the closest decent RV park to their house. Sandarah, and her husband Maybon, have a travel trailer and had told us that they have reservations for a couple of days at the same park, starting today, so that we can visit.

Jackie met Sandarah through a mutual friend back in the 80's when she was just 20 years old. Jackie took her under her wing and calls Sandarah her “adopted daughter.” They lost touch up until about four or five years ago when Jackie found her on social media and reconnected. We visited with them three years ago and stayed at this same park, which at that time was called Catfish Junction. Sandarah and Maybon arrived with their trailer about an hour or so after we did and after everyone got set up we had a nice visit. They provided some BBQ ribs for dinner and Jackie made some slaw and beans to go with it. We stayed up and sat outside and visited until about 10:00 when we went in to relax a bit before bed. We are going to be here in this park for five days, although Sandarah and Maybon will be leaving on Sunday afternoon. After a little TV we went to bed.

Saturday, August 7^th, we had a stay at home day. After lunch Sandarah came over and she and Jackie played cards most of the afternoon. I sat and talked to Maybon for a while and later in the afternoon he took his boat out and went fishing on the river, further down towards Huntington. I don't have a license and didn't want to just sit on the boat, so I didn't go. We had a quiet afternoon and then Jackie did a chili relleno casserole for dinner, along with rice and beans and the four of us had a nice dinner. We again went outside after the sun went down and talked until a little after nine. We then came in, watched some TV and went to bed.

Sunday, August 8^th, would have been my mother's 95^th birthday. We had a relaxing morning and by mid afternoon Sandarah and Maybon had packed up their stuff and left for home. We did have some time to talk and visit before they left. Their house was about 90 minutes from the campground, however, Jackie got a text after an hour that they had some kind of overheating problem with their truck and had to have it towed. They were apparently not too far from home as they got some help from neighbors to get their boat and trailer home. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening just relaxing. We had leftovers for dinner, watched some TV and went to bed. The campground is pretty much empty tonight, only a few other rigs still in residence.

Monday, August 9^th, we left the RV park around noon and went out for an afternoon of exploring and caching. We drove about 11 miles east to the town of Weiser, Idaho. Weiser was founded in the mid-1860's by William Logan and his wife who built a roadhouse for travelers and settlers heading for the Northwest. They built and operated the Olds Ferry about ten miles downstream, which was the only easy crossing for the Snake River north of Boise. Today the town of about 5,500 depends on local ranching, farming and outdoor recreation in the area. We had visited Weiser back in 2018 when we first came to this area. We had lunch at a bar and grill called Legends on Main. Jackie didn't think much of her steak sandwich, but my beef dip was wonderful. After lunch we picked up two geocaches that we had DNFs on back in 2018. We must have been having a bad day back then, because neither were too difficult to find today. After fixing these two DNFs, we went to Bi Mart to do some shopping. Jackie had bought a pair of jeans at the one in La Grande the other day and liked the way they fit, so she wanted another pair. After shopping we did some more caching, some around Weiser, and some in the town of Payette, Idaho, about thirteen miles south of Weiser. Payette is a little larger, about 7,500 population and was founded in 1882 as a railroad town. We had a good time exploring and ended up with a dozen finds and no DNFs for our caching efforts. After Payette we headed back to the RV park and spent the rest of the evening relaxing. We did some burgers on the BBQ for dinner, then watched TV until bedtime.

Tuesday, August 10^th, we left the coach after lunch and went out again to explore and cache. Today we drove 23 miles south to the town of Ontario, Oregon. Ontario is a city of about 12,000 people sitting at an elevation of 2,100 feet. It is on the banks of the Snake River and the little town of Fruitland, Idaho is on the other side of the river. The town was founded in 1883 as just a new settlement in the Northwest. A few years later the railroad came through town, which accelerated it's growth. One of the things we noted as we drove around town is that there are cannabis shops all over the place, and they are big and fancy. At first we thought there are a lot of pot heads in this town, but further research shows that it is the “border effect.” Idaho has some of the strictest marijuana laws in the country, possession of any amount is a criminal offense and it is not even legal for medicinal purposes. Drive 100 yards across the river into Oregon, where it is totally legal for any purpose. Toke on dude! We did some geocaching, getting eleven new finds, and no DNFs, over the course of the afternoon. We then stopped at Walmart for some supplies, then drove to the Ontario Elks Lodge when they opened at 4:00. It is a really nice lodge, big building with a nice lodge room, dining room and bar. We were the only one's there for most of the visit, but Jackie got to play some slot machines and we had a cocktail and were even able to get a lodge pin for the banner. Yea! I chatted with the Bartender for while. She even knew where Pahrump was because she lived in Las Vegas for a few years. After our cocktail we got on the freeway and drove home, getting back about 5:30. We had another cocktail, then a light dinner and watched TV until bedtime.

Wednesday, August 11^th, was another travel day. We left the RV park at 11:00, fairly late because we only had to go 56 miles today. We are headed southeast to the City of Caldwell, Idaho. Caldwell is one of more than a dozen suburban cities that make up the Boise metro area. This area, known locally as The Treasure Valley, has more than 750,000 population. We arrived at the Ambassador RV Resort a little after noon and quickly got parked and set up. We had a quick lunch and went out in the mid afternoon to run a couple of errands, including another stop at Walmart for a couple of things we forgot the yesterday. After our errands we went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the day. We are here in Caldwell for four days. The reason we came here is to see Troy and Makayla Bullock and their two kids. Troy is our friend Peggy's grandson and regular readers may remember that he was in the Marine Corps up until three years ago and was stationed at the Yuma Marine Corps Air Station for most of his enlistment. We used to see he and his wife every winter. We were here in Caldwell three years ago to see them and their first son, Brooks. They now have new daughter, Briar, whom we have not seen.

Thursday, August 12^th, we had got a message this morning from Troy who said they could meet us for lunch today if we were available. We agreed to meet them and left the coach about 12:30 headed east to the little town of Star and a place called Sully's Pub. We arrived at 1:00 and they were waiting for us in the restaurant. They all looked good and very happy. Brooks is now going on three and getting ready to start preschool. Briar is nine months and looks very happy. We chatted and caught up with what was going on in their lives. They sold their house last year and made quite a bit of money, so they are now doing light day trading in stocks and apparently doing OK. They are living in an apartment at the current time, but considering moving. They like Bend, Oregon, but haven't decided yet. We had a very nice lunch and sat and talked for a couple of hours. After the visit we agreed to try and get together one more time before we left on Sunday. After lunch we did some geocaching on our way back to the RV park, getting five new finds and one DNF for our efforts. We had leftovers for dinner, then watched TV until bedtime.

Friday, August 13^th, we got a message from Troy that they wanted to meet up again for dinner tonight at 5:00 in Meridian, the town in which they live. We said OK and left the coach about 2:00 so we would have time to explore and cache a little before dinner. We drove to Meridian, which is a city of over 105,000 and the second largest in the state, to do some geocaching. In an hour or so we were able to get five new finds and no DNFs. We explored some of the neighborhoods of Meridian, which, according to the Census Bureau, is one of the top ten fastest growing cities in the country with a population increase of 34 percent between 2010 and 2020. It also has one of the highest housing costs in the state. We found some really pretty newer developments while we were caching. We arrived at the Eight Thirty Common bar and grill about 20 minutes early and sat at the bar and had our 5:00 vodka. When Troy and family arrived we went to the table and had another wonderful visit and meal. We spent about two hours with them and had a great time. After dinner we drove back to the RV park and relaxed. I even went to the pool, which is right across the street from our site, and sat in the hot tub for a while. We watched some TV and then went to bed.

Saturday, August 14^th, we left the coach about 10:00 and drove to the nearby city of Nampa, another suburb of Boise and, with a population of over 103,000, the third largest city in Idaho, just behind Meridian. Nampa, a Shoshone Indian word meaning moccasin or footprint, was founded in the 1880's as a railroad town. Today it is light industrial and bedroom community for Boise. We first went to the weekly farmer's market near downtown. We spent an hour or so there, walking around and buying a few fruits and vegetables. We also did a couple of geocaches downtown. We then went to a Mexican Restaurant called Dos Cominas for lunch. The food was actually quite good, not quite as spicy as what you find in the Southwest, but close and very tasty. We had a nice lunch, then did a little more exploring before heading back to the coach. It was hot and humid and the smoke from all the fires in the Northwest was really irritating. We got home about 3:00 and just spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing in the coach.

Saturday, August 15^th, was another travel day. We had the coach packed up and hooked up by a little after 10:00 and were back on the road, headed 186 miles southwest to the little town of Heyburn, Idaho. While within our normal daily limit of 200 miles, this was one of the longer moves we have had in the last few weeks. It was all freeway, and other than the heavy smoke hanging in the air, the weather was good. We stopped at a rest area for a quick lunch and arrived at the Riverside RV Park in Heyburn about 2:00. This park is actually owned and operated by the City of Heyburn and turned out to be a very nice little park. 29 full hookup spaces with trees and grass just steps from the banks of the Snake River. We have never been here, I just found it while doing my trip planning and looking for new places. We will be here for three nights. We got parked and set up and then just relaxed. For dinner we had country ribs which had been cooking all day in the crock pot, and then we watched some TV and went to bed.

Monday, August 16^th, we left the coach about 11:30 and went out to get lunch, do some exploring and some geocaching. There are three small cities in this area, Heyburn, where the RV park is located is the smallest with a population of about 3,500. North of the freeway is Rupert, with a population of about 5,900, and just across the Snake River from Heyburn is the largest city of the three, Burley, with a population of about 11,000. All of these cities primarily exist to support the extensive agriculture in the area. Today we explored Heyburn and Rupert. After some caching and exploring in Heyburn we drove up to Rupert and had lunch at an excellent deli called the E Street Deli. Not named after Bruce Springsteen's band, but rather the street it is on. Rupert is a very nice city, founded in 1906, with a very Midwestern look. Downtown is built around a public square and all of the buildings look vintage to the early 1900's. The Deli we ate at was on the square. It was just sandwiches and chips, but the sandwiches were very good. After lunch we walked around downtown and did some shopping in a local thrift store. We also did a few more geocaches, ending up with six new finds and one DNF for the day. During our geocaching we saw a sign for the city which had an Elk emblem on it, we hadn't realized that there was an Elks lodge here. Since it was getting hot, we stopped caching and drove to the lodge, finding it open. It is a nice big building on a local golf course and the bartender said that the lodge owns the land on which half the golf course was built. There were several members in the bar and everyone was friendly and welcoming. The lodge has about 440 members according to one of the members we talked to. We had a couple of drinks and got a new lodge pin for our banner. After our visit to the Elks we drove back to the coach and stayed in for the rest of the afternoon and evening. We actually had a few light rain showers come through the area in the early evening hours.

Tuesday, August 17^th, we left the coach about noon and drove into Burley to do some exploring and geocaching. We got a couple of caches, then stopped for brunch at Charlie's Cafe, a place in town that got good reviews on Yelp. We both had breakfast and the food and service were both quite good. After brunch we did some more caching, eventually getting another six new finds and one DNF. About 3:00 we quit caching and did a quick Walmart run to get a few things, then headed back to the coach. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the coach. Wednesday was another travel day. We had some rain move through overnight, but by morning it was just cloudy in Heyburn. We packed up the coach and were on the road about 10:30, heading southeast on Interstate 84 to Snowville, Utah, a distance of 75 miles. We did a quick fuel stop and arrived at the Earp and James RV Park about 12:30 and got checked in and parked. We had some light drizzle off and on during the trip and it was sprinkling when we got to the park. This park is pretty primitive looks wise, but it offers full hook up, pull through 50 amp sites for $35, $30 if you are a veteran. The town of Snowville is very small, only 173 population, with a Flying J truck stop, a gas station, and two restaurants. Snowville was settled at the turn of the century and was originally a Mormon settlement. We are going to be here for three days. After we got set up we just had lunch and relaxed in the coach for the rest of the drizzly day. We hope it clears up tomorrow so we can do some exploring.

Thursday, August 19^th, it had rained most of the night, light rain for the most part, and it didn't look promising for today. The forecast called for off and on rain all day. As a result, we just had a stay at home day. We actually had a couple short episodes of pretty heavy rain, but nothing concerning. It didn't stop raining until early evening. We had dinner and then watched TV until bedtime. Friday the weather said it was supposed to be mostly sunny, and that's what we awoke to. We left the coach about 11:30 and drove to Mollie's Cafe, one of the two restaurants in town, and had brunch. The food was OK for a small town diner, but not spectacular. After lunch we took a 45 mile drive south to the Golden Spike National Historical Park. The park is located out on the prairie, about 20 miles north of the top of the Great Salt Lake. It is located at Promontory Summit and is the place where final spike was driven in the railroad line connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific. In 1862, while the civil war was raging, the U.S. Congress authorized the construction of a transcontinental railroad line. The Central Pacific Railroad in California was chartered to build the line from Sacramento east to Ogden, Utah. The Union Pacific Railroad was chartered to build the line from the Missouri River in Omaha, Nebraska, where the current rail lines ended, west, also to the area of Ogden. At the time the railroad was authorized it was still undetermined exactly where the two lines would meet. For the next seven years the two railroad companies struggled to build their sections of the line. The Central Pacific had the shorter distance, but had to cross the rugged Sierra Nevada Mountains. By 1869 both companies had managed to reach what would become Utah, near the Great Salt Lake and Congress finally determined that Promontory Summit would be the meeting place. Everything was arranged and on May 10, 1869 the final connection was made and locomotives from each company met nose to nose at the summit. Four celebratory spikes were driven, including a Golden Spike, to lock the rails to the tie, and the transcontinental railroad was complete.

The park is interesting with a nice visitors center and interesting displays and exhibits. They also have a great movie and the obligatory gift shop. Out back they have tracks set on the original line, which was actually taken out of service in the early 1900's when the railroad was rerouted to directly cross the Great Salt Lake. On the tracks they have two full size replicas of the two locomotives that were involved in the original joining celebration. They had both been scrapped in the early 1900's, but the Federal Government authorized funds to build the replicas for the park. We took a bunch of pictures, walked around a bit, then headed back towards the RV park. On the road to the historical park you pass a huge industrial area, originally owned by Thiokol Corporation, which is now a part of Northrop Grumman Aerospace Corporation. Thiokol was pivotal in the development of solid fuel rocket engines, everything from the gigantic boosters for the Space Shuttle to engines for ICBMs and smaller missiles used on military ships and aircraft. They have a display, open to the public, with a number of their products, and we stopped there briefly. We also did a few geocaches along the way on our adventures today, ending up with four new finds. We got back home about 3:30 and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing in the coach.

Saturday, August 21^st, another travel day. We packed up the coach and departed Snowville about 10:30, heading southeast 104 miles to North Salt Lake, a small town located, not surprisingly, just north of Salt Lake City, Utah. We arrived at the Pony Express RV Resort about 12:30 and got checked in, then parked in our spot. All the way down we had winds and the last 40 miles we got into the Salt Lake City metro area and had heavy traffic and lots of construction. Even though it was only two hours, I was beat by the time we got parked. My arms hurt from fighting the wind. We got set up and then settled in for the first day of our five day stay. We did go out briefly in the afternoon to get one geocache because today was International Geocaching Day and Geocaching.com had a virtual souvenir if you get a cache today. After we got back to the coach we just chilled the rest of the day.

It has now been three weeks or so since we published, so our arrival here in the Salt Lake City area for a five day stay marks a good point to get this episode wrapped up and published. Until next time, remember that it doesn't matter where you are going, its who you have beside you. See ya soon.

Northern California and Central Oregon Adventures

Hi there, welcome back. Our last chapter concluded on Friday, July 9^th, when we arrived at the Elks Lodge RV park in Carmichael, California, a suburb of Sacramento. Saturday we left the park about 10:30 to go out and run some errands and find a cache or two. We were able to get two new caches before we decided it was a little too hot. We drove up to Rocklin, about 10 miles north of Sacramento, to visit a Camping World store there. We needed a few RV parts and supplies that are easiest to find at a Camping World. After the store we went to a nearby restaurant called Wally's Cafe. It advertised Mediterranean food and had five stars on Yelp, which is unusual. It was a small place and the owner, Wally, waited the tables and served the food. The first thing you get when you sit down is a bowl of lentil soup, which was wonderful. We also noted that even the take out orders got a to go cup of soup. Jackie had the gyro plate, which was huge, she ended up taking half of it home. I had the steak wrap which was also one of the biggest and best I have ever had. For dessert we got a little Lebanese cookie. We ended up giving it five stars on Yelp ourselves. A great place to eat if you ever find yourself hungry near Rocklin, California. After lunch we started back south to go home. On the way we drove by the Roseburg Elks Lodge, which have never visited before, but it was closed. It was not a wasted trip, however, as we found that they have RV spots behind the lodge which, like Santa Maria, are full hookup, 50 amp, and they take reservations! Yea, no more worrying about whether we will get a spot in Carmichael when we stop in the Sacramento area. After we got home we just spent the rest of the afternoon and evening avoiding the heat by staying inside. The weather folks say the heat will break after Sunday, can't be too soon for me.

Sunday, July 11^th, I got the Sunday paper, which we read with our morning coffee. We left the coach about noon and drove to a restaurant a couple miles away to meet Jackie's friend Julie and her daughter Bella. Julie is the daughter of Kathy Yarbourgh, who also lives here in the Sacramento area, and with whom Jackie worked back in the 80's in the Coachella Valley. Jackie has known Julie since she was a pre-teen and stayed close. Julie is now a successful mortgage broker in Sacramento. We had a very nice lunch and spent a couple of hours catching up. We have not seen them in a couple of years. After lunch we headed back to the coach and spent the rest of the hot afternoon relaxing in the coach. I got some pizza for dinner and then we watched TV until bedtime. Monday Jackie went out for a girl's lunch with her friend Kathy. She got back around 2:00 and we went out to run some errands. We had to go back to Camping World to return some seat covers we didn't like, and also had to stop at an auto parts place to get wiper blades for the coach. Hardly ever use them, but the exposure to the elements ruins them after a few years. After our errands we relaxed in the coach for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Tuesday, July 13^th, we had lunch in the coach and then went out to do our laundry. We went to a laundromat just down the street that we have been to before. Withing 90 minutes we had all our laundry done and were on our way back to the coach. We got everything put away and made the bed, then just relaxed for a while, cooling off. About 6:00 we went into the Carmichael Lodge for Taco Tuesday dinner. The food was good, and inexpensive, and we had a nice meal and some nice conversation with some of the members of the lodge. After dinner we went back to the coach and spent the rest of the evening with the TV. Wednesday was another travel day. We packed up and left the Elks about 10:00 and began the 118 mile trip north on I-5 to Corning, and the Rolling Hills Casino RV park. We have seen this place, and it was a favorite of our friends Ray and Suzie Babcock, but we have never stayed here. We wanted to have at least a couple of days with full hookups. We had no sewer at the Carmichael Elks and will not have sewer at the Redding Elks. We got in early, about 12:30, and got set up for our two night stay. We decided to go out for a late lunch and went to a Mexican place called Casa Ramos. It had an interesting menu, with more of an emphasis on dinners rather than combo plates. Jackie had a dinner that had red chili, green chili and a chili relleno. It was really good, but also pretty spicy, which was OK. I had the red chili plate and it was good also. The service was good and we had a nice meal. The place seemed familiar, and later I checked back on our blog history and found that we went to a Casa Ramos in Chico, California, back in 2013, and, based on what I wrote, it seems they had much the same menu then. The family has about ten stores all in the north-central area of California. They have one in Redding and we may go back there next week. After lunch we found a geocache in Corning, then did a little exploring of Corning. It is not a big town, less than 8,000 population, and it calls itself the Olive Capital of the United States. Olive trees everywhere you look. After our exploration we went back to the casino and went inside to game a little. They had very few poker machines, which is our choice of slot machine, and they were VERY tight. After we both lost $40 we said enough and left. It is a nice enough place, but is currently undergoing renovation and expansion and is kind of a mess. They have a large casino, two hotels, a big truck stop, a golf course, and the large RV park. Kind of a one stop resort property. After gaming we picked up another cache near the casino, then went back to the coach. We spent the rest of the evening watching TV.

Thursday, July 15^th, we went out after lunch to do some exploring and geocaching in Corning. Our first stop was a city park for the weekly farmer's market. It wasn't real big, maybe a dozen booths, only a couple of which were actually farm products. We did buy some really nice looking artisan sourdough bread and a little crumb cake, as well as a few veggies. It was interesting to note that even this small weekly market had a booth for giving Covid vaccinations. After the market we did some geocaching. We were able to get six new finds and no DNFs in the course of 90 minutes or so. After the caching we headed back to the coach and stayed in for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Friday was another travel day. Today was a short trip, just 55 miles north on I-5 to the Redding Elks Lodge. We did stop for fuel on the way. When we arrived the RV park was almost empty and we got our choice of spots. We took the only spot that had parking right next to the coach for our car, which means we will be able to charge it after we drive it. We got set up for our five day stay here, had lunch and then left again to drive down to Anderson, about 7 miles south of Redding, to the UPS Customer Service Center to pick our mail, which we had sent from Pahrump. After we got the mail we stopped at a beauty supply place so Jackie could get some new nail polish, then we headed back up into Redding and went to a Great Clips so Jackie could get a haircut. While we were waiting for her turn to come up we did some grocery shopping at a store in the same shopping center. Once Jackie had her haircut we went back to the coach. About 5:00 we went over to the Elks Lodge for a cocktail. We had a couple of drinks since the lodge bought our second drink and had a good time talking to the bartenders and the members who were at the bar. Although we stay at the Redding Elks RV park all the time, this was the first time we have spent any time inside the lodge. We even got a couple of home grown tomatoes from one of the members who had brought some in to give away. We mentioned we were having scampi for dinner and could use a nice tomato, so he gave us two. After our drinks we went back to the coach, made scampi for dinner, then watched TV until bedtime.

Saturday, July 17^th, we left the coach about 9:30 and started a 70 mile drive east into the foothills of the Sierra to the little community of Mineral to spent the day with our friend Peggy Bullock. Regular readers will know that we met Peggy and her husband Vernon on our Alaska trip back in 2009 and we have been close friends ever since. Although they traveled a lot in their motorhome, the Bullock's maintained their house in Mineral, what they call “the cabin.” When they bought the place in the 90's it really was a two room cabin, an old Forest Service cabin. However, over the years they expanded it into a two story, 3,000 square foot house. It is really a nice property and they live there in the middle six months of the year, before the snows come, since it is at 5,000 feet elevation. Mineral itself is very small, mostly a small store with a lodge and an RV park. The population is about 200 or so now.

We first came up to Mineral in 2013 when the Bullock's put on a 50^th Anniversary party. By this time we also knew a lot of their other friends, mostly RV people, so we took the coach up there and stayed a week in the RV park. The party was a huge success and they continued to host a big party in July. We missed the one in 2017 because we were traveling to the East coast and they didn't have one in 2018 because all of us, including the Bullock's and several of the other regular guests, were in Wyoming at an FMCA rally. In July 2019 Vernon died suddenly at home, just a few days before the annual party. At first the party was canceled, but Peggy and her kids decided to go ahead with the party as a celebration of life for Vernon, so we went up there again. The party in 2020 was canceled because of Covid, and Peggy had planned to have one this July. However, the house, which she decided to sell not too long after Vernon's death, went into escrow and they had to cancel the party because they had to clean out the house. We canceled our reservations at the RV park in Mineral, because it is a crappy park and a tough climb to get to it from the valley, but since or travel plans still had us in the Redding area in July, we stopped for a few days just to be able to see Peggy and also see the cabin for one last time before escrow closed.

We got up to Mineral around 11:00 and shortly after the three of us left again and drove to Lake Almanor, about 20 miles East of Mineral, for lunch. There is a really nice restaurant on the lake called Plumas Pines, and we like to eat out on the deck overlooking the lake and have lunch. We had a really great lunch, then drove back to the house and spent the rest of the day talking to Peggy. We have not seen her since we left Yuma in April. We had a great visit and will see her at least one more time before we leave Redding. We left the house and started back to the RV park about 4:30 because I didn't want to have to drive the mountain road back to the freeway with the setting sun shining in my eyes. We got back to the coach about 6:00, had a cocktail and spent the rest of the evening with the TV.

Sunday, July 18^th, I went out and got the Sunday paper, which we enjoyed with our coffee. After lunch we went out to a nail salon so Jackie could get a pedi and I could get my toenails trimmed. After the salon we did some geocaching, getting two finds and two DNFs before we decided it was too hot. We then went back to the coach and spent the rest of the afternoon inside staying cool. After cocktails and dinner we watched TV and then went to bed. Monday we left the coach about 11:30 and went to In N Out for lunch. After lunch did a Costco run and then a Walmart run. We had to get enough vodka at Costco to get us through the next six weeks because we will be traveling in Oregon, Idaho and Utah, all of which have very high liquor prices. After our shopping we went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the day. Monday we spent the morning and early afternoon relaxing in the coach. About 3:30 we headed out for a planned BBQ at Peggy's son Matt's new house out in the country east of Redding. We had made a big salad and had a couple of nice steaks all packed. Just as we were getting ready to leave the RV park Jackie got a call from Peggy that the dinner was canceled. There is a large wildfire called the Dixie fire that is burning about 30 miles (as the crow flies) southeast of Mineral where Peggy lives. It is a big fire that is has been growing over the last few days. Up until today it was burning south and east, but the winds shifted and it is now burning more northeast. They issued evacuation warnings for the Lake Almanor area, including the Plumas Pines resort area where we had lunch the other day. Peggy decided that since the fire was burning more or less in the direction of Mineral, she would stay home and get her motorhome, which is parked next to the house, packed up, closed up and ready to roll at a moments notice in case they get an evacuation warning up there. She said Matt was coming up to help, so there would be no BBQ. Since we are leaving tomorrow we won't get to see Matt and his wife Roxanne's new place. We had the big salad we had made for supper by adding a little chicken to it and spent the night with the TV.

Wednesday, July 21^st, another travel day. We had another short trip today, only 66 miles north on Interstate 5 to Weed, California. We arrived at the Friendly RV Park about 11:30 and had to wait about 40 minutes to get checked in. We had lunch while we waited. We finally got parked and got the coach set up for our two night stay. Although we only have 30 amp we do have sewer and it is not as hot here, under 100 degrees, so one air running will be OK to keep us comfortable. After we got set up we went out and spent an hour exploring Weed as we have never been here before. Weed is a small town of just under 3,000 population and is at about 3,500 feet elevation. It sits in the shadow of Mount Shasta, which rises over 14,000 feet just to the east of town. The town takes it's name from Abner Weed who founded the town in the late 1890's as a timber town. In the 1940's the town contained the largest lumber mill in the world. Although many of the old mills remain, most have closed or relocated and Weed has become a tourist stop on Interstate 5, which runs right through the middle of town. US Route 97, which runs north into and through Central Oregon, also comes off of I-5 in Weed and runs through town. We will be here for two days before we ourselves head up US 97 into Oregon. After our tour of the town we went back to the coach and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Thursday, July 22^nd, we went out after lunch to do some geocaching. We were out for a couple of hours and got a half dozen new finds and two DNFs. In the course of our caching we went to the the Living Memorial Sculpture Garden. Peggy had recommended this to us when she learned we were stopping in Weed. The Memorial is on the northwestern slope of Mt Shasta, 13 miles north of the City of Weed, on Hwy 97. It is situated on 136 acres of land provided by the USDA Forest Service, which were replanted with tens of thousands of trees by countless volunteers. The trees are living tribute to those who have sacrificed their lives in war. The sculpture garden is considered a place for reflection & remembrance, healing & reconciliation and pays homage to all honorable veterans, in conflict and in peace. The Memorial was founded by a group of veterans in 1988. Today, the Garden is proudly sponsored & maintained by the Kiwanis Club of Weed/Lake Shastina. There are eleven different metal sculptures scattered around the grounds, all depicting some part of military life. There are also several other granite memorials on the grounds. It is a very inspiring place. We also stopped at a local souvenir shop and we both bought Weed tee shirts. Who can come to a town named “Weed” and not buy a shirt. We stopped at a local market, then headed back to the coach where we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing.

Friday, July 23^rd, another travel day. We left Weed about 9:30 and headed north on US 97, destination Crescent, Oregon. We crossed into Oregon after about 50 miles and generally had a good trip. It was fairly flat and not too hot, so overheating was not an issue. When we passed through the Klamath Falls area there was a lot of smoke from the Bootleg Fire, which is burning to the East of Klamath Falls. According to the news it is the largest wildfire in the country right now. We passed through the burn area where the fire started, and had the road block for a day or two, but the fire is now burning a dozen miles east, so it was not a factor in our travels. We arrived at the Big Pines RV park about 1:00 and got checked into our site. Although this park is in the middle of nowhere, it is a very nice park. We have a nice, level site with full hookups and 50 amps and even though we are in the trees, I was able to get satellite. We are at about 4,500 feet elevation, so it is a little cooler too, only 82 degrees when we arrived. We got parked and set up, and were going to drive into the nearby little town of Crescent, but when I unhooked the car I found the battery was dead. This is the third time in a year that we have arrived somewhere and had the 12 volt battery be dead. It is annoying and we will have to take the car to a Ford dealer when we get home in September. I was able to jump it from the coach and put the charger on, so we should be good tomorrow. We spent the rest of the day in the coach just relaxing.

Saturday, July 24^th, we left the coach about noon and headed out to have lunch and then do some exploring and geocaching. We went to a cafe, actually the only cafe, in Crescent called the Mohawk. It was a large old building and the interior was all wood plank and the walls were floor to ceiling with shelves containing the largest collection of collector whiskey decanters and Avon collectibles that I have ever seen. In addition, there were hundreds of taxidermy animals. Apparently the original owner was a collector. It was quite the collection. In addition, the food and service were pretty good. After lunch we went out to explore Crescent and the surrounding area. It is a small, unincorporated town of about 6,700 that was founded in the late 1800's primarily as support for the logging industry. The adjacent community of Gilchrist, population of less than a thousand, was founded in 1937 as a company town for the Gilchrist Timber Company. The town was sold and privatized in 1992 when the mill closed and was the last company owned community in Oregon. The area is now a tourist stop for the surrounding Cascade Lakes region of Central Oregon. We drove around a bit and did some caching, getting six new finds and a DNF in a couple of hours. After caching we went back to the RV park and stayed in the coach for the rest of the day.

Sunday July 25^th, was another travel day. We didn't leave Crescent until 11:00 because we are only going 66 miles north to Redmond, Oregon. We arrived at the Expo Center RV park about 12:30, but they wouldn't let us check in until 1:00, so we found a place to park in the Expo Center parking lot and had lunch. We have been to the Redmond Expo Center on a number of occasions as it used to be a favorite location for big FMCA Conventions. For whatever reason FMCA hasn't come back in at least five or six years despite it being a great venue. At 1:00 we got into the park and got set up for our two day stay. After we got set up we went out to do some shopping. We hit both the Fred Meyers store and the local Walmart for some supplies. One of the things I bought was a lithium battery powered portable jump starter so the next time the car decides to crap out with a flat battery I can jump it without running cables. After our shopping we went back to the RV park and stayed in for the rest of the day. Jackie made a nice chili relleno casarole for dinner and we watched TV until bedtime.

Monday, July 26^th, we went out about 12:30 and went to a local Chinese place called Cindy's Chinese Garden. I had the orange chicken, Jackie had the kung pao chicken, both from the lunch menu. For $9 you got soup, rice, one egg roll and the entree, and there was a lot of food. We both took home leftovers which is unusual when ordering a lunch item. After lunch we did some geocaching, getting six new finds in a little over an hour. One of the caches was at a historic home near downtown Redmond which now belongs to an artist. There are all kinds of cool looking metal sculptures around the property. After our caching we stopped at Bi-Mart, which is a membership discount chain in the Northwest. It is not a bulk place like Costco, more like a tiny Walmart Supercenter, with everything from food to clothes and sporting goods. They sometimes have some pretty good deals and it didn't cost us anything to join a few years back and the membership never expires. We like to visit them from time to time. After shopping we headed back to the RV park and relaxed for the rest of the day. The park is really starting to fill up since the County Fair, which is at the Expo Center, starts this week. They had already spent most of the day putting up the rides for the carnival and it was starting to look like a fair. '

Tuesday, July 27^th, another travel day. Today we went 132 miles north to the Columbia River, which is the border between Oregon and Washington. It was raining lightly when we got up and we drove most of the way in a light rain. The rain cleared up by the time we arrived at the Corps of Engineers Park in Le Page, Oregon. This is a small park located on a little wedge of land where the John Day River enters into the Columbia. We have stayed here a number of times and it is a nice little park right on the river. Although we had reservations for a back in site, when we got there we learned there was a pull through site available. Turns out some of the pull through sites are first come, first served, so we took it. The biggest difference is that the pull through sites are parallel to the river, so when you walk out your door you are right on the riverbank. Very scenic and pleasant. The sites are nice, 50 amp with water. We are only here for three days, so not having sewer is not a big issue. We got set up and spent the rest of the day relaxing. The car battery was dead on arrival again, proving that it was time to replace it. I think I will try that the next big city we stay in later on in the trip. Where we are right now is very rural. We don't even have phone data service in the park, although the phone does still have one bar service. We had country ribs for dinner which had been cooking in the crock pot all day.

Wednesday, July 28^th, we left the coach after lunch to do some exploring and a little geocaching. We drove about 30 miles east on the interstate to the city of The Dalles, Oregon. The Dalles is the largest city on the Oregon side of the Columbia river outside of the Portland metro area. The population is around 16,000. Our first stop was a city park right on the river where we just parked and spent a half hour on our phones catching up with internet stuff. We are so used to being connected 24/7 that it is hard to not be able to instantly access anything. We then did some caching, getting four new finds in about an hour. We drove around and explored the area for a bit, then drove to the Elks Lodge only to find it boarded up and abandoned. We had been to this lodge probably five years ago or so, but now it appeared closed. Jackie did some more checking on the web and found a site that said the lodge was still in existence but had moved in with the Dalles Eagles Lodge. We drove there and found the building had two signs, one for the Eagles, one for the Elks. We went inside and had a cocktail and chatted with the bartender who told us that both groups were on the verge of going out of business because of the pandemic and they met and agreed to move everything into the larger Eagles building and share costs. She said both groups are now doing well and the cooperation saved both. We were even able to get an Elks pin. During our exploring of the city I saw a Ford dealership and just on a whim stopped and talked to a service writer in the service department just to see if they could fit me in to replace the failing 12 volt battery in the car. I had stopped at a NAPA auto parts store to check on getting a battery, but it was a special order item. To my surprise the service guy said they could get me in tomorrow afternoon and the parts department had the battery in stock. The cost estimate was about $200 total, which is only about $20 more than what just the battery would have cost a NAPA. I made the appointment and we started the drive back to the RV park. We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening relaxing in the coach.

Thursday, July 29^th, we left the coach about 11:30 and started back toward The Dalles. We had spotted a Mexican restaurant called Casa El Mirador that had good reviews. We had lunch, which was quite good, as was the service. After lunch we still had a little time before our appointment at the Ford dealer, so we stopped at the Fred Meyers store, which was only a few blocks from the Ford shop. We got the car into the shop a little before 2:00 and they got it right in. Within an hour they were finished and the bill was $203 and change and Maxie was all better. After we picked up the car we drove back to the park and spent the rest of the day inside. Friday was another travel day. We left the Corps of Engineers park about 10:30 and continued east on Interstate 84 to the City of Umatilla, about 75 miles. We arrived at the Umatilla Marina RV park, which is owned and operated by the City, about noon and they got us checked in. We park and did the basic set up, then got in the car and drove 30 miles north into Washington and the UPS Service Center in Kennewick, Washington. We had asked our UPS store to forward our mail and it had arrived yesterday. The UPS place was not open on the weekend, so we wanted to get the mail today. After we picked up the mail we stopped at the Firehouse Sub place for a quick lunch before heading back to to the RV park. After we got home we finished setting up for our five day stay here in Umatilla. We relaxed with the TV for the rest of the evening.

Our arrival in Umatilla marks about three weeks since we last published, so we are going to close out this episode and get it online. Until next time, remember the words of the great Dr. Seuss, “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” See ya soon.